High tailing it back to Jesus Christ.

a reply to: GoShredAK

I never let go of Jesus, I just can not, and will not, he has performed a few miracles in my life. However I started to distance myself as I became more and more "New Age". The occultic items, thoughts, and practices suddenly brought me into a lonely dark zone.

I have a very similar story, almost identical. God really had to kick my a** around before I realized that my happiness/rest/peace is only in Christ. Im happy for you. Thank you for your testimony.

Thanks everybody sincerely. Sorry I'm at work so have nothing to add at this time. I love the support. Just wanted to say thanks, and sorry for all those dang typos, I typed that up pretty fast last night on the Ipad and it got ugly.

a reply to: GoShredAK

You talk about your negative experiences while being New Age for 2 years such as...

White crafts seen in the sky with no explanation...
Crystals bringing nightmares...
"Substance" abuse...
Anxiety...

But for some reason you don't speak of any positive experiences at all while being New Age, nor any negative expriences while believing in Jesus. This can make peope believe that New Age = only bad, while believing in Jesus = only good, however...


Some people who believe in Jesus see objects in the sky...
Some people who believe in Jesus who have nightmares...
Some people who believe in Jesus who struggle with addictions
Some people who believe in Jesus struggle with depression...

Likewise,

There are New Agers who have ordinary lives...
There are New Agers who don't have nightmares...
There are New Agers who don't struggle with addictions...
There are New Agers who don't struggle with depression...

This is a more balanced way to see things.

a reply to: arpgme

Except that

ALL people have nightmares
ALL people do struggle at times with depression
ALL people experience life....

Because ALL people are humans and are subject to the human condition. ALL.

How many New Agers do you suppose are addicted to caffeine and cigarettes? Quite a few, I would imagine. Maybe not all, but ALL people are subject to the human condition.

originally posted by: arpgme
You talk about your negative experiences while being New Age for 2 years...

But for some reason you don't speak of any positive experiences at all while being New Age, nor any negative expriences while believing in Jesus. This can make peope believe that New Age = only bad, while believing in Jesus = only good, however...

Looks like a major clue if you ask me...

After all TPTB are the ones controlling the movement.

New Age crap is simply just another form of poisoned controlled opposition.

...lack of rational thinking rampant among new agers, things like:

"the only thing that is real is me"
"my thoughts and feelings and my own well being is the only thing that matters"
"I am the universe, the universe is me"
"love and light is all that is needed"
"thinking about other people's pain lowers my vibration so I will not concern myself with anything other than my own well being"
etc.

When you find out that you had spent reading and learning about Bull$hit for 40 years, whats 7 hours eh...

"This is the extended podcast version of the presentation Mark Passio gave at the Free Your Mind 2 Conference in Philadelphia on April 27, 2013. In this presentation Mark talks about the "New" Age Movement as another Religion to control people's minds and prevent them from developing a deep understanding of Natural Law. Mark goes through 10 "New" Age Deceptions in the talk, and then offers a Correction to balance each deception. If you have bought into the hype of the "New" Age Movement, this is a video that you need to see to understand how you are being deceived."

New Age Bull$hit, The Truth and The Reasons

The following is an excellent 7 hour presentation by Mark Passio (go HERE for that and other video clips) that will rub many people in the New Age movement wrong but for the majority of what he is saying, I agree. For those who don’t have the patience of watching a 7 hour video, I took the liberty of highlighting Mark’s presentation and added a few comments to the points he made.

New Age Deceptions

1. Ignore the negative.

Seeing the negative for what it is creates the ability to steel oneself against its harmful effects and possibly even to avert those effects entirely. Refusing to look at critical information, just because it makes you feel uncomfortable or scared, is willingly choosing to remain in a state of ignorance and therefore to remain un-conscious.

3. We’re all one, so it’s ALL good.
4. You can never really know.
9. Enlightenment is ONLY about changing yourself… and the end goal is to feel good all the time.
10. Truth doesn’t need to be defended, so never confront anyone on their bull#.

New Age Bull# and The Suppression of The Sacred Masculine

originally posted by: votan
"New Age" is not new at all. It is a religion regardless of what you may think.

originally posted by: FlyInTheOintment
Anton La Vey (head of the church of Satan) said that New Agers were Satanists without the acknowlegement of that fact, and in fact laughed at them for being too chicken to admit that they serve Lucifer through their rites and rituals...

Interesting thoughts on the striking similarities between practitioners of Satanism and certain New Age authors

I don't agree with all the thoughts on that page (for example that the Pope will be the False Prophet - I have no idea about the specifics of who's who); however, there's some critical insights on how Satanism and New Age philosophers share quite a lot - uncannily so - in common. For example, the commonality of channelled material from the Pleiades and Sirius star systems.

I don't expect any stars for this post, as it goes against the grain and isn't what people want to hear about their cherished beliefs. Still needs to be said imho.

a reply to: Murgatroid

New Age Deceptions

1. Ignore the negative.
3. We’re all one, so it’s ALL good.
4. You can never really know.
9. Enlightenment is ONLY about changing yourself… and the end goal is to feel good all the time.
10. Truth doesn’t need to be defended, so never confront anyone on their bull#.

The same can be said for Bible believers.

1. Ignore the negative because God will return with wrath to take care of everything.
3. We're ALL sinners, so no one is better than another.
4. You can never really know for sure, faith is believing in things unseen.
9. Salvation is about becoming a new creature in Christ, the end goal is life everlasting in paradise.
10. God put strong delusion on them that they'll believe in a lie.

Anton La Vey (head of the church of Satan) said that New Agers were Satanists without the acknowlegement of that fact, and in fact laughed at them for being too chicken to admit that they serve Lucifer through their rites and rituals...

Just like some Christians claim that Jews are Christians who didn't accept Jesus yet, but will see the truth later on as said in a prophecy. A person's opinion from another religion does not matter, only what those people in the actual religion believe.

I'm just curious about those of you who came to this thread to cast doubt on the OP's beliefs...

What exactly was your motivation? What did you hope to achieve? Did you honestly think you could convince someone else to conform to your own beliefs on such a subjective issue?

a reply to: DeadSeraph

I'm just curious about those of you who came to this thread to cast doubt on the OP's beliefs...

If you're referring to me, I didn't come for the sake of "casting doubt" on his or her beliefs. I simply wanted to point out the fact that there are many New Agers who have positive experiences with their beliefs as well as Christians with negative experiences. If it makes anyone doubt their beliefs that any religion can bring a positive OR negative experience, then I'm not sure what else to say about that.

Nor did I say to "drop Christianity and be a New Ager". I am not trying to "conform" him or her to another religion. Like I said, all I was doing was pointing out facts to make this thread less biased and more aligned with truth. There are Christians who have negative experiences as well as New Agers, but there are also many Christians who have positive experiences as well as many New Agers.

a reply to: GoShredAK
There are positive and negative experiences to be found in any religion or belief system. I could easily point out both the positive AND the negative that come from organized Abrahamic religions. If you are happy and at peace, and you aren't invading the space of others with 'you are going to hell' or 'you are wrong and I"m right', then I"m happy that you are happy and I won't rain on your parade.

a reply to: arpgme

1. Ignore the negative because God will return with wrath to take care of everything.
3. We're ALL sinners, so no one is better than another.
4. You can never really know for sure, faith is believing in things unseen.
9. Salvation is about becoming a new creature in Christ, the end goal is life everlasting in paradise.
10. God put strong delusion on them that they'll believe in a lie.

There is, I believe, a disconnect between these points and the ones describing New Age Beliefs. I feel several are also misrepresentations of Christian beliefs.

1. Christians are to be aware of the negative and appeal to God to give them strength to endure.

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 2 Peter 3:17

3. While all are sinners we are not all equal. There have been many who led much more righteous lives than others. This is also not the point being made on the New Age list. While we can all be of one spirit through Christ we will forever remain distinct individuals as it is clear from the Bible that one is recognizable as oneself after death.

4. I believe this to be a valid point.

9. Salvation is not Enlightenment. Enlightenment is a self actualized endeavor, while salvation is merely the acceptance of something being offered. Paradise is a result of salvation; the goal of which is not to feel good all the time but to serve God.

10. I see neither how the prophecy that a strong delusion will come upon many in the last days corresponds to non confrontation nor how it relates to whether it is necessary to defend the faith; in any case the Truth is to be defended whenever challenged.

Demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God
2 Corinthians 10:5
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect
1 Peter 3:15

a reply to: Josephus

I never said the belief in Salvation is the same as Enlightenment. What I did say is that both Salvation and Enlightenment are supposed to transform you in some way.

Also, we are not all equal according to YOUR interpretation of Christianity. There are many who believe that we are all sinners and our works are nothing but filthy rags, so we are all equally evil.

originally posted by: arpgme
a reply to: Josephus

I had a very long post, but decided to change it.

You know, I always wondered how Prince Guatama's wife felt that night that she gave birth to his son, just for him to say the child was an emotional burden to him and he abandoned her and the child that night.

Have you ever thought about that? He never apologized for that either, and sitting there under that tree after years of begging for food (he died fat by the way, so he was pretty successful at begging), pretending to reach enlightenment, did he ever think twice about abandoning his wife and child?

Emotionally he abandoned her and wasn't there to raise his own son, because it was a burden. Is that the kind of enlightenment you are drawn toward?

a reply to: WarminIndy

The person who made this thread talked about his or her negative experiences with New Age in order to promote Christianity. I pointed out that similar negative experiences happens in Christianity, too.

Discussing Guatama's idea of "Enlightenment" is getting off-topic.

a reply to: WarminIndy

Consider the idea that Guatama's wife was "left" a princes wife... meaning she was quite well off...

Also, Christians say that Jesus sacrificed himself for others... Why can this not be the same considering how many followers Buddhism has...

He sacrificed his life as a rich man to live a humble life to find his "enlightenment" for the good of all...

a reply to: Quetzalcoatl14

I'm not a follower of mainstream anything. I do belong to a church, but it's not mainstream, and I am finding my enlightenment in my search for truth. Truth comes from many places, many enlightened people, of all faiths, or non faith.

I didn't grow up in any church, but had a good dose of something I don't want to unify myself with. But, if that , somehow, broadens one's horizons, then that is great!

This thread shouldn't be de-railed by our opinions of religion vs new age.

I myself have spent many years in the 'New Age' and only recently have I met Jesus. I can say I have learnt a lot and I can apply it to widen my understanding of God. All I can say is that I'm glad I have met Jesus and I won't stray far from him now that I know what he has done for me.

We walk a similar path my friend and I'm glad you found your way back to it.

a reply to: GoShredAK

What miracles happened to you? While I have seen miracles, which I don't really think of as miracles but rather events that violate what we think of as the laws of physics, they were sort of trivial events in some respect aside from their symbolic meaning to me, and did not seem to have a substantial impact on anyone's own life except for my own.

I have experienced teleportation of a group of objects and I have also seen an object disappear and then re-appear in quite an obviously impossible way in both cases.

On a side-note, I agree that the law of attraction plays a big part in people's lives. And on another side-note I would like to say I don't take the Bible literally but rather I take it as a book inspired by God just like many other works of literature, poetry, and philosophy, are also inspired by God. The Bible is a group of valuable perspective from mere human beings that gives us an important piece of the big picture. And Jesus Christ I do believe is the most beautiful example of how someone can live a happy and fulfilling life but I am not convinced that these stories really did happen, though I don't see them as impossible at all. In fact I think there is a certain close-mindedness that prevents the impossible from happening in more people's lives these days.

a reply to: doobydoll

Been there, its an amazing experience when God speaks to you, its life changing. I was a missionary serving in eastern europe when i lost my faith. When i hit rock bottom, I started to say goodbye to God, but he spoke and all my stupidity came into focus and boom...faith restored. Also OP, what you are going through is tough but you will learn and grow stronger from it. Seek the truth and you will find it