New Age Religion Versus the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory of God in America Today

I got out of bed early Saturday morning to pray. As I was praying I found myself focusing on the words, “All I have is yours.” The words struck me very powerfully, so I typed them into Google to find them in the Bible. Look at 1 Corinthians 3: 21, 22; John 16: 12 – 15; and the words the Father spoke to the elder brother in Luke 15: 31, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

On that Google page I also found a reference to a talk given by Rev. H.M Wharton at a conference called ‘The Northfield Conference’ in 1898 held in Northfield, Massachusetts. The talk was titled, “All Things Are Yours.” Rev. Wharton was a pastor at a church in Baltimore, Maryland.

As I read what Rev. Wharton wrote, I felt the presence and power of God released across time. Here are the first lines of his speech:

“I used to think that when one becomes a Christian he must give up everything that is worth having, and gain nothing in return except the mere hope of something yet to come. But the fact is that when a man becomes a Christian, he gives up nothing that is worth having, and he gains everything that is worth living for, here and hereafter” (Rev. H. M. Wharton, “All Things Are Yours,” 1898 Northfield Conference address, Northfield Echoes, v. 5, pg 395).

And that is just the introduction. The text for his address was taken from 1 Corinthians 3: 21, 22.

Then I looked at the address preceding Rev. Wharton’s. It was by Rev. S. Parkes Cadman from New York City entitled “The Constraining Love of Christ.”

Here is a longer quote from Rev. Cadman’s address:

“The love of Christ in us is manifested in the love of man by us. Under its sway divisions created by race, language, and religion on the one hand, or caste and culture on the other, were for the first time, abolished forever, and humans were fused into a solidarity.”

“To Paul the salvation of Jesus Christ had proven precious because it provided cleansing and guiding power. He had found the objective standard for it in the will of God. He had gone beyond the plane of reason and philosophy, beyond human relations and the moral order to sit in willing bondage at the feet of the Lord and learn from Him.”

“The power of Christ’s love is manifested in its influence on personality and life, on thought and conscience; and leaves us but one course to adopt, and that is, to accept Christ now and forever. Being Christ’s we shall go on and not die, allied to God through love of all things high and eternal. To this end has the Son of God been manifested, and to this end do we live, for the love of Christ constraineth us” (Rev. S. Parkes Cadman, “The Constraining Love of Christ,” 1898 Northfield Conference address, Northfield Echoes v. 5, pgs 393, 395).

Wow!! Who are these guys? For me, their words are as true, relevant, and meaningful today as they were in 1898. The truth of the gospel transcends time. Like God, it is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.“

So, where in the world is Northfield, Massachusetts and what is so special about that place?

Northfield, Massachusetts is on the border of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, midway between Boston and Albany, New York (for those of you familiar with American geography). Northfield was the birthplace of the great American evangelist D.L. Moody and he died there in 1899. In addition to the Moody Bible College in Chicago, he also founded Northfield School for girls, where the first Northfield Conference was held in 1893, and the Mount Hermon School for boys, now in Gill, Massachusetts near Northfield. The Northfield Conference was originally proposed as a woman’s conference by Moody’s daughter-in-law and supported by Moody. It is no surprise that the Conference in 1898 was solidly evangelical, based on the Bible, and Jesus Christ was lifted up as “the way, the truth, and the life . . . the only way to the Father,” and as the only way to true human solidarity and love.

All of that got me interested in the ‘Northfield Conference.’ I wondered if it was still in existence 125 years later. I Googled it and found that it was still ‘going strong,’ but today is ‘multi faith.’ After 125 years it is still held on a campus of the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Gill, Massachusetts. But today, the conference has a very different focus than it had in Moody’s day.

Here is a quote from the home page of the conference’s website. The next conference will be held on June 23 – 28, 2018:

“Welcome to Northfield: a community continuously redefining itself. We honor the diversity of human experience; we respect the gifts of our elders; we look with joy to the future through our children; we continue to seek to affirm life creatively and thoughtfully.”

“This is a week-long annual event in June on a beautiful campus in Gill, Massachusetts during which we devote ourselves to growth – personal, spiritual, social, and communal. There is time to learn, to doubt, to affirm, to explore what gives our life meaning and depth.”

“According to Wikipedia, to be multi faith is to feel an affinity with aspects of more than one religion, philosophy, or world-view, and to believe that no one is superior to the others. Our goal is to enable people of all ages and backgrounds to experience their fullest selves in the midst of a loving, supportive and nurturing community.”

“All roads – religious, philosophical, or spiritual – lead to our fullest selves and that no religion is superior to any other.” I assume “our fullest selves’ refers, in part, to our own spiritual enlightenment. Most people probably don’t realize that this perspective reflects the influence that eastern mystical religions like Hinduism have had on American culture since the 1960s. “Hindus believe that no religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that genuine paths are facets of God’s light, deserving of tolerance and understanding” (quoted from Kauai’s Hindu Monastery, “Basics of Hinduism”).

In her book ‘Out of India: A True Story About the New Age Movement’, Caryl Matrisciana demonstrates this connection between the New Age movement in America and Hinduism and makes a case that this movement has even penetrated into parts of the evangelical Christian Church.

This ‘religion’ in America, echoes of which can be heard in the description of the Northfield Conference, has been labeled New Age. The basic tenets of New Age, including “many ways to fulfillment of self”, are:

“God is seen more as a flowing energy or creative force that exists in all things rather than as a personal God who is distinct from man and creation.”

“Man is seen as divine, essentially a part of God.”

“Salvation for the soul is something attained when one becomes an awakened soul by understanding one’s divinity and oneness with all. This awakening comes about through the use of various rituals and mystical practices that help remove one’s attachment to the world.“

“The gap between good and evil is eradicated . . . there is no evil – all is divine.”

(Quoted from “Out of India: A True Story About the New Age Movement” by Caryl Matrisciana, pg. 23).

The comparison between the Northfield Conference of 1898 and 2018 is more than a comparison between then, when America was predominantly Christian, and now, when America is sliding into New Age, eastern-influenced religion. These speeches, published in 1898, could easily be given by an evangelical pastor or writer in 2018. As I wrote above, their messages are timeless. The real point, I think, is that these two conferences, 120 years apart define a fault line in American culture today. I am guessing that when you examine other issues dividing Americans, you will find in many of them an underlying correlation with these two religious perspectives.

In significant parts of America the focus has shifted from Jesus to other gods, particularly self; from the outward focused to the inward focused life, from true spirituality (moving in the power of the Holy Spirit) to mysticism and the occult (moving in the power of the demonic), and from life-giving and life-affirming beliefs in Jesus to beliefs that lead to isolation and spiritual death.

I suppose this shift from ‘one way’ to ‘many ways’ might appeal to someone who is looking for self-fulfillment and a path out of emptiness and anxiety. Of course, Christians should “honor the diversity of human experience; respect the gifts of our elders; look with joy to the future through our children; continue to seek to affirm life creatively and thoughtfully.” But Christians do this through our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the joy of the Lord, not in the power of ‘self’, which is wholly inadequate, even demonic. Jesus tells us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross (which is a place of death to self), and follow Him. That is the narrow gate.

Satan is the great counterfeiter and deceiver. He tells us that we do not need to deny ourselves. He tells us that self is divine, part of the one true god. Instead of a cross, we can celebrate and accept all of who we are. Through our own efforts we can achieve deeper spiritual growth and healing. And forget about following Jesus. He is too exclusive. “That”, satan says, “is how the world got into this mess in the first place.” Satan has taken the One Truth that requires us to give up our fallen self-lives in order to have Real Life, and has corrupted it into a pain-free, repentance-free religion that invites all “to enter by the wide gate,” where all truths are equally valid. The journey through the “wide gate” along the “broad path” is initially pleasant and appealing. But it will ultimately lead to destruction, according to the Word of God.

The Disciple John tells us that God is love. As the late Billy Graham said over and over again, “God loves everyone.” “God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die, but have eternal life” (John 3: 16) is the truth. But the New Age, ‘alternative’ religion is the kingdom of the world, and satan is the prince of that world.

What happens to a people or a society when they turn away from the One True God and His Son, Jesus Christ? They begin to die – spiritually, emotionally, and socially. God does not send us to hell – we send ourselves there. Turning away from God is as old as the human race. Adam and Eve showed us the way. Israel turned away from Jehovah thousands of years ago to follow the ancient god Baal, who is still alive in the world today.

Here is what God told Israel through the prophet Jeremiah when they turned to worship Baal and Molech – including the detestable practice of placing their children into a red-hot furnace, similar to abortion today:

“But my people have exchanged their Glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror, declares the Lord. My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water . . . Now why go to Egypt to drink water from the Shihor? And why go to Assyria to drink water from the River? Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you. Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the Lord you God and have no awe of Me, declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty” (Jeremiah 2: 13, 18, 19 NIV).

“Yet in spite of all this you say, ‘I am innocent; He is not angry with me’. But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned” (Jeremiah 2: 34, 35 NIV).

Just like Israel in the time of Jeremiah, much of America is turning away from God and embracing New Age ideas or rejecting God altogether. The result? We are living in an evil and bitter time of rampant drug addiction, violence in games, movies, and real life; pornography at the click of a button; killing of our children, both in schools and the womb; broken families, child prostitution and sex slavery, sexual immorality, fear, and a rise in satanism and satanic ritual abuse, to name some of the evils in America today. Some will ask, “Are things really that bad in America? Or are we being deceived by the media and outside agitators, like Russian hackers, who use the Internet to spread fear and hatred in America?” Some of that is happening. And there is much good in America today. But these evils in our society are real and growing.

At the root of this evil are the same three spirits that Jeremiah warned Israel about: the spirit of Jezebel manifested in sexual immorality; the spirit of death found in the goddess Kali in Hinduism (called the goddess of death and associated with violence and sexuality. According to Britannica. com, “New age movements have found theologically and sexually liberating inspiration in her more violent sexual manifestations . . . paradoxically 20th century feminist writers have associated her with motherly love”); and the spirit of anti-Christ manifested in hostility toward and hatred of Christianity (hatred of God in Jeremiah’s time), which is hatred of Jesus.

And just like in that time when Jeremiah called Israel back to the one true God, there are prophets calling out the same warnings now. And just like in Israel during the time of Jeremiah, the people are telling the prophets, “You are old- fashioned, irrelevant, even intolerant. We have moved on to a more fulfilling way of life. You are holding us back. We have better gods to worship now,” and they tried to murder Jeremiah.

Maybe we are living in the End Times predicted in Revelation. But in the meantime, I am advocating turning to Jesus in repentance, prayer, and worship. He is our only hope for salvation. Apart from Him, we will never experience real life – and not just when we die, but now. Apart from Him, no human can ever be fulfilled. Apart from Jesus, people will continue to release evil into the world. Apart from Jesus and the Holy Spirit we will never be able to love one another as He commanded us. Fallen human beings are just too ‘selfish’ to love His way – and there is no other way in spite of what other religions claim. These are timeless truths – as real today as they were in the time of the Apostles Peter and Paul.

But can we, as a nation, just turn to Jesus? I believe we need the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit. It will not be a work of man; it must be a work of God from start to finish. God needs to come down and change hearts. Is it too late? I don’t think so. There are still significant numbers of Christians in America interceding with God on behalf of our country. The 1949 revival that swept through the Hebrides off the northwest coast of Scotland began when just two 80-something year-old women prayed twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays, from 10 at night till 3 or 4 in the morning. They prayed like this for several months, later inviting the Elders of their church to join them. Copy this website into your browser for more details:

https://www.christianstogether.net/Articles/94936/Christians_Together_in/Archive/Around_the_Region/Western_Isles/Revival_in_the.aspx.

Jesus tells us to ask for what we want in prayer. OK, Lord. I am asking for a Holy Spirit–driven revival to wash over America that will begin with praying and repenting Christians. Revival is God moving among His people – gripping them in His power and presence, with an awe and wonder most people have never known – before a word is spoken by any man. Here is my prayer:

“God, redeem and restore America (put the name of your country here in place of America) to the nation you originally envisioned it to be. Jesus, protect our nation from spiritual and secular attacks. Change hearts, change lives – replace pride with humility, replace hatred with love, and replace fear with peace and trust in You. Holy Spirit, transform us into one nation – not divided along political, racial, or economic lines – under God, worshipping the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with wonder and awe; with freedom and justice for everyone. I am praying for a fresh infilling of Your Kingdom to come to America. Jesus, bring your light and life to our nation; sweep away the darkness, depression, fear, and despair – sooner than later. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.” Amen

Praying for the miracle of His Presence to break out across our country,

John