Friday, October 19, 2012

Fully Energized


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”.