'Earnestly contending for the faith,' (Jude 3 ) as well as sharing encouragement and hope through Scripture (Romans 15:4), and through the poems and posts that I write. One of many voices on the Internet warning Christians of the importance of testing the teachings of men (and women) against the unchanging truth of God's Word. (Acts 17:11) I 'warn you with tears' through much of what I write, to 'be on guard against the savage wolves that will come in among us who will distort the Word of God' as God's Word warns us about in Acts 20:26-31
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JULY 8, 2020 NOTE: When time allows I will be updating this post with information regarding the latest developments concerning Doreen Virtue, Joshua Chavez, and Justin Peters.
NOTE: Updated this post on July 17, 2020 1:26 P.M. You will find all new UPDATES written in this teal color.
NOTE: Updated this post again on July 20, 2020 10:32 P.M. and July 21, 2020 2:49 P.M. with the latest developments. You will find these UPDATES in this pink color near the end of this post.
NOTE: Updated this post again on July 30, 2020 5:22 P.M. You will find this updated section near the bottom of this post in this green color.
NOTE: Saw the need to update this post again on August 24, 2020 12:20 P.M. by adding two videos. See the end of this post in this dark purple color.
First I want to begin this post by clearly saying that my intention in writing this post is not to bash Doreen Virtue, but rather to emphasize the extreme importance of not only praying for spiritual discernment but also to emphasize the extreme importance of testing everything that a professing Christian says against Scripture to be certain that all that they say lines up with Scripture. (Acts 17:11) Sometimes we are too quick to accept everything that a professing born-again Christian says is true without taking the time to pray for discernment as we either carefully listen to or read their testimony. Sometimes the music that may be played in the background of one’s testimony can move us emotionally and affect our ability to spiritually discern truth from error, as well.
I also want to make it clear that I am not denying Doreen’s salvation. Only God knows where each person stands regarding this extremely important eternal life issue and whether a person has made the decision to place their trust completely — and only — in the “once for all” sacrifice of His life in our place that Jesus Christ willingly offered when He shed His blood and died on the cross for our sins. What I am trying to show through all of the following information is the extreme importance of thinking for ourselves and examining all of the evidence in order to know what the truth really is, because the truth matters!
I also want to say that I personally do not know Doreen Virtue or Joshua Chavez, (who is known as Servus Christi on YouTube), and I have never personally interacted with either one of them in any way.
Although there are many concerns that could be brought to your attention regarding all that has transpired since Joshua Chavez posted his video entitled, ‘Justin Peters Now Believes Visions Of Jesus? (Doreen Virtue)’ the main issue that I will be addressing in this post is Doreen’s alleged vision of Jesus. However, I will post some of the information that addresses all of the issues so that you can see a well balanced view from all sides of this issue. It is my prayer that you will pray for discernment before you watch all of the videos posted below and come to your own conclusion after seeking God in prayer for the truth in this matter and looking into His Word.
For those of you who are not aware of who Doreen Virtue is, she was a top selling author for a top selling New Age publisher –Hay House. During her time in the New Age Movement she wrote many New Age books such as: ‘Healing With The Angels’, ‘Archangels & Ascended Masters: A Guide to Working and Healing with Divinities and Deities,’ ‘Daily Guidance From Your Angels,’ as well as many different types of Oracle cards (occultic cards used in giving so-called readings). Doreen is now a professing Christian, but many Christians (including myself) have some very valid concerns regarding some of the things that she has been saying.
This all started when Joshua posted his very in depth video analyzing Doreen Virtue’s testimony, the main point being on how she focuses on her alleged vision of Jesus that she claims to have had on January 7th of 2017 almost every time that she shares her testimony –including very recently. You will see that this is a fact by viewing the videos and documented information that I have added to this post. Although I would have liked to have seen more Christ-like love and grace shown by Joshua in the way that he presented much of his information regarding Justin Peters and Doreen Virtue, the fact remains that oftentimes Doreen does focus on the vision of Jesus that she claims to have had.
Picture above is a quick capture of Doreen Virtue holding a picture of the painting done by an artist that represents the alleged vision of Jesus that she claims to have had on January 7, 2017. You can watch the video HERE and the link is also posted further below in this post. NOTE: A comment was made in the comment section on one of these videos that show this painting which pointed out the disturbing fact that this “Jesus” does not have nail marks in His wrists or palms of His hands.
NOTE: Joshua has not allowed his video to be played on anyone’s website, so if you would like to watch it you will need to click on the link where it says, “Watch this video on YouTube.”
UPDATE: This video has now been taken down.
UPDATE: 7-17-2020 As you can see, YouTube reinstated Joshua’s video:
Here is a quick capture of what it originally looked like:
At the link below you will see a reupload of one of Joshua Chavez’s videos. IMHO it is the best one of his recent videos that focuses on Doreen and her inconsistencies regarding her alleged vision of Jesus. (This is the video in which you will see a picture of the Jesus that she allegedly saw in her vision). In this video Joshua gives his perspective and presents the documented facts on this whole issue:
Here is another very good video that contains clips of Joshua’s videos that were taken down by YouTube as well as documented evidence presented by Blood Bought Ministries regarding Doreen Virtue and her alleged vision of Jesus:
5-16-2020 – UPDATE: IT NOW APPEARS AS IF BLOOD BOUGHT MINISTRIES WAS FORCED TO REMOVE THE VIDEO, BUT CHOSE TO SET THIS VIDEO AS PRIVATE RATHER THAN DELETING IT.
5-17-2020 – 9:00 A.M. UPDATE: TODAY IT CAN BE VIEWED. PLEASE WATCH NOW WHILE IT IS STILL AVAILABLE:
UPDATE: 7-17-2020 At of today, this video is still available to watch in spite of what the text says:
BLOOD BOUGHT MINISTRIES – DOREEN VIRTUE AND HER DAMAGE CONTROL
After watching Joshua’s entire very lengthy video, which, for the most part, I found to be very eye opening regarding the very troubling fact that Doreen oftentimes focuses on her alleged vision of Jesus when she publicly shares her testimony, I immediately went to Doreen’s YouTube channel and watched her featured personal testimony video, which now has been marked private, (see quick captures of information I posted further below). In its place she now has a video of an interview that she did with Pastor Chris Quintana.
I then proceeded to go to her website where I found the following information as of 7:13 P.M., May 8th 2020 and quick captured everything and posted it below for you as documentation of what was presently there:
Under About Doreen Virtue in part it says:
“Raised in the new age, Doreen had a profound vision of Jesus on January 7, 2017 that led to her getting baptized and converting to Christianity.”
When I clicked on Doreen Virtue Testimony page it said the following:
“In this video, you’ll hear about the amazing experience and the 4 realizations which led to me becoming a born-again Christian, by clicking here.”
However, when I clicked on the link to view the video, as you can see from the quick capture below, it said,
“Video unavailable. This video is private.”
This appeared to be Doreen’s decision to begin what some would call, damage control.
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As I searched for other copies of Doreen’s testimony on video to see if she focuses on her vision of Jesus (before those videos possibly end up disappearing, as well), I came across the following two videos put together by a Bible believing Christian who is a former New Ager. She has a YouTube channel called, Truth Matters. In the following two videos she tests Doreen’s original testimony against Scripture and makes some excellent observations. Please considering listening to them when time allows:
UPDATE: Sadly, the person who put these videos together must have been forced to take them down. Her channel no longer exists, as well, but I can assure you that she did not present her comments in a mean-spirited way; she presented her information in a clear and Biblical manner using many Scriptures and in such a way that all Christians would see the serious concerns one should have with what Doreen had shared in her testimony.
Doreen Virtue’s Original Testimony to Christianity
Doreen Virtue’s Original Conversion Video Part 2
In the video further below, Doreen shares her testimony with Matt Blackburn. This video was posted on December 7th 2019 which was just five months ago at the time that I am writing this post. Beginning at the 24:49 – 28:49 minute mark you will hear Doreen say some of the following regarding her alleged vision of Jesus:
“I had this big experience on January 7th, 2017, Matt, that completely changed everything…”
“…all of a sudden everything disappeared in my vision field and all I saw was this vision of Jesus.”
“…it was like the veil lifted and he’s always there and I got to see him, but this light is what did move; it came out of his heart and I could feel the rays of this light and he actually had even pushed me back in my chair, and while this was going on, and I don’t know how long it lasted, I had these epiphanies which which means a realization and this knowingness.”
“And the first thing I knew was that Jesus is real. Jesus of the Bible is real. I had always doubted what the Bible had said about him, but he’s real.”
“And then the second realization was the Bible’s real. I mean, it just, I went from being a skeptic to a believer in a nanosecond, just…I knew the Bible was real. ”
“The third realization is that Jesus really had died for our sin. Again, I didn’t even believe he was crucified, let alone that he had died for sin “…and I could feel all of the sins on his body. I mean it was a palpable experience…”
“And the forth realization is I need to get out of the New Age…”
I am almost certain that it is just a matter of time before the above video gets taken down, as well, in what appears to be Doreen’s attempt to do damage control in order to keep the truth hidden of how recently she has proclaimed her vision as being Jesus without any doubt whatsoever. Here are some quick captures of some of the things that Doreen said in her interview with Matt Blackburn which shows that she bases her belief of the reality of Christianity not on the Word of God, but instead on the experience that she had –her alleged vision of Jesus that she said took place on January 7th of 2017:
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In case you missed it, I would like to bring the most concerning thing to your attention regarding what Doreen said at the 49:58 minute mark in the video above; speaking about Christianity, Doreen said the following:
“How do I know that it’s [Christianity] the real deal? I…I had this experience on January 7th of 2017. To my very bones…every soul in my, cell in my body knew that I was looking at the real Jesus.”
How many of you can see the serious danger in the things that Doreen has said? She is saying that she came to the realization that Christianity and Jesus Christ and the Bible are real after allegedly seeing a vision of Jesus. A Jesus that she describes as having rays of light coming out of his heart similar to the alleged vision seen by now deceased Catholic nun and mystic, Maria Faustina Kowalska, as Joshua rightly points out in his video, as well.
Doreen is telling everyone that she did not come to the realization that Jesus Christ and the Bible are real and that Jesus died for our sins by reading the Bible and hearing the gospel being preached. Instead she is saying she came to this realization by the vision that she allegedly saw! This is extremely troubling! Yes, Doreen is now speaking out and warning about some of the New Age practices that she was once involved in, practices that she claims she has repented of, but why is it that she mainly focuses on this vision almost every time that she shares her testimony? How is it that all of the thousands of Doreen’s followers cannot see this troubling fact?
Why is it that some Christians do not take the time to research a professing Christian’s beliefs before they choose to follow them or agree to accept their invitation to come on their show? People like Justin Peters, (whom I deeply respect because of how he speaks out regarding the false Word of Faith Movement), Chris Quintana, Phil Johnson, Chris Rosebrough — well respected professing Christian men who should know better — have all been guests on Doreen’s YouTube channel.
Since I had never heard of Matt Blackburn before I decided to do a little research on him simply by taking a look at some of the videos that he has posted on his YouTube channel. Here are just a couple of the troubling things that I found:
Although he professes to be a Christian, Matt Blackburn promotes the New Age practice of earthing (which is also referred to as grounding) on his YouTube channel (among other New Age things). If you’d like, you can read THIS POST that I wrote back in December of 2017 on this subject in order to warn Christians about it. On his website it gives a list of the things that he has studied extensively, which includes things such as crystal technology. This may be a case of a lack of diligence on Matt’s part to keep the information on his channel and website updated in order to reflect where he presently is in Christian walk with Jesus Christ, but it’s very troubling to think about the many people that he is leading astray by not deleting these things from his channel and website –if indeed he has rejected New Age philosophies and practices and repented for practicing and promoting them.
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In the process of writing this post I was contacted by a dear sister-in-Christ who shared a very disturbing update with me. It seems that Doreen Virtue is now saying that the vision she saw of Jesus could possibly have been a demon!
Do any of you find that rather suspicious that up until now she has insisted that she had seen the real Jesus in her alleged vision, and yet shortly after Joshua Chavez comes out with a video bringing attention to how Doreen focuses mainly on her January 7th 2017 alleged vision of Jesus when she shares her testimony, all of a sudden she is now saying it could possibly have been a demon? Doesn’t this seem more than just a coincidence? What will it take for some Christians to see the truth about someone they admire and follow who is quite clearly not being honest regarding some of the things they are saying and teaching?
On May 9, 2020, the day after Joshua posted his video, Doreen came out with this video. Although she does not mention Joshua Chavez by name, clearly it was a video response to what he had shared in his video entitled,‘Justin Peter Now Believes Visions Of Jesus? (Doreen Virtue),’ and she accuses him of slandering her:
UPDATE 7-17-2020: Doreen chose to delete this video. Appears to be more damage control:
The day after Doreen was interviewed by Katie — The Berean Millennial, (her interview is at the link that I shared with you earlier in this post), Doreen posted the following video which was basically what she had shared with Katie on Instagram, including that she was now saying that the alleged vision of Jesus that she claimed to have had on January 7, 2017 may possibly have been a demon:
UPDATE 7-17-2020 Doreen decided to delete this video, as well.
In the following video that I found on 5-11-2020 (a video that was first posted on YouTube on November 21, 2019 — less than six months ago from the time that I am writing this post), Doreen also shared her testimony — including her alleged vision of Jesus — on Tulips & Honey YouTube channel, and she does not say anything about it possibly having been a demon. She does say that she was not a Christian at this point, but again, the truth is that Doreen does focus on sharing her alleged vision of Jesus in the very recent past and she does not say that it was possibly a demon. Therefore, what Joshua said regarding her vision is true and it is not slander.
Below you will see some of the things that Doreen said in the above video that I have quick captured for you not only so that you can see what she says for yourself if you don’t have the time to watch the video, but also just in case the above video gets taken down at some point:
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You will hear and see the same thing in this audio (and the quick captures) of what Doreen had said when she shared her testimony very recently on the B.A.R. (Biblical And Reformed) Podcast that was posted on April 29, 2020:
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Yes, we are to extend grace to Doreen since she appears to be a fairly new Christian, and we definitely need to pray for her. Yes, she has been speaking out and warning about the dangers of yoga, the Enneagram, Contemplative Prayer, and other New Age practices because she has taught many occultic things in the past and she seems to genuinely want to warn Christians about the dangers of these things , but the following points need to be made:
The first point is this:
Why does Doreen see the need to put the emphasis on this vision almost every time that she shares her testimony?
The second point, which is the most important is:
Since she shared her alleged vision of Jesus on Tulips And Honey YouTube channel in November of 2019 , and then again in December of 2019 with Matt Blackburn, and again as recently as April 29th on B.A.R., and did not mention in any way whatsoever that it could possibly have been a demon, this is clear evidence that shows Doreen is presently covering up the truth with lies in her latest videos. Maybe she is afraid, and out of fear she is lying to protect herself from rejection, but a lie is a sin that must be confessed to the Lord, repented of, and admitted to her followers if indeed she is a Christian and wants to be pleasing to the Lord.
MY CLOSING THOUGHTS AFTER COMPLETELY WATCHING ALL OF THESE VIDEOS
Even though Joshua did not present all of his information in a Christ-like and compassionate manner regarding Justin Peters and Doreen Virtue, the fact remains that Doreen Virtue now looks like the completely innocent one being victimized by Joshua, when the facts show that she has lied and covered up the truth about her testimony and changed things to seemingly gain sympathy. In other words, Doreen has changed the facts and is misleading all of the thousands of people who follow her; people who deserve to know the truth — no matter what the cost.
Although I do not agree with Justin Peters’ Calvinistic/ Reformed Theology, as I previously mentioned I do truly appreciate his Clouds Without Water series exposing the Word of Faith heresies, and I agreed with much of what he said in his video regarding Joshua’s attitude and lack of love and compassion for Doreen. It was deeply troubling — and even embarrassing — to see the way Joshua treated Justin in his video playing that short clip over and over and over, ignoring — and seemingly not even taking the time to watch — the interview that Justin did with Doreen.
I also accept his explanation of why he didn’t check her out more closely before accepting her invitation to come on her program because many of us have learned that lesson in one way or another a little too late at least once in our lives, but I do pray that Justin will speak to her specifically about her vision and address these concerns that many of us have about the latest things that she has done and said in her recent videos.
Yes, Doreen did seem to have some, “Aha” moments as Justin Peters was sharing some Biblical truth with her regarding dreams and visions when she had asked him if “dreams from God are still for today,” but this question must be asked:
If Doreen sincerely did embrace this truth that Jesus does not speak through dreams and visions today based on what God’s Word says in Hebrews 1:1,2, why then did she continue to emphasize her vision at least two times since she received Justin’s Biblical response to her question during his interview that was posted on Doreen’s YouTube channel on November 28, 2019?
As I always try to stress in many of my posts:
As Christians *we are to be followers of Jesus Christ alone; we are not to follow any man — or woman — and their ministry to such a degree that we would ever wrongly think that they could never err in what they say or do. *(1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 1 Corinthians 3:1-7)
As Christians we need to realize the extreme importance of testing what professing Christians say — and do — in light of Scripture. (Acts 17:11)
As Christians we need to keep in mind the many warnings in Scripture about spiritual deception and false teachers in the last days and how even from our own number men — and women — will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. (Acts 20:30)
I will be praying for Doreen to realize that Jesus Christ of the Bible knows the truth regarding her heart and her motives as well as what she truly believes about the alleged vision that she claims to have had on January 7th of 2017. He also knows why she now seems to be trying desperately to change her story. However, there is no good reason whatsoever for Doreen, a professing born-again Christian, to lie and to wrongly accuse Joshua Chavez of slander.
After watching some of Doreen’s videos it first appeared to me that she does seem to have a genuine and sincere desire to please God. I pray that is true, but honestly after watching her two latest videos I now have very serious concerns about her. If Doreen truly is a born-again Christian now, then I pray that out of a desire to live a life that is honoring to the Lord, she will take some time off from her YouTube ministry and go before the Lord and seek Him with all of her heart and do whatever needs to be done to make things right, all the while learning to trust Him even more. I also pray that she will come to the knowledge of the truth about the Biblical gospel and ask God’s forgiveness for placing her trust in experiences instead of in the finished work of Jesus Christ and the truth of His Word. I pray that many other Christians will pray for her, as well, instead of calling her horrible names in the comment section of these types of videos that allow for comments.
If you took the time to pray for discernment before reading this lengthy post and watching all of these videos, I pray that you now see the extreme importance of reading and studying God’s Word, constantly praying for discernment, and testing what every professing Christian says in light of Scripture so that you will never be deceived and led astray from Jesus Christ.
I am not wrongly judging Doreen by saying all that I did in this post. I, along with many other concerned Christians, simply tested what she has said and claims to have said against her own words that she has shared publicly. God’s Word shows us very clearly that there are times when we are to judge:
“Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24)
“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)
PLEASE REFLECT ON THESE SCRIPTURES
“You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars — all the heavenly array — do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has appointed to all the nations under heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:15-19)
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-3 – KJV)
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas ”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” 1 Corinthians 1:10-13)
“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:1-7)
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. “(2 Corinthians 11:13,14)
“In fact everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus I give you this charge, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage –with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 3:13-4:1-4)
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But a man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it –he will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22-25)
“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:22,23)
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:25-31)
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)
Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures above are from The Holy Bible New International Version® 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The Biblical Gospel
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:16-21 – KJV)
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36 – KJV)
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6 – KJV)
“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:8-12 – NIV)
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:10-26 – KJV)
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 – KJV)
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 – KJV)
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:1-6 – KJV)
“For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” (1 Timothy 4:10 – KJV)
“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7 – KJV)
“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9,10 – KJV)
All Scriptures above were found on biblehub.com
RELATED VIDEOS
Video that my friend and dear sister-in-Christ put together regarding this issue has now been taken down.
Doreen Virtue’s Dishonesty
Justin Peters’ response to Joshua Chavez’s original video posted on May 2020:
Joshua’s Video Responding To Doreen Virtue’s Video – Posted May 11, 2020:
UPDATE: Joshua’s video has now been removed – Quick capture of his video can be seen further below.
UPDATE: 7-17-2020 As you can see, YouTube reinstated Joshua’s second video, as well!
Here again is the link to a reupload of this original video by Joshua Chavez that has documented information about this whole very extremely troubling situation regarding Doreen Virtue:
5-16-2020 UPDATE: There is now another upload of the original video by Joshua Chavez on YouTube, as well:
CHRISTIAN WRITER AND SPEAKER, WARREN B SMITH, WHO WAS ONCE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE NEW AGE:
PLAYLIST – WARREN WARNS CHRISTIANS ABOUT THE NEW AGE AND APOSTASY
ANOTHER VERY BIBLICAL AND IMPORTANT PRESENTATION GIVEN BY WARREN B SMITH
UPDATE: 7-17-2020MY FINAL CLOSING COMMENTS:
After watching Joshua’s latest video that you can watch directly below, I must confess that I was wrong to say that Joshua was being unloving towards Doreen because of some of the things that he had said in his previous videos. When a professing Christian is in error and is teaching error, we are to rebuke them sharply as Jesus Himself did, and as many of the apostles did, as well!
Also, because of some documented evidence that Joshua shared in THIS VIDEO (entitled, ‘DISQUALIFIED,’ which I have also posted below) regarding Justin Peters, I no longer trust Justin Peters or believe all that he had said concerning what he knew about Doreen before he accepted his invitation to be her guest on her YouTube Channel. Although Justin Peters has done a wonderful job of exposing the many heretical teachings in the Word of Faith Movement, his soft spoken manner can be very misleading; we must always test everything against Scripture and the truth that is presented to us regardless of how we may feel about a person!
JOSHUA CHAVEZ – MOST PROFESSING CHRISTIANS WOULD HAVE HATED JESUS
UPDATE JULY 20, 2020 – VIDEOS – I DOCUMENT, YOU PRAY FOR DISCERNMENT AND DECIDE FOR YOURSELF
JOSHUA CHAVEZ – VIDEO POSTED JUNE 19, 2020
THE VIDEO BELOW IS JUSTIN PETERS’ RESPONSE TO JOSHUA’S ABOVE VIDEO – THIS VIDEO WAS POSTED ON JULY 10, 2020
[NOTE: JUST SO YOU KNOW, I DO NOT FOLLOW OR ENDORSE JACOB PRASCH WHOM JUSTIN SPEAKS OF AT ONE POINT IN THIS VIDEO.]
After watching Justin Peters’ above video, I must tell you that even though I completely reject his Reformed Theology, I now believe Justin’s explanation regarding the other e-mails that were sent to him warning him about Doreen Virtue and the reason he gave for why he did not see them.
DOREEN VIRTUE’S APOLOGY VIDEO THAT INCLUDES AN ANALYSIS OF HER VISION WITH GUEST, CHRIS ROSEBROUGH, CAN BE SEEN AT THE LINK BELOW. [IMPORTANT NOTE: Many years ago I shared some of Chris Rosebrough’s videos with you in some of my posts in which he analyzed the sermons of some professing Christian pastors and teachers, such as Steven Furtick, and at that point I saw some value in his ministry. However,I no longer endorse him due to some of the things that have come to my attention, such as him being a Lutheran pastor who preaches in front of a statue of Jesus.]
This will probably be my last update for you on this post. If you would like to know the latest, then check both Joshua’s and Justin’s YouTube channels as well as Doreen’s channel from time to time. However, I encourage you instead to earnestly pray for Joshua Chavez, Justin Peters, and especially for Doreen Virtue, because there are some serious issues regarding Doreen and her soon to be released book in which she still speaks about her alleged vision of Jesus. If she is now in doubt about her vision regarding if it was Jesus or a demon that she actually saw, one must ask this important question:
If she took down her video about her vision that was on her website as well as on her YouTube channel because she did not want her vision experience to be a stumbling block for anyone and she didn’t want to cause confusion, (see video entitled, ‘DOREEN ANSWERS FAQ’S at the link below the following quick capture), why then is she openly and boldly posting advertisements on her Facebook page for her new book that includes the account of her vision?
Although I am trying to be gracious towards Doreen and not judge her heart or her motives, as a Berean at heart (Acts 17:11) I see the need to bring the following information to your attention:
After listening to DOREEN VIRTUE’S VIDEO in which she reads her revised version of Chapter 9 of her new book, DeceivedNo More, and talks about her alleged vision of Jesus, here are some troubling things that you need to be aware of:
As I was listening to her read from Chapter 9, a few things that she wrote in this revised version sent red flags waving and alarm bells going off in my spirit. Beginning at the 14:12 minute mark until the 14:36 minute mark, you will hear Doreen say this:
“…when the demon tried to tempt me by appearing as Jesus, God melted the snow upon my heart and allowed the Biblical truth to finally penetrate my heart. These were legitimate epiphanies, a term which means insights that help you to suddenly realize a deep spiritual truth. You might say it’s like a divine download.”
The term divine download is a New Age term, and you can see some examples of this by clickingHERE
Starting at the 18:05 minute mark until the 18:35 minute mark of this same video, Doreen said the following:
“I did not identify as a sinner because I didn’t understand the nature and the gravity of sin. My false beliefs unraveled as I had this epiphany. It was like I could feel the extreme weight of humanity’s sins striking Jesus’ crucified body like agonizing arrows. Of course I felt only a fraction of the weight and the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross to save us, but this realization radically transformed my beliefs. “
It’s very troubling to see that Doreen chose to keep that mystical experience that she claimed to have had in her revised version of Chapter 9. It brings to mind the Catholic mystic, Teresa of Avila, who allegedly had visions of Jesus and she claimed to have been pierced in her heart by arrows, as well:
Then beginning at the 24:14 minute mark, Doreen gives examples of how those in the New Age “ascribe healing and divination properties to each type of crystal.” She then goes on to mention two certain crystals and the divination properties that are given to them by those in the New Age. IMHO, as a professing Christian, Doreen should not be sharing that type of occultic information to those who may be influenced by hearing something like that because it could easily lure some of her followers into dabbling in the occult! This is why it is so very important for Christians to not only be followers of Jesus Christ alone, but also why it is so very important for us as Christians to test everything in light of Scripture and to focus on the truth that is found in God’s Word alone and not on any experience that a professing Christian — or anyone — claims to have had! END OF UPDATE
UPDATE: August 24, 2020 After watching the two following videos I saw the need to add them to this post so that you all can be aware of the disturbing facts regarding Doreen that cannot be denied:
Thank you very much for stopping by today.
Please keep Doreen Virtue and this entire situation in prayer. Pray that the whole truth will be made known and that God will be glorified in and through all of this. And, although Joshua Chavez has brought forth a lot of troubling things, I do pray that he will learn not to be so harsh and cruel with his attitude and words and try to present the truth in a more loving manner.
I do sincerely pray for Doreen, because only God knows her heart and her motives.
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke – Living4HisGlory – Reflections Of His Glory Photography
Featured photo taken by Mary K Dalke – Reflections Of His Glory Photography
Scripture added to photo by Mary K Dalke using Pixlr X free online photo editor
UPDATE:
Due to the fact that I have taken the past few days to research and to write this post, it will probably be another two week or so before I am able to finish the next post in my present series, Comparing Scriptures In A Catholic New Testament Bible To Teachings Found In The Catechism Of The Catholic Church — Dear Catholic Are You Going To Believe The Word Of God, Or The Word Of Man? UPDATE: Already completed and posted.
As I quickly scrolled through some Facebook posts last Friday morning while I was eating my breakfast, my eyes suddenly froze out of concern as I saw a post that someone had shared which featured Dr. Mercola. I once had a deep appreciation for Dr. Mercola and his natural approach to health, and I even bought his Liposomal Vitamin C capsules last year at the vitamin store near me after listening to him rave about them in one of his videos. A short time later I decided to look through all of his other videos to see what else he had that would be helpful to me since I am trying to build my immune system up, and while doing so I came upon a video in which he was promoting yoga to relieve stress, which ended my desire to purchase any more of his vitamins.
It was this video, ‘Down to Earth,’ that I saw on Facebook in which Dr. Mercola was mentioned, as well as the New Age practice of connecting to the earth known as grounding (also known as earthing) that filled me with concern:
You will hear some rather compelling information presented by some people in the above video that even caused me to momentarily consider giving it a try, but it was only a passing thought which I quickly rejected!
I then decided to do some research on the woman in the video, Dr. Laura Koniver, to see if she promotes any New Age techniques in her practice, and came upon the following video (further below) that gives clear evidence to the fact that she does, thus showing that in spite of the alleged evidence given in the video that grounding is beneficial, grounding is indeed part of the New Age Movement and should be completely avoided!
Below you will see one quick capture that I took from the video further below. In the New Age/New Spirituality Movement it is quite common to hear the words of Jesus Christ, the great I AM, to be used as a mantra, to declare one’s so-called divinity, and as positive affirmations, such as you see in the picture below, which says:
I AM: powerful, rooted, safe, strong, I am divinely supported at all times.”
In the video below, Dr. Laura also goes into detail about “chakra energy” and explains the picture that she painted by saying some of the following:
“…and the best most healing (unknown word) you can do to support that is earthing, because we’re talking all the way down, as far as our soul can drop down into the body, at the very root, at the very core, and you’re dealing with just primal urges of being safe and being protected. And nothing supports you on an earthly level and supports your body to relax into that safety better than just connecting to the earth. So that’s what this woman is doing, she’s got her feet on the earth and this is the grounding energy flow that is supporting her from underneath…”
Even before one begins to watch the video below, the image above next to Dr. Laura presents one of the main messages of the New Age Movement, which is how “everything is interconnected.”
Christian author and speaker, Warren B Smith, who was once deeply involved in the NewAge Movement, emphasizes how the New Age Movement focuses on oneness and being connected in many of his presentations that he gives at Christian Conferences. When time allows, please consider listening to his following excellent two part presentation that he gave at the Last Days Bible Conference back in 2015 in which he warns how the New Age Movement is infiltrating the Church:
After watching the video on Facebook concerning the practice of grounding, I decided to do some research on the other speakers in the video, and found the following information:
Dr. Stephen Sinatra
Clint Ober and Gaetan Chevalier
Clint Ober promotes yoga:
Clint Ober and Gaetan Chevalier are both promoted by the Chopra Center:
Another person whom I have noticed recently who promotes this practice and who seems to be quite popular on Facebook is David Wolfe. Here is some information on him:
Benefits of Earthing & Grounding
David Wolfe Yoga, Harbor Island, Bahamas
For those of you who are still unaware of the reasons why many Christians are against the practice of yoga, I urge you to please watch this video when time allows. If you do, you will quickly come to realize that the practice of yoga cannot be separated from its religious Hinduistic roots:
The Gospel According to Yoga
(Note: This is not an endorsement of Truthxchange)
IN CLOSING
As important as it is for us as Christians to read and to study the Bible so that we will know God’s Word very well and so that we will be able to discern truth from error, it is also very important for us to pray for discernment and to become aware of the many spiritually deceptive New Age practices that are being presented not only by health practitioners, but also at so-called “Bible studies” presented at many churches these days through books written by teachers such as Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer who teach women how to hear God speak, as well as through Spiritual Formation classes that teach similar things, such as Silent Prayer and Contemplative Prayer.
When Jesus’ disciples questioned Him concerning what the signs would be of His return and the end of the age, Jesus chose to focus on deception first:
“He replied, “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” (Luke 21:8,9)
Some Christians seem to think that we can never be deceived, but if that’s true, Jesus would not have warned His disciples about the possibility of being deceived. That’s why praying for spiritual discernment is also very important, as well as ‘not being ignorant of Satan’s devices.’ (2 Corinthians 2:11)
Truly we are living at a time where spiritual deception is at an all time high, and oftentimes it is being welcomed into the church with opened arms! Please don’t be among the many who are being deceived! Be sure to ‘examine the Scriptures daily to see if what is being said (and done by every pastor and teacher that you listen to) is true.’ (Acts 17:11) If you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ, then you will reject those things that do not line up with Scripture and you will choose to walk in the truth.
RELATED SCRIPTURES
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:13-20)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” (2 Peter 2:1)
“Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:26-31)
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)
“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:1-24)
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:6-9)
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)
Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
Welcome to another post in the series of posts that I have entitled, Warning You With Tears Wednesdays. Lord willing, at least once a month on Wednesdays I will be writing and sharing one of these posts with you so that I can make you all aware of some important information that I come across on the Internet that you may not have heard about.
Since I knew that I would soon be starting a new part-time job (and I did in June) and that my free time would then be somewhat limited, I was trying to think of something that I could write on a regular basis that would be short and to the point (at least that was my intention). And since I am a detective-at-heart and desire to make you all aware of the importance of testing things that pastors and teachers say (and do) in light of Scripture (Acts 17:11), the idea to do these posts — as well as the name — came to my mind in November of 2014, based on Acts 20:26-31:
“For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.”
So with all of that in mind, here is what I’d like to share with you in today’s WARNING YOU WITH TEARS WEDNESDAY:
1) For those of you who appreciated the in-depth information thatElliottNeschpresented in his three hour expanded video version ofChurch of Tares, here it is again. I’m mainly posting it for those of you who have not even seen the original shorter version. When time allows, please watch this video. It’s well worth your time, especially if you have many valid concerns about certain changes that you have been noticing taking place in your church:
2) The following very well written article by Pamela Couvrette of GUARDING THE DEPOSITties in perfectly with the above video:
5) Have you seen some of the videos that are warning about all the things that are supposed to happen in this month of September 2015, such as this one?
Well, HERE’San article by Gaylene Goodroad of Herescope in which she shares information about David James’ book entitled, Biblical Guide To The Shemitah and the Blood Moons that will at least ‘demystify the popular prophecies about Jewish Sabbaths and blood moons.’
Remember, those of us who are true followers of Jesus Christ are not to fear the future, but to place our complete trust in the fact that God is in control. Just “make the most of every opportunity” that you get to share God’s love and forgiveness with whomever you have the opportunity to talk with.
6) Now that school is back in session again, here are a few warnings for all of you with children and grandchildren, etc., so that you can be aware of what is taking place in many schools today! I have shared some information with you on these topics in the past, but in case you missed it, these are things that you all truly need to be aware of:
HERE you will find many links to articles on Lighthouse Trails Research concerning the dangerous New Age/Buddhist practice of Mindfulness Meditation and how it’s making its way into many schools today.
You can also read another article on Mindfulness by Marcia Montenegro of Christian Answers For The New Age:
Many schools are now presenting Common Core Curriculum to your children. If you are not aware of the controversy about Common Core and what is in this curriculum, please be sure to watch this video when time allows:
7) HEREis a very disturbing story from LifeSite News that may make you want to become a vegetarian, or, at the least, boycott certain companies. I suggest that you eat your breakfast, lunch, or dinner first before reading it. Above all, please pray!
8) After taking a much needed break in order to “maintain his sanity,” Glenn Chatfield, who is the author at THE WATCHMAN’S BAGPIPES posted his latest installment of his review on Gail Riplinger’s book, New Age Bible Versions a couple of weeks ago. If you haven’t read it yet, you can read it HERE.
9) And just as I was getting ready to publish this post, I was notified that Glenn Chatfield posted his newest article in his series entitled, RANDOM ABERRATIONS APOSTASIES AND HERESIES. So I’m sharing it with you now even before I get the chance to read it. You can become informed about the many things that Glenn wants to make you aware of by clicking rightHERE.
10) If you are a born-again Christian who has placed your trust in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, and the day comes when your faith is tested, and your job may even be on the line, will you still continue to take a stand for Jesus Christ and Biblical truth like Kim Davis has? HERE’S HER STATEMENT THAT WAS RECENTLY RELEASED.Please take a few minutes to pray for her. When things like this happen, we have to remember that it’s a spiritual battle we’re fighting. (Ephesians 6:10-18)
“Finally be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take a stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
Thank you for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
DANGER!! This is NOT a game!! (I ‘quick captured’ this image from the video that I posted below).
All of us, in one way or another, embark on a search to satisfy that spiritual part of us. Those who have a desire to know the future may begin by reading their horoscopes in the newspaper, or seeking out a fortune teller thinking they can tell them what lies ahead for them. Others may become involved in paganism or witchcraft, desiring power over circumstances and people, possibly because of cruel and abusive people they may have had to deal with in life. Then there are others who may begin to dabble in the occult by simply starting to read books or watching movies filled with witchcraft and vampires, such as the ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Twilight’ series, or by delighting in the celebration Halloween.
What is it about the dark side of the supernatural that entices many of us and draws us in? Unaware of the real danger and bondage that awaits us, many of us attempt to contact a loved one who has died and is now on ‘the other side’ by taking part in seances and ‘playing’ with Ouija Boards thinking these practices are just “harmless fun.” So, with all of that in mind, I’d like to share some experiences with you that I had to make you aware of the real danger that you are opening yourselves up to, as well as sharing many of the clear warnings in Scripture with you that God put there for us concerning these types of practices so that we would not be led astray by them.
The first thing that began to entice me into the supernatural realm was a seemingly harmless birthday gift that I received when I was around nine or ten years old. It was a Magic 8 Ball (pictured below); a black plastic ball filled with a clear liquid as well as an object that had words written on each angled section, such as, “Yes,” “Yes definitely,” “No,” “Most likely,” “Ask again later,” “Without a doubt,” “Reply hazy, try again,” “Don’t count on it,” and “My reply is no.” You would ask a question and shake the ball, and the angled object with the answers would float up to the top where there was a round clear plastic window and you could then read the supposed answer to your questions that came from the ‘spirit world.’
I ‘quick captured’ the picture above from a video on YouTube.
Though it seems harmless at first glance, this 8 Ball peaked my interest in knowing the future and led me to the next dangerous level into the world of the occult with just a little apprehension –‘playing’ with a ‘Ouija Board’ (pictured at the very top of this post, as well as below) with my friends at a sleepover. (Parents, be warned! This may still be a popular thing to do at sleepovers, so please tell your children not to ‘play’ this so-called ‘game’ that can be purchased at many toy stores, even today — including a pink one and this Hello Kitty version! A definite example of evil cloaked in cuteness!
EXPERIENCE #1
If I remember correctly, I was around ten or eleven years old, and so were my two best friends at the time, Kim and Barb, when this incident happened. We were having a sleepover at Kim’s house and we decided to play with her Ouija Board. The way to play this ‘game’ is simple; two or more people gently rest their fingertips on the rather triangular shaped plastic disc that sits on the ‘game’ board that has letters and numbers on it, as well as the words, ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ and ‘Good Bye.’ Each person takes a turn asking the ‘board’ a question. Almost instantly, the disc begins to answer the question by moving quickly from letter to letter, spelling out words. I remember feeling a strong force guiding the disc as it moved around the board spelling out the answers to our questions. The best way I can describe this force to you is to say that it’s very similar to the magnetic force you can feel when you try to hold two magnets together and they repel one another. Sometimes the disc would go directly to the ‘yes,’ or ‘no’ on the board, and at other times it would actually spell out the name of someone, or answer our questions with a short reply. I remember we asked questions about the boys we liked and our future husbands, and if we would have children, but thankfully I don’t remember anything at all concerning what was ‘revealed’ to me. Some people who have asked the Ouija Board questions concerning their future sadly chose to commit suicide because of the frightening information they were given concerning what supposedly was ahead for them.
The thing that may have kept me and my friends — and that also may be keeping others — from realizing the true supernatural source of where these answers are coming from, is the fact that since two or more people have to rest their fingertips on the plastic disc, both, or all of the people playing this ‘game’ keep thinking that the other person is the one who is moving the disc to spell out the answers, and the following advertisement for the Ouija Board makes that message quite clear:
Even though I truly do not remember any of the answers we were given, I clearly remember what happened one time when my curiosity got the best of me: I said out loud to my friends, “I wonder what would happen if I keep my eyes closed after I ask it a question?” And I soon found out! The disc began to move wildly around the board with a strong, almost uncontrollable force! My friends told me that it was unable to spell out any words that made sense! That was possibly the last time that I played with a Ouija Board!
Looking back on that experience now as a true follower of Jesus Christ who has repented of these occult practices and all of my other sins, and who has the awareness of the many warnings in Scripture on the occult, I believe that when a person ‘plays’ this ‘game,’ they are giving demonic spirits an invitation to enter them, and that these spirits are actually using their eyes to guide the disc around the board which would explain why the disc began to move furiously and chaotically around the board and was unable to spell out any actual messages that made sense when I had my eyes closed. Please do not attempt to play this game or others similar to this seeking to have a supernatural experience! All you will encounter will be deceiving spirits who will lead you astray, put you in bondage, use you, and then attempt to destroy you!
Below is a video I recently found when searching for information to add to this post, which features Larry Wessels of CAnswers and his guest, Dr. Edmund C. Gruss, author of the book, ‘ The Ouija Board, A Doorway To The Occult.’ In this video Edmund Gruss not only shares the history of this ‘game,’ but also shares many stories of what happened to others who ‘played’ this ‘game.’ Larry Wessels also shares some of the many Scriptures that can be found in God’s Word warning us about the occult. I also posted many Scriptures below for you concerning the occult in case you are not aware of them.
EXPERIENCE #2
We moved to another house right before I started High School, and two of my sisters and I slept in the attic. I shared the room at the top of the stairs with my younger sister, and my older sister had the adjoining room to herself. When my brothers, sisters, and I first toured the house before we actually moved in, I noticed that something was written on the floor boards at the top of the stairs. The message was, “Do not move Pete Busby.” I jokingly said to my sisters, “What, is Pete Busby buried under there?” We all laughed.
There was a bi-fold door that opened to a storage space that ran behind the walls next to my younger sister’s bed and behind mine, a small bookcase that opened to reveal more storage space in my older sister’s room, and another opening to reveal more storage space behind the wall near the top of the stairs. I was afraid to go in any of those storage spaces, but I remember that my younger sister enjoyed going in the one by her bed and would sit in there and read. She began reading books on witchcraft and out of body experiences, and I started reading books about UFO encounters and ‘automatic writing;’ the occult practice of sitting quietly with pen in hand and waiting for the ‘spirits’ to ‘speak to you’ by moving your hand in order to write messages to you from the ‘spirit world.’ As hard as I tried, my attempts to receive messages from the spirit world proved unsuccessful. (Thank God!)
I’d like to stop here for a moment in order to point out the fact that this practice is being promoted in Christian circles today by Sarah Young. In her book, ‘Jesus Calling,’ she shares how she began hearing from God is this same way, and that she first learned about this from reading the book, ‘God Calling.’ Below is a quick capture from a portion of an interview she did on the 700 Club:
If you’d like to read more about Sarah Young and her ‘JESUS CALLING‘ devotional and the concerns that many Christians have about it, you can read one of my previous posts I wrote concerning all of this, >HERE<
Now, back to my story:
I don’t remember how long we were living in this house before this incident first took place, or how long this continued, but here is what happened:
My sisters and I were all in bed and the lights were out. I was beginning to fall asleep, when all of a sudden my mattress began to gently move up and down as if someone was under my bed pushing up on the mattress. I was facing the wall to my left, and in my half asleep voice I mumbled to my younger sister who was on my right, “Eileen, stop shaking my bed!” She mumbled with her half asleep voice and said, “I’m not shaking your bed.” When she said those words I could tell she was facing the other way, and I froze in fear as terror came over me when I realized that it wasn’t my sister who was moving my bed!
This happened night after night, and I had to sleep with a night light on after that first night, because, needless to say, I was terrified! No one in my family believed me when I told them what was happening, so I faced this continuous living nightmare alone. I don’t know what was worse; the fact that no one believed me, or going through this extremely frightening experience of having my mattress moving up and down, night after night!
Besides praying through the night, the best I knew how at the time, the only other thing I did that I believe helped me keep my sanity was this: I would hold my hand out (under the covers, of course) and pretend Jesus was holding my hand, keeping me safe through the terrors of the night. When I became a Christian, I came across this verse one day:
“For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear, I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13)
In a sense, I truly believe He was holding my hand!
After I got married and moved out, the older of my two brothers moved upstairs in the attic and he slept in my older sister’s room who got married and moved out a few years before I did. His stories of what went on in his room are far more frightening than mine! He told me that one night the bookcase creaked opened and he heard a voice hissing and a force coming towards him. He said he pulled the covers over his head and didn’t move until morning! He also told me that one night he saw the sliding closet doors in his room begin to open, and he saw hairy hands coming out of the closet. He told me that he was terrified, but again, he just pulled the covers over his head and laid there until morning.
Many years later my mom admitted to me that she believed me when I told her what was happening in my room, but that she didn’t want to say anything. She told me that she also witnessed frightening things happening upstairs. She said that sometimes when she would go upstairs, things would fly off shelves and dressers and come towards her and barely miss hitting her, and would hit the wall, instead. She also told me that there were times when she would bring stacks of clean clothes upstairs so she could put them away, and the clothes would suddenly disappear!
Around five years ago, I was reunited with my childhood friends, Kim and Barb. Two years ago we decided to take a trip down memory lane; we drove into the city and drove by all the homes we once lived in, and I saw that house again. I can’t help but wonder if the people who now live there have a few terrifying stories of their own to tell!
As a Christian looking back on all of this now, I believe that since I was clearly involved in occult practices, (as well as my younger sister who read her occult books, and my older sister who went to a fortune teller), that we were inviting demonic spirits into our home. These demonic spirits may possibly have already been there from the previous people who lived there and who possibly were also involved in occult practices. I do not believe that ghosts of deceased people haunt houses, because God’s Word clearly says otherwise. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8, Philippians 1:21-24, Hebrews 9:27) God’s Word tells us about deceiving spirits and demons and spiritual deception, so please be warned! There is no such thing as ‘white magic’ or ‘good spells.’ They all come from the same source –Satan and his demons.
And now that brings me to my next subject:
HALLOWEEN
As a child, I thoroughly enjoyed Halloween! I’d dress up in costumes, have Halloween parties in school, and after school I would go trick-or-treating door to door receiving candy from all my neighbors, and nearby businesses, as well. But after I became a Christian, six months later my first Bible Study teacher shared with us the many occultic roots of Halloween. When I learned the true meanings behind all the traditions such as wearing costumes, witches, skeletons, black cats, broomsticks, jack-o-lanterns, going trick-or-treat, and that there are actual human sacrifices that take place on Halloween, and that in September and October police reports reveal that the cases for missing children are at their highest, and that Halloween is considered to be one of two of the most important holidays to pagans and witches, I realized then that there was no way that I could continue to celebrate Halloween, or allow my children to go trick-or-treating any longer. That first Halloween after learning the truth, I shared with my children what Halloween is truly about, but I did take them because I decided to try and turn that day around a little; we handed out ‘treats’ to the people at the houses we went to –tracts sharing God’s love and forgiveness in an attempt to use Halloween as an opportunity to witness to our neighbors and to bring glory to God. But over the year to come I came under strong conviction, and after again explaining the truth in love with my daughter (my son was still to young to understand) about Halloween, I did not take them trick-or-treating any more.
From that point on when Halloween would come, I made the most of this opportunity; knowing that many children would be coming to our door on this one day a year, we would not only give each child the candy they were expecting, but they also received a tract that shared God’s love for them and revealed a little information about the true meaning behind Halloween, and a pencil inscribed with a message. The young children were given pencils that said, “Smile, Jesus loves you,” and the older children received pencils that said, “When you think that no one cares, God does.” I hoped and prayed that God would use the truth of His Word in these tracts to plant a seed in not only the heart of each child, but I also prayed that the parents would be touched by the love of God when they would read the tracts and see the pencils their children would bring home.
I was planning on typing out many of the traditions of Halloween and the occultic meanings behind them, but since my free time is so very limited at this point, I decided instead to post a few videos for you that has all of this information. This way it will save you time, as well; because your life is probably as hectic as mine is, instead of reading even more information than what I have already shared with you, you will be able to listen to these informative videos while you work around the house.
CAROL KORNACKI, FORMER WITCH WHO IS NOW A CHRISTIAN
IN CLOSING — FROM MY HEART TO YOURS
One day Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, will return. And He may be coming very soon! Will you be ready?
In this world there is a battle raging for our souls. You can be very religious, and go to church every Sunday, but still end up being lost for all eternity. You can only become a child of God by:
1) Realizing you are a sinner in the eyes of a completely Holy God
2) Receiving the only provision that God has made to remove the full debt of our sins, which was sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to live the sinless, perfect life that we could never live so that He could die in our place; Jesus took the full wrath of God that was intended for us upon Himself, and satisfied God’s wrath towards us because of our sins.
3) Repenting of our sins by turning from them with a deep sense of sorrow in our heart for what we have done, and turning to God and choosing to live for Him by glorifying Him with our lives, not to earn our salvation, but to show our love and appreciation for what He has done for us.
SCRIPTURES FOR YOU TO REFLECT ON
“Do not allow a sorceress to live. Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed.” (Exodus 22:18,20)
“Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the name of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.” (Exodus 23:13)
“When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing and bring them to me. So all the people took off their earrings and brought them toAaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.” So thenext day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, because your people whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have become quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it andsacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up out of Egypt.’ (Exodus 32:1-8)
“Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood — I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.” (Leviticus 17:10-12)
“Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 18:21)
“Do not practice divination or sorcery.” (Leviticus 19:26b)
“Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:31)
“I will set My face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Keep My decrees and follow them; I am the LORD, who makes you holy.” (Leviticus 20:6-8)
“A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.” (Leviticus 20:27)
“You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore, watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars — all the heavenly array — do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.” (Deuteronomy 4:15-19)
“Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.” (Deuteronomy 4:39)
“Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn theirAsherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put His Name there for His dwelling.” (Deuteronomy 12:2-5)
“If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and Him you must revere.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4a)
“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you willdispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:9-15)
“The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.” You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:17-22)
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
“In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an evil spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, “Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are–the Holy One of God!” “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw him to the ground before them all without injuring him. All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching? With authority and power He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!” “Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Christ.” (Luke 4:33-36,41)
“If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31,32)
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
“Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.” (Acts 16:16-19)
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:22-28a)
“Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. (note: a drachma was a silver coin worth about a day’s wages). In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” (Acts 19:13-20)
“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:25-31)
“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. “God will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” (Romans 2:5-8)
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)”
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:8-11)
“Finally , be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:10-17)
“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:5,6)
“The Spirit clearly says that in the later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1)
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:2-4)
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:11-14)
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27)
“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think that Scripture says without reason that the Spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But He gives us more grace. This is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up.” (James 4:4-10)
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may life you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (1 Peter 5:6-9a)
“The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood — idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20-21)
“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur,where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14,15)
“He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Revelation 21:6-8)
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” (Revelation 22:14,15)
Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible New International Version® 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Once again, I’d like to share with you that if you are seeking to ‘experience God’ or the ‘supernatural,’ through these types of practices, you will only find yourself being deceived and eternally lost. You will find no greater love, and no real truth or real life until you come to know God’s love and truth that can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ, the Living Word, and in His written Word, the Bible. I challenge you to begin reading in the Gospel of John, and in the book of Romans and Ephesians, and ask God to reveal His love and truth to you.
Even though as a Christian you will still continue to face trials and struggles in life, His love is a love that will not disappoint. And unlike others who may have failed to keep their promise to love you forever, He will never break His promise; He will never leave or forsake you. You will find His grace and strength to be sufficient if you truly place your trust in Him, and He will work all things together for good –no matter what life may bring your way!
Thank you for stopping by! And thank you very much for taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems!
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory
RELATED READING:
‘MY TESTIMONY: FROM FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY TO PEACE AND ASSURANCE — HOW GOD REVEALED THE TRUTH TO ME AS I WAS READING A CATHOLIC NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE’ CLICK HEREIF YOU’D LIKE TO READ ALL THREE PARTS
(PLEASE CONSIDER TAKING TIME TO READ THE COMMENTS THE CHILDREN MAKE ON THIS VIDEO)
POST UPDATED OCTOBER 2, 2017 7:40 P.M. ADDED VIDEO ‘FOR MY MORMON FRIENDS – WHY NO MORE TEMPLES?‘ WILL ADD A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION CONCERNING MORMONISM WHEN TIME ALLOWS.
I am sure many of you who have children have at some time seen the SCHOLASTIC Reading selection of books that your child would bring home from school. When my children were young they would choose innocent books such as ‘ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN, CHILD DETECTIVE’ and ‘AMELIA BEDELIA.’ Now, however, starting this fall there will be a new series that will become a part of Scholastic Reading:
‘SPIRIT ANIMALS’
If you’d like to read Chapter One of‘SPIRIT ANIMALS: WILD BORN’in it’s entirety, and make acomment as well, you can do so>HERE.<
Now I must admit that there were occult themed books in the SCHOLASTIC reading selections back when my children were young, as well, but being fully aware of the dangers of the occult because of what I dabbled in when I was young and not yet a Christian, I never allowed my children to read or watch anything of that nature so as to protect them from being lured into the occult as I had been. (I may at some point in time write about that, so as to make you aware of some of the dangers, as well as the many warnings in Scripture that I will definitely be adding to this post as I continue).
I know that there will be some of you out there who will say that I am “overreacting to this,” and that “this series is harmless fantasy,” and “if it causes a child to become interested in reading, then it will be a good thing,” etc. I do commendSCHOLASTIC for their effort and even their success in developing a child’s interest in reading. Their motto is ‘Read Every Day. Leada Better Life.’ However, here are some videos for you that I pray will cause you to stop and think again and become concerned, and maybe even express your concerns to SCHOLASTIC and to your schools, as well. But before I do, here is the link to the article written by Berit Kjos that I first found posted at STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH! —‘SNARED BY THE RISING EVIL’
HERE’S A ‘QUICK CAPTURE’ OF A PORTION OF THAT ARTICLE:
First I’ll start with a video of an interview with SCHOLASTIC author, Brandon Mull about the ‘SPIRIT ANIMALS‘ series :
I seriously hesitate to even post the following video thinking that I may possibly influence someone to become involved with this occult practice, but here is just one example of the many videos your child will see at the side bar if he/she watches a video about the seemingly innocent ‘SPIRIT ANIMALS.’ In this video, Steve Farmer talks about how to tap into the ‘energy of the earth’ and the ‘life force’ of ‘spirit animals,’ as well. I pray you will come to realize the spiritual/religious/ ‘new age’ agenda that is at work here through something so attractive and appealing as the new series, ‘SPIRIT ANIMALS.’
The passage of Scripture that came to mind as I prayed and cautiously watched the video above, is this one:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–His eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts became darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator –who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:18-24)
…because if you listened to what he said, you can clearly hear the religious/spiritual/occultic spirit that permeates his words.
The other videos your child will find to watch in the side bar on YouTube if they see the ‘SPIRIT ANIMALSSERIES TRAILER’ or one similar to it, are videos such as:“Messages From Your Animal SpiritGuides – Review by NewAge.com – Tarot and Oracle Cards.” Or, “How to Find Your Power Animal | Wicca,” or “TotemTuesday – Finding Your Power Animal.” Can you now see the spiritual danger this new series poses to your child? They also have a website where a child can go and find out what their ‘SPIRIT ANIMAL’ is! (Which I will not share here).
I want to take the time now to express my sincere and deep appreciation to ‘STAND UP FOR THETRUTH!’ for bringing this information concerningSPIRIT ANIMALS tothe attention of all their readers by warning about this on their website! –Thank you very much!
And now I am bringing it to your attention, my dear readers. I am warning you because I care, and see it as my responsibility before God to make you aware of this so that you might become informed of the genuine occult agenda that is — at this very moment — at work to not only lure your child into the occult, but also seeking to ultimately remove any Biblical teaching you have so faithfully tried to plant into the heart and mind of your child, as God’s Word shows us to do.
SCRIPTURES AND SOME STRONG WORDS
CONCERNING THE OCCULT
“Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God. The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess . But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. (My Note:Yoga/Christoga and ‘contemplative prayer’ come to mind here). They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. (My Note: Abortion could be the modern day equivalent to that). See that you do all that I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:28-32)
“If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow othergods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,”you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testingyou to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way of the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. If your very own brother, or your son or your daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods,” (gods that neither you nor your ancestorshave known, gods of the people around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other,) do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid and no one among you will do such an evil thing again.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-11)
(Although God does not command or condone killing for those reasons today because of His mercy and patience, (Titus 3:5, 1 Peter 1:3, 2 Peter 3:9) and because Jesus took the full wrath that God has towards us because of our sins upon Himself when He gave His life for us on the cross, His warnings should still be heeded and not ignored!)
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. They will turn their ears away from the truth, and turnaside tomyths.” (2 Timothy 4:3,4)
And lest you think that there is not a rise in paganism and mythology today, you have only to look at some of the books as well as videos on the same subject that are very popular today, such as this one:
(Didn’t find the exact video that I saw before, but the following one makes my point just as well). First, to start off with, Doug and Joe Hagman (father and son) open this video by introducing Steve Quayle’s book, ‘GENESIS 6GIANTS’ by saying in part:
“What if everything you had been taught about ancient history turned out to be almost 100% …we’ll say 90% false…what if you found out that the myths, the legends of old were based on voluminous archaeological and skeletal finds that detail an alternate explanation and filled in the question marks and gaps in explaining true history. …”Genesis 6 will make you question who keeps the truth hidden and why.”
Steve Quayle — a professing Christian — tells us some of the following beginning at 2 minutes and 33 seconds into the video:
“…every day there are new reports breaking out all over the world…supernatural events …people seeing signs in the sun, moon, and stars…falling stars that are falling directly perpendicular to the earth…people…watching stargates opening up…”
“Let me share this. I got my first introduction of this by revelation…” “I think God in His mercy…He gives us 2 sets of scales we obviously have the conscience which is a set of scales on our hearts which we measure what’s right and what’s wrong…and then the scale over our eyes…most Christians are blind to spiritual truths because number one the pastors don’t know how to teach this stuff…but 99% of the Christian church will not teach what I’m going to teach tonight.” (My Note: Maybe for good reason!)
Steve then shares what a pastor friend of his said to him:
“The other night in prayer the Lord said, “It’s time, David, for you to start looking into this because I’m going to give yourevelation.”
And the key word is…“Revelation.” There is a move today in so-called “Christianity” that says, “God gives new revelation today.” Another person who presents this would be Beth Moore, who told those in attendance at Passion 2012 to:
“….pause and be still and ask Jesus to speak His Word to us.”
And Louie Giglio did that as well when he asked those in the audience at Passion 2012:
“How many of you heard the voice of God speak specifically, clearly, directly, and personally to you?”
You can read more and watch the video on my post here>>‘PASSION 2013 CONFERENCE — WILLTHERE BE MORE MYSTICISM?’(NOTE: JUST FOUND OUT THE VIDEOS I ORIGINALLY POSTED ARE NOW ‘PRIVATE’ AND CAN NO LONGER BE SEEN, SO I POSTED ANOTHER ONE, AS WELL AS ONE THAT WILL EXPLAIN ALL OF THIS TO YOU).
In the following video series, Steve Quayle quotes many passages from extra biblical books: the Book of Enoch, the Forgotten Books of Eden, and The Book of Giants. Even though he makes it clear that these books are not to be put on the same level as Scripture, he attempts to make it so by first declaring that “God” gave all this information to him (and his pastor friend) and then by quoting from those books. And at the 12 min. and 35 second mark in the video, Steve says:
“Years and years ago, almost 40 years ago, the Lord said, “Steve, I want to teach you the roots of evil so you don’t deal just strictly with the fruit of evil. If you only deal with the fruit of evil you miss theroot of evil.” So basically it’s basic uh, God teaching me how to help these other kids.”
And when a person claims to get “revelation from God” then we dare not question them or test them against Scripture, right? Wrong!! (Acts 17:11) (1 Thessalonians 5:21,22)
In another similar video that I watched, Steve Quayle encourages people to go to his web site and read what he posted concerning the ‘ancient texts,’ (such as the Book of Enoch, the Book of Giants, and the Forgotten Books of Eden) and says how ‘these books talk about and show the very nature and character of God.’ Well, I don’t know about you, but I believe God’s Word, the Bible, is all we need to read so that we can clearly come to know the nature and character of God! The information he shares in his videos are bizarre to say the least, and even though I do believe that many of the UFO sightings are demonic in nature, his ideas go beyond, and even contrary to Scripture. See what you think:
Below is a link to an article on the subject that you can read on HERESCOPE
When I began to see many videos surfacing on YouTube concerning ‘the return of ‘the Nephilim’ and on those who teach that these ‘sons of God’ found in Genesis 6:1-4 are fallen angels and that ‘they intermingled with women and produced a race of hybrids,’ I found the information to be very disturbing and unbiblical.
Here’s the passage of Scripture where this teaching supposedly comes from:
“Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them. that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they too wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the LORD said, My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:1-4)
You know that feeling you get when you know what you’re hearing is not Biblical, and the red flags are continually popping up, and certain Scriptures come to mind, but you don’t quite know where to go to find information written by a solid Bible believing Christian who ‘rightly handles the Word of God’ (2 Timothy 2:15) that will confirm what you’re thinking?
Well, thankfully, in my search to find some Biblically sound information to refute these teachings, I finally came upon some. Please consider reading the following article I found on the HERESCOPEwebsite that exposes these popular teachings written by men such as Steve Quayle, Tom Horn, Chris Putnam, and others. Sadly, their teachings are being embraced by many Christians today. Now, more than ever before, we need to read and study God’s Word so we are not led into deception!
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16)
In order to try and tie this all together so you can see the connection between ‘Spirit Animals’ and the occult, and the rise of mythology, and the attempt going on by some to distort certain passages of Scripture, I found this article by Sandy Simpson, entitled: THE THIRD WAVE “NEW APOSTOLICREFORMATION” in which he explains the “heretical doctrines and ideas that have fused together to form the teachings of the movement.”
I realize the print is quite small in the “quick capture” above, so I will post it for you below:
“Spiritism includes trans-mediums, New Age channeling, Edgar Cayse, seances, and Ouija. This form of occultism would also include Satanic groups that worship Satan and who attempt to gain supernatural power by contacting, worshiping, or appeasing Satan and his demons. The occult practice of Spiritualism (Spiritism) is given a new name in the New Age Channeling or trance channeling. Spirit beings, “ascended masters,” deceasedhumans,or animal spirits allegedly communicate important messages by temporarily entering the body and controlling the voice of a host(channel or medium). Most channelers give the same basic message, man is God.” (The Watchman Expositor, Index of Cults, 1997, http://www.watchman.org/cat953htm (Emphasis inlavenderis mine).
Something for all of you to think and pray about.
The occult is on the rise. All you have to do is take a look at the many t.v. programs and movies that are popular today and you will see this is true. Look at the success of Harry Potter books and movies that are filled with occult practices, though some would still choose to strongly disagree and call it ‘fantasy.’
Even though this may seem to be off of the subject of ‘Spirit Animals,‘ here’s Part 1 of 2 of ‘HARRY POTTER: WITCHCRAFT REPACKAGED.’ The information in this video series will clearly make my point of how children are being seduced and indoctrinated into the occult.
Starting at the 19:26 minute mark, it speaks of ‘shape changing,‘ –the concept of changing into an animal, which again, points out the occult connection with ‘SPIRIT ANIMALS.’
And to top it all off, if you didn’t notice it in the first ‘quick capture’ I posted above, in Part 2 of this video series, you will hear them say (beginning at the 22:14 minute mark), that SCHOLASTICInc., is the publisher of the Harry Potter series; they eagerly secured the publishing rights of Harry Potter, supplying the Harry Potter series to all schools!
**ADDED 11/15/13** INFORMATION REFUTING THE MANY UNBIBLICAL TEACHINGS THAT ARE SADLY BEING EMBRACED BY MANY CHRISTIANS TODAY, SUCH AS ‘THE NEPHILIM’
True believers will repent and renounce occultic practices:
“Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas (note: drachma -silver coin worth about a day’s wages). In this way the Word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” (Acts 19:18-20)
Those who reject God’s clear warnings in His Word and choose to become involved in sorcery and witchcraft, are in rebellion. And concerning rebellion, God’s Word says:
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:23)
“But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3)
“He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Revelation 21:6-8)
All that to say: Sin starts out gradually leading one astray. Something so seemingly cute and innocent as ‘SPIRIT ANIMALS’ could one day be the cause of leading your child away from Christ and into occult bondage. I end with this strong warning from God’s Word, the Bible:
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
**UPDATED 8/13/14** IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
As I was searching for information to help a young reader of the ‘Spirit Animals’ book series who commented on this post hoping she would then clearly see the valid concerns many of us as Christians have about these books, I came across some information concerning the author, Brandon Mull, that I wasn’t aware of when I first wrote this post. I believe what I am about to share with you will raise the level of concerns that many of us who are Christians already have about this series, and hopefully open the eyes of those who think these books are just “harmless fantasy” which encourages children to read, and I will also point out a possible ulterior motive that Brandon Mull may have for writing these books. I can’t judge his heart, but when I found this information I knew I now had the responsibility of sharing this information with all of you so you could be well informed and extremely cautious if you were considering allowing your children to read these books.
First, I found the following information that clearly points out the fact that Brandon Mull is a Mormon who also attended BYU, a university owned and operated by the LDS church, and he “served an LDS (Latter-day Saints) mission in Chile.”
I am sure that Brandon is probably a very nice person as many Mormons are. However, it’s possible that he may be incorporating some of his Mormon beliefs into his writings and leading many children astray. If some of you are not aware of what the Mormon religion teaches, please watch the following video:
Next, I decided to check his website. And, as you can see from the ‘quick capture’ below which was taken from the section entitled, “Live Twitter Interview and Live UStream Q&A,” which took place in March 18th, 2010, I found him encouraging his fans to follow him on Twitter. You can also see him telling his fans in Step 5 to “follow Mormon Times,” which clearly goes beyond simply talking about his books!
Then I decided to check out ‘Mormon Times’ on Twitter to read their description. And as you can see, this was set up “for and about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”(SOURCE)
So why is Brandon Mull telling his fans to follow ‘Mormon Times’ if it’s not to lead them into the Mormon church? I can think of no other reason. Can you??
Parents be aware of what your children are reading! Take time to do some research on the authors of the books as well as the messages of the books your children are interested in reading to see if you find people expressing their concerns over the contents of these books.
IN CLOSING
I will end with the following ‘quick capture’ from a portion of Berit Kjos’ article entitled, ‘Snared by the Rising Evil,‘ as well as more Scriptures, and videos concerning Mormonism:
In part, Berit Kjos says the following in ‘Snared by the Rising Evil.’ And, Marittea, (the girl who made a comment on this post) and everyone else, please keep this truth in mind when considering reading books such as ‘Spirit Animals‘ and viewing occult-themed movies:
“This deadly war between “good” and “evil” continues throughout the series. But remember, from a Christian perspective, both sides are occult. The main difference is simply the fact that the “good” side of evil seems far more less threatening to children than the dark and scary side.”
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” (2 Corinthians 11:3,4)
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned. As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” (Galatians 1:3-9)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
In light of this new information that I have just shared with you in this update, I now encourage you to please watch Christy Darlington’s excellent presentation, ‘An Overview of Mormonism.’ I pray you will take the time to learn from her so that you will know how to lovingly share the truth from God’s Word with a Mormon so the next time they come to your door you will consider inviting them in instead of turning them away. (She also has an excellent teaching series on her channel to help you understand the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses and how to reach them with the truth of God’s Word, as well).
Spiritual deception comes through many forms: books, movies, religions, etc. However, God has given us His Word. And to those who are born-again by His Spirit, He gives us His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.
I don’t know if Brandon Mull added any Mormon theology to his ‘Spirit Animals’ books, but I hope you now realize from this new information that I have added to this post just how cautious we must be not only of what we choose to read, watch, and accept, but also what our children read, watch, and accept. Above all, I pray that you will come to appreciate God’s Word that can be trusted and is proved accurate and reliable by archaeological and historical evidence, and that you will test all you hear and read in light of Scripture so you will never be deceived. (Matthew 24:3-5, 1 Thessalonians 5:21,22, Acts 17:11)
UPDATED AGAIN AT 3:22 P.M. SEPTEMBER 25, 2017:
When I originally wrote this post back in 2013, my main focus was on warning about the series SPIRIT ANIMALS because I saw the need to warn about the lure that these books may have upon children to lead them into the world of the occult. However, even though I did add some good information concerning the teachings of Mormonism, in all fairness, because of a comment that I recently received from a Mormon woman, I want to now take time to add some more videos that I pray will reach many precious Mormons with the truth concerning their teachings compared to God’s Word, the Bible.
I am sure that there are many Mormons who are simply not aware of all of the teachings of Mormonism, just as I was not aware of all of the teachings of Catholicism through the many years that I was a Catholic –until I began to read a little Catholic New Testament Bible and God opened my eyes to see the good news of the Biblical gospel! I also discovered many serious concerns regarding the teachings of Catholicism and how they do not agree with what God says in His Word, the Bible, when I began to do some research, which included reading through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a series that I will get back to writing when life settles down a little for me, and I finish the series on the Alleged Apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
We must test every teaching by everyone who claims to speak for God to see if what they are saying lines up with Scripture. (Acts 17:11) Otherwise we are to reject the teaching as false, regardless of who the person is and what the person may claim as a message from God.
God makes it clear in His Word that our faith and commit to Him will be tested to see if we truly love Him with our whole heart and soul:
“If a prophet or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all you heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and Him you must revere.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)
Here now are some videos with personal testimonies of former Mormons, videos with a lot of documented information, and quotes made by Joseph Smith and other Mormons to point out the comparison:
Former Mormon And Great Great Granddaughter of Brigham Young, Sandra Tanner:
FURTHER INFORMATION (MORE TO COME)
QUOTES (ADDED 10:32 a.m. 9/25/17)
First two quotes taken from the video above: What Do Mormons Believe About God
Quote below was quick captured from the video above: Differences Between Mormonism and Biblical Christianity, by Ron Rhodes
QUOTE MADE BY JOSEPH SMITH (WILL ADD MORE).
“Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet.” (History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 408-409)
MORE TESTIMONIES OF FORMER MORMONS
The more I learn about Mormonism, the more I see similarities between their teachings and the teachings of Catholicism: The priesthood, becoming gods (see quotes below the following video), and they even speak of a Heavenly Mother, as this video points out:
Note the similarities between what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches and what the Mormon Church/The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints teaches:
“For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” “The only begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.” (CCC PARA 460)
“As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” (5th LDS President, Lorenzo Snow) (SOURCE)
“God, himself, was once as we are now and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heaven. I’m going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil so that you may see he was once a man like us and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves.” (Joseph Smith, Founder of the Mormon Church/The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) (See video below).
UPDATED 10/2/17 BY ADDING THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT VIDEO:
COMING SOON, LORD WILLING *(UPDATE: ALREADY POSTED)
POEM – WOE TO THE SHEPHERDS
POST – PART 2 OF MY TESTIMONY: FROM FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY TO PEACE AND ASSURANCE – HOW GOD REVEALED THE TRUTH TO ME WHILE I WAS READING A CATHOLIC NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE
Thank you very much for stopping by and taking time out of your busy day to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary Dalke/Living4HisGlory
**UPDATED ** AUGUST 13, 2014 ADDED IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT INFORMATION CONCERNING AUTHOR, BRANDON MULL. DATED 8/13/14
**UPDATED 11/15/13 11:43 A.M.** ADDED VIDEO EXPOSING THE POPULAR ACCEPTANCE OF ‘THE NEPHILIM’ AND MORE
**UPDATED 6/17/16** REPLACED DELETED VIDEOS WITH OTHER ONES AFTER REALIZING THEY HAD BEEN DELETED
**UPDATED9/25/17** ADDED VIDEO TESTIMONIES OF FORMER MORMONS, AS WELL AS VIDEOS COMPARING THE TEACHINGS OF JOSEPH SMITH TO SCRIPTURE
**UPDATED 10/2/17** ADDED VIDEO ‘FOR MY MORMON FRIENDS – WHY NO MORE TEMPLES?’
Desiring for God to use all that I have been through in life, I decided to start my first blog, living4hisglory.wordpress.com, in order to write poems about some of those experiences to bring glory to God, as well as to share them with others with the hope of encouraging those of you who have been broken and shattered by life's circumstances and hurt by those who were supposed to have loved you rather than abuse you in some way.
Also, because of some pastors and teachers today who seem to be abandoning Biblical Christianity and instead seem to be either seeking to build their own empires and promoting their own agendas, and at times even leading the people in their churches into unbiblical, 'mystical practices' without some people even realizing it, I saw the importance and necessity to begin writing poems and posts in order to inform Christians, as well as to make Christians realize the extreme importance of testing what people say (who claim to speak for God) against the truth of God's Word, (Acts 17:11) so that they will not be deceived. It has never been -- nor shall it ever be -- my intention to bash any particular pastor or teacher; my sole purpose in bringing attention to false teachings is to make Christians realize that we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, and not to be followers of any man (or woman) and his (or her) ministry. I hope that you will be blessed -- as well as challenged -- by the things that I write.
NOTE: COMMENTS ON ALL POSTS CLOSE ONE MONTH AFTER THEY ARE PUBLISHED.
Thank you for stopping by and taking time to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary - Living4HisGlory
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary K. Dalke and Living4HisGlory Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
NOTE: Any adds that may be displayed on my blog have not been chosen or approved by me; I can't even see any adds that WordPress chooses to post here.
Desiring for God to use all that I have been through in life, I decided to start my first blog, living4hisglory.wordpress.com, in order to write poems about some of those experiences to bring glory to God, as well as to share them with others with the hope of encouraging those of you who have been broken and shattered by life's circumstances and hurt by those who were supposed to have loved you rather than abuse you in some way.
Also, because of some pastors and teachers today who seem to be abandoning Biblical Christianity and instead seem to be either seeking to build their own empires and promoting their own agendas, and at times even leading the people in their churches into unbiblical, 'mystical practices' without some people even realizing it, I saw the importance and necessity to begin writing poems and posts in order to inform Christians, as well as to make Christians realize the extreme importance of testing what people say (who claim to speak for God) against the truth of God's Word, (Acts 17:11) so that they will not be deceived. It has never been -- nor shall it ever be -- my intention to bash any particular pastor or teacher; my sole purpose in bringing attention to false teachings is to make Christians realize that we are to be followers of Jesus Christ, and not to be followers of any man (or woman) and his (or her) ministry. I hope that you will be blessed -- as well as challenged -- by the things that I write.
NOTE: COMMENTS ON ALL POSTS CLOSE ONE MONTH AFTER THEY ARE PUBLISHED.
Thank you for stopping by and taking time to read some of my posts and poems.
God Bless You
~Mary - Living4HisGlory
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary K. Dalke and Living4HisGlory Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
NOTE: Any adds that may be displayed on my blog have not been chosen or approved by me; I can't even see any adds that WordPress chooses to post here.
Picture above is a quick capture of Doreen Virtue holding a picture of the painting done by an artist that represents the alleged vision of Jesus that she claims to have had on January 7, 2017. You can watch the video HERE and the link is also posted further below in this post. NOTE: A comment was made in the comment section on one of these videos that show this painting which pointed out the disturbing fact that this “Jesus” does not have nail marks in His wrists or palms of His hands.
Mary Dalke - Living4HisGlory
Living4HisGlory 