By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
IN THE BEGINNING, GOD
CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. (Gen.1:1)
IN THE BEGINNING, ENERGY
EVOLVED INTO THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH…
Our country has become fully energized…our
mascot is now the Energizer Bunny, but the shades he wears are to cover his
coal black eyes. Like the BEK phenomenon (black eyed kid), there is
definitely a demonic thing going on. The two phrases above capture in essence
the worldview shift that has occurred in our country. From the outset our
country was founded on the notion that there is a Creator God—who gave us
inalienable rights. Until about 80 years ago, there was a Christian consensus
in our country—a biblical worldview was presupposed (often unconsciously), and
at the heart of any worldview is the nature of God or ultimate reality. It was
simply understood that a Creator God made the world and He is distinct from it.
However, in the 1960’s, an eastern monistic worldview (all is one) began to
gestate…after 30 years this monistic worldview was given birth in the 1990’s.
While the term New Age may be passe’,
the reality it pointed to is not. The prevailing worldview today is that Energy
is ultimate reality. Someone wisely suggested that I write on examples of this
worldview shift. We shall see how this new notion of ultimate reality has
radically altered the spiritual landscape and made plausible a whole host of
beliefs which were once unthinkable within a biblical worldview. It has
trickled down from academia into mainstream, which is how ideas usually get
changed.
BOOKS…The self-help
books (still very much alive and kicking) have given way to a new genre known
as self-empowerment—the topics are frequently the same as before, but with a
focus on tapping into the energy source to attain this goal. Whereas a book
may have been entitled 10 Steps to a
Strong Self-Image, now it may be called Empowering
Your Self Image. Of course, the divine within is not the Holy Spirit but
the strand of cosmic energy that allegedly undulates through the entire cosmos.
We made reference to the Energizer Bunny---keeps going, going, going…It is
pretty electrifying and tantalizing to realize that we already have all it
takes to live a completely fulfilled, successful, and integrated life by simply
recognizing the inexhaustible resources at our disposal, which keep going-- you
have infinite Energy at your disposal! Behold, Energy stands at the door and
knocks….Reading books changes one’s worldview, and that is precisely what is
occurring.
Please note this:
Energy may be referred to in different ways: cosmic consciousness, Christ
consciousness, universal awareness, cosmic spirit and so on. The danger of these
books is twofold: the obliteration of the Creator/creature distinction—a monist
worldview; and the inevitable invitation for you to merge with this Energy by
tapping into it. Lurking and leering behind this worldview shift is the Prince
of darkness and his minions, who are quite happy to empower you in an extraordinary way for a time, only to
sink their claws deep within your psyche—and leading you away from the biblical
Jesus/gospel. The autonomous self-help books are bad enough, but actively
seeking to be empowered by what is in reality a demonic entity is a horse of a
different color. Demons are lawless and
perverse—seeking the minimum it would take to have “permission” to creatively
be invited to be a resident guest. Seeking a power source other than the Holy
Spirit is taken as an engraved invitation by unclean spirits.
Reincarnation—I only mention this in passing here, but it is a
logical extension of a monistic worldview, and is becoming increasingly popular
here. In his best-selling books Conversations
with God, Neale D Walsch said that god told him this was his 247th
reincarnation. The monistic worldview is what gave rise to the notion of
reincarnation, and reincarnation gave rise to many modern techniques, such as past life regression. What troubles me
is that during these sessions, WHO is revealing to this client their identities
in the past? I saw on TV the other day a sliver of a show that featured an
obese man, who had finally (after all else failed) found victory after tapping
into the energy of a former self who had been a warrior centuries ago. This was
discovered via past life-regression, and he adopted this warrior persona, which
motivated him to lose weight and get in fighting shape. If he was NOT anyone else
in the past, then who or what was he seeing during the regression? From my work
with individuals who are under demonic attack, it is manifestly evident that
unclean spirits may access our dream states. In the bible we see holy angels
doing the same (eg both Josephs). It has become apparent that certain brain states
make one more receptive to demonic influence. Past-life regression is merely
one of many expressions of this worldview with Energy as ultimate reality…and
tied into reincarnation.
Spiritism or the
belief in ghosts or trapped spirits makes perfect sense within this
Energy-centric worldview…all the ingredients were there (mainly a truncated
worldview) for this to take off like a rocket. Since earthbound spirits are
allegedly comprised of energy, then the notion of ghosts fits had-in-glove with
this energy as ultimate reality worldview. All of the ghost-hunting equipment—EMF
detector, Mel Meter, full-spectrum and thermal recorders and so on—are designed
to detect energy emissions. Language
in the supernatural community has jettisoned evil and good, and speaks of
spirits that are negative or positive energy…as if they were batteries and not
humans. While trapped spirits may be at home in this false worldview, they 100
percent implausible in a biblical worldview—they are antithetical to it. The
flow of recent history bears this out; it was not until after this Energy
worldview had 30 years to trickle down to the mainstream that the notion of
ghosts exploded overnight. That is why it is so important that we learn to
think worldviewishly (which I teach in my book Seeing Ghosts through God’s Eyes)
HEALING—whether
spiritual, physical, or emotional, it has become a common theme of this
Energy--centric worldview to focus on healing. Acupuncture, Reiki…any method
that seeks energy
transfer from this cosmic energy to heal. As we noted last time, often there is
dramatic healing—at a very high cost. There are simply too many to mention
here.
Achievement. There
are techniques designed to tap into this Energy in order to help you attain or
achieve your desire, dream, or goals. Meditation, monistic style, has
become perhaps the most common means of overcoming limitations and manifesting one’s dreams. Quantum
jumping caught my eye awhile back. The belief is that, by meditative techniques
one can visit your doppelganger in any of the infinite universes there are.
Burt Goldman, the guru of all this, relies heavily on recent advances in physics which state that
there exists an infinite number of universes. Shining bright with a veneer of
scientific support, he makes the most extraordinary claims. We can go to whatever
universe in which there is a me that excels at the thing we desire. Once we
find this doppelganger, we then tap into their unique energy vibrations and
sort of siphon some off. There is an actual conversation in which we express
desire to merge with them. This is a horrible scenario for possession—which
usually requires an invitation for a being outside of us to enter. We
mistakenly think that it needs to be a conscious invitation to that which is
demonic, but that is not the case. Astral
travel is similar in some respects.. So, what is happening and what are they
seeing? Demons have the ability to project vivid, full-color movies into our
minds which play out our fantasizes. Energy is at the
heart of it all.
THE AFTERLIFE--many
of these beliefs and methods have ramifications in many areas, and not just
one, so it was hard to categorize them. However, I think most would agree
that the afterlife is perhaps the most important issue at stake, simply due to
its eternal nature. The bible
unequivocally teaches that physical death is determinative of eternal
destiny—heaven or hell, depending upon our response to the gospel of Christ.
This is where the
true evil of an Energy-centric worldview is most manifest. Remember, within this system there is
no Creator/creature distinction—hence, there is NO place for a holy judge or an
eternal judgment. The Day of Judgment has been replaced by energy returning to
Energy (as in classical monism) or our pure energy selves continue on here,
there, or somewhere…forever. Yes, we have become fully and eternally
energized…or so we have deluded ourselves.
Need to know it emerged out of a context…and unless we
see that, then we won’t have a proper understanding of it nor will we be able
to effectively persuade others of is falsity. My approach to issues has always
been a presuppositional analysis—if we leave this out of the discussion then
there is little hope of connecting on any deep level. Have you ever had the
sense that you were talking past each other when in dialogue? As it stands now,
with the prevailing worldview (which is unconscious in most people), the notion
of ghosts makes perfect sense. I watch over and over and over again how the
death of “so and so” has led to a haunting”.
