Essay Twelve

This essay is prompted by Patrick T. Dunleavy’s book, The Fertile Soil of Jihad: Terrorism’s Prison Connection (Washington D.C.: Potomac Books, 2011). In striking if not startling terms, Dunleavy describes how Islam in prison spreads in its many forms, including the Nation of Islam, the Dar-ul-Islam movement, and Prislam, a cultic form of Islam that sees its flock more as gang members than fervent converts. Muslim evangelism in prisons is growing, sponsored by both international and grass roots Islamic organizations. Its expansion over the years has been both phenomenal and disturbing. I am a firsthand witness to this.

My Prison Experience

During my thirty years as a volunteer at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, California, I saw Islamic Da’wa (evangelism/recruitment) in action. While coaching the baseball team there for seventeen years, I sometimes arrived early and sat by a garden-type fountain (usually broken) that faced the building housing both the Jewish synagogue and the Muslim Mosque. Yes, a strange combination, but that is how it was and still is.

Over the course of five years, I listened to many sermons in English (unlike the sermons given in Arabic at the local mosque that I often visit), and I could easily follow along with the message. The messages by the imams were most often angry tirades about the persecution Muslims received over the centuries. Their hate speech frightened me from time to time, and I was tempted to speak to prison authorities about it, but I never did. (During that time, I did not understand as much about Islam as I should have.) In total, I probably heard ten or fifteen hours of outright expressions of rage and calls for revenge aimed at all that was non-Muslim.

Muslims began showing up to try out for the baseball team and the eight-man flag football team I formed. Every one of the Muslims were African Americans, and they were generally good players and reliable. One of them was my most trusted team member, a person I could rely on to tell what was going on with the team, if anything. We became friends, and the week after he was released from prison he came to our Sunday morning church service, stood before the congregation, and spoke to us for ten minutes; what he said was completely appropriate—and from a kind and generous spirit.

I correspond frequently on Facebook with this man who converted to Islam in prison, but I still do not know much about his background or how he became a Muslim. Recently, he dropped his Muslim name acquired in prison when he made his profession of faith, and he has gone back to his given name; I am not sure what that means, but I intend to speak with him about it.

Many African Americans have taken the path to Islam for several reasons. They find the doctrine compelling and the close-knit community welcoming, but there are also material benefits: they and their families on the outside often receive financial assistance, and a job and maybe a car will be waiting for the convert upon release from prison.

Dunleavy speaks about the selection of Islamic clergy for chaplain positions and the inadequate vetting process that allows imams with extremist views to enter the prison environment. Muslim evangelists able to find their way into prisons are almost always on the radical fringe.

The radicals begin their work little by little, and it is not just African Americans who are targeted. Hispanic and Anglo-American inmates are also pursued in Islam’s prison outreach movement. To be counted as a Muslim in prison can be advantageous. There is a certain safety and special handling that often accompanies being in the prison’s Muslim brotherhood. After all it is part of human nature to want to belong to a group that gives both purpose and meaning to one’s life, no matter how misdirected that purpose is. Dunleavy’s book speaks of the role of religion in the fertile soil of prison. They say there are no atheists in foxholes or prison cells, but theology and doctrine play a very minor role in conversions of convicts.

The irresistible draw is to be part of a world-wide brotherhood of like-minded people who have a compelling mission. And this Muslims certainly have. Here is a young convict with a messed up past and not much hope for the future, and along comes a group that offers great enticements and a sense of meaning. I am not surprised that many African Americans and other people in our world jump at the chance to be a part of it all.

The Whys

John Grisham, in his book, Rogue Lawyer (New York: Dell Books, 2015), gives a brief but accurate rendition of what drives African Americans, among others, into Islam. In the story line of the book the rogue lawyer is visiting his bodyguard’s son who is in prison. Reading from page 109: “Young and black . . . in for nonviolent drug offenses . . . average sentence seven years . . . three years later 60% are back . . . convicted felons a branding they will never be able to shake . . . .”

These are Grisham’s words, but there is more, and my summary of the felon’s situation is this: Filled with anger and a desire for revenge, with no job skills, no real education to build upon, no family to lean on for support, and no sense of wanting to build his own family; his only friends are ex-cons or partners in crime; he finds peace only in drugs and lives with an expectation that his life will be short. Grisham sums up with, “One million young black men now warehoused in decaying prisons, idling away the days at taxpayer expense.”

I might add that now there are far more than just young blacks who fit this narration; growing numbers of Hispanics and whites are mixed in, and these numbers are growing. This is not an indictment, but it clears up any mystery of why Islam is growing in our prisons. If radical Islam feeds on the emotions of hate, anger, revenge, and alienation, this is a perfect storm condition for recruiting converts.

Recruitment and Motivation

Anyone can be radicalized and end up committing horrible crimes as a result—and not only born Muslims. By radicalized I mean someone who goes to prison for burglary and ends up willing to die in violent jihad for the sake of Allah. This is far different from someone who goes to prison for burglary and learns how to perfect the art thereof. Anyone who kills in the name of God is an ideologue and has been radicalized.

If you are in one group, members of another group will likely be viewed as an enemy. It is safe to say that religion and politics are prime categories of people groupings and identity that have traditionally and historically produced real trouble. The Irish Republican Army is an example of political terrorism. ISIS and Al Qaeda are examples of religious terrorism.

Fighting back and getting revenge are compelling reasons for joining a group, though they may not be in the conscious mind at the point of recruitment. Almost all of us have these emotions in us, sometimes buried deep, and they are powerful motivators driving some to ignore or disregard the consequences of their actions. The promises made by the group for security, power, belonging, and meaning, even material wealth or outlandish notions such as seventy-two virgins awaiting the jihadist martyr hero, are all enough to blind the eye and stop the thinking.

It is nearly an everyday event now that some extremist blows himself or herself up in the hope of killing and maiming as many as possible; and is it all for the glory of Allah!

Haram and other Motivators

Haram is Arabic for prohibited or forbidden.

There are two distinct world systems in the Muslim mind. There is Dar-ul-Islam (the world of Islam) and Dar-ul-Haram (the forbidden world). Much of the Western lifestyle is forbidden and seen as threatening the faith of a Muslim, particularly the young, through its seductions and enticement to things forbidden in the Qur’an. For the pious Muslim, it is a duty to attack the degradation of the West, especially American style degradation now that most of the country has embraced homosexuality. The excesses of contemporary civilizations are a motivator for those who want to live in the seventh century with Muhammad and his early companions.^[1] 

In my time, I have known Christians who were seduced by the immorality around them. This is the reality of our world, and it is unlikely to change much despite efforts to sanitize the culture. It is not a simple task to live for Jesus when all those around us demean it. (I live in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, so I know whereof I speak.) My experience is that Christians learn how to keep their footing regardless of the culture in which they are embedded. We understand that we are “in the world but not of the world.” While not always easy, it is doable, since Christians have the indwelling Holy Spirit, the written Word of God, and hopefully a supportive church community.

What about the crusades? They were far away and long ago, and it is far from clear if the crusaders were “crusading” to lift up the name of Jesus. Mostly not. Nevertheless, Muslims use the battle cry “Crusades” to build anger toward Christians that will directed to acts of revenge; the charge need not be historically accurate.

What about colonialism? This is a major motivator for those who do not understand the development and expansion of nation states, most of which were not motivated by solid Christian and Biblical directives.

Oppression comes to mind. Muslims have been repressed; although, what people group has not been oppressed or repressed at some time in their history? This is too big a topic for this essay, but simply saying Muslims are being oppressed is enough of a trigger to set hearts and minds yearning for revenge. As I understand it, domination over Muslim countries, especially following World War I, flowed from the Western democracies.

But there is something else that may be a major if not the most important reason for Islam to be what it is today.

Fear of Failure in the Spiritual Marketplace

Extremists can be born out of a fear that Islam itself is inadequate to compete with other world religions, particularly Christianity.

One of the great contrasts with Christianity and Islam is that Islam’s ultimate goal is to dominate the world—Dar-ul-Islam—to see to it that all people live under Sharia Law. No Muslim who really knows the Qur’an would deny this in private, yet some do publicly.

The goal of Christianity is to present the message of Jesus to all peoples on the planet. As I have heard it said, Christian evangelism is “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.” And we know some will be convinced of their need of a Savior and turn to Jesus to save them from their sins. We also know that no amount of coercion, even slick persuasion, will yield a genuine new birth.

My sense of it is that only a small percentage of Muslims know much of what their religion teaches beyond the rituals, rites, pillars, and attendant cultural traditions. (This is also true of many in Christian churches. There is a difference between being religious and having true faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord.) I have met so many people who identify with Islam but are practical, if not actual, atheists. They will go through the motions, but their heads and hearts are empty. These people may be in danger, because the honor brigades in the mosques, the zealous and pious musclemen, will know who they are and will label them as “weak.” Please note, I am not implying that this phenomenon exits only Muslim-dominated cultures. This exists wherever there is a mosque.

The message of Islam is not a comforting one. I am writing this essay after completing the basic content of this present book. A person, whether in prison or not, has a void in his or her life, a hunger and thirst, and will unconsciously attempt to fill it with something, somehow. Islam seeks to draw the thirsty with a false promise of water. I have pointed out the horrors that Allah has in store for non-Muslims and for Muslims as well. The Qur’an states that all Muslims will enter hellfire and will maybe escape it after a time. Allah is, after all, a deceiver and may lead even a faithful Muslim astray. Even those who die in violent jihad or who build a mosque have no real assurance of making it to paradise or escaping a temporary stay in hellfire. Allah’s mercy and compassion are quite fickle, making the true message of Islam rather unattractive after all.

With any awareness of this reality, Muslims must fear that Islam is unable to compete in the spiritual marketplace of life. Today there are numerous former Muslims busy presenting Jesus and the message of the cross to Muslim communities. The Gospel is inescapable, and the draw is a Creator God who loves us and sent His Son to die in our place. Many Muslims are converting to Christ when Jesus is revealed through the faithful witness of believers and the drawing of the Holy Spirit. God chases down those whom He will. Conversion to Jesus is an event not a decision.

Death, and this is not merely physical but eternal death, is the end result of sin, yet the Christian has gone from death to life. Everyone dies, and then comes the judgment. On the cross, Jesus has taken our judgment upon Himself. We call this grace. We pray for it for our Muslim friends and neighbors. We do not pray for revenge or retaliation.

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^[1]     Those Muslims who want to return to the time when Islam first began are called Salafists. It comes from the Arabic word salafi meaning forefathers or the time of the forefathers.

Hello Everyone, here now is chapter one of the  book Pathways to Darkness: Exposing the Dangers of Contemporary Spiritualities.
My intent was to present nearly two dozen of the dangerous psychic/occult practices that are popular today. Each chapter I tried make stand-alone pieces, which could be made into tracts to hand out to others or send out email wise to others.
You are welcome to print them out and use them in any way. It is not necessary to even name me as author. Also, and this might be better, and I am not trying sell books here, we worked to get the price of the book to as small as we could and not caring if you made any money on them or not, but if you went to Amazon.com, hit books in the drop-down menu, type in my name, and look for the book, you could get the Kindle version, download it to your computer,  then copy and paste chapters and print them our yourselves. Hope I am saying this rightly as I am not a real techy guy.
Our goal is to reach out to those who are caught up in the very popular demonic practices, which are extremely dangerous. Kent

 Yoga and Meditation

The following is a slightly edited chapter, # 22, “A Note to Christians on Yoga and Meditation”, from Jessica Smith’s book, The Shattering: An Encounter with Truth, published in 2015 by Deeper Revelation Books. Its focus is yoga and meditation, subjects Jessica is well acquainted with. Please keep your heart and mind open as you read this. 

I want to address the subject of yoga and meditation from the perspective of those who follow the Lord Jesus. Please know that the following is shared out of love and not judgment. . . . (Find additional information at: www.truthbehindyoga.com.) 

Yoga and a new, Eastern definition of meditation are becoming very attractive and popular in our culture today. By nature, we human beings want to fit in and go with the flow. I understand that. And I would guess that many of you who practice yoga or relaxation meditation techniques might rationalize that these practices are okay, because your type is not spiritual or is different from the more overtly spiritual forms I talk about. But I assure you, all forms of yoga are spiritual, and all have spiritual effects. 

In our society, yoga has been cleverly masked, being presented in one of two ways: (1) as a non-spiritual, exercise-only class, or (2) as a practice that retains spiritual aspects that are open to all religions. 

In the latter example, Christian practitioners are encouraged to continue in their practices and simply “plug in” the God of the Bible. As an ex-yoga teacher who trained in India before becoming a Christian, I can tell you that both views are absolutely inaccurate. Yoga is an ancient, pagan, spiritual practice that cannot be separated from what defines it (yoga means to yoke, to open and unite, with the spiritual realm). And the Yoga Sutras— the clear, ancient, little-discussed doctrine of yoga—is clearly antithetical to many religions, including Christianity. 19 

Why isn’t it well known that yoga is an ancient religion? Why is it being masked as a religion-neutral philosophy in today’s culture? . . . 

Fascinating scientific research published in the Journal of Health Psychology finds that while most people start yoga for exercise and stress-relief purposes, over time their purpose for maintaining the practice shifts to spiritual. 

Both students and teachers adopted yoga practice primarily for exercise and stress relief, but reported many other reasons, including flexibility, getting into shape, and depression/anxiety relief. Over 62 percent of students and 85 percent of teachers reported having changed their primary reason for practicing or discovering other reasons; for both, the top changed primary reason was spirituality. Findings suggest that most initiate yoga practice for exercise and stress relief, but for many, spirituality becomes their primary reason for maintaining practice.1 

1 Crystal L. Park, Kristen E. Riley, Elena Bedesin, and V. Michelle Stewart, “Why Practice Yoga? Practitioners’ Motivation for Adopting and Maintaining Yoga Practice,” Journal of Health Psychology (July 4, 2014):1–10. 

Interestingly, this doesn’t happen when taking a step aerobics class. It doesn’t happen with running or swimming or surfing or birdwatching or pole-jumping. Nor do we, in any other nonspiritual activity, find a gradual shift in purpose from physical to spiritual. Why do you think that is? Author and professor Candy Gunther Brown states the following: 

There’s also evidence that practicing something connected with religion can actually change people’s beliefs. Christians, in particular, tend to think a person’s intent determines whether something is religious. They don’t realize that active participation can actually change someone’s intent. Over time, people who start off attracted to an alternative practice because there’s a perceived health benefit start to embrace the religious ideas underneath these practices.  See Ruth Moon, “What Christians Need to Know about the Alternative Medicine,” Christianity Today, October 22, 2013.

Professor Brown is absolutely right. What is underneath the practice of yoga is what counts. And where it leads is the reason I am sharing these resources with you. 

But you don’t have to take my word for it. And even though she earned her Ph.D. at Harvard and is a leading authority on the subject, you don’t have to just take Professor Brown’s or those who published the secular scientific study in the reputable Journal of Health Psychology, either. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois is known as the founder of hugely popularized Ashtanga yoga. His son, Guru Manju Pattabhi Jois, carries on the teaching of yoga throughout the world. In the quote below, Manju Jois explains his father’s stance that practice alone is enough to reap the spiritual effects—regardless of understanding: 

His (Sri K. Pattabhi Jois) philosophy is that yoga would take you automatically to the meditative state, you see . . . that’s how it will draw you into the spiritual path. See, that’s why he says the yoga asanas are important—you just do. Don’t talk about the philosophy—99 percent practice and 1 percent philosophy, that’s what he taught. You just keep doing it, keep doing it, keep doing it, then slowly it will start opening up inside of you . . .3 

3 Guy Donhaye and Eddie Stern, Guriji: A Portrait of Sri K. Pattabhi: Through the Eyes of His Students (New York Point Press, 2010). 

The Jois Foundation (which changed their name to the Sonima Foundation in early 2013) advocates and makes sizeable donations to public school districts in exchange for Ashtanga yoga to be taught in public schools. They also explain this view that asanas (poses) alone are a spiritual practice. While they have since washed this view from their current website as the controversy grows of propagating such a spiritual practice in public schools, dated websites have been documented expressing that asanas are the most important part of yoga because while the poses of yoga are “in appearance an external and physical discipline,” they can “spontaneously . . . lead to the experience of the last four limbs.”4 

4 http://www.utsandiego.com/news/20-encinitas-grant-teachers/;http:// www.nclplaw.org/wp-content/yploads/2022/12/Sedlock-Yoga-Orala-Aru=gument- Press-Release-2-13-15-FINAL.pdf. (accessed March 30, 2015).13/Jul 31/yoga These last four limbs are varying levels of meditation, ending in the final limb: samadhi, which means “union with the divine.”5 

5 http://web.archive.org/web/201208140147/hyyp://www.joisyoga. com’about-ashtanga-yoga.html#parampara (accessed March 19, 2015).

In other words, practicing poses alone in the context of yoga can spontaneously lead the practitioner to opening and becoming one with this supreme spirit and the spiritual realm (which is the entire point and purpose of yoga practice) regardless of understanding or intent. 

Professor Brown was invited to testify as an expert witness in the controversial Southern California case, Sedlock vs. Baird, which protested the teaching of Ashtanga yoga in the Encinitas Union School District. After extensive research, this was her finding on the issue: 21 

. . . Yoga practice—whether or not connected with verbal explanations of why one assumes bodily positions—helps one unite with the divine.6 

6 Candy Gunther Brown, “Declaration of Candy Gunther Brown,” Motion for the Issuance of an Alternative Writ of Mandamus; Memorandum of Points and Authorities; Declarations of Jennifer Sedlock, Candy Guther Brown, Ph.D., and Dean R. Broyles, Esq. Note 45, http://www.nclplaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DECLARATION-OF-CANDY-BROWN-FINAL.pdf (accessed Jauary 21, 2015).

YOGA FAQ 

The following is a list of frequently asked questions about yoga, along with answers I believe you will find helpful. The coverage is not exhaustive; but it should provide some food for thought. 

Q: What are the religious ideas underlying yoga? 

A: Yoga is a pagan spiritual practice and has been for thousands of years. The yogic doctrine called the Yoga Sutras explains the goal of all practices along this path, which is to join or be “yoked” with Ishvara, who is also called the “source of all knowledge,” “ultimate consciousness,” “god,” or the “divine.” The yoga we find in studios and gyms is one of the ways to reach this goal. 

Yoga means “to yoke.” Many have been told it means to yoke together mind, body, and spirit. Although that sounds lovely, it is not what the term means. This yoking goes far beyond connecting the elements of one’s own person. The spiritual practice of yoga is aimed at opening oneself to the spiritual world and yoking with, connecting with, and becoming one with Ishvara, the god of the practice of yoga. This god is called many different names within varying religions and traditions. “None of these pagan gods are the Lord.” 

Everything about the practice is designed to open the practitioner to making these connections and entering a transcendent state of spiritual awakening (i.e., of yoking with Ishvara.) 

Q: Aren’t we supposed to yoke ourselves to Jesus? Why don’t just do it through yoga? 

A: There are two problems with this idea: First, Jesus says to take his yoke upon us—to walk so closely with him, that we emulate everything he says and does in order to learn from him. He does not invite us to become him. In yoga, the idea is not to take a yoke upon, but to become “one with” Ishvara. Think about the contrasts: For Christians, taking Jesus’ yoke means to 22 

walk with him, follow where he leads, and copy his example. For yoga practitioners, having yoked means to open oneself to the spiritual realm and become “one with” in the sense of being God by merging together as one. According to the Bible, we are not God. We never have been, nor will we ever be the Lord or any other version of a “god.” The Bible clearly and adamantly repeats that the Lord is the only God and we are his creation. The desire to be a god has been a deception of Satan from the beginning. . . .7 

7 See Isaiah 14:12–14; Genesis 3:4. 

Q: How do we know that Ishvara is not another name for the Lord of the Bible? 

A: There are many ways to distinguish between the two. The Lord clearly defines who he is throughout the Bible. If this question is important to you, I encourage you to research it. On my website, www.truthbehindyoga.com, you will clearly see evidenced in comparative scriptures of the Yoga Sutras and the Bible that Ishvara is a very different character, a deity whose path and practices are forbidden by the Lord of the Bible.8 

8 www.truthbehindyoga.com (accessed March 30, 2015). 

The God of the Bible is the Lord. He is the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in one being. He declares that he is the only God, and also clearly explains that there are false gods. The Lord defines his character throughout the Bible, and he does not contradict himself. So one sure-fire way to tell that the god Ishvara is not the Lord is that Ishvara’s doctrine clearly and repeatedly contradicts biblical instruction. 

Here is just one example (feel free to visit the website for many more): 

Ishvara’s Doctrine from Yoga Sutras 3.25 and 3.32: Through meditation, one can also discover spirits and communicate with master spirits.9 

9 http://www.ashtangayoga,info/source-texts/yoga-sutra-patanjali/chapter-3/ (accessed March 18, 2015).

The Lord’s Doctrine from Deuteronomy 18:9–12: 

When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. 23 

Q: Yikes! What does the Bible say about other deities? 

A: . . . The deities being sought in the practice of yoga are not the Lord of the Bible. And the divine energy (or godhead) with which practitioners become yoked is not the Lord, either. The Bible is crystal clear regarding who he is, and also about the dark truth behind any other “god.” 

Q: Well, can’t we just plug Jesus in to our yoga practice? 

A: The Lord gives his clear instruction in Deuteronomy 12:30, which admonishes us to “be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.’” 

Consider also, Deuteronomy 12:2–4: 

Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah [the name of a pagan goddess] poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. 

We are God’s treasured people; we are to be sanctified and set apart for him, not copycats of those who don’t know him. God calls us to separate ourselves, not to adapt and blend with pagan spiritual practices. Consider the warning from 2 Corinthians 6:14–17: 

For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial [Satan]? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.” 

Throughout the Bible, God gives specific instructions to ensure that his followers remain set apart. He wants us far from anything that even resembles the practices of surrounding nations that follow other gods. God wants his people to be set apart, to be sanctified. 

Q: Aren’t you being legalistic? Aren’t we free from the law as it was presented in the Old Testament? 

You’re right, we are free from the law (see Romans 8:1–2). But this is not a law issue. . . .24 

I ask you to consider your example to others. I ask that, for a moment, you take yourself out of the equation and consider both Christians who are weaker in the faith and the non-Christians around you. I ask you to consider what your example of going to a class called yoga says to them. They know you are a Christian, so they assume the practice is “Christian Approved.” Do you think your endorsement increases or decreases their likelihood of digging deeper and reading up on yogic traditions, chants, and prayers? I assure you, those chants and prayers will be invocations of false gods. . . . 

The Bible, for a Reason 

The Lord gave us the Bible as a guidebook to communicate with him. It is a complete work. He tells us not to add to it, even if we receive revelation from an angel (see Galatians 1:6–12). Everything he wants us to know about how to follow him is in the Bible. Thinking that we might know better ways to commune with the Lord than the ones he prescribes . . . is the snare that has seduced humankind from the beginning: going beyond what the Lord has clearly laid out. In the Garden of Eden, Satan suggested to Eve that there was information beyond what the Lord had made known to the “first couple.” Indeed, there was. The Lord had protected Adam and Eve from it. But Eve chose to disobey, because she thought it better to discover this “truth” than to follow the Lord’s protective counsel. And she, Adam, and all of us paid for it dearly as sin entered the world. 

Not much has changed since then, either in our nature or Satan’s tactics. He still appeals to our pride, our desire to know more than the Lord outlines in the Bible. We’re still suckers for false wisdom and knowledge, even to the point of following the pagan practices strictly forbidden by the Lord. We tell ourselves that if we do them, we will connect with him “better” or “more deeply.” We think perhaps we will feel more spiritual or less stressed or might even hope to encounter a special esoteric experience if we do it our way. 

This thinking, for Christians, is a travesty. Our relationship with the Lord is not based on feelings or mysterious spiritual experiences or even seeming good health. These are quite easily manipulated by the other side. The Bible makes it clear time and time again that our relationship with the Lord is based strictly on faith and obedience—even if we don’t agree and even when we don’t understand. . . . 

Believing you have endorsed yoga (which your participation does), [others] may decide to try a class. The next thing you know, they love the way it makes them feel, so they dig deeper. They try new breathing techniques and some chanting, and soon learn more about meditation and 25 

“opening” their minds. . . . 

This scenario is happening all over the world, and it breaks my heart. Really and truly, it ought not to be. 

Yoga is not a stretch-and-tone class. Please understand this. It is an ancient, pagan, spiritual practice. Spirits have been associated with it and invoked by its practice for thousands of years. Did you know, for example, that the popular sun-salutation sequence is an act of worship to the sun god? Other poses are named after animals, celestial bodies, inanimate objects, and deities representative of pagan gods or spirits. 

There are very real spirits invoked by this practice. Period. They are being masked in today’s culture with a practice that presents itself as appealing, harmless, and even healthy. But the entire aim is to yoke the unsuspecting with the dark spiritual realm. 

MEDITATION (To Think or Not to Think?) 

Let me start this discussion by revisiting Ephesians 6:10–12, because it is so important to keep it in mind: 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 

God lets us know we are warring against deceptive spirits that scheme against us. He tells us elsewhere that they are so misleading that Satan, the prince of darkness, masquerades as an angel of light.10 

10 See 2 Corinthians 11:14.It is important to remember this as we seek to uncover his schemes. 

Meditation is a word whose meaning has changed drastically in our culture. The 1828 edition of Webster’s Dictionary defines it this way: 

MEDITATION, noun [Latin meditatio.] Close or continued thought; the turning or revolving of a subject in the mind; serious contemplation. 

Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14. 

Notice that Webster originally listed only one definition. It was solely connected to the biblical practice of contemplation and focused study, and 26 

Scripture was quoted to show how the word is used. 

Today, popular dictionaries provide two opposing definitions of meditation: one remains rooted in the biblical tradition; another is rooted in Buddhism and Hinduism. The two are completely different, but they are routinely confused as such. It is important to clear up this misconception. 

The Lord’s instruction regarding meditation is to continually fill the mind with thoughts of him. Clearly, his intent is that we love him so much that we think about him always; we seek his will so ardently that we savor his Word, his instructions, and his awesome works (past, present, and future). This strengthens our relationship with the Lord and encourages us to delight in him, worshiping him with our thoughts and prayers. 

This is diametrically opposed to the mindfulness/Eastern spiritual tradition, which instructs practitioners to empty the mind of thought, often by focusing on a single subject such as the breath, a point on the body, an inspirational person, or an object. The term mindful is misleading in that it does not refer to a filling of the mind, but rather speaks of a state that results from the emptying of the mind of thoughts by focused concentration without thinking about the subject of focus. 

For example, if I meditate on Jesus in accordance with the biblical definition, I will think about his teachings. Perhaps I replay one of his parables and think about how it applies to my life; or I might turn my attention to and pray about a message Jesus gave that I am having a hard time understanding; or I may think about the ways Jesus shows his love to me. The point is, I am actively thinking about him. Contrarily, if I meditate on Jesus in accordance with the mindfulness/Eastern meditation definition, I may either picture an image of Jesus in my mind (self-induced visualization) or focus my gaze on a picture that is supposed to represent Jesus. I may concentrate on the sensation of love I feel in my heart that I believe is from Jesus. If thoughts arise, they are to be released. The point is to cultivate the state of detached mind, completely empty of thoughts. Do you see the difference? This is a practice aimed to let go of and clear the mind of thoughts. 

We are never instructed by the Lord to empty or clear our minds with thoughtless focus; we are instead instructed to occupy our minds with thoughts of him, turning them over in our minds. Thoughtless focus on a subject is a very different practice than thoughtful focus. 

Some have tried to meld this biblical paradigm with the mindfulness definition of meditation that is so prevalent in our culture. They claim that biblical meditation is comparable to mantra practice (repeating a sound, word, or phrase). But hopefully the above example has begun to clarify 27 

that these are two completely different and contrary practices. Jesus even specifically warns against praying vain repetitions like those who followed other spiritual traditions (see Matthew 6:7). His intent is for us to think about him and his goodness, which makes us steadfast in his ways. The pagan practice of letting go of all thought and emptying the mind of all thought and emotion leaves the mind wide open, with “space” to receive from the spiritual realm what feels like peace and revelations. . . . 

It is unmistakable that these are two distinctly different definitions of meditation. They are as antithetical as the spiritual sides they represent. 

Our Own Thoughts on Christian Meditation 

Meditation is something that is common to most, if not all, the world’s faiths. Some form of meditation is common to Buddhism (especially Zen), Hinduism (including Yoga), Sufism, Islam, Judaism (particularly Kabbalah, an occult-oriented offshoot of Judaism), and even some forms of Christianity. 

The essential Christian understanding of meditation can be broken down into three parts: a conscious focus on who God is, what God has done, and what God has said. The word “meditate” is found in most English New Testaments in Luke 21:14 and 1 Timothy 4:15. The Greek word in both passages is meletao (in Luke, a preposition comes before meletao). The word means to consider or think about. In the Luke passage Jesus is speaking: “Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer . . .” Clearly Jesus has thinking in mind. In the 1 Timothy 4:15 passage, Paul is giving instruction to his young disciple Timothy: “Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.” Paul urges Timothy to “practice,” with meletao being the word translated as practice. This gives us an idea about the ancient meaning of meditation, which is mindful, conscious, and reality-oriented thinking. 

In the Old Testament, meditate or meditation is found in nineteen places, mostly in the Book of Psalms. For example, in Joshua 1:8, God says to Joshua, who is Moses’ second in command, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” Here Joshua is instructed to focus on or think about the Word of God. In Psalm 119:15 we find, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways;” and verse 23 of that Psalm reads, “your servant will meditate on your statutes.” 

In Scripture there is nothing about an emptying or clearing of the mind. The mind, the thoughts, or the reasoning process are a far cry from the kind of meditation found in all other religious practices. 

Christianity does not view the mind as an enemy or thinking as an obstacle. Scripture says nothing about putting the mind into neutral so that the divine can therefore communicate with a person.28 

It is true that Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, among others, including contemporary people in the Christian fraternity, speak of a mystical form of meditation that encourages the blank state of mind, but this is neither biblical nor mainstream Christian practice. 

Meditation or its popular designation, contemplative prayer, may seem good and may bring a measure of peacefulness, but it is still not the same as biblical meditation. 

Why our concern with this subject? Our answer is that in the passive, altered, or trance state of conscious there is a very great danger. 

The Mindfulness/Eastern Teaching (More from Jessica Smith) 

. . . The practice of Eastern meditation operates under many names such as mindfulness and relaxation or stress relief techniques in an effort to appeal to a wider audience. Regardless of the name, the purpose and results remain the same. It often starts with feelings of peace, deepens to trancelike states of deep euphoria, and intensifies further as the practitioner “yokes” with whatever is invoked to create the state of openness. The peaceful feeling is not a physiological reaction to breathing or focusing. Eastern meditation is a spiritual practice; it produces a state of being affected by spirit. 

Not all spirits are “good” spirits; the spirit that affects the state of being I just described is not a spirit working on the side of the Lord. It is deception. Its ultimate goal is for practitioners to enter a total, trancelike stillness. The purpose is said to be the attainment of ultimate “truth” and “enlightenment.” But real truth and enlightenment are not the stock and trade of the spirits and gods with which pagan practitioners become yoked during this practice. These practitioners are as unaware as I was that they are inviting in spirits of darkness and bondage. 

Just as Satan convinced Eve that the fruit would lead to real knowledge and freedom from the limitations set by the Lord, the practice of Eastern meditation promises one thing and delivers another. The professed goal is deceptive. As with anything Satan tries to use for his purposes, the real goal is to keep the practitioner from knowing the Lord, trusting him, and being saved by him. The Bible says Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy (see John 10:10). The Eastern practice of meditation is from him. 

. . . It is important to note that the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden was not evil. The Lord created the tree. He called it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There was nothing wrong with the tree. It was how 29 

Adam and Eve interacted with the tree that mattered. They went against the Lord’s instructions. That was the problem. 

Similarly, there is nothing inherently evil about stretching or breathing or relaxing in a cross-legged position. So where is the line? This is my advice to those of you still struggling with questions of what practices are okay and what aren’t as a follower of Jesus: If you want to pray to Jesus while you hold your push-up position, awesome—the Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Yoga doesn’t get to claim exercising and stretching. And if you want to thank and praise the Lord while taking some deep breaths, do it—the Bible says to rejoice always (this includes while breathing with short or long breaths). God gave us breathing, and meditation doesn’t get to claim it. 

But here’s the difference: if we continue to engage in these practices under the name of yoga or mindfulness meditation techniques, then we not only choose to defy the Lord’s instruction (see Deut.12), but we potentially lead others astray by openly putting our stamp of approval on everything these practices represent. It is how we approach and interact with what God has created—that is the issue. 

May I suggest that the spiritual depth, peace, or stress relief we seek can be found simply by reading God’s Word, fellowshipping with other believers, taking in solid biblical teaching, and spending time with him in prayer—by following the Lord’s instructions instead of trying to “redeem” Satan’s? 

I encourage you to try it the Lord’s way, search your heart, and ask Jesus to reveal to you his heart in this matter. 

. . . When laying out his instruction for worship in Deuteronomy 12, there is a reason the Lord did not instruct his people to simply “redeem” (as many now label) the spiritual practices of those around them by plugging his name into them. On the contrary, he adamantly commanded that everything resembling the practice be burned, smashed, and destroyed. He clearly stated his intention for his people to be separate in their acts of worship, not copycats of pagans. The Lord does not counsel against these methods because he is mean and wants to deprive us of peace and knowledge, but because he sees and knows more than we can wrap our minds around—he wants to keep us from death. 

. . . See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ (Colossians 2:8 NIV). 

I pray the Lord continues to guide you as you seek His truth.30 

Excerpts from Wikipedia 

March 10, 2022 

Yoga (Sanskrit: lit. ‘yoke’ or ‘union’) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness untouched by the mind (Chitta) and mundane suffering (Duḥkha). There is a wide variety of schools of yoga, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, and traditional and modern yoga is practiced worldwide. 

Two general theories exist on the origins of yoga. The linear model holds that yoga has Vedic origins, as reflected in the Vedic textual corpus, and influenced Buddhism; according to author Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle, this model is mainly supported by Hindu scholars. According to the synthesis model, yoga is a synthesis of indigenous, non-Vedic and Vedic elements; this model is favoured in Western scholarship. 

Yoga is first mentioned in the Rigveda, and is referred to in a number of the Upanishads. The first known appearance of the word “yoga” with the same meaning as the modern term is in the Katha Upanishad, which was probably composed between the fifth and third centuries BCE. Yoga continued to develop as a systematic study and practice during the fifth and sixth centuries BCE in ancient India’s ascetic and Śramaṇa movements. The most comprehensive text on Yoga, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, date to the early centuries of the Common Era; Yoga philosophy became known as one of the six orthodox philosophical schools (Darśanas) of Hinduism in the second half of the first millennium CE. Hatha yoga texts began to emerge between the ninth and 11th centuries, originating in tantra. 

The term “yoga” in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga and a posture-based physical fitness, stress-relief and relaxation technique, consisting largely of the asanas; this differs from traditional yoga, which focuses on meditation and release from worldly attachments. It was introduced by gurus from India after the success of Swami Vivekananda’s adaptation of yoga without asanas in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Vivekananda introduced the Yoga Sutras to the West, and they became prominent after the 20th-century success of hatha yoga. 

Zen, whose name derives from the Sanskrit dhyāna via the Chinese ch’an, is a form of Mahayana Buddhism in which yoga is an integral part. 

Yoga is practiced with a variety of methods by all Indian religions. In Hinduism, practices include jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga, kundalini yoga, and hatha yoga.31 

Christianity 

Some Christians integrate physical aspects of yoga, stripped from the spiritual roots of Hinduism, and other aspects of Eastern spirituality with prayer, meditation and Jesus-centric affirmations. The practice also includes renaming poses in English (rather than using the original Sanskrit terms), and abandoning involved Hindu mantras as well as the philosophy of Yoga; Yoga is associated and reframed into Christianity. This has drawn charges of cultural appropriation from various Hindu groups; scholars remain skeptical. Previously, the Roman Catholic Church, and some other Christian organizations have expressed concerns and disapproval with respect to some eastern and New Age practices that include yoga and meditation. 

Following are excerpts from a major health network site in which they recommend and explain several types of yoga to their members under a section on “Thrive Together/Stay Active”11 

11 Found at https://thrive.kaiserpermanente.org/thrive-together/stay-active/ common-types-of-yoga?wt.tsrc=email_pih&cat=l, accessed August 19, 2022 : 

Yoga is a mind-body practice. It involves breathing exercises, meditation, and moving your body. It began as a spiritual practice in ancient India. Today, many people practice yoga to benefit their overall health. It can help with pain relief, depression management, and even quitting smoking.12 

12 Their reference for this statement is found in “Yoga: What You Need To Know,” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, accessed June 2, 2022.. . . Here are 4 types of yoga to try and how they can benefit your mind and body. 

Hatha is an umbrella term for several styles of yoga. Many popular classes taught in Western society fall under this category . . . Hatha yoga can improve posture, strengthen the core, and encourage mindfulness. It can also boost the immune system and help reduce symptoms of menopause. . . . 

Vinyasa has fast, constant movement where you “flow” between poses. . . . It’s a more aggressive workout than hatha and is even considered a form of aerobic activity. So, it’s a great option if you’re looking for a more intense workout or if you’re an experienced yogi. 

Ashtanga yoga shares similarities with vinyasa. It’s performed at a fast pace and features a constant flow of movements. . . . [I]n ashtanga yoga you do a series of poses in a set order. It often starts with sun salutation poses . . . 

Hot yoga is any type of yoga done in a heated room. . . . 32 

Practicing yoga can be a great addition to your self-care routine. Staying active supports your physical health and can also benefit your mental health. 

From bigthink.com/thinking/yoga-hindu-spirituality/ (3/27/2023): 

The spiritual connection between yoga and Hinduism: 

The late Jay Lakhani, Hindu author and tutor with Hindu Academy, described what happens during a yogic union: 

“There’s something much more to us than meets the eye; we are more than material beings. Only through tremendous introspection can you rediscover essential identity. Not just the body, the mind, or the intellect, but the spirit that lights all of us up. And relinking ourselves with the spirit is the idea of yoga; joining up with our real nature.” 

Essentially, yoga is a spiritual practice meant to help with purifying and preparing the body and mind to first recognize one’s atman (“soul”) within, and then unite it with Brahman or the divine. Hindu philosophy views this attainment of union with the divine as the ultimate goal of human existence, and it is called “Moksha” or “Mukti.” This attainment is said to be a liberation or release from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara). 

Additional quotations taken from adherents and practitioners of various spiritual paths and techniques covered in this book: 

“Meditation is essential for the development of mediumistic abilities.” (Robert Brown, We Are Eternal, p. 295) 

“Meditation opens the door to the spirit world and to spiritual experiences It is the fuel for mediumship.” (Konstanza Morning Star, Medium, p. 51) 

“Without meditation you cannot develop your spirituality, your mediumship of the ability to properly meet your Guides.” (Derek Johnsen, How to Become a Psychic Medium, p. 31) 

“I can’t stress enough how instrumental a daily meditation ritual is for anyone who wants to contact their guides.” James Van Praagh, Wisdom From Your Spirit Guides, p. 118) 

Final Comments on Yoga and Eastern Style Meditation: 

Few practitioners of Yoga and Zen would deny that an altered state of consciousness is what they routinely seek; only those who perceive of Yoga as no more than a form of physical exercise might miss seeing the deeper goals. Serious 33 

devotees of both Yoga and Zen meditation are well schooled in the techniques for detaching or removing themselves from the normal or usual state of mind in order to be at a place or state of mind other than that which is normative. 

While both Yoga and Zen utilize meditation, concentration, and focusing, and while both may use mantras, koans, and various forms of music, it is not common for practitioners of Yoga and Zen to encounter spiritual entities while in states of trance. It would actually be more common in Yoga than Zen, but much more so in shamanism, Santería, and neo-pagan disciplines like Wicca. 

Despite the fact that no mention is made by Yoga and Zen practitioners of meeting the various spirit guides, spirit animals, fairies, elves, and gods and goddesses in their trances, danger lurks nevertheless. While in trance states, Hindus and Buddhists come upon more than nothingness during deep meditation. Their western counterparts have similar experiences when learning how to enter advanced states of meditation or concentration. 

The “more” mentioned above refers to spiritual entities of some kind. Over the years, we have talked with persons who have encountered them while deep in meditation. On occasion the person is exhilarated, other times frightened. To discover the actual existence of “otherness” can be captivating, as we have expressed a number of times, even if the spiritual encounter was thought to be taking place only in one’s mind. Regardless of whether a separate reality exists in these situations, when actual spiritual beings are encountered and even conversed with, then biblically speaking, such encounters fall into the demonic realm. 

 Chapter 26 

Educational Preparation 

My college degree was in psychology. When I started out as a freshman at Glendale Junior College in Glendale, California, I was going to be pharmacist. But then I got a D in Chemistry 1 and followed that up with an F in Chemistry 2. 

In a health class at Glendale I got my first exposure to psychology, and I was captivated. I had already figured out that I was a bit off. When I was sixteen, a school buddy, Bill Johnson, said I was a hypochondriac. What I found in Webster’s Dictionary rather shocked me, but after thinking if over for some time, I agreed that I had been using illnesses such as a headache or an upset stomach to get out of things and attract attention. There were a few other little things about me I began to notice, little superstitions and obsessive/compulsive behaviors, and I concluded I had learned these things from my mother. After reflection, now many years later, I think my evaluation was fairly right, both about my mother and myself. So, knowing I was no rocket scientist and a bit strange, I chose psychology as my college major. 

Since I was not able to stay in one school for long (due to the military), I ended up graduating with a BA in psychology, with minors in cultural anthropology and sociology. I entered a master’s program, had completed the course work, and was starting the unit involving observed counseling. Suddenly, I realized I would never be able to bring up the Gospel of Christ as a school psychologist, which had become my career goal. For a week or so I pondered this, talked to my Pastor Bob Lewis, and decided to quit college and go instead to seminary. My whole point here is that I appreciated psychological counseling and was actually prepared to do it but not with the strictures that would have been imposed in a school setting. 

Getting to the Work 

My office at the Christian General Store in San Rafael was spacious and quiet, perfect for a counseling office. Betty Kenner, the book store manager, kept my appointment book, and for ten years I accepted clients. I had no license and no insurance, and I did not charge any fee. My work was completely free, but sometimes people would slip me a twenty or so. For the most part, no one paid a dime. 

Most weeks I had appointments Tuesday through Friday, anywhere from four to six per day. Sometimes I saw couples, but most often single individuals; a few times I did small groups. Churches all over Marin County sent people to me, and after a while, people from other counties made appointments as well. During my college studies, I had learned and appreciated both directive and non-directive counseling theories, so I combined the two, which worked out well over the years. I could both listen and speak to a situation. 

In 1972 we began Church of the Open Door, and a great many of the folks who ended up there came through the Marin Christian Counseling Center. “Center” was a popular word then; if I had it to do over I would not use the word, as it seems rather arrogant. But I have already indicated that I was arrogant, buoyed with the notion, “We have the Spirit.” 

What I learned during my counseling period I could not have learned elsewhere. People, most of them Christians, were desperate to talk to someone who would not condemn them. They wanted to talk to someone who would not call their pastor on the phone and make a report about them. 

Pastors Came, Too 

Pastors from churches all over the Bay Area even made appointments for themselves. It was then I learned the plight in which many pastors found themselves. Churches, I discovered, were like battle grounds with buried mines dug in just below the surface; thus arose one of my favorite phrases, “Churches are mine fields.” I eventually found this out for myself at our Church of the Open Door. What I learned found its expression in what is commonly echoed by other pastors: “If you can do anything else at all, don’t go into the ministry.”¹ 

During that time of the mid ’70s, I wrote an unpublished book entitled, The Care and Feeding of Your Pastor. That manuscript formed the basis of a book jointly published by Evangelical Press and Earthen Vessel Publishing in 2008—How to Care for Your Pastor.

Pastors made appointments as did associate pastors, especially youth pastors. I began to wonder if there was something wrong with the whole institution. Sadly, professional ministers had then and continue to have a high rate of attrition, especially in a “one person, one vote” congregational form of government. If something went wrong— for instance, if a power person became offended at something that a paid ministerial staff member did or said, well, that staff person was gone fairly quickly. And these ministers were usually younger people with few or no assets to fall back on. 

What I realized (maybe rationalized), for me personally as well as for those I counseled, was that there was a price to pay for being in the professional ministry. And the reality was that the opportunity to preach and teach the Gospel almost always required pastoring a church. There was no alternative forum, for most anyway, although a few managed to acquire enough recognition to make it as travelling evangelists or guest speakers. It was during this period that I would announce, “I pastor in order to preach.” 

A final note based on long experience: there is, in my opinion, a problem with being both a pastor and a counselor. If the counselor is competent, people will open up their lives. But how can this be a comfortable arrangement, if they are then regularly around the one who knows the deep, dark, and sometimes terrible truths? My advice for pastors and other church leaders who need therapy for themselves for whatever reason is: be sure to see someone in another county, and use an alias if necessary. 

Essay Eleven

Eid al-Adha, the great feast of Islam, also called the Day of the Sacrifice, falls on the 10th day of the last month of the lunar calendar. It comes during the Hajj pilgrimage festival, the fifth pillar of Islam, and is essentially a reenactment of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son, the Biblical account of which is found in Genesis chapter 22.

The essential Qur’anic story is found in the 37th chapter and verses 99 to 109. Quoted now from The Noble Qur’an:

99        He said, ‘I am going towards my Lord; He will be my guide.

100  My Lord, bestow on me a right-acting child!’

101  And We gave him the good news of a forbearing boy.

102  When he was of an age to work with him, he said, ‘My son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you. What do you think about this?’ He said, ‘Do as you are ordered, father. Allah willing, you will find me resolute.’

103  Then when they had both submitted and he had laid him face down on the ground,

104  We called out to him, ‘Ibrahim!

105  You have fulfilled your vision. That is how We recompense good doers.

106  This was indeed a most manifest trial.

107  We ransomed him with a mighty sacrifice

108  and let the later people say of him:

109  ‘Peace be upon Ibrahim.’

It is plain that neither the names Isaac nor Ishmael are in the above text. Only Islamic sources and tradition provides names, some Ishmael, and some Isaac.

Abraham, the true Muslim, in absolute obedience and submission to Allah, intends to sacrifice his son—Ishmael or Isaac. (To reiterate: Islamic scholars are divided on just who was to be sacrificed.) God intervenes and provides an animal to be sacrificed in place of the son. For Muslims the bottom line is that they are to be like Abraham and fully submit to Allah’s commands.

The Binding of Isaac

In Genesis 22:1–19 of the Hebrew Scripture is the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. God instructs His obedient servant Abraham to take his son to the region of Moriah and there sacrifice him. Abraham called the place of the sacrifice “the LORD will provide” (verse 14). The writer in that same verse adds, “On the mountain of the LORD, it will be provided.” Later on, in the Hebrew Scripture—Isaiah 2:3 and 30:29, Zechariah 8:3, and 2 Chronicles 3:1—we read that the temple is built on the “mountain of the LORD” or Moriah, the very mountain where Isaac was to be sacrificed.

For Judaism, the story of the obedience of Abraham is not much different from that of Islam, except that Islam does not focus on sacrifice but on obedience and submission to the will of Allah. For Judaism, much has to do with the actual location of the sacrifice, the temple mount where the temple of Solomon would be built and which therefore lays the ground for the whole sacrificial system we find in the Torah, especially Exodus and Leviticus.

The Ram as Substitute

One of the areas on which Christians tend to agree is the reason for the Binding of Isaac (Abraham bound Isaac before placing him on the make-shift altar—Genesis 22:9). While Abraham was indeed obedient to God, and yes, the location was likely Jerusalem and maybe even where the temple was built more than a thousand years later, the real storyline for Christians has to do with what we call “substitutionary atonement.”

What happened in our Genesis account? God told Abraham to take his son, his “only son Isaac” by the way, to a place far away and there kill him as a sacrifice. Abraham would have been familiar with animal sacrifice, as various forms of evidence demonstrate such was part of religious customs in Abraham’s world. He did not hesitate and was about to go through with it when he was stopped cold. Here now is Genesis 22:11–14:

But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

In place of Isaac a substitute was provided for the sacrifice. The spilled blood and death of an animal was acceptable to God, and Isaac did not die.

It was a burnt offering, which meant that after the sacrificial animal was killed the remains were burned. A burnt offering is for covering or atoning for sin—substitutionary atonement.

God Did Not Spare His Own Son

The New Testament is essentially about, perhaps only about, substitutionary atonement. Here God does not spare His only Son. The two verses below explain what I am trying to say.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all… (Romans 8:32a).

“Gave” means giving up to death, and in the case of Jesus the Son, it is death on a cross, which is exactly what King David spoke of in Psalm 22, and also the Prophet Isaiah recounted in Isaiah 53. From the point of view of a Bible-believing Christian, it cannot be missed.

Who would or should have been given up to death? You and I, is the plain answer.

For the wages of sin in death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

The God of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is a holy God who will not tolerate sin in His presence, thus the necessity for hell. And I testify that I would not want to bring my load of sin into the presence of God, even if I could. No, I would much prefer hell.

But for reasons I do not fully understand, my Creator God loves me, and it is His desire that I should enjoy His fellowship forever. (Wow, it is beyond comprehension that He should act on my behalf since I helped send His only Son to die horribly on a criminal’s cross!) Since I am a rotten sinner unable to do anything to atone for it myself, God provided “a ram caught in a thicket” (and rams do not get caught in thickets) to be bound and sacrificed in my place. This is the essence and the totality of it. We must then depend solely on the grace of a loving God.

How Could Islam and Judaism Get it Wrong?

Islam has no choice but to get it wrong, because the religion denies that Jesus even died on the cross. Salvation for Muslims is based on obedience to Allah, hopefully doing more good than bad.

Islam, as I mentioned above, is divided as to who was bound, Isaac or Ishmael. Many Muslims say Ishmael, because Arab tribes are thought to descend through Ishmael and Jews through Isaac, making Ishmael more of a father to the original Muslim world.^[1]  The reason some Muslims say Isaac is because the Qur’an is not clear on the subject (see Qur’an 37:107).

Judaism sticks with Isaac since that is clearly attested in the Hebrew Bible. Christians stand with the same choice, but the Christian position of substitutionary atonement pointing to the ultimate substitute, Jesus, is unacceptable to official Judaism.

An Appeal

Let me state emphatically that one’s position on this issue has eternal consequences. I know this is complex and mystifying, and the emotion of fear looms large, as one’s whole identity is also placed into the mix. But we must see the larger picture, the only one that counts. Is Jesus our substitute, the One who took our sin upon Himself and freely and completely wipes out all our sin forever? This is the one and only true thing that counts, ultimately.

My appeal then is this: Find a time to be alone. Get on your knees and bow your head. Address God, Allah if you like, and ask Him whether Jesus died in your place. It is okay to do so; it is only reasonable that you do so. You have nothing to fear, nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

When you find yourself trusting solely in Jesus for salvation, I suggest you do the following:

1. Obtain a Bible and begin reading the Gospel of John, the fourth book in the New Testament.
2. Make a prayer list of concerns you have on your heart and in your mind. Find time to read your Bible and pray every day.
3. Find a group of those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and be in fellowship with them.
4. This group may be an organized church or not, but the main thing is that the Bible is taught and preached and that the Gospel message is proclaimed regularly and clearly.
5. This gathering of believers in Jesus may be large or small, the people may be young or old, rich or poor, educated or not.
6. This group should have an interest in communicating Jesus and His cross to others and be concerned about the poor and vulnerable around them.
7. This group, to be healthy and strong, should be able to disagree among themselves but keep focused on Jesus.
8. This group should identify with other Christians of whatever denomination and not see itself as the only correct and legitimate people of God.
9. It may take some time to find a Christian group with whom you will be comfortable but keep trying.

---

^[1]     It should be noted that Islam, or most of Islam, says Abraham and Ishmael built the Ka’ba, though some say it was built in heaven. Ishmael plays a relatively minor part in the whole Biblical story, so perhaps there is a need to artificially enlarge his role?

Advertisements from Psychic and Reiki Therapists, Life Coaches, Mindful- ness/meditation practitioners, Akashic Records consultants, Tarot Card readers, Channelers, Hypnotists, Energy Therapists, and more are offering their services to a generation of people who are largely unaware that these are occult practices and that they are spiritually and emotionally dangerous. Yet these therapists are convinced they are not engaged with evil influences and other malevolent beings and that they are only working with benevolent spirits and entities to help and heal people who engage their services. Sadly, the reality is that such practices are an invitation to being exposed to and being subject to demonic forces.

Such practitioners, therapists, and consultants are convinced their activity is safe and helpful; they are not usually aware that they are tapping into demonic forces, and of course, neither are their clients or students. Some become aware that they are encountering spiritual entities, but they generally do not realize the true demonic nature of these beings. 

Some, however, do know the actual source of their powers, but their desire for this power and knowledge is sufficient for them to ignore the truth. The same is true for the clients/patients, since there is usually a sense of being helped, at least at first. And this is the primary reason for this book. This is an eternal issue—there is a heaven and a hell, and that awful serpent, also called Satan, is coiled up in these psychic therapies and empaths.

How do we know this is true? is a fair question to ask.

Following is a brief autobiographical statement from Kent: 

Even though I graduated with a master’s degree from the Golden Gate Baptist Seminary in Mill Valley, CA, and did a second master’s there as well, I disagreed with the professors who thought that there are real demons and an actual devil. I thought I knew better but went along with it anyway. 

The reason for this is that my college major had been psychology, and during my course of study I had concluded that there was no such thing as demons or demon possession but merely psychological disturbances of one kind or another. This all changed while I was a street evangelist in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District from 1967 to 1969. At that time, I even visited a few times with Anton LaVey, the founder of the Satanic Church, and thought that he was a mere charlatan. But then, I began to encounter those who actually did have indwelling demons, so directly and personally that I could no longer deny the existence of that which is evil and demonic. Those experiences, which came by the hundreds, began a long history with what is generally called “deliverance ministry.” 

My thesis for the second master’s at Golden Gate Seminary is titled, A Manual of Demonology and the Occult, which was published by Zondervan Publishing House in 1973. This resulted in people from all over America and even foreign countries arriving at my doorstep looking to be rid of demonic spirits. By 1975, at the church I pastored in San Rafael, CA., we were forced to develop twelve two-person teams whom we trained to do deliverance ministry. During that era, with one of our pastors, Mark Buckley, I routinely engaged in casting out demons. And this still goes on today but with less traffic, thankfully. 

During the period of the 1970s, I operated a counseling ministry along with my pastoral duties. We called it the Marin Christian Counseling Center on Fourth Street in San Rafael, California. I had hundreds of patients. Many of them had come out of the beat or hippie generation and had been exposed to strange cultic groups of an Eastern variety, including various occult practices, even satanism. 

During that period of the sixties and seventies, occult practices were not nearly as popular and common as they are today. Then it was avant-garde and edgy, so to speak; now it is mainstream and largely accepted, and there are few voices expressing a different point of view. Thus, the reason for writing this book. 

For many of the chapters, we have included material from Wikipedia. Our reasoning is that readers should see what others have said on the various topics, especially those who engage in the actual practices, as well as those who criticize them. Some are in support of, for instance, Reiki, while others are not but do not take a position. Rather, they may present what is generally known about the area of interest. 

Final Note: While doing the ministry of deliverance that began in the late 1960s, I learned that in most cases, demonization began with involvement in some form of the occult—therefore the reason I began a study of these practices. Here is the list of those practices that I included in my book, Deliverance Handbook: A Guide to Casting out Demons for Today’s Christian. 

A partial listing of occult practices includes three major categories:

(1) Fortune telling; (2) Magic; (3) Spiritism.

1. Fortune telling

a. Astrology

b. Palm reading

c. Tarot

d. I Ching

e. Ouija Board

f. Fortune Teller

g. Tea Leaf Readings

h. Crystals

1. Magic

a. Witchcraft

b. Satan worship

c. Curses and spells

d. Love magic and hate magic

e. Use of crystals for healing and other purposes

1. Spiritism

a. Seances

b. Mediumship

c. Clairvoyance

d. Hypnotherapy

e. Mental Telepathy

f. Clairaudience

g. Channeling

h. Automatic Writing.12 

 Chapter 25 

The $3000 dollars Barry Ellegant gave to Cliff became the seed money for a Christian bookstore. Up to that point there were only two places in Marin County to buy Bibles and other Christian literature: Golden Gate Seminary’s bookstore and a small one in San Rafael, operated by some staunch, conservative hardliners who did not care much for the Jesus People. This store closed sometime in 1968 or 1969, and I had it in the back of my mind to start one myself, so the timing of the gift of $3000 may even have been the hand of God. 

I’m not sure how or when these ideas had come to me, but for some years I had entertained hopes of doing certain things in my life: (1) Open a Christian bookstore, (2) Write books, (3) Have a missionary-sending ministry, and (4) Start a Christian publishing house. This was the time for the store. 

Our group of elders came mostly from the leaders of our Christian houses—Mark Buckley, Kenny Sanders, and Cliff Silliman primarily. They met together, discussed what to do with the money, and agreed to the bookstore, no doubt due to the influence I had at the time. Two things needed to be done: Find someone to operate the store itself, and find a location. 

Kristina (“Kris”) Kenner began trusting in Jesus as a student at Redwood High School in Larkspur due to our witnessing at that school. Soon I met her mother, Betty, and in a rather short time both Chris and Betty became residents of Christian houses. Kris moved into our Zion’s Inn and became the best help with me in painting houses, our chief way of earning money at that time. Betty had been suffering with alcohol and marriage problems, but she turned out to be an exceptional Christian and was soon placed in charge of a new house. Her Christianity blossomed, and she was well regarded by us  all. She was the natural choice to be manager of the store and did an excellent job. She was a real gift to many of us. 

Once Betty consented to manage the store, we began a search for a location. There had been an Arthur Murray dance studio on the second floor of 2130 Fourth St. in San Rafael, but it had closed. It was a large space in a commercial building, with a Japanese restaurant on the first floor. An aging Italian couple owned the building, and we were able to work out a deal with them to rent the space. It was beautiful and was divided into three sections. In the large room in the back I made my office, the first I ever had, and I occupied it until 1980. It was in that office that one of the more significant ministries of my life began to unfold. But that is another story. 

The store did not do well at first. Cliff and I, with a few others, painted the walls, made signs, built book shelves, etc. However, we made a bad buy—hundreds of a poorly printed paperback edition of the King James Bible that did not sell—but we had made a start. The $3,000 did not go far, and there were not nearly enough books to fill up the shelves, but house leaders found ways to put money into inventory, Christians in Marin supported the store as they could, and slowly we took hold. 

After the San Rafael store came one in Novato, then Petaluma, San Francisco, Pt. Reyes, Sonoma, and Redwood City. None was highly successful; in fact, most of the time, they had to receive help from the churches we had planted in the nearby area. The real benefit was their being a base to generate other ministries. 

One by one, these stores closed; not one of them exists to this day. This was probably due to my inability to promote them, although very few “brick and mortar” Christian stores exist anywhere in this region of the country anymore, overtaken by the ease and selection of items available on the Internet. 

The Christian General Store—my memories of it are yet vivid and mostly pleasant. The building is still there, with a McDonald’s next door to it now, and tears sometimes well up in my eyes as I drive by. On an occasion or two, I have parked in the old familiar spot in back of the building and walked around the neighborhood where I once walked with counseling clients. It was within that store that the Marin Christian Counseling Center operated.

Essay Ten

Surah 2:106 of the Qur’an reads:

Such of Our revelations as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, we bring (in place) one better or the like thereof. Knowest thou not that Allah is Able to do all things?” (from The Glorious Qur’an translation)

Another edition of the Qur’an, The Holy Qur’an, translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Surah 2:106 reads slightly differently:

None of our revelations

Do We abrogate

Or cause to be forgotten,

But We substitute

Something better or similar:

Knowest thou not that God

Hath power over all things?

Though the renderings differ, the meaning is obvious; earlier verses received by Muhammad were replaced by later verses. And abrogation, the replacing of doctrines, is of great interest.

Abrogation

Very early Muhammad received from Gabriel the message that the Jews and Christians, people of the Book as they were known, and who shared a similar origin with Muslims, were not counted as disbelievers.^[1] 

First, from The Glorious Qur’an:

Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans^[2] – whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right – surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

Then from the Ali translation:

Those who believe (in the Qur’an)

And those who follow the Jewish (scriptures),

And the Christians and the Sabians,

Any who believe in God

And the Last day,

And work righteousness,

Shall have their reward

With their Lord: on them

Shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

Despite the differences in the two editions of the Qur’an, it is plain that the Jews and Christians—People of the Book—were not counted as disbelievers by Muhammad.

But things changed, due to any number of reasons, but mostly because of opposition to Muhammad’s preaching from both Jews and Christians. Thus was born the concept of abrogation, that is, the later truths replaced or superseded the earlier truths.

There are many examples of abrogation in the Qur’an. One is the oft-quoted axiom that there is no compulsion in religion. The first sentence of Surah 2:256 reads: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” But this was abrogated or changed such that Islam would later be required to be forced upon disbelievers. It is interesting to note that Islam means submission, and originally it was by choice not compulsion. That changed with the opposition Muhammad received, even in Mecca, and especially so in Medina. It became normative that disbelievers would either be forced to convert or pay taxes to their Muslim overlords. If not, only death remained as an option. This is clearly stated in Surah 47:4 (The Ali translation):

Therefore, when ye meet

The Unbelievers (in fight),

Smite at their necks;^[3]

At length, when ye have

Thoroughly subdued them,

Bind a bond

Firmly (on them): thereafter

(Is the time for) either

Generosity or ransom:

From The Glorious Qur’an is Surah 5:33:

The only reward of those who make war upon Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be killed or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom.

Of course, there are the Satanic Verses (about which Salmon Rushdie wrote), where Muhammad at first conceded that a particular Arab tribe’s god and goddesses would be honored, but later on, after receiving significant negative reaction from Muslim faithful, Muhammad reversed course and condemned the worship of the pagan deities. At one point Muhammad had compromised with a pagan Arab tribe, the Quraish, regarding their deities, Al Lat, Al Uzza, and Manat, and had said that he had received from Allah that these idols could be worshipped. While this news thrilled the Quraish, the Muslim faithful were quite unhappy about it. In time, the verses acknowledging the efficacy of the gods and goddess of the Quraish tribe were abrogated. Passages to look to on this matter are: Surahs 17:19–20, 22:52–53, and 53:19–20.

Muslims do not deny the practice of abrogation, but rather uphold it.

Muslims also see their religion as superseding or replacing Judaism and Christianity, as an intentional and natural progression ordained by Allah. Islam, Muslims believe, is the culmination of what is revealed in the Scripture, meaning the Old and New Testaments. Certainly, Christians claim the Old Testament to be inspired by the Creator God, while official Judaism rejects the New Testament in terms of it being revealed by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Islam is not the only religion to regard their revelations to be the final message from God. This approach has been copied by many over the years, including the Mormons; in fact, Islam and Mormonism share an uncanny resemblance. In Mormonism you have an angel giving the book of Mormon on golden plates that present a new and improved truth that abrogates all that went before, especially referring to Biblical Christianity.

Progressive Revelation

Christians hold that the New Testament does not make much sense apart from the Old Testament. We see the prophecies of the Messiah sprinkled throughout the Hebrew Scripture, starting with Genesis 3:15:

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.

The woman Eve was a type extending on and pointing to Israel the nation, then Mary the mother of Jesus, then the Church. These entities are the “woman” of Genesis 3:15, and it has been understood in this manner down through the centuries. The offspring of the woman delivers a deathblow to Satan, the serpent, while the serpent merely bruises the offspring’s heel. And that is how it worked out, just as Genesis said. The Apostle John much later wrote, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8b).

Then there is Psalm 22 where King David describes a man dying on a cross, and he wrote it around 1,000 years before the actual event took place. Not only that, but history tells us that the Greeks did not use crucifixion as a means of execution until many centuries after David wrote his Psalm. Then the Romans picked it up from the Greeks some centuries later.

The 22nd Psalm begins with words Jesus spoke while on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This forsakenness is the subject of Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (see Mark 14:32–42). In verses 16 to 18 of Psalm 22 we find,

For dogs encompass me, a company of evil doers encircles me, they have pierced my hands and feet – I can count all my bones – they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

There is more from this Psalm that makes it clear David is depicting a man dying on a cross.

In the eighth century before Christ, the prophet Isaiah described the suffering servant of Israel who dies for sin as an atoning sacrifice to the holy God of Israel. Following are just a few verses from Isaiah, but the whole of the chapter, even parts of chapters 52 and 54, could be presented as well. Here is Isaiah 53:5–6:

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every on to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Verse 9 of Isaiah 53 describes exactly what happened after Jesus’ death on the cross: “And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.” Jesus died as a criminal yet was buried in a rich man’s grave, that of one of the members of the elite Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea.

Isaiah did more than speak of the suffering servant of Israel; he prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. The key verse is Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Two key points are made in the verse. One, a virgin would conceive and give birth—“offspring”—(remember Genesis 3:15 and the offspring of the woman). And two, the child would be God. Immanuel means “God with us.” There it is, the child is actually God become flesh. Here is how the Apostle John put it: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14a). We note that in verse one of chapter one of John’s Gospel he makes it clear that the “Word” is God.

Then the prophet Micah, long centuries before Jesus’ day, described His birthplace. “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me, one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5–2). And that is just where Jesus was born—Bethlehem. Almost hidden in the prophecy is the idea that the one born is from ancient days, meaning one with a long history.

There is Daniel’s prophecy that actually describes the period of time when the Son of Man would appear. And also the prophet Malachi stating that there would be a forerunner announcing the coming of the Messiah, one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way for the arrival of that long promised Messiah. And it would be fulfilled when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to be baptized in the Jordan River. John cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

The point is that everything about Jesus, from who He is, what He did, when He did it, and what it meant was all outlined centuries before the events took place in real time.

The Distinction

Abrogation is utterly different from progressive revelation. In the Qur’an, changes in policy and understanding forced Gabriel, Allah, Muhammad, or someone, to change their mind. The Jews and Christians would be tolerated for only a few short years, until suddenly not tolerated anymore.

Progressive revelation is God beginning at one point and moving throughout history toward the end goal, His ultimate intention, which is to bring those made in His image, those whom He called to be His chosen people, to once again have perfect fellowship with Him in paradise.

The difference between Islam and Biblical Christianity could not be greater.

Two More Little Things:

*Works and Grace

Muslims depend on getting lots of points by performing rites and rituals so that they have a chance of going to paradise when they die. Stated another way, Islam is works-based. It all depends on what one does. The sure way to get to paradise is to die in violent jihad or maybe to build a mosque. In any case, it is chancy since Allah is a deceiver and might just lead one astray. Interestingly, one of the 99 names of Allah is Deceiver.

Going to heaven to be with Jesus forever depends on the grace of God that is freely given to lost sinners like me. I cannot earn it, achieve it, or work so very hard, even die a martyr—no, nothing at all I do will make it happen, as it all depends on God’s love. “For God so loved the world, the he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). And even the “believes” part is a gift, as Paul points out in Ephesians 2:8–9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one my boast.”

*World Views

I do have to mention a second major difference between Islam and Christianity that involves the fundamental goals of the two religious systems.

Islam intends, as commanded by Allah in the Qur’an, to dominate the world. The state and the religion will be one under Shar’ia Law—this is the Muslim worldview. This is why Muslims claim Islam is the “religion of peace.” Because, when Islam dominates, all enemies will be subdued, and there will be peace. This will be accomplished by whatever means necessary and is the reason for the horrors perpetrated by Muslims who take the Qur’an seriously.

Christianity has one goal this side of the return of Messiah Jesus, and that is summed up by Jesus Himself in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Although there have been times when Christendom got it wrong and allied itself with military and political power—and forced conversions, as if such a thing were possible, Biblical Christianity is evangelical. True Christianity has always had its evangelicals from day one. By evangelical I mean all those, regardless of what group they belong to, who go about presenting the gospel of Jesus. Christians are to present the message of Christ, and the Holy Spirit does the rest. It is as Paul says in Romans 10:17: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Jesus, both who He is and what He did on the cross, is offered, simply preached, and those whom God has called will be convicted of their sin, the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus as the Savior, and the miracle of conversion will take place.

The contrasts between Islam and Christianity are nearly endless, but this essay at least points out some of the more dramatic ones.

---

^[1]     The exact process by which Muhammad received the recitations from Allah that eventually became the Qur’an, through the angel Gabriel, is unclear. Allah did not appear to Muhammad nor did Muhammad hear directly from Allah. The intermediary, Gabriel, was either physically present, or Muhammad heard the angel’s voice, or Muhammad’s mind was “impressed” and such impressions were passed on to others. This last idea is more probable, since it appears that Muhammad would enter a trance state to receive the revelations from Gabriel.

^[2]     There is no nation or tribe known today as the Sabaeans. Little is known of their history.

^[3]     “Smite at their necks” came to mean beheading.

Nine. Concluding questions: Coincidence, Evangelism, Conspiracy, or Something Else?

Do the Jewish holidays point beyond themselves to something that comes after? Do they point to the Messiah, the anointed of God, who in Himself and His work is the reality behind the shadow that the holidays were meant to be? Are the holidays of Israel prophetic historical depictions of events that would take centuries to realize?

            Our answer is a decided and a studied, Yes! This answer is indeed based upon a reasonable decision after an exhaustive study of Scripture, but it will only and always be a faith position.

            Certain questions must and will be asked, so this concluding chapter will pose a few of the possible ones.

Coincidence?

Could it be that Jesus’ life, ministry, and death merely coincided with the meaning of the holidays? After all, our conclusions depend upon a backward look at the Hebrew Scripture through the lens of the New Testament, coupled with the influence of many Christian scholars and theologians. That looking backward was all necessary before it could even be suggested that Jesus did fulfill the spring holidays and will fulfill the fall holidays as well. Nothing is actually stated in the passages where we find accounts of the holidays—in Leviticus 23, Numbers 28, and Deuteronomy 16 among others—that there would be a future completion.

            It might also be argued that the feasts do not need completion—that they are whole in and of themselves. This argument has substance when one considers that there was a long period of centuries before the Christian era when they made sense to the original hearers and readers of the books of Moses and had relevance to them in much the same way that Independence Day, the 4^th of July, has to Americans today. That is, they celebrated historical events in the life of Israel, events that God was calling them to remember.

            The possibility of coincidence cannot be easily dismissed, but it is peculiar that Jesus’ life, death, and promised return do connect so strongly with the holidays. It is not unreasonable that Christians would connect the dots. Having made the incredible discovery that Jesus not only completed the spring holidays, but that the fall holidays contain the very outline of His return in the “last days,” the Christian can see and anticipate the establishment of the ultimate intention of the Creator—the Kingdom of God.

            Coincidence? Maybe, but maybe not. 

Evangelism?

Christians have been commanded by Jesus to proclaim what we call the Gospel to Jews as well as Gentiles. The message of the cross and resurrection was to be preached first in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and only then to the ends of the earth—the Gentiles.

            Paul reinforced Jesus’ missionary mandate when he wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

            Could it be that connecting Jesus with the holidays is merely an evangelistic tool or strategy? Is this a matter of Christians saying, “Jewish people, see and don’t miss this, look at the evidence, this is for you so that you will also trust in Jesus as your Messiah.”

            If such a means of approaching Jewish evangelism was not fully implemented in the early days of the Church, it has become so now. However, there is no clear connecting of the dots between the Tanakh’s story of the holidays and any fulfillment or completion of them in the New Testament short of a few statements by Paul and others. Within the first few centuries of the Christian era there is little or no evidence that the early Church apologists and fathers focused on this fulfillment issue in the manner or extent that the authors of this book are doing. There is some evidence that Methodius of Olympus (d. A.D. 311) and Augustine of Hippo (d. A.D. 430) were acquainted, to some degree, with the types or foreshadowing found in the Old Testament, particularly as related to the Exodus and the Tabernacle/Temple, but no one to a substantial degree focused on the Jewish holidays. It was only starting in the eighteenth century that Christians were writing on the subject, but not much was written in the late second century into medieval times, when there was a decided effort on the part of the then predominantly Gentile church to distance themselves from the Jewish roots of the Gospel of Jesus and from any appearance of sharing something as important as major holidays with Judaism.

            It is reasonable to conclude that Christians gradually began to discover the connection between the Old Testament’s accounts of the holidays and the life and ministry of Jesus. In fact, it is not a simple relationship to grasp, and it is usual that few Christians ever see it at all. Even at this late date, it is not common that non-Jewish Christians view the holidays as presented in this book.

            Evangelistic methodology? Possible, but not probable. 

Conspiracy?

If the above question of evangelistic methodology is possible, then it could also be possible that there was a conspiracy motivating it. Again, however, the research has nothing to support this, so it would only be surmise, and this is not good enough to so easily dismiss the dramatic conclusion that Jesus, in His life, death, and future return, could complete the seven holidays of Israel.

            Conspiracy—so much of what we cannot figure out and don’t want to hear about or accept in the first place is consigned to conspiracy theories. While most conspiratorial narratives are political in nature—consider those about the deaths of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and  John F. Kennedy—a few are religious, such as the story about the Knights Templar and the intrigue associated with Jesus and Mary Magdalene in books like The DaVinci Code. Then there are lighter entertainments such The Robe, The Holy Grail, and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

            Little risk ensues in a quick dismissal of the idea that the relationship of the Old Testament holidays with Jesus is a Christian evangelistic conspiracy, since there is nothing in the historical records that research can discover to substantiate either position. Therefore, to dismiss Jesus’ relationship with the holidays would have to have some reasonable support.

Conspiracy? Very unlikely.

Something else?

What else could this stunning relationship be? While not an easy question to answer, it is certainly a critical one.

            What if the Jewish Holidays are God’s roadmap to world history? To miss it would be a huge loss.

            The authors’ position is that the holidays point beyond themselves in the Tanakh itself. The Prophets of Israel interpreted the holidays messianically and eschatologically.  That is, they saw embedded in the accounts of the five feasts, one offering, and one fast a promise of a Messiah who would complete the ultimate intention of the Creator God at a point in the future. These prophets found clues in the accounts of the holidays about future realities. In the fullness of time God sent forth His Anointed One Jesus, whose life and death corresponded to these realities. And then the authors of the New Testament identified Jesus as the fulfillment of the holidays in either His first or in His second coming.

            From a human point of view, Jesus’ fulfilling of the holidays may well appear to be an incredible and staggering coincidence. Certainly it has evangelical value, since God desires all to be rescued in His Messiah—the Jew first and also the Gentile. And yes, it is a conspiracy of God’s own making, woven throughout the entire length and breadth of the fabric of human history. 

 Chapter 24 

Not far from the house that the Philpotts lived in on Knocknaboul Way we started another Christian house. It was a cheaply built home about twenty years old, with four bedrooms, two baths, and a garage (which meant a fifth bedroom to us). It was located on Los Colindas Avenue, almost exactly where I later crashed my new Honda road bike head on into a pickup truck. Son Vern was riding on the back. Neither of us were injured too badly, but the motorcycle was totaled. 

The rent on Glory House was manageable and, as usual, I signed the lease—one of about a dozen of them at that point. The house leader was a fellow recently arrived from New York—a small Jewish man whom I will call Jonathon, and he was a wild-eyed Pentecostal, to put it mildly. He had been involved in a leadership capacity in some church where I suspected he had run into trouble because of his excesses. However, over time he tuned things down, and I grew to like him. 

Jonathon started dating a young lady in the fellowship, and I think I performed their wedding ceremony. The couple’s first residence was Glory House, and it wasn’t long before they put in a request for an item they needed to keep the house spiffy—a new vacuum cleaner. I approved the purchase, and the money came out of funds collected from the residents. 

All went well for some period of time, other than a steady stream of folks moving in and out; other than that, I was satisfied. 

One day, however, I received a call from the landlord, who informed me that he had received no rent for several months. I called the house, but no one answered the phone, so I walked down the street and thought I would handle the situation directly. 

One of our good praise team guitarists, Steve Smith, answered the door, but he didn’t know where Jonathon and bride were, so we knocked on the door of the master bedroom and found the place empty. Not an article of theirs was found, nor a note, and they had told absolutely no one that they were leaving. My first thought was the new high end Kirby upright. Sure enough, it was nowhere to be found. 

I was mad about the vacuum cleaner for days; I was sure the newlyweds had absconded with it. Yes, we had enough money to cover the rent, but the vacuum symbolized the betrayal we had experienced. 

At an elders meeting some weeks later the mystery was solved. Bob Burns, who also lived at the house and has been my dear and enduring friend (he’s had a lot to endure to be my friend) told us the rest of the story. While he was living at Glory House, he saw something that made him suspicious about the vacuum cleaner and the young couple. They were way too attached to each other. While no one was around, Bob grabbed the Kirby and put it in the trunk of his beautiful Chevy Impala. So it was safe, and we all felt a lot better. 

Essay Nine

There is a world of difference between a shamed-based culture and a guilt-based culture.

“Culture” can mean a whole nation, religion, tribe, clan, family, church, or any other similar entity.

As an example let us say that a Christian leader is found to be guilty of a sin, which then is made know to others.

The shame-based church, of which there are many, particularly among churches that tend toward legalism, and might be either a works-oriented or a grace-oriented church. The fallen Christian leader is an embarrassment to the church, maybe a wider grouping of churches, perhaps a whole denomination. This leader may be cast aside, fired, shunned, or any number of things might happen. This is known as “shooting the wounded” and is demonstrative of a shame orientation.

The guilt-based church with a fallen leader will not shoot the wounded but will take steps to bring healing and reconciliation. And this will work when the Christian leader acknowledges the sin and moves away from it, confesses his sin to God and man, and repents. If treatment or therapy is required, very well, but the fallen leader is restored.

The difference between a shame-based and a guilt-based church could not be greater.

Now then, let us change the scenario. Islam is founded on and produces a shame-based culture. For instance, if a young woman rejects an arranged marriage, she dishonors her family, clan, and tribe, indeed the religion of Islam itself. It falls to the family to restore honor, and this is very often accomplished by the killing of the young woman. The father, a brother, even a mother, will carry out this act. The young woman brought shame, and the only way to restore honor is murder. The murderer is not shamed but honored.

Or, to site another example, a member of the family or clan converts to another religious faith. Knowledge of this might be discovered and become widely known. To restore honor, the apostate must be killed. The murder covers the shame, and again, the murderer(s) are honored.

Or again, let us say a starving ten-year-old boy steals a loaf of bread at the town’s market, is caught, and has his hand chopped off without anesthetic in the public square (common in Saudi Arabia), for honor to be restored to the community.

The above are examples of what may happen in a shame-based culture.

So too, in shame-based cultures there is a great deal of secrecy and silence. For instance, homosexuality is harshly condemned among Muslims, and a homosexual caught in the act may well be killed, depending on the country. At the same time, homosexuality is widely practiced, especially in Muslim-dominated countries, but it is concealed from public view. Shame only comes when forbidden acts are exposed. The sin of the act itself it not what brings shame; it is the exposure of the act that brings shame.

Consider a guilt-based culture, say an evangelical Bible-based church, which will probably view homosexual behavior to be sinful. If a case comes up in such a church, the sin does not tarnish the entire church community. The individual involved hopefully will receive appropriate ministry aimed at restoration and recovery.

The Bible Way

Most readers of the New Testament know that when Jesus was arrested and taken away to trial, Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus even told Peter and the rest of the disciples that such would be the case (see Mark 14:26–31). It turned out just as Jesus had foretold (see Mark 14:66–72).

Peter thought he was so strong, but fear got the better of him. When the pressure came, Peter crumbled completely. After the third denial, Peter finally came to himself: “And he broke down and wept” (Mark 14:72).

The early church was not a shamed-based culture but a guilt-based culture. The chief apostle fell and did so publicly, and everyone who has ever read a Gospel knows this. Peter was not shunned and did not suffer violence; rather, he continued to be the one who preached the first Christian sermon, which we find in Acts, chapter two, and upon whose name the Roman church claimed to be founded.

Jesus Himself demonstrated for His Church the way things ought to be. We find a gripping and amazing story in the twenty-first chapter of John’s Gospel. The scene is a beach beside the Sea of Galilee after Jesus’ resurrection. It was a spring morning, and Peter, along with six other apostles, went out in a boat to fish but without success. Then at dawn the fishermen saw on the shore a stranger who told them where to cast their net. Immediately, the net was nearly bursting with fish. It was then Peter realized who the stranger was, so he jumped into the water and rushed to Jesus. Later on after the breakfast, which Jesus had prepared for the seven, Peter and Jesus took a stroll along the beach. As they walked, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Three times Peter answered, “yes” and three times Jesus responded with, “Feed my sheep.”

Peter denied Jesus three times. Jesus gave Peter the blessed opportunity to affirm his love for his Master three times. Jesus did not bring Peter’s sin up to him; there was no need, since the Holy Spirit does this far better, and Peter was encouraged to continue to follow Him.

This is the great model for a guilt-based culture, which the Church must be if it is to be healthy. The legalists get in the way, however, and twist things to shame-based. This is what Islam has done, along with so many other religions, and certainly most of the Bible-based cults in Christianity have followed this pattern.

And it is to the legalists, those who are sinners as we all are, to whom I am reaching out with this essay—whether Muslim, Christian, or whatever.

Jesus died on the cross to cover sin, not shame. Biblical Christianity is guilt-based and thankfully so, since sin may be forgiven. The healthy church is not shamed by the acts of an individual. And most importantly, God delights in redeeming guilty sinners and erring Christians.

The Real Problem

The real problem with a shame-based culture is that guilt is never dealt with but persists and often resurfaces as depression, anger, or self-hatred—maybe all of these.

Imagine the father who is forced to kill his daughter who refuses to marry a man she neither knows nor loves. The shame may be covered by the murder of the girl, or so it is assumed, but what about the conscience, the heart, or the mind of the family members? Guilt, a natural occurring brain function, remains. And there is no forgiveness.

A young boy or girl steals a loaf of bread, is caught, and brings shame upon the family and clan. Sharia Law demands a public amputation of a hand and/or a foot. What about the boy or girl, the family, the friends? What about the observers of the event or those who have the responsibility of carrying out the punishment? Everyone is traumatized, unless all of these people are inoculated against such atrocities, which I suspect might be the case when a person is brought up in a shame-based culture.

I was a medic with the U.S. Air Force from 1961 to 1965. My unit was 2nd Casualty Staging Flight, which is based at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California. For years my duty hours were from 5 PM to 8 PM. Many a green beret or ranger who had been wounded in Vietnam (starting in1963) would wonder down to my office late at night, and we would spend hours talking about what happened to them. It was known then as combat fatigue, and it was real. Not all had suffered actual bodily wounds. Many were listed as psychiatric on the flight manifest. Some had killed, raped, and maimed innocent civilians. They knew horrors such as I had never heard. My own brother, a combat engineer in Vietnam, came back emotionally wounded from experiences there and eventually committed suicide. With my college background in psychology and my newfound faith in Jesus, I was able to talk about forgiveness with traumatized young men. And for some, not many, the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ and His cross made all the difference.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, can be deadly. Those who have experienced it have a high rate of suicide, become psychotic, and sometimes go off on murderous rampages. (The statistics are available by means of a Google search.)

I cannot help but wonder about the wrenching struggles many experience in Muslim cultures where the covering of shame is virtually mandated. Guilt does not go away. There it sits, eating away like a cancer deep in the interior. And this is why I emphasize the shed blood of Jesus in my witness to Muslim people.

At the conclusion of every morning service at our small Miller Avenue Baptist Church in Mill Valley, California, we observe the Lord’s Supper. We do it because Jesus directed His Church, the Body of Christ, to do so. (There is no set frequency of observance.) We also do it because it is a wonderful presentation of the forgiveness that we have in the finished work of Jesus, the Son of God. I conclude this essay with some of the passages we recite just prior to receiving the Bread and the Cup.

The Confessional:

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

The Jesus Prayer:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

The Promise of acceptance and forgiveness

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Individual, silent prayer of confession

The Confirmation:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

The Assurance:

“Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Romans 8:30