Have you unknowingly been lured into New Age mystical practices by teachers claiming that certain “new ways to pray” will bring you closer to God? Have you signed up for classes in Spiritual Formation? Have you been involved in Centering Prayer , Contemplative Prayer, or Lectio Divina ? Well, this new series of posts in the new Category of posts that I have entitled ‘MYSTICISM MONDAYS‘ will attempt to peel back the layers of spiritual deception and present you with the truth of God’s Word that will expose the dangers of these practices. Lord willing, at least once a month on a Monday, I will be sharing teachings with you from Christian experts on the subject, some of whom have even been personally involved with these dangerous practices. All of these teachings that I will be presenting to you will focus on many Scriptures; those who speak on these topics will not just be talking about these practices, because it’s only the truth of God’s Word that will expose the dangers of these practices and set a deceived person free.
Lord willing, when time allows, I will be writing many posts in the future zeroing in on specific Christian programming and Christian teachers who are promoting these deceptive practices, but since my time is getting rather limited these days because of other important responsibilities that I have, I will oftentimes simply be sharing a video with you.
When time allows, I truly hope and pray that you will take the time to listen to these messages and read the upcoming posts on this important topic so that you can be aware of these false teachings that are deceiving many Christians –possibly even you.
Please test the teachings of all those whom you listen to against Scripture as God’s Word shows us that we are to do. (Acts 17:11)
Now for today’s Mysticism Monday:
Before I get to the main video that I am featuring for you today, here are a few things that I’d like to share with you first:
Have you been noticing how some pastors and teachers have been focusing on the Manifest Presence of God and wanting to see the Glory of God? Have you also noticed some of the ‘Christian’ Conferences that have been taking place are focusing on the same things? There is the MANIFEST PRESENCE CONFERENCE with Bill Johnson and Randy Clark. There is also the PRESENCE CONFERENCE put on by Phil and Chris Pringle who both pastor C3 Church in Sydney Australia. Their conferences frequently features Steven Furtick:
If you’re interested you can read a review of this conference by Church Watch Central and listen to Steven Furtick’s message HERE:
I don’t know about you, but when I first began to hear preaching and Conferences focusing on ‘The Presence‘ and ‘the Manifest Presence of God‘ and ‘wanting to see God’s glory,’ it truly began to bother me and cause red flags to pop up as well as alarm bells to go off in my discernment detector, especially when I began to hear Pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel Rolling Meadows begin to focus on the “Manifest Presence of God” in the last couple of years before I finally left in January of 2012 after the Elephant Room 2 Conference! Many Scriptures began to flood through my mind to make me realize that this is not Biblical! (Hebrews 11:6, John 20:29, 1 Peter 1:8, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Romans 8:11, 2 Timothy 1:14 to name a few).
There was the Pastor’s Conference that took place on June 8th and 9th of 2014, in which Rick Warren, Francis Chan, and James MacDonald were some of the featured speakers. As you can see, the theme was SHOW US YOUR GLORY:
And the following conference just took place on August 26th – 28th of 2015 at Victory Convention Centre in New Zealand and featured Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, Redding CA, Randy Clark of Global Awakening, Russell Evans of Planetshakers, Banning Liebscher of Jesus Culture:
The people who spoke or sang at that conference are known to focus on unbiblical manifestations. Here are some videos with some example of these disturbing manifestations that I am referring to, as well as information that you need to be aware of:
There will also be a Manifest Presence Conference in 2016:
(SOURCE)
Finally, here is the video that I am featuring for you today that will bring some Biblical perspective on ‘The Presence‘ that many of these Conferences seem to be focusing on because their focus is on having “experiences” with God. I wanted to share this with you so that you will not be deceived by the many who are teaching this and so that you will realize just how unbiblical this truly is. This message was given by Pastor Larry DeBruyn of GUARDING HIS FLOCK:
When time allows, I highly encourage you to read THESE ARTICLES that Pastor Larry DeBruyn wrote in great detail that focus on “The Presence.” I shared them with you in one of my previous posts, but they are so good that I also wanted to share them with you again in this post.
Here is the description of his teachings in this series that I found on the HERESCOPE BLOG:
“The original article “The Present of His Presence” served as an apologetic, laying the solid Biblical groundwork necessary to refute the newly emerging Second Pentecost teaching by the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and International House of Prayer (IHOP) leaders, which was described in our subsequent 6-part article series.”
Mary Dalke - Living4HisGlory
Living4HisGlory 
My own local conservative baptist church is now fully involved in these false doctrines. 2 of the elders are continuing to invite over 30 non-christian/hypercharismatic churches (including Roman Catholics) Right inside this (in the past most solid Biblically based) Conservative Baptist Church to an all inclusive ecumenical mystical prayer evening so people can =
“Pray for the world”???
That this church is not instead preaching God’s plan of Salvation to this group 1st!
Is how far into doctrinal error and unbiblical practices most churches(this 1 included) have fallen.
This same churches library is now filled with books from false teachers, authors of mystical prayer.
Anyone asking questions is considered an “enemy” or critical spirit.
Yet, Jesus knows, and He alone will met out final justice. We can all pray for even a
few people’s eyes to be opened to these false prophets, false doctrines and false o-cult prayers.
Hi Memama,
Thank you very much for your comment. I’m so sorry to hear what you have been going through, and what has been happening at your church, but so blessed to see that you are very discerning and that you obviously test things against the truth of God’s Word so that you will not be deceived like so many other Christians have been already by things of the mystical nature, such as Spiritual Formation, breath prayers, Lectio Divina, etc.
By what you are observing at your church, as well as what many of us are seeing take place at our own churches and in the name of ‘Christianity’ and “unity” in general, it’s becoming clearer with each passing day that we are seeing the One World Religion forming right before our eyes. The mystical, New Age practices that are cloaked in somewhat Christian terminology and are entering many churches today and sadly being embraced by many Christians who have been told that “these practices will help you to connect with God on a deeper, more intimate level,” are very deceptive and dangerous. These New Age/New Spirituality occult practices lead many people on a dangerous journey where they ultimately comes to the false realization of their own divinity. This “oneness” will be what binds them all together in the name of “unity.” Sadly, many Christians today are being encouraged by those in leadership, as well as by many in ‘Christian’ ministry to have “experiences” with God, instead of truly coming to know Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, and by reading His living Word –the Bible.
You are so right Memama, concerning how “this church is not instead preaching God’s plan of Salvation to this group 1st.” In the name of “unity” many have veered far off course and have abandoned Biblical truth. Uniting with any church that teaches “another Jesus” and “another gospel” (2 Corin. 11:3,4, Galatians 1:6-9) was definitely not the kind of “unity” that Jesus spoke of in John Chapter 17.
Jesus said ‘He did not come to bring peace, but a sword.’ (Matthew 10:34-36) Those who stand for Biblical truth are definitely being labeled as “the enemy” and as having a “critical spirit” as well as being divisive, etc., but the truth of God’s Word will be the sword that brings about the separation of the sheep from the goats, mothers from daughters, men from their fathers, etc.
I’m sorry to hear that, Mimama. If mystical books can be found in someone’s church, that is a pretty clear indication of what the focus of their teachings and their classes will soon be on, which will undoubtedly mean, Contemplative Prayer, Spiritual Formation, Lectio Divina, etc.
Yes, amen, Mimama…in spite of what we are seeing take place in many churches today, praying and asking God to open the eyes of the many who are being deceived is the most important thing we can do besides warning them.
Continue to stand for Biblical truth as you are doing so well. If the day ever comes when you feel as if you’re standing all alone, remember that you’re not alone; many are standing with you, even though many miles may be separating us all.
God Bless You, Mimama
~Mary