Sign of the Times - Christian Yoga in the Church
by Steve Wittmann
Apostasy & Christian Yoga in the Church
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Rev 3:15 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
While no one wants to say their church is lukewarm, the fact remains that many are. Lukewarm churches aim to please man instead of God.
Apostasy – The Great Rebellion
2 Th 2:3
(NASB) Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
(NLT) Don't be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Apostasy is a progressive conditioning and it’s happening all around us.
CoExist
Before the man of lawlessness is revealed, the world must be prepared or progressively conditioned to accept the idea of a single world religion. The likelihood is a one-world religion will be introduced alongside ideas of tolerance and coexistence.
Harry Potter’s Lightning Bolt
How does progressive conditioning work? Coming from a prophecy-aware background, should someone propose wearing a mark on my forehead, the alarm bells would be ringing. However, at the opening of the final Potter movie in Sydney, AU, fans arrived wearing Potter garb including lightning bolts painted onto their foreheads to honor Potter’s forehead scar that represents a killing curse. Other Potter scars include a marking on the back of Potter’s right hand.
While it’s easy to dismiss these occurrences as fan enthusiasm, progressive conditioning says it’s okay to wear a symbol of an organization you support on your forehead or hand. Such a person is conditioned and is more likely to be receptive to the idea of wearing a mark on their forehead or hand.
Is Apostasy Here?
Has the prophetic time of apostasy arrived? As we saw in 2Th 2:3, the great rebellion is a time foretold in prophecy in which the nations will fall away in the faith and turn to the lawlessness of the world. Has that time arrived?
Timothy describes the world’s turning to lawlessness in 2Ti 3:1-5.
2Ti 3:1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2Ti 3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;
The Barna Group Survey
The baseline of their study was something they called a “biblical world-view.” a “biblical worldview” was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.
- 66% of all adults do not believe in an absolute moral truth that is not affected by one’s circumstances
- 54% of born-again Christians do not believe in an absolute moral truth
- 50% of all adults do not believe the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches.
- 75% of all adults do not believe Satan is a real force. 60% of born-again Christians do not believe Satan is a real force.
- 75% of all adults believe you can earn your way to heaven through good behavior. 53% of born-again Christians believe good works earns their way to heaven.
- 60% of American adults do not believe Jesus Christ led a sinless life while He was on Earth. 38% of born-again Christians do not believe Jesus Christ’s live on Earth was sinless.
- 70% of adults say God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who still rules it today. 93% of born-again Christians support this belief.
Doctrines of Demons - Contemplative Prayer
The objective of contemplative prayer is to contemplate the presence of God or Jesus in order to “experience” Him.
- Well known Bible teachers have mistakenly taught contemplative prayer giving it credibility in the church.
- Contemplative prayer uses visualization combined with meditation.
- The practice of visualization meditation is a Yoga technique purposed with awakening the serpent spirit Kundalini.
Doctrines of Demons - Breath Prayer
"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." (Psalm 150:6)
"Pray without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
- A "Breath Prayer" is a primarily a short prayer (lit. a prayer phrase) that captures our deep yearning for intimacy, wholeness and a sense of peace with God. When spoken out-loud, a breath prayer has a rhythm allowing us to be increasingly conscious of our breathing - inhaling as we pray a short phrase, and then exhaling as we pray a short phrase. This increased consciousness of our breathing is a reminder of our physical and spiritual dependence on God.
- A breath prayer is prayed slowly using our natural rhythm of breathing to set the pace of our prayer, often as a way of entering into silence and solitude. As a centering prayer, a breath-prayer can bring our mind back to a God-focus when it wanders, help focus our full attention on God. And a frequently used breath prayer can become an unconsciously prayed prayer throughout our day.
- So a breath prayer actually has multiple purposes: it slows us down; it reminds us of our dependence (we become conscious of our need for breath); it focuses us on God (and keeps us focused on God); it leads us into deeper prayer (praise, confession, lament, petition, intercession, listening, etc.); and it is, itself, a genuine prayer.
- The best-known "Breath Prayer" is the "Jesus Prayer:" "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. So, as you consciously inhale, pray, "Lord Jesus Christ." As you exhale, pray "Son of God." As you inhale again, pray, "Have mercy on me." And as you exhale, conclude the prayer with "A sinner." The full version of the Jesus prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner" covers two breath cycles. A shorter version, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me" covers one breath cycle. (http://www2.crcna.org/pages/crhm_breath_prayer.cfm)
This breathing-prayer technique is known as a mantra and is a spiritual energy centering technique found in Prana Yoga which teaches breath control and regulation. Also called a centering prayer, its purpose is a meditative focus of the mind on the inner self – or “centering” on your inner god. This is Eastern mysticism in its purest form.
Holy Yoga & ChrisToga
Another example of the doctrine of demons in the church is something called Christian Yoga. One example is Christian Yoga called “ChrisToga” and another is “Holy Yoga” which is nothing more than the worship of false gods repackaged with Christian names – again Satan’s time-tested technique of concealing truth.
Monotheism vs. Polytheism
Before we can understand Yoga or even Christian Yoga, we must first understand the fundamental theology it is built upon. We must understand the difference between monotheism and polytheism.
Mono = One
Poly = More Than One
Theism’s root is “Theos” from the Greek word for “god”
Mono + Theo = One God
Poly + Theo = More than One God
God is Not a God of Confusion
Quote: “You lose your individuality. You merge out into everything-ness, and everything-ness is nothing-ness, so you become nothing, but you’re everything. And you lose your identity but you become god. Sounds very confusing. That is the god of Hinduism – confusion.” – Caryl Matriciana describes the essence of Hinduism.
1Co 14:33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
A Theology Absent of Sin
Another aspect of this theology is the absence of sin. You see, if god is everywhere and god is everything, and god is the nothingness before creation as well as all parts of creation, then all good and all evil are god because everything is god. Good and evil are thought of as two side of the same coin often represented as Ying-Yang . This is why Eastern theologies have both good gods and evil gods. Since an evil god is seen as a different perspective of god, then both good and evil are divine and without sin. Therefore Eastern theologies do not even recognize the existence of sin. Without sin, there is no need for salvation. Without the need for salvation there is no need of a savior. At its heart, Eastern theologies stand in rebellion and denial of Jesus’ completed work on the cross.
Yoga in Western Culture
- Yoga first became popular in West during the 1970s as “TM” or Transcendental Meditation.
- In the 1980s it was at the heart of the New Age Movement claiming its roots in science.
- Now, Yoga has been repackaged again. This time bearing Christian names like Holy Yoga and ChrisToga.
- Yoga cannot become holy simply because someone declares it so.
- Yoga cannot be separated from its spiritual roots just as communion cannot be separated from its spiritual meaning.
- What is Communion? Define it. Now, apart from that definition, what does it mean? Yoga is the same way – apart from being yoked with the Hindu gods like Brahma, Shiva, via Kundilini it means nothing.
What is Yoga?
Yoga literally means “to be yoked” or joined in union, but yoked with what? This theology teaches you were born ignorant of your own divinity, so to be yoked with your own divinity is to be yoked with universal divinity.
Mat 11:29 "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."
Mat 11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Yoga teaches, “Yoga is the state of union with the Divine or the experience of oneness with the great Reality”
Yoga’s Origin
Yoga originated in the Hindu holy scripture Bhagavad Gita. It teaches, all are ignorant of our own divinity. That through Yoga discipline, the serpent spirit Kundalini is awakened to bring wisdom, power, and knowledge through enlightenment.
Yoga’s Philosophy
Yoga is the discipline that prepares one for the circle of life. That is, from life, to death, back to life as one is enlightened and embraces their own divinity – to realize all is god. Yoga teaches that we will not die. Yoga also teaches that we, ourselves, are gods. Now where have we heard that before?
The Great Lie
Gen 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!" Gen 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Cobra Asana (Pose)
One of the most common Yoga poses is the Cobra pose. This asana resembles a serpent with its hood raised. Each Yoga pose represents a Hindu god. Assuming the pose is worship to the god of its likeness.
The Serpent Spirit Kundalini
Yoga discipline is designed to awaken the power of the serpent spirit Kundalini.
Yoga movements open your chakras, to the power of Kundalini.
When the Serpent wakes up and uncoils along the vertebral column and crosses every chakra to enlighten it, awake it and release all its powers, it (the spirit of the serpent) becomes your base, your stability on which you can establish your power of little budding god.
Closing Quote
From her blog, Yoga expert Caryl Matrisciana writes on the Christian willingness to embrace Yoga and martial arts.
Caryl writes, “It is a tragic mistake to abuse God's Grace by thinking we are free to do whatever displeases God because we are now saved through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. He paid a priceless value which comprehending Christians shouldn't even consider cheapening. Our purchased freedom from sin, release from the kingdom of darkness and the bondage of lying spirits, is not for the purpose of falling into (new) seductions and being deceived by lying spirits, … through different rationalization. The Bible tells us to take every thought captive to the obedience of the mind of Christ for the pulling down of strongholds and lofty imaginations that set themselves up against the knowledge of God. (2 Cor. 10: 4-5)”
“Dismissing the existence of evil and downplaying the danger of spiritual delusion is within the very fabric of satanic ideology. It is not only a naive absurdity for Christians to embrace this lie but a massive deception Satan is happy to have disseminated by Christians. Of course Satan will convincingly dismiss the idea that his fallen legion of angelic spirits indwells pagan practices and rituals such as yoga and martial arts. He wants participation in those disciplines and doesn't care what the practitioner thinks! Through participation his spirits take a hold of the naive practitioner, whether they want it or not - whether they believe it or not.”
Key Point Summary
- Apostasy is a falling away of faith
- The Co-Exist movement teaches there are many paths to god – Jesus says He is the only way.
- Through progressive conditioning society gradually accepts new ideas like wearing a mark on one’s forehead.
- Contemplative prayer teaches one to visualize Jesus in order to “experience” Him.
- Breath prayers are Prana Yoga breathing and meditation techniques dressed up in Christian names.
- Monotheism is the theology of one God. Polytheism is the theology of more than one god.
- Yoga cannot be separated from its spiritual roots just as communion cannot be separated from its spiritual meaning.
- Yoga literally means “to be yoked” or joined in union.
- Yoga teaches you’re ignorant of your own divinity. That through Yoga discipline, the serpent spirit Kundalini is awakened to bring wisdom, power, and knowledge through enlightenment.
- Yoga poses or asanas are worship to each poses’ respective god.
What's Next?
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