Sexual Repression in Islam

The title of this essay may seem a bit unusual, and a reader may wonder how I could know much about this subject. Therefore, let me describe an event that occurred around twenty years ago, at the time of the first Gulf War.

My son, Vernon, was a military policeman in the U.S. Army, and he was stationed in Saudi Arabia even before the military action began. When it did, his unit’s job was to move prisoners of war from the front battle lines to the rear. One of the processes was to take away from each prisoner, and they were all Muslims, what they had on their person, and that included their wallets. To their shock and surprise, these MPs found the photographs of these men’s boyfriends—their lovers—within the wallets. Vern even mailed to me one of these photo envelopes, which had about six or seven photos of young Muslim men.

After contemplating what this all meant, it occurred to me that, due to the social circumstances in Muslim-dominated countries like Saudi Arabia, young men had little or no access to Muslim women. The older Muslim men, those with authority, wealth, and power, had multiple wives. Therefore, many of the young men had only one another. My opinion was, and is, that these guys were not truly homosexuals, as one might suppose.

It was about this time that I began to reach out to Muslims. I even, and on only a few rare occasions, was I able to ask Muslim men what this was all about. I would tell the story about my son Vern and the wallet contents. Every time, these guys flatly stated that they were ashamed about it but did admit that it was often so. They made sure that such was not the case here in America. And I believed them, to a point.

I then began to think about Muslim women in Muslim-dominated countries. In the process of writing my two books on Islam, If Allah Wills and Islamic Studies, and in talking with Muslim people following the Friday Jummah prayers, I saw, not so much heard, that relations between the males and females were carefully monitored and directed. And this is the case here in the good old USA. What then about Muslim-dominated countries?

What was revealed by means of conversations, was the extent of the troubled sexual relations that the young women also experienced. They were trapped by the men and separated from the outside world, and even if they did appear in public, they would have only their faces showing, often with a kind of net over their faces. For a period of two years, I conducted a kind of class situation at the church I pastor in Mill Valley and frequently invited guest speakers. Some of these were local Muslim leaders from both Sunni and Shiite mosques, in addition to former Muslims now believers in Jesus as Savior. And as best I could, I would ask these representatives to speak about how things were between Muslim men and women. There were some red faces and quite a bit of taqiyya(h), which means “permission to deceive.” And this lying is even emulated, as made plain by one of Allah’s 99 names, which is “The Greatest Deceiver.”

A Muslim man can have four wives, and one can only surmise what might be taking place, as these wives are secluded and watched carefully. I have personal knowledge of a Muslim man, now elevated to the position of mufti, meaning one who can issue fatwas, who has four wives, but only one here in America. He travels year-round visiting three other wives and families who live in three different Muslim-majority countries.

Sexual repression gives birth to sexual perversion, for men and for women. It is all undercover, and again, it is an embarrassment to most Muslim people. Normal human beings have a sexual drive, a need for sex. It is common to us all, and when this God given gift is denied or prevented from being expressed, irregular sexual activity should be expected.

During my thirty-five years at San Quentin Prison, which is about six miles away from where I am right now, I have encountered numbers of young men who have engaged in homosexual relationships either willingly or unwillingly. It is just a reality. For three years, I led a Bible study in the Protestant Chapel, and for fourteen years I visited inmates in their cells, either in West or North block. Then came eighteen years coaching the baseball team.[1] This experience helped me understand the plight of some Muslim men and women.

The reason for the inclusion of this essay is to expose the reality of sexual repression for far too many young Muslim men and women.


[1] We have recently published the first of three books I wrote about baseball in San Quentin: Strike Three, You’re Out!: Baseball at San Quentin: The 2010 Season.

Akashic Records

 Akashic Records

In this chapter we review How to Read the Akashic Records: Accessing the Archive of the Soul and its Journey

1 Linda Howe and Juliette Looye, How to Read the Akashic Records: Accessing the Archive of the Soul and Its Journey, (Boulder, CO: Sounds True, 2009, 2010). 

The author is Linda Howe with Juliette Looye. This book was recommended to us by a woman who makes her living by helping clients learn how to access the Akashic

2 “Akasha” is a Sanskrit word and means primary substance, that out of which all things are formed . . . it is the first stage of the crystallization of spirit. Records. She views her work as spiritual therapy. 

Our comments will be noted in this font. 

Here is the introduction to Linda Howe’s website that deals with the Records: 

The Akashic Record is a dimension of consciousness that contains a vibrational record of every soul and its journey. It is completely available everywhere. Location and time do not affect the Record. Human beings have been interacting consciously and unconsciously with this body of energies throughout history. These interactions have been both deliberate and accidental. Referred to in virtually every major traditional religion as the Book of Life and the Book of God’s Remembrance, this body of wisdom has been an ever-present source of spiritual support for people including those in our Western Judeo-Christian tradition. 

The Record is an experiential body of wisdom, insight, guidance, and healing information. This collective of spiritual consciousness is best revealed through a spiritual means. It is not a body of thought that can be linked with the mind through mental discipline (like visualization), although thought is included with the Record, as is emotion. The access of the Record can not be achieved through emotional or sensational means, though for many, the experience of the unconditional love of the Record 63 

can be very emotional. Essentially, the most efficient and effective means to spiritual consciousness is through spiritual action. 

For centuries, the Akashic Record has been the exclusive domain of mystics, scholars, and saints. Rightfully so. Infinite power and wisdom are available in the Record, and they have been entrusted to those well-prepared for the responsibility of deep knowing. In the U.S., it was through the work of Edgar Cayce in the early to mid-twentieth century (“The Sleeping Prophet”), that Akashic Records readings became a familiar practice in the movement of consciousness development. Today, the Records are no longer the exclusive domain of saints, scholars, and mystics. The collective consciousness of humanity has been growing, evolving, and maturing. 

In this time of great change, the availability of the Record is shifting. The light of the Spirit is pouring into human consciousness at an unprecedented rate. This light infusion is causing radical upheaval in all areas of life for the purpose of bringing us into the highest possible alignment with the Divine Reality. One of the great tools for the development of our consciousness is the Akashic Record. 

It all began when Linda Howe, at age twenty-eight, attended a Renaissance fair where a tarot reader looked at her cards. This experience gave her a desire to bring others the kind of help that came to her by means of tarot. Indeed, she writes, “I wanted to be a professional tarot card reader” (p. xxii). 

At a later point, she then began taking classes in shamanism at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. She turned from the tarot to offering shamanic healings. This was followed by a desire to access both knowledge and power that could be simply and easily acquired. This led her to the Akashic Records. Soon she felt a significant “shift” and realized that this was where she needed to be. 

Linda connected with a woman, Mary Parker, who had received a “sacred prayer,” which served as an “access code” to the Records. This “prayer code” was something she recited and which then enabled her to enter into, experience, and exit the Records. This was the pathway for Linda to become certified to teach the Akashic Records by means of using the sacred prayer. At a later date, Linda received her own sacred prayer directly from the Records, and it is found in several places in her book. 

In her classes, where she teaches others how to enter into the Records, she uses a “meditation” in order to “facilitate this shift in consciousness” (p. xii). “The Pillar of Light” meditation is similar to a number of exercises designed to open oneself up to a shamanistic state of consciousness and involves properly sitting in a chair, mind clearing, breathing techniques, and so on, all to achieve a new consciousness or reach a spiritual plane. 

Chapter One is titled “An Introduction to the Akashic Records.” Linda begins by describing what the Akashic Records are. She writes, “The Akashic Records are a dimension of consciousness that contains a vibrational record of every soul and its journey. This vibrational body of consciousness exists everywhere in its entirety and is always completely available and in all places. As such, the Records are an experiential body of knowledge that contains everything that every soul has ever thought, said, and done over the course of its existence, as well as all its future possibilities” (p. 3). 

Indeed, the Records is a collection of all that a “soul” has experienced in past lives via reincarnation and even includes what will happen in future existences or lives. It is by working through this special and sacred knowledge that a soul is able to be healed from damage experienced in both former and present living experiences. 

In the process of accessing or opening the Akashic Records, a person moves from a “state of ordinary human consciousness to a state of Divine universal consciousness in which we recognize our Oneness with the Divine at all levels. This state of consciousness allows us to perceive the impressions and vibrations of the Records” (p. 4). 

In footnote #2, Akasha is described as the so-called primary substance, which Linda describes as “energy in its first and earliest state—before it has been directed by our individual thoughts and affected by our emotions in this lifetime” (p. 5). She then quotes passages from the Bible to support her theory. The first is from Psalm 56:8–9 where is found the phrase “your record.” The second is Psalm 40:7–8, “in the volume of the book” supposedly is a reference to the Records. Then Hebrews 10:7 and the phrase, “what is written of me in the volume of “The Book.” Fourth is from Psalm 139:16: “all were recorded in your book.” Last is “the book in which men’s actions, good and bad, are recorded, the Book of Life” from Revelation 20:1–2. Her last effort is a quote from “The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ.” 

Yet still in the first chapter, Linda explains that the “Akashic Records are governed and protected by a group of nonphysical Light Beings called the Lords of the Records.” These “beings ensure the safety and integrity of the Records. They determine not only who can access the Records but what information they can receive. The Lords of the Records work with the Masters, Teachers, and Loved Ones—who serve as the interface between the Akashic and earthly realms by ‘downloading’ to the Masters, Teachers, and Loved ones the information that they will relay during each Akashic reading” (p. 6). 

It is explained that the Lords of the Records and the Akashic Masters are nonphysical beings, but some of the Teachers and all of the Loved Ones have previously existed as humans on earth. 

No one will ever see the Lords of the Records nor the Teachers and Loved Ones as they existed in human form, but it is possible to experience their  “energetic presence.” However, “the Masters, Teachers, and Loved Ones prefer to remain anonymous so that we will learn to rely on the energy of the Records rather than on specific identities in the Records” (p. 7). 

A basic and core understanding of the Akashic Records is the doctrine of reincarnation and that all “souls” are eternal. Also, it is understood that the Records “hold the archive of each soul as it has existed from lifetime to lifetime as different human beings on the earth plane while evolving throughout time and space” (p. 7 and 8). 

Linda tries to ‘de-religionize’ the Records, teaching that any religion or spirituality may make use of them. We have also found that this concept is embraced even by those sitting in the pews of Christian churches. Those who identify with Hinduism, Buddhism, and any and all occult-oriented spiritualities may indeed incorporate the Records into their thinking and experience without much sense of contradiction. However, no biblically oriented Christian would ever do so, except under a cloud of confusion and deception. 

Edgar Cayce (1877–1945) gave out daily Akashic Records readings, more than fourteen thousand of them, which are yet accessible. Besides Cayce, others engaged in occult-oriented spiritualities also intersected with the Records. Now, the Records are seeing a revival across America. 

Linda Howe subscribes to the “Pathway Prayer Process” as a means of access to the Akashic Records. “While some people use prayers to access the Records, others gain access through hypnosis. Still others have been able to tap into the Records by using the symbols of the healing practice known as Reiki” (p. 12). Also, some are able to do so by means of various meditation practices and other forms of consciousness development. 

We would agree, based upon our own experience, that these people are accessing “something.” But what is that something? Almost any form of meditation that moves a person into what may be known as a shamanistic or altered state of consciousness may be wide open to demonic deception. There is a spiritual presence and power in the occult world, and in practices like the Records and Reiki, but it is not holy; rather, it is devilish, which may not be apparent for a long period of time. 

How can we speak in this very dogmatic manner? The answer is simply that, over the years, we and many others, have cast demons out of those who have engaged in such practices, despite how very sincere and dedicated they may have been. Entering into the so-called “meditative” state actually opens up a means whereby demonic spirits enter in, and these disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Yes, there is the element of power and knowledge, the cornerstones of the devilish kingdom,  but the end is worse than imaginable. 

Linda, on page 14, notes that there are not many books written about the Akashic Records, and she states that her book is one of the first of its kind. 

Today channeling of various sorts, psychic therapy, maneuvering energy, tarot card reading, astrology, etc., are growing in popularity. In fact, there are multitudes of people who make a living applying these esoteric forms of healing. These people have learned how to “channel” the energies they encounter “to move through our bodies, hearts, and minds” (p. 15). Those in Linda’s field “channel energy and information directly from the Akasha, not from entities or personalities from other dimensions,” which she believes is a far better and safer mechanism. 

Linda’s book is designed to use the Pathway Prayer Process to ”Access the Heart of the Akashic Records.” This is the primary reason for the writing of her book. She then asks the reader, “Why use a prayer to access the Akashic Records?” Her answer is, “Since they exist within the realm of spirit, they are considered a ‘spiritual’ entity, so this particular domain of consciousness is best accessed and achieved through the spiritual action of prayer” (p. 17). 

Perhaps it is here where some are lured into using the Records, since it appears to be religious, with an emphasis on prayer and meditation. That old enemy, that lying serpent, that master of disguise, has made good use of the Akashic Records. 

From our personal perspective, we can see why occult/spiritual practices are growing in popularity. For several decades past and perhaps many decades to come, there has been a downturn in Christianity of all forms— Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, and other. During such periods, something always comes along to feed the spiritual need, since we are all made in the image of God and are at our core hungry for what is authentically holy and spiritual. Eagerly waiting is a clever substitute, unhappily a demonic one. Of course, atheism satisfies some, especially if it can be linked with charitable causes. We would be atheists ourselves, if we were not Christians, but atheism does not fill the need for most of us. 

On page 31, Linda Howe explains the core dynamic behind engaging with the Akashic Records: “The first thing that will happen while you’re accessing your Records is that while you speak the Opening Prayer, you’ll shift out of your ordinary human consciousness and into the Divine universal consciousness.” 

This is exactly what happens to a person who carefully attends to the Pathway Prayer Process. 

And just what is the “Divine universal consciousness?” It is direct contact with the demonic kingdom ruled over by Satan itself. It is very spiritual, 67 

having direct contact with evil spirits, who will not usually be experienced as evil, and which are not in some other worldly realm, but are actually resident within that person. It is called “demon possession.” This is clear from the Scripture, has been so understood by Christians of all stripes down through the ages, and is widely known today. 

Does Linda Howe know what we are talking about? Yes, she does, as evidenced on page 32 in her strict denial of this possibility. She writes, “At this point, you may be wondering if any ‘negative’ energy or ‘dark’ entities can enter your consciousness or attach to you while you’re in the Akashic Records. My answer to you is no–unequivocally, unmistakably no.” 

Shamans, in their trance state, believe they leave the body and travel to the lower or upper word to do their work, perhaps retrieving a “soul” from the lower world and transporting it to the upper world, usually for a fee. But they have gone nowhere—it is all in their minds. It is the same with the Divine universal consciousness—it is all in the mind. Yes, a person entering this consciousness by means of the Pathway Prayer Process will “see” things in their mind’s eye. Linda writes, “You may see colors, auras, or energy fields, images, symbols, or shapes or ‘streaming video’ of a particular event” (p. 34). 

Such things may be seen but they are demonic illusions intended to convince the person so possessed to think something far different. And these events, as we have found so many times, are sufficient for evil spirits to capture their prey. 

Supposedly, by means of the Pathway Prayer Process, one may read his or her own Akashic Record or the Records of other people. There is a caveat, however, as Linda makes clear: “When opening another person’s Records, you must have his or her consent” (p. 66). And this is possible, says Linda, by following directives explained on page 48, which has nothing to do with contacting that person in real time. 

Then, even more remarkably, one can read the Records of animals or pets, as Linda assures those who have had strong attachments to deceased pets. Not only that, but the Records of public monuments, buildings, parks, cities, towns, or areas of land can be read. And more, also the Records of a company or a department within a company can be read. For those who use their craft for others, as counselors or chancellors, etc., they may obtain a patient’s or client’s Records as well. 

It is even possible to heal your own past lives in the Akashic Records, since the Records have a record of all our lifetimes, a search may be made to discover how things went badly in previous lives, and these traumas can then he healed. But this can only be done with the “permission of the Lords of the Records who then allow the Masters, Teachers, and Loved Ones to share information that we are ready to hear” (p. 135).  

At the conclusion of her book, Linda lays out what she calls the “Absolutes,” which are “absolutely true of absolutely every soul, absolutely all of the time.” They are: 1) There’s always more than meets the (human) eye; 2) We are all One; 3) Everything and everyone is Divine; 4) Everyone is always in active pursuit of peace; 5) Reincarnation is not about “good” and “bad” lifetimes, and 6) Karma is not about reward and punishment. 

In closing out this piece on the Akashi Records, we want to make clear that we have found practitioners, professional or not, who have committed to the use of the Records, to be sincere and loving people, who mostly desire to help others and heal themselves from whatever trauma they are experiencing. We are friends with some of them who make their living using the Records. Our prayer for them is that the Holy Spirit of God will open their eyes and that they be freed from the enemy’s grasp. 

******* 

Excerpt from Wikipedia 

Wikipedia December 21, 2021 

In the religion of theosophy and the philosophical school called anthroposophy, the Akashic records are a compendium of all universal events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present, or future in terms of all entities and life forms, not just human. They are believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the mental plane. There are anecdotal accounts, but there is no scientific evidence for the existence of the Akashic records. 

George Muller of Bristol

 Chapter 30 

George Müller of Bristol

Before my days as a Jesus freak, a fellow student at Golden Gate Seminary gave me a book by Arthur Tappan Pierson about George Müller, the German Christian who began an orphanage in Bristol, England. 

What impressed me about the life of Müller was how God met his financial needs. Müller wanted God alone to be thanked and praised for this, so he would not let others know of the content of his prayers or otherwise broadcast the often dire circumstances the orphanage faced. His prayer requests would be specific about the amount needed and when it was needed. The prayers were answered just as specifically. The answers to prayer were a continued source of strength and encouragement for him and a clear and unequivocal statement about the God who answers prayer. 

After I left the seminary and began my work in the City, I also had to leave my job as a shoe salesman at J.C. Penney, and the money I received each month as part of the G.I. Bill came to an end. I had no income, no savings, no credit card, and a family of four. Müller came to mind, and I began copying his approach. 

My experience mirrored Müller’s. I told no one, not even my parents, of what I was facing, but I instead simply asked God to meet the needs. He did, and right on time. I know it sounds incredible, and I would not be upset if someone doubted the truth of it all.

1 Somewhere in my archives I have prayer lists I kept at the time which give credence to how our needs were met. Though it may seem contrary to the objective, Müller also eventually had to describe what happened. 

So I prayed, and praying has never been a strong suit of mine. I am a reluctant prayer, but in this period I set aside time, usually in the morning, for what I called “devotions.” I adopted the Billy Graham practice of reading two chapters in the Old Testament, three Psalms, and at least two chapters in the New Testament. In the back of my Bible I had a prayer list divided into columns, with the date on the left, the request in the middle, and the answer with date on the right. I could then track what was going on. 

I continued the practice when the Christian houses started. Today we read in the newspapers about a “fiscal cliff,” and I faced many of them, one right after the other, yet we never one time fell over the cliff. I thought it might be nice if God would simply lay on us a large lump of cash, but it never happened. For most of that time, actually all the way to 1980, I had no checking or savings account. I lived month to month, and even today it is not much different. 

A Shift in Procedure 

I hope this does not sound pretentious or otherwise haughty, but about 1969 I started being noticed by the media, and invitations began to arrive. So I began to travel about the country, sometimes alone with my guitar, other times with Joyful Noise, flying here and there like a celebrity of sorts. What I did on these travels was collect names and addresses of people I met along the way who seemed interested in the work in California. My recollection is that in 1970 I began to send out a monthly newsletter to people I thought might be interested in following what was going on with me and might even contribute some money. 

We did have a non-profit corporation, Christian House Ministries. Chuck Kopp, an attorney whose wife Nancy was involved in our work, did the paper work. So I was able to send out tax deductable receipts. With over two hundred on the mailing list, we were able to get a bulk mailing permit. I had a big, old Royal typewriter, and eventually a mimeograph machine, and the letter went out, and money started coming in. By 1972, the average income from the letter was $800 a month. Bobbie was working at Marin General Hospital, and though it was still month-by-month, we were doing fine. It was about this time that I ceased doing the Müller imitation, but I missed it. My thinking was that the newsletter was God’s way of meeting our needs, and it also meant I was developing an account of my years as a Jesus freak by way of the monthly newsletters. 

Sexual Repression in Islam

The title of this essay may seem a bit unusual, and a reader may wonder how I could know much about this subject. Therefore, let me describe an event that occurred around twenty years ago, at the time of the first Gulf War.

My son, Vernon, was a military policeman in the U.S. Army, and he was stationed in Saudi Arabia even before the military action began. When it did, his unit’s job was to move prisoners of war from the front battle lines to the rear. One of the processes was to take away from each prisoner, and they were all Muslims, what they had on their person, and that included their wallets. To their shock and surprise, these MPs found the photographs of these men’s boyfriends—their lovers—within the wallets. Vern even mailed to me one of these photo envelopes, which had about six or seven photos of young Muslim men.

After contemplating what this all meant, it occurred to me that, due to the social circumstances in Muslim-dominated countries like Saudi Arabia, young men had little or no access to Muslim women. The older Muslim men, those with authority, wealth, and power, had multiple wives. Therefore, many of the young men had only one another. My opinion was, and is, that these guys were not truly homosexuals, as one might suppose.

It was about this time that I began to reach out to Muslims. I even, and on only a few rare occasions, was I able to ask Muslim men what this was all about. I would tell the story about my son Vern and the wallet contents. Every time, these guys flatly stated that they were ashamed about it but did admit that it was often so. They made sure that such was not the case here in America. And I believed them, to a point.

I then began to think about Muslim women in Muslim-dominated countries. In the process of writing my two books on Islam, If Allah Wills and Islamic Studies, and in talking with Muslim people following the Friday Jummah prayers, I saw, not so much heard, that relations between the males and females were carefully monitored and directed. And this is the case here in the good old USA. What then about Muslim-dominated countries?

What was revealed by means of conversations, was the extent of the troubled sexual relations that the young women also experienced. They were trapped by the men and separated from the outside world, and even if they did appear in public, they would have only their faces showing, often with a kind of net over their faces. For a period of two years, I conducted a kind of class situation at the church I pastor in Mill Valley and frequently invited guest speakers. Some of these were local Muslim leaders from both Sunni and Shiite mosques, in addition to former Muslims now believers in Jesus as Savior. And as best I could, I would ask these representatives to speak about how things were between Muslim men and women. There were some red faces and quite a bit of taqiyya(h), which means “permission to deceive.” And this lying is even emulated, as made plain by one of Allah’s 99 names, which is “The Greatest Deceiver.”

A Muslim man can have four wives, and one can only surmise what might be taking place, as these wives are secluded and watched carefully. I have personal knowledge of a Muslim man, now elevated to the position of mufti, meaning one who can issue fatwas, who has four wives, but only one here in America. He travels year-round visiting three other wives and families who live in three different Muslim-majority countries.

Sexual repression gives birth to sexual perversion, for men and for women. It is all undercover, and again, it is an embarrassment to most Muslim people. Normal human beings have a sexual drive, a need for sex. It is common to us all, and when this God given gift is denied or prevented from being expressed, irregular sexual activity should be expected.

During my thirty-five years at San Quentin Prison, which is about six miles away from where I am right now, I have encountered numbers of young men who have engaged in homosexual relationships either willingly or unwillingly. It is just a reality. For three years, I led a Bible study in the Protestant Chapel, and for fourteen years I visited inmates in their cells, either in West or North block. Then came eighteen years coaching the baseball team.[1] This experience helped me understand the plight of some Muslim men and women.

The reason for the inclusion of this essay is to expose the reality of sexual repression for far too many young Muslim men and women.


[1] We have recently published the first of three books I wrote about baseball in San Quentin: Strike Three, You’re Out!: Baseball at San Quentin: The 2010 Season.

Reiki

This is primarily a summary of Reiki from the book Psychic Empath: 5 Books in 1, published by the Spiritual Awakening Academy with some of our own comments in this font. (No copyright date or author is given in the book.) 

Introduction 

The opening words of the introduction are, “Reiki healing allows you to connect with the energies of the universe and use it in a way that encourages the body to heal itself. It can be used to treat aches and pains, overcome allergies and headaches, and even heal chronic or painful diseases. The results depend heavily on your abilities and your mindset, as it is important to be receptive to the Reiki energies for them to result. Often the emotional and physical health problems that we struggle with stem from blocked energy channels in the body.” 

A key phrase here is “Reiki energies.” And it is the nature of these “energies” that is a core concern. Also, in the introduction we read that Reiki “is actually a powerful energy that is inside all of us.” Of chief concern is the nature of these energies, and few clues are given in the Reiki section that describe or identify these energies nor what they are or where they come from. 

It is our conviction that these “energies” are demonic spirits. 

Reiki Healing 

“Reiki is a form of therapy that promotes healing and balance in life,” per the author of the book, and “The focus of Reiki is to improve or increase the flow of positive energy through the use of energy that flows from the hands of the practitioner.” 

The word Reiki originates from the Japanese word for Rei, referring to a “higher power,” “power of the universe,” “spirituality,” or “universal power,” and Ki refers to energy or life force. Reiki therefore is associated with power and energy. 

The origins of Reiki are unknown but are thought to be ancient. Dr. Usai, a Japanese Buddhist monk, studied Reiki and discovered its benefits and made it known to others. 

Reiki is developed through training sessions or classes in a series of attunements. The power of Reiki develops over time as it helps to clear and heal the mind, allowing a stronger flow of positive energy transferred from one place or person to another. 

There are several forms or types of Reiki. Jikiden Reiki is the most traditional and original form of Reiki practiced today. It is also known as Eastern Reiki, as it is closely related to the way it was initially used when first developed. It is known as the purest form of Reiki. It is said that the healing process is spiritual, yet it is claimed that it does not aim to change or conflict with the different beliefs of other people and is said to work regardless of a person’s religion or faith. The core of the process is channeling energy, which energy is supposedly universal and available to everyone. 

Usui Reiki is also known as Western Reiki and is said to be a spiritual healing but through physical means. This means that light or energy is “transferred or channeled through the hands from one person to the other.” It is a process, the author states, that involves the transference of universal energy. It is claimed that Usui “is used as a way to help those who have passed away to transition or move from the current physical existence to an afterlife or spiritual existence.” 

Frequently the unknown author of the piece on Reiki states something similar to this quote: “There is no conflict with other people’s faiths or beliefs” (p. 27). It is at minimum disingenuous and at worst a complete fabrication, especially as seen from a Biblical point of view. 

Karuna Reiki focuses on developing a “deep sense of love and spreading it to others through the practice. While the first two forms of Reiki focus on the physical healing process, along with the spiritual, Karuna Reiki aims to use more spiritual healing as a way to treat or improve others mentally and psychologically.” 

There are those who combine these three forms of Reiki and those who do find that Karuna Reiki is superior to the others. Its main goal is the “extension of love and care to yourself and the people around you. In doing this, the energy transfer is of a higher level and can promote healing more effectively as a result.” 

Sekehem Reiki (also known as Sichim Reiki) comes out of Egypt and is an extension of the worship of the Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet. Here the energy channeled is like vibrations full of light that reject negativity and pain. Essential oils are also used with Sekehem. It is said that the benefits of Sekehem are, one, “a deeper sense of awareness and focus in life;” two, “it promotes connections with other people, and gives a strong sense of enlightenment and spirituality along with inner peace and acceptance;” and three, “provides for stronger and faster healing” (p. 31). 

Lightarian Reiki makes use of both Usui and Karuna forms of Reiki. It is said there are eight bands or levels of energy in Reiki which create a path to higher awareness and spirituality. Usui and Karuna forms of Reiki focus on the first two bands and the other six are reached via Lightarian Reiki. These bands connect a person with the Ascended Masters, or a higher sense of being. 

The book’s author states that in Lightarian Reiki one can progress through higher forms or energy that will be of benefit for clients, since one is channeling a higher form of energy faster and stronger than other forms. 

It is concluded that Usui Reiki is the most popular method practiced in North America. But then comes praise for Karuna Reiki and for those who practice that version. Those who do so “often need to report to their Spirit Guides, Angels, and their Higher Self, and then afterwards they feel their presences at times” (p. 34). 

Two points: First, we find the connection with the Akashic Records (see the following chapter on the Akashic Records,) the Lords, Masters, Teachers, and Loved Ones. “Connection” is a deceptive concept, as it really is possession by demonic spirits. The Ascended Masters, Lords, Masters, Teachers, Loved Ones are all evil spirits ruled over by the master deceiver Satan. Some who practice Reiki and the Records are aware of this but feel trapped and helpless. These sad people are forced to cope with the ravages that come from demonic invasion and will have a strong repulsion for anything that is actually holy. 

Second, over the last fifty or so years, we have engaged in the casting out of demons, and this not by elaborate rituals but by simple ministry as we see in Scripture. I have three books on this subject. The most recent and shortest is The Deliverance Handbook, which describes how demons are cast out of those who want this deliverance. 

Over the years, many hundreds of people have received this common and biblical ministry, and some via Zoom. This work is necessary, because the so-called spirit guides, angels, higher selves, spirit animals, etc. are demons in disguise. How many are caught up in this unscientific, unverified charade conducted by channelers, psychic therapists, energy workers, mediums, and life coaches who employ methods like Reiki and work with Akashic Records? Their “clients” are unaware of what they are getting into and are taken advantage of by evil spirits that only bring everlasting tragedy.

Benefits of Reiki 

Now a listing of the so-called benefits of the various forms of Reiki that are sprinkled throughout the book, with our comments in italics. 

  1. Does not require you to convert into another religion. 

It is often said in the book that Reiki is not a religion. But no Bible-faithful Christian would practice Reiki, as it is not only another religion, but it is based on occult practices. 

  1. Helps you deal with past-life issues. 
  2. Helps you be more mindful and in the moment. 
  3. Noninvasive. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. 

  1. Can help ease panic attacks, fatigue, and muscle pain. 
  2. Heals the body on a cellular level. 
  3. Helps with self–image problems. 
  4. Assist in the manifestation of goals. 
  5. Improves your ‘inner light’ and your ability to sense the energy around you. 
  6. Can assist a dying person’s soul transcend peacefully to the afterlife. 
  7. Can balance the chakras in the body. 
  8. No need to convert to other religions. 
  9. Promotes wholistic health and well–being. 
  10. Is sage for use by pregnant women. 
  11. Gives a person the ability to heal others. 

It is made plain that Reiki will not work on someone who cannot open their mind and body to the flow of energy. This, of course, opens the door for demonic possession, as all the natural safeguards against an evil spiritual world are closed down or rejected. The passive state of consciousness, the altered state of consciousness, the shamanistic state of consciousness—these are all terms for opening up the mind and body to spiritual entities, all of which are of a demonic nature. After some period of time, the Reike practitioner realizes this, but most will not back away or attempt to protect their clients. A large motivation is greed, as many channelers and mediums and Reike counselors make a great deal of money from their clients. 

Symbols of Reiki 

There are five traditional symbols of Reiki. These were developed in 1922 by Dr. Mikao Usui who received the revelation of the symbols following a 21-day fast. The symbols will be drawn or displayed by the Reiki master during treatments. 

Those who advocate Reiki healing methods believe that these symbols are essential tools in the world of Reiki healing. They are considered to be the keys to open the doors to higher levels of awareness, and thus are considered holy and sacred. The symbols are said to be “guiding tools,” so students and masters can focus on the energy they hold within them. 

First is the power symbol. It is also known as cho ku rei and represents the increase and decrease of one’s power and appears as a coil. This symbol regulates the energy as it contracts and expands. This symbol is used to begin a Reiki healing session, which is said to increase the practitioner’s power. Also, it is the power symbol to get rid of negative energy. 

Second is the harmony symbol, also known as sei hi ki, and has to do with mental and emotional healing and appears as a bird’s wing dashing on the wave flowing across the ocean. This symbol is used to help people recover from traumas and for treating addictions and depression. 

Third is the distance symbol, also know as sha ze sha, and is displayed as a tower or pagoda. It has to do with sending energy across distances. This is said to help people go over their personal issues, and also to bring energy from great distances and heal at distances. 

Fourth is the master symbol, also known as dai ko myo, and represents everything about Reiki. The symbol looks like a combination of multiple symbols and shows the users who have ascended their levels to finally becoming masters. It is used to gain enlightenment, especially for those who desire to become Reiki masters. 

Fifth is the completion symbol, also known as raku, and symbolizes the intention of closure. A lightning bolt is the picture of this symbol. At this point a person is “attuned,” the process to become a Reiki healer is complete and they will see this symbol. This symbol is used to bring closure and rise with the awakened energy. This symbol can be visualized at the ending of a Reiki session. 

Reiki and the Chakras 

It is said that Reiki is chakra work. It means that Reiki masters work on the seven main energy centers they think lie along the spine in the subtle body. Beginning with the crown chakra at the head, where light energy is absorbed, this energy then travels to the core where light is absorbed through the feet. 

Chakras are not static points but are moving light wheels, and Chakra means “wheel.” The theory is that light and energy are compromised, blocked, etc., and then physical and mental and spiritual harmony are disturbed. So, the Reiki master then goes about aligning and cleansing the chakras. 

The goal is for a free flow of energy travelling up to the crown chakra. This is also referred to as Unio Mystica and is the mystical union of yin and yang. And it is only here where Reiki folks believe is the summit of synthesis, where lasting fulfillment is possible. 

The benefits of balanced chakras are said to be the following: 

  1. It releases blocked emotional and physical energy. 
  2. Eliminates confusion and gives one confidence and motivation. 
  3. Makes one feel and look younger. 
  4. Makes one feel more in touch with your intuition. 
  5. Provides for stronger emotional connection with others. 
  6. Helps to overcome lying in favor of telling the truth. 
  7. Makes one more comfortable and self-confident. 
  8. Produces a better memory. 
  9. Gives more energy and motivation. 
  10. Helps one connect with their subconscious mind. 
  11. Helps with dealing with stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression, etc. 
  12. Helps to think more clearly and promotes creativity. 
  13. Gives one mental toughness. 
  14. Improves one’s overall health. 

The core idea here is this: The trouble is always negative energy, and it is everywhere. And a balancing of the chakras means a path to a more balanced life. 

Levels of Reiki 

Reiki comes in different levels or degrees, of which it is claimed, there are three. 

The First Level is the practitioner’s initiation. Here comes the basic instruction of what Reiki is, its history, and the methods used, along with group practice sessions. This is followed by the attunement, which must take place before moving to the second level. This state is done through the working of the Reiki master. 

Here now is the possession of the practitioner by demonic spirits, commonly known as demons. It is a spiritual experience and will not usually seem dark and dangerous by the practitioner, but it will rather be a startling and powerful experience that captivates. It is all about power, the fundamental draw of the demonic and occult world. Even the power to heal and comfort is central. This ‘otherness’ makes it all appear beneficial and good. 

The Second Level is where first level Reiki people practice on others, all the while making use of the symbols and gradually “expanding or opening more energy channels” (p. 60). 

In this level the Reiki masters provide those attuned with the symbols for power harmony, and distance. 

It is thought that some Reiki masters combine levels one and two. 

Channeling is a key component of Reiki. In the second level is where prospective masters learn various techniques to channel energy. It is really all about how to open a person to invasion by evil spirits. 

The Third Degree, otherwise known as Inner Master or Master Attunement, represents a student’s mastery and who becomes then a teacher of Reiki as well as a practitioner, and therefore acquires the means to attune others and can then open up energy channels on a much deeper level. And at this point, “you can even put up your own practice and become a practitioner like the other Reiki masters across the globe” (p. 61). 

Reike Healing Hand Positions 

How does Reiki lower stress and help the body heal? Largely it has to do with the power of the energetic vibrations in the Reiki practitioner’s hands. “These vibrations are then passed from the practitioner to the client to induce healing.” (p. 64-65) It is also true that yoga, acupuncture, qugong, and shiatsu, to name a few, do much the same. The focus of Reiki is to restore the biofield’s or unified field’s balance like those practices named above. Some say that Reiki is more similar to meditation than these other energy therapies. 

The base concept is that we humans have types of energy that run through us and around us. These can get out of balance or blocked, and Reiki, along with other processes, like those named above, are said to restore and correct these energy flows and balances. 

Reiki practice is very passive. The master’s hand does not even move for most of the period of treatment. The hands are held steady on or over and above a chakra or place of pain, and then energy flows are corrected—this is the working concept. 

The practitioner is mostly meditating as is the patient while forces work on the vibrations and energy flows. The patient, prior to this, is taught how to move into a passive state of mind and depend on unseen forces to bring about the desired result. 

Again, we call attention to the passive, altered, or shamanistic state of mind, which is what is really going on in Reiki as well as a number of other wholistic healing practices. There is no Biblical precedent for this. Christianity does not speak of mindlessness or mindfulness, but rather a simple prayer for healing and nothing more. Some will “lay hands on” but this is no transfer of power nor is it magical in any way. It is simply a time-honored way of praying. 

What is involved in a Reiki Session? 

At the outset, the “recipient” is lying down or upright in a comfortable chair. The practitioner’s hands are placed in multiple locations like the head, back, and belly, and never on any private parts. Injured areas are concentrated on. 

It is said to be a realignment of energy, unblocking flows of energy, which are thought to bring healing. 

The experience of the patient varies. Sometimes there is little to be felt, other times there is a warmness, or coolness, sometimes a pulsating effect supposedly caused by energy flows. The patient’s role is to relax and trust in the practitioner’s skills. 

The Reiki session is meant to infuse the patient with love. It is said that Reiki opens one up to the power of the universe’s unconditional love. A person is said to sense a connection to everyone and everything around them. 

It is also said that “Reiki chooses you” (p. 7). No one then consciously decides to become a Reiki healer, they are called to this by a higher power. And there are a whole host of blessings that then come to this chosen person. 

Reiki and Meditation 

Meditation is a major part of Reiki and there are two basic forms of it. One is to clear the mind of all thoughts, and the second is to focus on a specific question, concern, or situation. “With Reiki meditation, the focus is on Reiki energy rather than any other subject. During a Reiki meditation, you focus on the universal energy as it is within you, around you, and within everything around you. You want to feel connected to that energy to create a feeling of tranquility, connection, and peace” (p. 80). 

Reiki meditation also works with “affirmations,” said to be “a positive sentence that will affect your conscious and subconscious mind” (p. 93). These are to be repeated continuously and visualized so that the affirmation will become reality. Reiki meditation is also used to “heal the auric field,” which “surrounds human energetic bodies” or “energy field” and must be in sync with chakras, as well as mental, spiritual, etheric, emotional, and physical bodies. “When all the chakras and energy bodies are in harmony and are working well together you will be full of vitality and have a sense of wellness” (p. 83). 

Reiki depends upon feelings and a highly subjective and complex set of internal circumstances. There is absolutely no scientific validation for the existence of energy fields, either large ones or small ones, plus the mental, spiritual, etheric, emotional, and physical bodies. Both the Reiki practitioner and the patient must commit to a very strange and esoteric formula, and this necessity will result in demonization. It is the devil’s playground. 

Meditation to heal the karmic past 

This is intended to heal deep emotional wounds and other family patterns of dysfunction. It is intended to continue for at least two weeks. 

It begins with lying down, then bringing attention to your breathing and offer thanks to Reiki for your healing. Then ask Reiki and Universal life-force energy to guide you on your healing path. Then ask for guidance and assistance from your spirit guides and any other Masters of healing in the Universe. Close your eyes and relax, inhale and exhale. Then use your third eye to feel that Reiki energy beaming through your crown and filling your whole body. . .and it goes on and at the end the instruction is to “release the meditation and give gratitude to Reiki with a gassho” (p. 101). 

Notice the phrase “your spirit guides.” Of course, those committed to Reiki would not understand that these entities are actually demonic spirits. People committed to Reiki and other forms of occultic practices will most often state they have a spirit guide and also a spirit animal living inside of them. So at least two spirits indwell them, often more, and these are merely evil spirits. I know this, because over the decades I and many others have cast these out of people. This is well known by those who have been involved in deliverance ministry. 

Where does the Reiki energy originate? 

It comes from the Higher Power, which is found on a dimension, which is higher than the physical world that people have come to know. However, the real source of the Reiki energy is within oneself. “The energy comes from a transcendental part of oneself, which is linked to an inexhaustible healing energy supply” (p. 102). 

It is heart breaking to read this sort of deception. We live in an era of an explosion of systems and practices like Reiki, and also an era when Christianity is on a major decline. The vacuum here is being filled in with practices, however spiritual, exciting, and helpful they may seem to be, but which lead to invasion by evil spirits and also result in a separation from reality, thus opening oneself up to mental illness. 

Is the Reiki system a type of religion? 

The book’s author(s) answer “No.” Though it is spiritual, it is not considered a religion, and to practice Reiki, one does not need to change religion. 

Perhaps some would buy this, but a Christian guided by the Scripture would not. A staunch atheist would not either. Some religious forms would accept this, however, two of these being Hinduism and Buddhism. My experience is that Buddhism is often the launching pad for practices like Reiki. 

It is interesting to find Reiki adherents say their practice is not a religion. Of course, it is; in fact, it is an all-consuming religious practice. The claim that it is not a religion and that anyone can be involved in it and not lose whatever faith they have is a false and dangerous idea. 

******* 

Excerpts from Wikipedia 

Wikipedia on December 21, 2021 

(This article is about the Japanese pseudoscientific healing practice.) 

Reiki is a Japanese form of energy healing, which is a subset of alternative medicine. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a “universal energy” is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing. 

Reiki is a pseudoscience and is used as an illustrative example of pseudoscience in scholarly texts and academic journal articles. It is based on qi (“chi”), which practitioners say is a universal life force, although there is no empirical evidence that such a life force exists. 

Clinical research does not show reiki to be effective as a treatment for any medical condition, including cancer, diabetic neuropathy, or anxiety and depression; therefore it should not replace conventional medical treatment. There is no proof of the effectiveness of reiki therapy compared to placebo. Studies reporting positive effects have had methodological flaws. 60 

Scholarly evaluation 

Reiki is used as an illustrative example of pseudoscience in scholarly texts and academic journal articles. 

In criticizing the State University of New York for offering a continuing education course on reiki, one source stated, “reiki postulates the existence of a universal energy unknown to science and thus far undetectable surrounding the human body, which practitioners can learn to manipulate using their hands,” and others said, “In spite of its [reiki] diffusion, the baseline mechanism of action has not been demonstrated …” and, “Neither the forces involved nor the alleged therapeutic benefits have been demonstrated by scientific testing.” Several authors have pointed to the vitalistic energy which reiki is claimed to treat, with one saying, “Ironically, the only thing that distinguishes reiki from therapeutic touch is that it [reiki] involves actual touch,” and others stating that the International Center for Reiki Training “mimic[s] the institutional aspects of science” seeking legitimacy but holds no more promise than an alchemy society. 

A guideline published by the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine, and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation states, “Reiki therapy should probably not be considered for the treatment of PDN [painful diabetic neuropathy].” Canadian sociologist Susan J. Palmer has listed reiki as among the pseudoscientific healing methods used by cults in France to attract members. 

Evidence quality 

A 2008 systematic review of nine randomized clinical trials found several shortcomings in the literature on reiki. Depending on the tools used to measure depression and anxiety, the results varied and were not reliable or valid. Furthermore, the scientific community has been unable to replicate the findings of studies that support reiki. The review also found issues in reporting methodology in some of the literature, in that often there were parts omitted completely or not clearly described. Frequently in these studies, sample sizes were not calculated, and adequate allocation and double-blind procedures were not followed. The review also reported that such studies exaggerated the effectiveness of treatment and there was no control for differences in experience of reiki practitioners or even the same practitioner at times produced different outcomes. None of the studies in the review provided a rationale for the treatment duration and no study reported adverse effects.  

Safety 

Safety concerns for reiki sessions are very low and are akin to those of many complementary and alternative medicine practices. Some physicians and health care providers, however, believe that patients may unadvisedly substitute proven treatments for life-threatening conditions with unproven alternative modalities including reiki, thus endangering their health. 

Obviously and unfortunately, this article does not identify demonic possession as a safety concern. 

Training, certification, and adoption 

There is no central authority controlling use of the words “reiki” or “reiki master.” Certificates can be purchased online for under $100. It is “not uncommon” for a course to offer attainment of reiki master in two weekends. There is no regulation of practitioners of reiki in the United States. 

Antioch Ranch in Mendocino

 Chapter 29 

Jerry and Pat Westfall lived about six miles east of Mendocino off the Compte-Ukiah Road on a beautiful tract of forested land they called Antioch Ranch.

In Antioch of Syria followers of Jesus were first called Christians. This wonderful Christian couple made space for others to stay there and turned the place into a kind of Christian retreat. 

At some point in 1968, Jerry heard of us in some way and visited us at Soul Inn. His retreat ranch was ready for guests, and Jerry wanted us to know that we could send folks up his way. We did just that. 

I will never forget the first trip I made to the ranch. It was October 31, 1968, Halloween Day. I was hitchhiking, and it took me all day long to get to Mendocino. It was raining hard, and I was thoroughly soaked. My last ride took me right into the town of Mendocino, where I stepped out of the car door and into a driving rain. A bell somewhere chimed midnight, and I wondered how in the world I was going to make it the last stretch to the ranch. The town was dead quiet, with no one around, but I didn’t have time to fret, as I heard a voice calling out my name. It was Jerry, and he had been waiting for hours for me to show up. It was a happy ride down the twisty country road to the safe haven of Antioch Ranch. 

One of the first to go up to Antioch Ranch was Ira Monroe, a Canadian, who had come to America to avoid military service there.

2 After his conversion to Christ, some years after, Ira went back home, turned himself in, and spent some time in prison. He came right off Haight Street, a brand new Christian with long blond hair and a serious demeanor. Ira was a real hippie, and everybody loved the guy.  

A number of others followed, and I made the trek myself a number of times, sometimes to teach and baptize, and one time to help tear down an old building in downtown Mendocino. We did the job for free, just to get the old redwood out of it to build dorms on the ranch’s property. That was one of my favorite memories. It was a bright but brisk day, and we were up on the second floor, with the Pacific Ocean behind us, the wooded hills opposite us, and the white and glistening little town all around us. How I wish I could go back or at least have photographs of that day, as I can still see myself carefully pulling out the hundred year old square nails, gently handling the long planks of redwood siding, and working alongside a bunch of ex-dopers singing Jesus songs. 

Money was always tight on the ranch, and one way we made money for it was to cut down redwood and pine trees and make coffee tables from the wood. I had the great pleasure of making a number of these myself, even cutting down smaller trees for the legs. We carted them to Marin and sold them to the parents of the kids who came to the Bible studies. I still have four of those tables. The legs are pine logs, the tops usually three-inch thick slabs of gorgeous redwood, and on each I laid seven layers of clear varnish. They are as solid and beautiful now, really more so, than they were then. 

Jerry and Pat were members of a Presbyterian Church in Mendocino, and I attended there whenever I spent the weekend. At that time, I was not pastor of a church, so it was possible for me to do this. That congregation welcomed the hippies and provided a real church home for them. I do not remember the name of the pastor, but he and I got along very well. 

Jerry himself was a wonderful and competent Bible teacher, and I still recall one of his studies. Seated in a deep leather chair in the large, rustic front room of the main house, he plainly, lovingly, taught verse by verse through long passages of Scripture, and we stayed there as long as he cared to go on, not noticing the passage of time. 

Jerry and Pat were a great gift to me and to many others. At the time of this writing, they are still up there at Antioch Ranch in Mendocino welcoming folks to their beautiful retreat. You can find it by means of a Google search.  

Other Jesus People in Northern California 

As time went on, we began to hear of other Jesus freaks in other places. Of course, in our various journeys around the country, we discovered other folks engaged in the same or similar ministries as ours. We knew of things going on in Los Angeles, mostly in Hollywood, but of special interest was what we heard was going on in Eureka and Chico. 

Jim Durkin was a real estate agent in Eureka, and a rather large flock of young believers formed around him. (Jim’s son, Jim Durkin, Jr., wrote a piece about his father, which appears in the Bio section of this book.) We knew of the work in Eureka as Gospel Outreach, but also as the Lighthouse Ranch. There was some cross-pollinization, but I never made a trip up north to visit these people. 

Sometime in 1970, however, we worked out a plan via telephone to have a gathering of the Jesus People in Petaluma. We rented out the KOA campground just north of Petaluma and went about inviting Jesus People from far and wide. Gospel Outreach was a big part of it, and it was here I finally got a chance to meet Jim. The Eureka bunch arrived fully organized. They set up a large white tent, put in Army style cots, and had nurses and medics ready with all the necessary equipment. Everyone was amazed. They also brought about two dozen young guys wearing armbands with “SERVANT” on them, and they patrolled the grounds ready to help out with anything that needed to be done. 

It was a special time as the “tribes” gathered from San Jose to Eureka, with hundreds of Jesus people all having a wonderful time. Several leaders spoke at the teaching times, and I can still see Jim Durkin, a quiet, thoughtful, patient, loving, big man, full of years and experience, being a kind of father to the rest of us. This one event was the only time I can recall when we were together, but it was something I will never forget. 

A leader I had only heard of was Gaylord Enns of Ivy House in Chico. The first time I met Gaylord in person was recently in the summer of 2013. Scott McCarrel and I had gotten to know each other a couple of years previously, and Scott was a close friend of Gaylord and arranged for the three of us to meet for a lunch in Mill Valley. My son Vernon and I had a wonderful lunch with Scott and Gaylord at the India Palace, and as soon as we sat down, I asked Gaylord when he first experienced the JPM. He said, “1967.” I was shocked to hear someone else make that identification; I said nothing but went on to a follow-up question: “When did it end?” He said, “1972.” 

Not able to contain myself, I burst out, “That is exactly my experience, too!” This confirmation was stunning, as it corresponded with what I had thought over the years; but here was a person, a leader in the JPM, living not far from the Bay Area, who held the same impression. Gaylord is a special guy, who wrote a wonderful book titled, The Love Revolution, which I keep a supply of to give away. He reminds us of the command of Jesus to love one another, a message that resonates with all who read it. 

Scott, Gaylord, and a close friend of Scott’s, Randy Sager, and I have teamed up under Scott’s leadership to have conferences for people who lived through the JPM, in order to talk about that time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, encourage those who made “shipwreck” following the JPM, and think and pray about another awakening in the future, if God would so will. I will bring this up once again at the end of the book.

Tim Alberta’s Article in the recent issue of The Atlantic

Hello Everyone, yesterday I read an incredible article in the current edition of The Atlantic––I am still in awe, and dazzled.

The magazine, started publication in 1857, is quite political, which you know I shy away from, but I keep up as best as possible and examine many sources, and the article attached here is somewhat political, but fabulous. You know I do my best to stay away from politics, and I don’t know how I will vote in the coming year or even if I will vote. That aside, this is the most incredible article I have ever read in The Atlantic going back many years. Tim Alberta is a solid Christian and how and why The Atlantic folks would allow this to be published is kind of a miracle to me. Please do not think I am pushing a political agenda here, but you will likely be very pleased to read this, and those who regularly receive the magazine will be presented with a wonderful Gospel/Christian message. Kent

But . . . It Is Warfare!

Essay Thirteen

War it is and of two kinds.

One Kind of War

Sadly, the killings go on daily. Who is waging this war? The jihadists—not all of Islam—are at war, or so we say. But some say we are in a real war with Islam itself. That is both accurate and inaccurate at the same time.

Islam’s core doctrine is that Sharia Law must rule the world. There is no question about it, and any knowledgeable Muslim would concede this. While many if not most Muslims care little about Islam being the only true religion in the world, these moderates or progressives are not the shot-callers and have little real authority or power. We must therefore recognize to whom we are referring when we speak of war.

According to Islam, from the super pious to the moderates, the West is corrupt. What is to be done? While most Muslims want to live and let live, there is a sizable faction, perhaps as much as 5%, who are willing to go to battle. This 5% equates to around 500,000 dedicated warriors.

Another Kind of War

Christians are at war, too. In fact, we are called to take up the armor of God.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil (Ephesians 6:10–11).

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Paul admits the existence of a war, but it is a spiritual war fought against an army mightier than any that humans could raise. He is referring to Satan and his minions. Fallen angels are the troops, and they possess spiritual power. C.S. Lewis used the term “hideous strength” in speaking of the ungodly power arrayed against the people who profess Jesus as Lord. If Christians think about this too long, we can become fearful, except that we recall 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

John the Apostle wrote about the works of the devil and points out that the devil has been defeated—active yes, but nonetheless defeated, and in at least two ways. One, our sin—that which screams at us that we are no good and destined to live in hell forever—has been utterly removed, not in part but the whole, and it has been nailed to the cross. So our sin—all of it, past, present, and future—is wiped out, cleansed, washed away by the blood of the Lamb. Incredible, but a fact.

Then two, the enemy called death has been conquered. Not physical death, because we will all die unless Jesus returns before we physically die, but the real death is the eternal death.

Hellfire is very frequently found in the Qur’an, most often used as a threat and a warning, and thus hellfire is very present in the Muslim mind. On this point there is a connection with Biblical Christianity. There is a hell, most definitely, and it was created for the devil and his angels, for there must be a place apart for that which is unholy.

Physical death is but a moment in time; spiritual death, however, is eternal. It is plain which is the real enemy. It is no wonder why John 3:16 has for so many centuries been the one verse most Christians have memorized: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

It should be noted here, that in Islam Allah determines the moment and means of death. If a Muslim dies, it is the will of Allah. Biblical Christianity is far different. That we all die is plain enough, as we find in Hebrews 9:27–28:

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

It is not the moment or means of death that God appoints but that death is a reality that comes with being human. Muslims may take comfort that death is in the hands of Allah, but Christians have the promise of being forgiven and having everlasting life based on what Jesus has already accomplished.

Still Another Kind of War-Game

A convict told me years ago that to make it in prison you must have a mission. A mission, a cause, a reason for living, without which one might go crazy. Could it be that jihad becomes not just the means to accomplish the mission but the mission itself?

War-games are exciting to play. The secrecy, the codes, the manipulations, extortions, intimidations—war games. And the stakes are extremely high, making life all the more interesting.

When one has nothing or next to nothing, and the future looks bleak, and so many others seem to be living the good life, one stops caring and will bet everything on a cause, and Allah is the highest of all causes for pious Muslims. As General Patton is reported to have said, “Compared to war all else pales.”

My point in this little aside is, maybe it is not religion that draws a religionist to the war.

The Weapons of Our Warfare

Back now to Ephesians chapter six and the weapons of the Christian’s warfare, which are not bombs, knives, swords, or guns. Here is the list:

“Stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth” (6:14a). Here truth is not a “what” but a “Who,” and that Who is Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life (see John 14:6).

“Having put on the breastplate of righteousness” (6:14b). Jesus Himself is our righteousness, we have none of our own but have His as a free gift.

“As shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace” (6:15). The soldier stands secure knowing that he has no battle with God but is settled in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. That war is over and there is peace.

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (6:16). Since Satan’s power over us has been nullified though the work of Jesus, we stand behind Him trusting in the triumphant Lamb of God.

“And take the helmet of salvation” (17a). The head, the most vulnerable part of the body, is totally protected in the salvation we have in Jesus, which cannot under any circumstance be taken from us. Our position in Christ is secure to all eternity, and even we ourselves cannot change that.

“And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (6:17b). “Word” is both the living and written word of God, Jesus Himself and the Scripture, the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is a sword, a spiritual sword, and it is sharper than any two-edged blade. The word is truth and there is great power in truth.

“Praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication” (6:18a). We pray, not necessarily by rote, which is acceptable and a Biblical way to pray—I am thinking of the Lord’s Prayer here—but saying to our heavenly Father what is on our heart and mind. The Christian is never alone; always walking with us is the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Oddly, or not, the equipment is not heavy and may be borne by the young and old, weak and strong.

This is our kind of war, one that has already been won. The only blow struck was inflicted a long time ago while Jesus was on Calvary.

Mindfullness of Mindlessness?

The following material was taken from several different internet sites. Much of it has been shortened or is in outline form only for brevity’s sake and also to reduce the possibility that this book will be used as promotion for these practices. The reason for presenting this material is to show the reader what proponents of mindfulness are saying rather than a critique from those who disavow it, such as the authors of this book. And the reason we stand against it, despite its growing popularity, is that the practices easily lead to being invaded by demonic spirits. Yes, here is another popular trend that has hidden dangers. Please evaluate the evidence.

We will make comments throughout this chapter, presented in this font. 

Mindfulness Practices

While some people may still consider the mind-body connection New Age theory, it’s emerged as a bonafide medical phenomenon with evidence-based science to support it. At the core of the mind-body connection, mindfulness has enjoyed a tremendous surge in popularity in the past decade, moving from a mostly obscure Buddhist concept founded about 2,600 years ago to mainstream psychotherapy.

Scientists have discovered that mindfulness techniques can help improve physical health in several ways, including relieving stress, treating heart disease, lowering blood pressure, reducing chronic pain, improving sleep, and alleviating gastrointestinal difficulties. While it’s not a panacea, mindfulness has also been found to decrease migraine attacks and pain.

What is Mindfulness?

The term mindfulness can be defined as a moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment. It can be promoted by certain practices or activities, such as meditation, but it is not equivalent to or synonymous with them. There are multiple ways to cultivate and practice mindfulness.  

Mindfulness Techniques 

The goal of any mindfulness technique is to achieve a state of alert, focused relaxation. That’s accomplished by deliberately paying attention to emotions, thoughts, and sensations (free of judgment) to enable the mind to refocus on the present moment. All mindfulness techniques are a form of meditation. 

“Meditation” is the key concept here. Meditation is not prayer, which is focused attention on and communion with God. Prayer is truly mindful, fully conscious talking to our Lord. It is in states brought on by meditation that opens one up to the presence of demonic spirits. And the various breathing techniques are the path to an altered state of consciousness making the meditator vulnerable. 

Basic mindfulness meditation 

Sit quietly and focus on your natural breathing or one other area of focus listed below. You will notice that your mind will wander into thinking since this is what our minds do. The practice is to notice when this happens and bring your awareness back to the breath or other focus choice. 

• Body sensations 

Notice body sensations, such as tingling, pulsing, or even no feeling, and allow some exploration of the sensation. Pay attention to each part of your body in succession from head to toe. 

• Sensory 

Detect sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches, and then let them stay in your awareness as long as you would like without judgment. When the mind begins to stray from the immediate sensation, bring your attention back to your choice of focus. 

• Emotions 

Allow emotions to be present. Practice a steady and relaxed naming of emotions: “joy,” “anger,” “frustration.” Accept their presence and let them go. 

• Urge surfing 

Cope with cravings (for addictive substances or behaviors) and notice how that changes and eventually may pass. Observe how your body feels as the craving enters. Replace the wish for the craving to go away with the knowledge that it will subside as you continue to focus on the sensations, emotions, and thoughts brought forth from the craving. 

Mindfulness Practices 

You can conduct mindfulness practices on your own. 

• Art Therapy 

Remember how much fun it was to paint, draw, or mold things out of clay when you were a child? It turns out that making art can be a powerful therapeutic tool for adults, especially in the treatment and management of pain. Called art therapy, this type of psychotherapy can help modify your response to emotional and physical problems related to pain. 

In a study of almost 200 people hospitalized for a medical issue or surgery, researchers found that participating in art therapy for an average of 50 minutes significantly improved their moods and lowered levels of pain and anxiety. 

• Meditation 

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years to help deepen understanding of life’s sacred and mystical forces. Today, meditation is also commonly used for relaxation and stress reduction. 

Meditation is an umbrella term for various ways to accomplish focused attention and may even lead to a relaxed state. There are many types of meditation and relaxation techniques that have meditation components. These practices have been shown to reduce stress, which may help cultivate better health outcomes. 

A sense of calm, peace, and balance achieved through meditation can benefit your emotional well-being and overall health. The great news is that the benefits of meditation don’t end when the session ends. It can continue to bring tranquility to you throughout the day and help prevent over-reactive behaviors when the going gets rough. 

• Tai chi 

The ancient form of gentle Chinese martial arts called Tai chi (TIE-CHEE) is sometimes referred to as meditation in motion. It promotes serenity through gentle, flowing movements. The self-paced series of postures or movements are done slowly and gracefully while practicing deep breathing. 

There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice has value in treating or preventing many health problems. And you can get started even if you aren’t in top shape or the best of health. The movements are usually circular and never forced, the muscles are relaxed rather than tensed, the joints are not fully extended or bent, and connective tissues are not stretched. Tai chi can be easily adapted for anyone, from the most physically fit to people who use wheelchairs or recovering from surgery. 

• Yoga 

Derived from the Sanskrit word “Yuji,” meaning yoke or union, yoga is an ancient Indian practice that brings the mind and body together. Multiple studies have confirmed that yoga offers many mental and physical benefits. Increasing evidence shows that yoga could be a useful adjunct therapy to help reduce migraine frequency. Research suggests that practicing yoga may help stimulate the vagus nerve, shown to be effective in relieving migraine symptoms.

Let’s start with meditation. 

Meditation is a way of altering our state of mind and mood so we can become more tranquil and centered in the core strengths of our inner life. By exercising our attention and attitude with easy steps, a more tranquil and detached state of awareness can be achieved for both the body and mind. 

Proponents of meditation are largely unaware, or will not admit, that it moves a person, unconsciously, to a place or state where the demonic kingdom takes advantage. And the end result is demon possession. At first, the experience or awareness of the supernatural is exciting and surreal. This is at first, and may last for a long period of time, but the demons will eventually express themselves, exerting themselves, in ways that provoke fear and confusion. 

One of the first phases of meditation is to gently redirect our thoughts to become more aware of the peaceful quietness that already exists within us. The initial use of meditation is ideal for those who seek a haven of peacefulness to rest and recover from the tensions in our outer life. This inner meditative state is also a place for healing mental and emotional disturbances as we release anxieties, disappointments, and irritations into this peaceful state. . . . 

Benefits of a regular meditation practice 

• Stay Calm: Be more effective in pressure situations like exams & sports. . . . 

• Creative Thinking: More original and innovative thinking and problem solving. . . . 

• Excellent Memory: Retain new information and recall stored information better. . . . 

Mindfulness: an essential aspect of effective meditation 

Mindfulness is a state of awareness that allows us to make sense of what is happening to us. . . . Mindfulness is a practice of becoming detached from our usual state of mind and mood so we can review our choices of response. 

In our ordinary waking state, our automatic habits and reactions tend to dominate. While this frame of mind is essential most of the time, we also need to review what we are doing and whether some improvements would be useful. . . . 

Mindfulness is a way of using a detached perspective to evaluate our own behavior and attitudes . . . 

Mindfulness in Active Meditation 

Mindfulness is used in all of the exercises and meditations in Active Meditation. In this manner, mindfulness provides these benefits: 

  1. It leads to a more expanded frame of mind that is detached from our usual attitudes, beliefs, and mindset. . . . 
  2. When mindfulness is combined with the active meditations, it becomes possible to mobilize the support of our Higher Self to supply the healing force of compassion, hopes, and courage. . . . 
  3. Mindfulness in Active Meditation can assist us in recognizing and removing our blind spots . . . 
  4. Mindfulness in Active Meditation allows us to recognize and correct the many limiting beliefs we formed when we were naïve and inexperienced. . . 
  5. The extraordinary benefits of mindfulness are incorporated into every Active Meditation exercise. . . .[I]t becomes possible to add the support and influence of our Higher Self. 
  6. Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. 
  7. While mindfulness is something we all naturally possess, it’s more readily available to us when we practice on a daily basis. 
  8. Whenever you bring awareness to what you’re directly experiencing via your senses, or to your state of mind via your thoughts and emotions, you’re being mindful. . . . 
  9. The goal of mindfulness is to wake up to the inner workings of our mental, emotional, and physical processes. 
  10. Meditation is exploring. It’s not a fixed destination. Your head doesn’t become vacuumed free of thought, utterly undistracted. It’s a special place where each and every moment is momentous. . . . 
  11. Mindfulness meditation asks us to suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind. . . . 
  12. Mindfulness is available to us in every moment, whether through meditations and body scans, or mindful moment practices like taking time to pause and breathe when the phone rings instead of rushing to answer it. 

The Basics of Mindfulness Practice 

Mindfulness helps us put some space between ourselves and our reactions, breaking down our conditioned responses. Here’s how to tune into mindfulness throughout the day: 

  1. Set aside some time. . . . 
  2. Observe the present moment as it is. . . .
  3.  
  1. Let your judgments roll by. . . . 
  2. Return to observing the present moment as it is. . . . 
  3. Be kind to your wandering mind. Don’t judge yourself for whatever thoughts crop up, just practice recognizing when your mind has wandered off, and gently bring it back. 

That’s the practice. It’s often been said that it’s very simple, but it’s not necessarily easy. The work is to just keep doing it. Results will accrue. 

A Simple Meditation Practice [shortened for brevity in this book]. 

1. Sit comfortably. 

2. Notice what your legs are doing. 

3. Straighten your upper body—but don’t stiffen. 

4. Notice what your arms are doing. 

5. Soften your gaze. 

6. Feel your breath. 

7. Notice when your mind wanders from your breath. 

8. Be kind about your wandering mind. 

9. When you’re ready, gently lift your gaze. 

COMMON MINDFULNESS QUESTIONS 

  1. Is there a wrong way to meditate? A right way to meditate? People think they’re messing up when they’re meditating because of how busy the mind is. But getting lost in thought, noticing it, and returning to your chosen meditation object— breath, sound, body sensation, or something else—is how it’s done. . . . 
  2. Are there more formal ways to take up mindfulness practice? Mindfulness can be practiced solo, anytime, or with like-minded friends . . . 
  3. Do I have to practice every day? No, but being that it’s a beneficial practice, you may well find that the more you do it, the more you’ll find it beneficial to your life. 
  4. How do I find a meditation instructor? If you want to make mindfulness a part of your life, you’ll probably want to consider working with a meditation teacher or instructor. . . . 
  5. How do yoga and mindfulness work together? There are a number of yoga poses that will help you with your mindfulness meditation practice. . . . 

We have not listed these. 

  1. What are the benefits of meditation? Of course, when we meditate it doesn’t help to fixate on the benefits, but rather just to do the practice. That being said, there are plenty of benefits. Here are five reasons to practice mindfulness. 

• Understand your pain. 

• Connect better. 

• Lower stress. 

• Focus your mind. 

• Reduce brain chatter. 

  1. What exactly is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress. 

Excerpts from Wikipedia April 6, 2022 

Mindfulness 

Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one’s attention in the present moment without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from sati, a significant element of Buddhist traditions, and is based on Zen, Vipassanā, and Tibetan meditation techniques. Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging, Buddhist traditions explain what constitutes mindfulness such as how past, present, and future moments arise and cease as momentary sense impressions and mental phenomena. Individuals who have contributed to the popularity of mindfulness in the modern Western context include Thích Nhất Hạnh, Herbert Benson, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Richard J. Davidson, and Sam Harris. 

• Shortcomings 

• The popularization of mindfulness as a “commodity” has been criticized, being termed “McMindfulness” by some critics. According to Safran, the popularity of mindfulness is the result of a marketing strategy: “McMindfulness is the marketing of a constructed dream; an idealized lifestyle; an identity makeover.” The psychologist Thomas Joiner argues that modern mindfulness meditation has been “corrupted” for commercial gain by self-help celebrities, and suggests that it encourages unhealthy narcissistic and self-obsessed mindsets. 

• According to Purser and Loy, mindfulness is not being used as a means to awaken to insight in the “unwholesome roots of greed, ill will and delusion,” but reshaped into a “banal, therapeutic, self-help technique” that has the opposite effect of reinforcing those passions. While mindfulness is marketed as a means to reduce stress, in a Buddhist context it is part of an all-embracing ethical program to foster “wise action, social harmony, and compassion.” The privatization of mindfulness neglects the societal and organizational causes of stress and discomfort, instead propagating adaptation to these circumstances, according to Bhikkhu Bodhi, “Absent a sharp social critique, Buddhist practices could easily be used to justify and stabilize the status quo, becoming a reinforcement of consumer capitalism.” The popularity of this new brand of mindfulness has resulted in the commercialization of meditation through self-help books, guided meditation classes, and mindfulness retreats. 

» • Mindfulness is said to be a $4 billion industry. More than 60,000 books for sale on Amazon have a variant of “mindfulness” in their title, touting the benefits of Mindful Parenting, Mindful Eating, Mindful Teaching, Mindful Therapy, Mindful Leadership, Mindful Finance, a Mindful Nation, and Mindful Dog Owners, to name just a few. 

» • Buddhist commentators have criticized the movement as being presented as equivalent to Buddhist practice, while in reality it is very possibly denatured with undesirable consequences, such as being ungrounded in the traditional reflective morality and therefore, astray from traditional Buddhist ethics. Criticisms suggest it to be either de-moralized or re-moralized into clinically based ethics. The conflict is often presented in concern to the teacher’s credentials and qualifications, rather than the student’s actual practice. Reformed Buddhist-influenced practices are being standardized and manualized in a clearly distinct separation from Buddhism seen as a religion based in monastic temples, as expressed as mindfulness in a new psychology ethic practiced in modern meditation centers. 

» • Risks 

» • In media reports, people have attributed unexpected effects of increasing fear and anxiety, panic, or “meltdowns” after practicing, which they suggest could expose bipolar vulnerability or repressed PTSD symptoms. However, according to published peer-reviewed academic articles, these negative effects of meditation are rare for mindfulness meditation and appear to happen due to a poor understanding of what actually constitutes mindfulness/meditation practices. 

It is easy to see why so many are attracted to mindfulness and attendant meditation techniques. It is popular, praised, and considered essential to living in the world as it is. 

Will this chapter do much to cause someone to evaluate mindfulness? Will readers buy into the demonic connection to mindfulness and meditation? Maybe or maybe not, especially when it comes from someone who is part of the Christian community. The downward spiral of Christianity and religion in general plays a large role here. Spirituality is approved and applauded, but not biblically oriented Christian spirituality. Still, the Christian community must speak out on these issues—it is being prophetic, caring, and evangelistic all at the same time. 

Mindfulness/meditation are a part of the Christian experience. Every Sunday we write a “Gospel Meditation” for our church’s bulletin. These are based on the passage being considered for the sermon. It is mindful, it is meditation, and it is alert, focused, thoughtful, conscious, and perfectly biblical. And here is the best part, it is safe from invasion by demonic spirits.

CWLF and Holy Hubert

When Moishe Rosen showed up in 1968, in the days before he founded Jews for Jesus, he and I organized large-scale events involving hundreds of Jesus People. Moishe was the actual brains behind the demonstrations; I served as his lieutenant. I remember the time that Moishe (I knew him as Martin then) and I agreed to descend on San Francisco’s Broadway Street in North Beach1 to create a stir and promote an event where Hal Lindsay of The Late Great Planet Earth fame was to preach in front of Big Al’s. In two days we mustered a couple hundred Jesus People from our Marin County base alone and set them to creating dozens of placards and hundreds of “broadsides” (tracts). At another of these evange- listic demonstrations, we pick- eted and marched in front of Adam and Eve’s on Broadway in North Beach on a Friday night. We persisted for a long time, and it was plain we were inter- fering with customers enter- ing the strip joint. Toward ten o’clock some goons came out of the place and began yelling at us. I stepped forward aggressively and started “talking” to a guy, not knowing he was the The area is where all the strip clubs operate, bordering Chinatown, it has long been a mecca for various sorts of thrill seekers. Carol Doda, Big Al’s—real sleaze stuff but made to look glitzy. owner, Michael Savage.He took a swing at me, hit me in the face, and knocked my glasses off. Having been alerted, cops had already arrived, seen the scuffle and then jumped in. We were both taken to the North Beach Police Station, where we ended up declaring the incident “mutual combat,” making it possible for us to avoid further difficulties. When I got back to Broadway, the demonstration was still underway.

Enter the CWLF Sometime in 1969 a higher degree of organization crept into the JPM. There were conferences and large campouts featuring music and preaching. In the Bay Area there were several times when JPM lead- ers met together to plan evangelistic outreaches, much of which was stimulated by or held in conjunction with the Christian World Liberation Front (known to us as CWLF), led by Jack Sparks, Pat Matrisciana, Brooks Alexander, and Billy Squires, among others. I believe CWLF started up in early 1969. Moishe and I both loved working with these folks, fellow travelers who were, in terms of background and education, much more like us than many of the other Jesus People leaders. The flagship school of the University of California system was located in Berkeley, which was sometimes referred to as “Berzerkeley,” not a flattering term. Berkeley was the absolute center of not only leftwing political thought in the U.S., but also of the East Bay’s hippie movement. People’s Park, just off Telegraph Avenue and a few blocks away from the university, was the place where the action took place. Here the hippies camped out, smoked dope, and tried to live the free and enlightened life. Berkeley’s hippies were definitely not the same bunch as the uni- versity students, but we attempted to evangelize both groups. CWLF lead in this effort, with Jack and Pat, who were both at that time conservative radio personality. One of the very best gatherings of Jesus People in the Bay Area was held at the KOA Campground in Petaluma. Jim Durkin from Eureka was much involved in this one and brought a hundred-plus Jesus People with him for the event. The CW LF and Holy Hubert nected with Campus Crusade for Christ, focused on the university in particular and the hippie element as a sort of tangential target group. They gathered around them a capable and dedicated group that included the above-mentioned Billy and Brooks. Many others, includ- ing very talented women, contributed their efforts, and they estab- lished what became the most read publication of the JPM, Right On. Right On was political yet non-political at the same time. Some of the best articles for the Gospel could be found in that newspaper, although it was sometimes hard to tell at first glance if Right On was even Christian. A careful read, however, made it clear it was and very biblically so. It was Right On that Ollie, Paul and I handed out on col- lege campuses from California to Alabama in 1969. We must have stuffed a couple thousand of the papers into the red VW bug. From time to time, I drove over to Berkeley to visit Jack, Pat, and the others at their offices. Afterward, I liked to walk over to the gate leading into the university at Telegraph and Bancroft Way. Maybe seventy-five yards inside was Sproul Hall and the famous steps of Sproul Hall, where many of the sixties radicals delivered fiery anti-establish- ment speeches to the crowds who stood and listened in Sproul Plaza. Ludwig’s Fountain bordered the plaza, and in its pool we conducted baptisms. The pool was shallow, and I had to get down on my knees along with the person to be baptized, gently laying the new believer’s head under the water. This usually attracted a crowd of students, and we took advantage of this by handing out copies of Right On, while honing our open air preaching skills. The student union opposite Sproul Hall was a large building with a café and rest rooms, and it was the perfect place to retreat, freshen up, and spend precious moments instructing new Christians. It is now called the Martin Luther King Student Union, but I don’t recall it being called that then.

Enter “Holy” Hubert 

An amazing street preacher who would place himself at the gate leading into the university, right there at Telegraph and Bancroft Way, was Holy Hubert. He would climb up on a portion of the large concrete gate and hold forth. Hubert was well into his fifties, or so I thought at the time, and was small of stature and large of heart—maybe courageous is a good description of him as well. Hubert had no front teeth, and that was because he was regularly punched in the face by angry listeners, most of whom where hippie street people. To say Hubert was a throwback would be an understatement. He was John the Baptist, Elijah the Prophet, John Wesley, and George Whitfield all rolled into one. Whenever I was there I would stand in front of him as a kind of bodyguard. Things got ugly once in a while. 

It was claimed, but not by Hubert, that he had memorized the whole of the Bible. On a couple of occasions I tried to find out about this without directly questioning him. There were a couple of times, however, when right in the middle of an impromptu sermon out would flow, and perfectly, chapter after chapter of Scripture, even passages in the Law that were rough going at best. I guess the legend was true. 

Holy Hubert yelled at the hippies and students things like: “You dirty filthy fornicating drug addicts,” or “You brood of vipers, whores and whore mongers, you will burn in hell.” Easy to see why he had so few teeth. Oddly, people would be converted, sometimes right on the spot, and I baptized a few of those who apparently needed to hear what Hubert had to proclaim. It takes all kinds, and Hubert was able to penetrate the defenses some of the hippies used to justify their behavior. It was nothing short of miraculous to see some of those who were yelling for Hubert to be crucified suddenly drop to their knees and begin to repent. 

After a few years Hubert stopped showing up, and I never learned what happened to him. Like many used of God in the JPM, he suddenly appeared, and just as quickly he disappeared. 

The CWLF also dissolved, but not as quickly. When Jack Sparks embraced Eastern Orthodoxy,

I talked to Jack about the situation, and it seemed to me that he wanted to see order and a predictable theology instead of the chaos and confusion that became the hallmark of much of the JPM. His motivation now strikes me as being many of the young kids who had started showing up at CWLF to serve the Lord were thrown into a precarious place. The leadership was divided also, and gradually the whole thing ground to a halt. Some of those involved continued to do what they could, but it was over. Actually, it morphed into another ministry, which proved to be very important, a ministry centered on apologetics lead by Tal Brooke, a very capable and interesting person. 

This, too, indicates a crucial characteristic about the JPM. There was a time of its beginnings and a time of its endings. As I have often indicated, no one knows exactly when it began or when it ended, and you get different opinions, depending on where a person lived. The very same can be said of the first, second, and third awakenings in America. This seems to be a mark of a genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit who, like the wind, blows when and where He will.