IDOLATRY- AMERICA'S MIDDLE NAME?

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Exodus 20:4)


In these so-called enlightened and educated 21st Century, would you believe we still have people and religions all over the world (and here in the west), bowing down and praying to idols and false gods.


For instance, the hindus have a god for almost every aspect of life with many of them idols of animals and strange looking creatures...IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION and rebellion against the Law of the Holy One! They are the biggest culprits. It is so horribly bad, that they revere rats and refuse to eat beef while walking carefully around deadly snakes, just in case it is their "reincarnated" uncle or sister! This is how far the foolishness of man in their rebellion has led him. 

Yet we have sensible people in the west following the practices of these pagans! One of them is Yoga and its accompanying meditation! No matter how much one dress up this pig, it is still a pig. People are kidding themselves thinking they can "christianize" these religious exercises and not be held accountable by God for them! By definition, Yoga, is what Webster's (and any other dictionary) calls "a Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation"!


This slippery slope of these modern American or other Yoga enthusiasts leads to a lot of them selling out Christ and going into ungodly Buddhist/hindu meditation and chants.  This reminds me of the conduct of the just freed Israelites who were accustomed to all the pagan gods of Egypt. We know that each of the plagues which God had Moses declare over Pharoah's Egypt represented a different pagan god (from the frogs to the locusts etc). The Israelites had just seen all the miracles of God - from the Emancipation from 400 years of slavery to the Parting of the Red Sea - still they rallied around Moses' brother as he built a golden calf!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL EXPOSE ON SO-CALLED "CHRISTIAN YOGA"!

Are there other things which we do that violate this Second Commandment apart from Yoga? Yes, there is! Idolatry is America's middle name! The entire culture is based on Celebrity of some form. Whether it is the soccer mom or football dad living vicariously through their kids for the championship trophy or ring...or the famous actor or musician driving mercilessly for the Academy or Grammy award...it is all the same! The twenty-somethings are into fame and becoming the next American Idol or Reality TV star, no matter what the cost or the embarrassment.  Everything most of these people do is geared towards obtaining some sort of graven image (or like representation thereof), to the point that the process of getting there, becomes the act of their entire worship. This is the bane of de-construction of Faith and a moving away from the Pure, Holy and Living Christ. Contrary to the hopes and plans of God for His people, this idolatry eventually leads to eternal separation from Him. How sad.....

TOMORROW: THIRD COMMANDMENT

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NO OTHER!

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT 

(First of a Series on the Ten Commandments)

Exodus 20:3 (NASB):

Part 1:

This world is full of false gods - the idols which men and women have made unto themselves because it is easier to so do, in their rebellion.  It has been like this during the entire history of man, after the fall of Adam and Eve in the LITERAL Garden of Eden. But in this amplified hi-tech world of the 21st century, we see it reaching Sodom and Gomorrah proportions.

The pagan idols and gods are not just the demonic of the eastern and other religions with their shamans. Those are obvious to the discerning Christian. What is increasingly disturbing are the millions caught up in the spiral into the pit of Santeria and other blending of the demonic and Catholicism. Most of these people live in places like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Venezuela etc. Through the elite and immigration, the practice has spread to Florida and other parts of cosmopolitan USA.  

When you add the increasing acceptance of Yoga into the mainstream, we see the infiltration into the last bastion of Christianity in the west - the declining Evangelical church of America. Church leaders are allowing "Christian Yoga" into God's church, claiming they are not doing the accompanying hindu chants, but are just worshipping our God through exercise....by the way our God Himself said "Can a make take fire into his bosom and not be burned?" ....just saying!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY ARTICLE ON SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN YOGA

Adonai was very specific here. He is representative of the Father of the Universe - Jehovah God - Abba! There is to be NO OTHER WORSHIP of these false dieties and for the Christian who thinks he/she is being tolerant and "loving all peoples" by bowing down to this....then going to church on Sunday, there is going to be a bill come due one day! 

This has manifested itself in the Barna polls. They now reveal that 57% of so-called evangelical christians say that there are other ways to heaven than Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior! These non-believers are the fifth column in our churches! When the tribulation comes, they would be the ones used to persecute real believers.  We see them all over the media now....having interfaith meetings; promoting pro-abortion candidates and seeing nothing wrong with alternate lifestyles equating itself with Biblical Values and Biblical marriage. In addition to these obvious violations against Holy God, we see a watering down of the True Gospel of Christ and more emphasis on entertainment and psychology, instead of Sola Scriptura (The Bible alone)!

These are just some of the manifestations and bitter fruit of a race of people - the human race - which has removed itself far from the Law of God.  This is the Law that gives Life - eternal Life, but man has destroyed it...and himself in the process, because he has no concept of the wrath which is to come.

The good news is that this is one Law easier to keep than most! There is ONLY One God, three in essence but One God. 

He is a jealous God in that He knows His Worthiness, Holiness and Perfection. 

He has revealed Himself in the pages of the Bible. 

When we are saved and brought into the Kingdom, we know these things. 

When we are saved and see Him as He is, through His Word and the Spirit, we know He is the One True God and worship Him - ONLY HIM. 

When we are saved, we see His Law as it really is - LIFE!

Glory to His Name!

PART 2 TOMORROW: WHAT IS HIS NAME?

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"CHRISTIAN YOGA" IS AN OXYMORON

2 Corinthians 6:15 (ESV) says~~ “What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?”Y

The decline of the American evangelical church has actually been traced to the Second Great Awakening and Charles Finney’s Revivals…but those could be books for another day! What is happening now makes a snow avalanche in Colorado look tame! Here in Springfield we have a church-based hospital promoting the practice of Reiki Massage for healing! Several other churches here and across America included “Christian Yoga” in their programs. Not to be outdone, we have the Chatham, Illinois school system teaching Yoga in their Physical Education! (By the way, would the Ball-Chatham School District consider letting Christian quarterback Tim Tebow come in and tell kids how to stay chaste and pure in a corrupt, perverted world? No way! He’s a Christian!)

CLICK HERE TO READ HOW YOGA ADVERSELY AFFECTS CHILDREN!

Yes, there is something rotten in the state of Christianity. To understand this trend towards not just Eastern Mysticism but immersion into the pagan religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, we have to know what both Reiki and Yoga are.

The Reiki practiced in too many hospitals and only certain other medical centers is done by a so-called trained “Reiki Master” who is versed in the art of sending “Healing Energies” around the world into the patient, using the “Seven Chakras”. This is done by the laying of hands in specific ways and other-worldly meditations to treat certain illnesses.

THIS IS NOT IN THE WORD OF GOD!

Chakras are so-called “energy centers” allegedly from the base of the pelvic system to top of the head. “Tantric sex” is an extension of this pagan eastern practice. They also allegedly hold the “key to life” and energy in the Universe!!! Have you ever heard such heresy! Do some professing Christians need to be reminded that Jesus is NOT just the “Key to Life” but THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE (John 14:6)?! Do they need to be reminded that “all good things come from the Father of Lights” (James 1:17)…and this includes the True Source of Energy – the Holy Spirit?! 

Like Reiki, Yoga is body-centric and depends on the surrendering of one’s mind to another level of consciousness. Christians are not supposed to empty their minds and use their body as a vehicle to connect the physical to some sort of Higher “Source” or spirit! On the contrary, blessed is the man who does NOT walk in the counsel, culture, conformity of the ungodly…and his delight is in the Law of the Lord…on which he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).

Yoga has exploded in gyms, churches and schools!
More and more churches are using Yoga as part of a fitness program, as some of their members (who are more culturally diverse) see the rest of the outside world participating.  Fitness clubs already have this for their members. Why parents at the Chatham middle school and others are not protesting their children being indoctrinated into Hinduism/Buddhism by the inclusion of yoga into the phys/end curriculum is mystifying! One only has to look at the positions and know they are not harmless physical exercises. 

Participants in so-called “Christian yoga” will say they practice “hatha” yoga (which is supposed to be only the physical discipline part of it). They will insist it’s not the full Hindu practice of “kundalini” yoga….and I believe them. HOWEVER, by its very nature, the physical and the spiritual in yoga cannot be separated. While some people may think they can substitute the monosyllable “om” chant with Psalm 23…it simply does not compute!! Every physical position in yoga signifies a specific part of that eastern cult, whether Christians in post-modern American Christianity deny it or not! True yoga adherents and Hindus are laughing under their breath at our people who think they can compartmentalize Christ and think purely of this as the fine art of stretching and good health!  Personally, I can’t comprehend a person reciting “the Lord is my Shepherd”, while putting the index finger and thumb in a circle with an ankle behind your head!  

LOOK TO THE CROSS...NOT YOUR NAVEL!

Am I saying all Christians who practice yoga are unbelievers? No! It does mean that the level of Biblical discernment is in questionable shape! If you speak to former Buddhists and Hindus they will explain the folly AND RISK of leaving one’s mind and consciousness, no matter how innocent it may seem, susceptible to the powers of the air, when our call is different. Christians are to look to Jehovah Rapha – the God Who heals, through intense prayer and intercession to get His blessings on our ailments…and He may direct us to the right doctor, in such an event. We are to look to Christ as our only discipline – the Author and Perfector of our Faith. We are to reason together with God (Isaiah 1:18 ) Who has made our scarlet sins as white as snow. We are to be totally conscious at all times why the Joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10)….not let our brain go slack and give the devil yet another opening to attack our souls.  

Being a True Disciple of Christ is not blind following. It’s conscious, firm and uncompromising decision made with body, mind and soul. All components of the human condition are in play. Jesus said the Greatest Commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and MIND”! Anything which deviates from this well….you decide…

Credits: photos from BING Images)