By Lisa Miller
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 1:24 PM ET Dec 8, 2007
You need only go back to the first chapter of Genesis to see how elemental water is to the observance of faith: “And the Spirit of God,” the Bible says, “moved upon the face of the waters.” In the Torah, water is used to ordain priests and to purify the sons of Aaron before they enter the temple. In the New Testament, John baptizes Jesus with water from the Jordan River. Observant Muslims wash hands and feet before they pray, orthodox Jewish women take ritual baths once a month—and every Christian denomination still uses water as part of its sacred rites. Mormons, when they take the weekly sacrament, drink water instead of wine.

So it’s not surprising that a few savvy marketers would seize on this universal symbol of purity for financial gain. Inspired, perhaps, by vitamin and energy waters, a number of new companies have begun making more explicit claims: their water doesn’t just promote good health, it actually makes you good. Holy Drinking Water, produced by a California-based company called Wayne Enterprises, is blessed in the warehouse by an Anglican or Roman Catholic priest (after a thorough background check). Like a crucifix or a rosary, a bottle of Holy Drinking Water is a daily reminder to be kind to others, says Brian Germann, Wayne’s CEO. Another company makes Liquid OM, superpurified bottled water containing vibrations that promote a positive outlook. Invented by Kenny Mazursky, a sound therapist in Chicago, the water purportedly possesses an energy field that Mazursky makes by striking a giant gong and Tibetan bowls in its vicinity. He says the good energy can be felt not just after you drink the water but before, when you’re holding the bottle.

The most recent entry in this niche is Spiritual Water. It’s purified municipal water, sold with 10 different Christian labels. The Virgin Mary bottle, for example, has the Hail Mary prayer printed on the back in English and Spanish. Spiritual Water helps people to “stay focused, believe in yourself and believe in God,” says Elicko Taieb, the Florida-based company’s founder who was formerly in the pest-control business. All three companies give a portion of their profits to charity.

This small band of feel-good entrepreneurs may face objections from a surprising quarter. Some religious believers, also convinced of the elemental importance of water, are campaigning against its ubiquitous sale and packaging on the grounds that the practice is neither ethical nor good for the environment. “Water is life,” says Sister Mary Zirbes, a nun in the Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minn. “It really should not be a commodity to be bought.” The Franciscan Sisters, together with a community of Benedictine nuns nearby, have launched a letter-writing campaign against the largest producers of bottled water and they’ve designed coasters to encourage people to drink glasses, not bottles, of water from the tap. The Vineyard church in Boise, Idaho, sells slim reusable plastic bottles in its bookstore, and it has placed water stations throughout the church. “In a world where a billion people have no reliable source of drinking water, where 3,000 children die every day of waterborne diseases, let’s be clear: bottled water is not a sin, but it sure is a choice,” says Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals. “Spending $15 billion a year on bottled water is a testimony to our conspicuous consumption, our culture of indulgence.” Taieb calmly refutes the implication that his Spiritual Water is bad for the planet. People put fewer of his bottles in the trash, he says, because they don’t want to discard images of Jesus or Mary. Instead, they refill them with other beverages. Obviously, even do-gooders can disagree. Some believe that water is life, while others believe that water is their livelihood.

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/74380©   Newsweek Mag

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ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 20237 • Posted: Saturday December 29, 2007 

The Pope has ordered his bishops to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism.

Vatican chiefs are concerned at what they see as an increased interest in the occult.

They have introduced courses for priests to combat what they call the most extreme form of “Godlessness.”

Each bishop is to be told to have in his diocese a number of priests trained to fight demonic possession.

The initiative was revealed by 82-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, the Vatican “exorcistinchief,” to the online Catholic news service Petrus.

“Thanks be to God, we have a Pope who has decided to fight the Devil head-on,” he said.

“Too many bishops are not taking this seriously and are not delegating their priests in the fight against the Devil. You have to hunt high and low for a properly trained exorcist.

“Thankfully, Benedict XVI believes in the existence and danger of evil – going back to the time he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” The CDF is the oldest Vatican department and was headed by Benedict from 1982, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, until he became Pope in 2005.

Father Amorth said that during his time at the department Benedict had not lost the chance to warn humanity of the risk from the Devil.

He said the Pope wants to restore a prayer seen as protection against evil that was traditionally recited at the end of Catholic Masses. The prayer, to St Michael the Archangel, was dropped in the 1960s by Pope John XXIII.

“The prayer is useful not only for priests but also for lay people in helping to fight demons,” he said.

Father Paolo Scarafoni, who lectures on the Vatican’s exorcism course, said interest in Satanism and the occult has grown as people lost faith with the church.

He added: “People suffer and think that turning to the Devil can help solve their problems. We are being bombarded by requests for exorcisms.”

The Vatican is particularly concerned that young people are being exposed to the influence of Satanic sects through rock music and the Internet.

In theory, under the Catholic Church’s Canon Law 1172, all priests can perform exorcisms. But in reality only a select few are assigned the task.

Under the law, practitioners must have “piety, knowledge, prudence, and integrity of life.”

The rite of exorcism involves a series of gestures and prayers to invoke the power of God and stop the “demon” influencing its victim.

I recently attended the Celebrate Recovery Summit 2005 at Saddleback Church in Southern California. The primary purpose of the conference was to train new leaders who would return to their churches and inaugurate the Celebrate Recovery (CR) program. Saddleback’s pastor, Rick Warren, describes CR as “a biblical and balanced program to help people overcome their hurts, habits, and hang-ups…[that is] based on the actual words of Jesus rather than psychological theory [emphasis added].” 1

As a long-time critic of psychological counseling and 12-Steps therapies in the church (see The Seduction of Christianity and archived TBC newsletter articles and Q&As), I was pleased to have the opportunity to learn firsthand from those who are leading and/or participating in the program, to better understand what was intended in CR, and to see how it is implemented. What I learned right away was that the 3,000 or so in attendance had a tremendous zeal for the Lord and an unquestionable sincerity in desiring to help those who were struggling with habitual sin. This was my impression in all of my interactions—with individuals, in small groups, in workshop sessions, and in the general worship sessions. The CR Summit lasted three (eight- to nine-hour) days and covered nearly every aspect of Celebrate Recovery.

Nevertheless, other thoughts ran through my mind as I reviewed whether or not I had missed something significant in my previous criticisms of 12-Steps recovery therapies. Is Celebrate Recovery’s 12-Steps program truly different—that is, “biblical and balanced…rather than psychological”—as Rick Warren believes? Furthermore, is he simply naïve when he says in his “Road to Recovery” series of sermons, “In 1935 a couple of guys formulated, based upon the Scriptures, what are now known as the classic twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and used by hundreds of other recovery groups. Twenty million Americans are in a recovery group every week and there are 500,000 recovery groups. The basis is God’s Word [emphasis added].” Or is Celebrate Recovery another alarming example of a way that seems right to a man but one that is turning believers to ways and means other than the Bible to solve their sin-related problems? Let’s consider these questions in light of some A.A. and 12 Steps background information.

To begin with, 12-Steps programs are not just a Saddleback Church issue. Increasing numbers of evangelical churches are sponsoring Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.) meetings and/or creating their own self-help groups based upon A.A.’s 12-Steps principles. Bill Wilson, one of the founders of A.A., created the 12 Steps. Wilson was a habitual drunk who had two life-changing events that he claims helped him achieve sobriety: 1) he was (mis)informed by a doctor that his drinking habit was a disease and was therefore not his fault, and 2) he had an experience (which he viewed as spiritual enlightenment) that convinced him that only “a Power greater than” himself could keep him sober. Attempting to understand his mystical experience, he was led into spiritism, a form of divination condemned in the Scriptures. His official biography indicates that the content of the 12-Steps principles came to him “rapidly” through spirit communication. Certainly not from God.

Celebrate Recovery began 14 years ago at Saddleback and is used in more than 3,500 churches today, making it evangelical Christianity’s most prominent and widely exported 12-Steps church program. Warren considers CR to be “the center of living a purpose-driven life and building a purpose-driven church” and recently announced that Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship would begin implementing CR in every prison where the ministry is functioning.

Celebrate Recovery is a very complex methodology that attempts to bring biblical adjustments to the 12-Steps program originated by A.A. and utilized in numerous other “addiction” recovery programs. The complexity, however, applies to the setting up and implementation of the program as well as to the strict rules that govern its execution. Although there are many problems related to “making it work,” there is only space in this article to address some fundamental issues. Let’s begin with the implications regarding the name of the program.

Reflecting A.A.’s influence upon CR, the term “Recovery” is significant. All those in A.A. are “recovering” alcoholics, who, according to A.A., never completely recover. Recovery is a term that primarily denotes a process of physical healing. A.A. teaches that alcoholism is a disease for which there is no ultimate cure. Although CR rejects A.A.’s view of alcoholism as a disease and calls it sin, the title nevertheless promotes the A.A. concept in contradiction to what the Bible teaches. Sin is not something from which a believer is “in recovery.” Sin is confessed by the sinner and forgiven by God. The believer is cleansed of the sin right then. “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” (Ps 32:5 [2]).

At the 2005 Celebrate Recovery Summit, every speaker introduced himself or herself in the A.A. “recovery” mode, with this “Christianized” difference: “Hi, I’m so and so…and I’m a believer in Jesus Christ who struggles with issues of (alcohol, drug, codependency, sex, or whatever) addiction.” The audience then applauded to affirm the individual for overcoming the “denial” of his or her habitual sin. Not to confess some “addiction” or specific sin struggle raises suspicions of “being in denial.” Throughout the three-day conference, there was never a hint from any of the speakers that anything about A.A., 12 Steps, or CR might not be biblical. Moreover, where Celebrate Recovery programs were not available, those “in recovery” were encouraged to attend A.A. or N.A. meetings.

Rick Warren, on video, reassured the Summit attendees that CR was no man-made therapy. He insisted that CR was based upon the “actual words of Jesus Christ from the eight Beatitudes, which parallel the 12 Steps” and identified his own “Higher Power: His name is Jesus Christ.” I don’t find “Higher Power,” which is a misrepresentation of God, in the Bible. Nor can I fathom why a Bible-believing Christian would want to promote Bill Wilson’s concept and methodology. Why not simply rely on what the Bible teaches?

Is God’s way completely sufficient to set one free from so-called addictions? Did A.A.’s founders provide a more effective way? If so, what did the church do for the nearly 2,000 years prior to Bill Wilson’s “spiritually enlightened” way to recovery? Moreover, if Wilson’s method really works, why are some in the church trying to add Jesus as one’s Higher Power and the Beatitudes to it? On the other hand, if the effectiveness of the 12-Steps program is questionable at best and detrimental to the gospel and to a believer’s life and growth in Christ, why attempt to “Christianize” such a program? It is imperative that all believers ask themselves whether or not they truly believe that the Scriptures and the enablement of God’s Holy Spirit are sufficient for “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pt 1:3 [3]). A rejection of this biblical teaching is the only possible justification for turning to ways the Bible condemns: “the counsel of the ungodly” (Ps 1:1 [4]) and “a way which seemeth right unto a man.”

How dependent is Celebrate Recovery upon (with minor modifications) A.A.’s 12 Steps? Completely! Those going through CR’s small group take from 12 to 16 months to complete the 12-Steps program. Many go through more than one small group and often become leaders in one while attending others. Without Bill Wilson’s principles, the CR program would be reduced to a handful of misapplied Bible verses. Tragically, the most obvious biblical problem with such an approach to overcoming habitual sins seems to be dismissed by all 12-Steps advocates: the Bible never offers a by-the-numbers self-help methodology for deliverance from sin or for living a sanctified life. God’s way involves obedience to His full counsel and maturity in Christ through the enablement of His Holy Spirit.

Warren’s CR program views the 12 Steps as generally compatible with Scripture yet seeks out verses that appear to biblically reinforce each step. In doing so, however, scriptural interpretations are forced upon concepts that either have no direct relationship to the Bible or that pervert the true interpretation of the scripture intended to support the particular step. CR’s attempt to use the Beatitudes as biblical principles for overcoming habitual sins, for example, is a serious distortion of the Word of God.

Search as you may, you’ll find no commentaries that even hint at such a use of the Beatitudes. Why? Simply because the Beatitudes all have to do with seeking the Kingdom of God and nothing to do with solving an individual’s so-called addictions. Again, why try to legitimize from Scripture Wilson’s “ungodly counsel” from “seducing spirits [bringing] doctrines of devils” (1 Tm 4:1)?

Consider, for example, the “Beatitudes-justified” first three steps: (1) We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors. That our lives had become unmanageable. “Happy are those who are spiritually poor.” (2) Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. “Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (3) Made a decision to turn our life and our will over to the care of God (modified from A.A.’s “God as we understood Him”). “Happy are the meek.” This is more than a misdirected attempt to sanctify (in Rick Warren’s words) Bill Wilson’s “biblically vague” 12 Steps.2 It both abuses the Scriptures and reinterprets Wilson.

In these foundational steps, Wilson is summarizing his beliefs based upon his experiences as a “recovering alcoholic.” He felt “powerless” because he believed alcoholism was an incurable disease that consequently made his life “unmanageable.” Since he couldn’t “cure” himself (although millions do without 12-Step or other therapies!), he put his faith in “a power greater than ourselves,” whom he called God, and “understood” Him by fabricating Him out of beliefs discovered in his study of different religions and religious experiences. That’s more than “biblically vague.” It’s a false religion.

So why would Celebrate Recovery or the multitudes of other Christianized 12-Steps groups try to reconcile the Word of God with Wilson’s definitely erroneous and demonically inspired methodology? The deluded response is: “Because it works!” But does it?

Pragmatism is the fuel that powers “the way that seems right” and governs much of what is being lauded in the church today. Not only is this unbiblical, but too often there is nothing beyond enthusiastic testimonials to support the claim that something actually works. The reality for the 12-Steps program of A.A. and N.A. is that there is no research evidence proving that they are more effective than other treatments. Furthermore, the most extensive studies related to “addictions” conclude that most drug and alcohol abusers recover without any psychotherapeutic treatment or self-help therapies.3

The many problems inherent within a Christianized 12-Steps program—and particularly???Celebrate???Recovery—are too numerous for this brief article. Yet, consider these observations: CR is highly promoted as completely biblical and not psychological, yet the key speakers for CR Summit 2005 were clinical psychologists Drs. John Townsend and Henry Cloud. Psychologist David Stoop, the editor of Life Recovery Bible (CR participants’ mandatory paraphrase Bible, polluted with psychotherapy commentary), is a favorite speaker at Saddleback’s CR Large Group meetings. The CR leadership manual advises, “Have Christian psychotherapists volunteer their time to help instruct and support your leaders.”4

CR’s entire program content is marbled with psychobabble such as this “solution” from its Adult Children of the Chemically Addicted group’s dogmas:“The solution is to become your own loving parent….You will recover the child within you, learning to accept and love yourself.”5 This is biblical?! Honoring the psychologically contrived “disorder” of codependency, CR’s Codependency and Christian Living group made this humanistic and biblically false statement: “Jesus taught….A love of self forms the basis for loving others.”6

A.A.’s 12-Steps methodology, along with its antibiblical psychotherapeutic concepts and practices permeates Celebrate Recovery, yet no one at the Summit with whom I spoke seemed concerned. CR’s small group meetings are the antithesis of the way the Bible instructs mature believers to help those young or struggling in the faith to grow. Pastors and elders can be small group leaders, but not for teaching purposes. No leader may biblically instruct or correct but may only affirm the “transparency” of the participant sharing his feelings. “Cross-talk,” or comments by others, are prohibited to allow the freest expression possible. Much of this “expression” reinforces psychotherapeutic myths. The two-hour meetings usually open with the spiritually anemic Serenity Prayer and the recitation of the 12 Steps. Leaders are drawn from those who have completed one or more 12-Step groups. Some leaders work through one “addiction” in a small group while leading another group. It’s not unusual for a leader to put in eight to ten hours in CR functions per week, every week. Serious Bible study and discipleship are not part of the Celebrate Recovery “biblical” emphasis.

Let no one think that presenting these critical concerns about Celebrate Recovery in any way lessens the biblical obligation (Gal 6 [5]) of the church to minister to those struggling with habitual sin. The issue is not whether we should minister, but how we should minister: man’s way or God’s way? Man’s way, or a mixture of biblical teaching and ungodly counsel, is contrary to God’s way. Man’s way leads to death. Applying Scripture to man’s way leads to a slower death, akin to what would result when pure water is added to a toxic drinking fountain. We desperately need to take heed to God’s admonition through the Prophet Jeremiah: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer 2:13 [6]). TBC

Endnotes

1. Celebrate Recovery Summit 2005 Handbook, 61.

2. Celebrate Recovery Senior Pastor Support Video, 2003.

3. The Harvard Mental Health Letter, Vol. 16, No. 12, 1-4; See also:

www.stats.org/issuerecord.jsp?issue=true&ID=8.

4. Celebrate, 31.

5. Ibid., 342.

6. Ibid., 350.

Audio version of this newsletter is here [6].

Source URL:
http://www.thebereancall.org/node/2568
 

Although there are far too many examples of apostasy influencing the church today to cite in this brief series of articles, there is one spurious trend that encompasses nearly all of what the above verses address. It’s called the Emerging Church Movement (ECM). The ECM is a development among evangelicals that appears to have some worthwhile goals: 1) It professes to speak to today’s culture about the relevancy of Christianity and the value of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and 2) It desires to keep young evangelicals continuing in the faith. The movement involves a number of churches (mostly non-denominational), some supportive ministries and parachurch organizations, and the support of a number of prominent evangelical leaders and authors.

The ECM has no official organization or leadership, although some of its adherents have “emerged” as recognized leaders and spokesmen. For many of those helping to promote the movement, their motivation to “try something different” grew out of the frustration of their own very limited success in evangelizing and discipling young people. Some of the leaders were in seeker-sensitive and purpose-driven churches, and they saw firsthand that their church-growth marketing schemes were not effective for drawing those in their late teens, 20s, and early 30s. The main fare of most consumer-driven churches features contemporary music with shallow, repetitive choruses, topical 30-minutes-or-less sermons (mostly psychology-based), a host of social programs to attract the lost (and the fleshly nature of Christians), and “Bible studies” that address everything but the Bible (see “Consumer Christianity I & II”, TBC, 2/05 [5] , 3/05 [5] ). For a surprising number of young adults, that was a spiritual turnoff.

In his book The Emerging Church (with contributions and endorsement by Rick Warren), Dan Kimball relates his own breakthrough in overcoming the frustrating experiences in trying to motivate the young people in the evangelical church where he was youth pastor. He tells about watching a concert on the youth-oriented MTV network late one night that was a candlelit, all-acoustic performance. Recognizing that MTV certainly knows its audience and the youth culture, he refashioned his church’s youth room into a subdued, “catacombish,” candlelit environment and had the worship band use acoustic guitars, forgoing their usual flashing light show and loud electric music. He was delighted by the reaction of one usually unresponsive teen who said, “I like this. This was really spiritual.”

That was an epiphany for Kimball. As he expanded the service with what he considered more “authentic Christian” elements and liturgy, it attracted hundreds, young and old alike. He is convinced he’s found what the church of today needs: “As the emerging church returns to a rawer and more vintage form of Christianity, we may see explosive growth much like the early church did.”

On the contrary, the “explosive growth” in the early church came from an approach that is almost nonexistent in the ECM. Peter’s confrontational address to the crowd on Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 is directly at odds with the modus operandi of the emergent leaders. In the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter’s preaching brought conviction of sin, repentance, and belief; 3,000 came to Christ that day. Kimball’s “vintage form of Christianity,” featuring rituals, ceremony, candles, incense, prayer stations, and images to create a spiritually experiential atmosphere for evangelicals is “vintage” only in the sense that it is an imitation of the later unbiblical Eastern Orthodox and medieval Roman Catholic liturgies. The early New Testament church knew nothing of this idolatrous and sense-oriented worship.

Ironically, emergent churches around the world, in their attempt to “reconstruct” the church, are passing each other like ships in the night. Kimball’s efforts at spiritual stimulation by introducing to young evangelicals the liturgical bells and smells of Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, and high-church Episcopal and Presbyterian rituals, stands in contradiction to some European cathedrals and churches going emergent. Europeans are trying to revive their congregations, deadened by centuries of imagery and ritual, by covering their gothic interiors with decorated drapery, exchanging the organ and traditional hymns for electric guitars and contemporary choruses, and adding throw pillows for comfortable seating to create a seeker-friendly environment. These churches are abandoning the very things that are “spiritually” alluring to American emergent evangelicals. Regarding both sensual approaches, Scripture tells us, “the flesh profiteth nothing.”

In reading the works of the ECM leaders, we would agree with many of their criticisms of current Christianity. There is plenty to oppose as apostasy and the abandonment of the Word increases in Christendom. The ECM’s corrections, however, rather than having restorative value for the church, are just as contrary to the Scriptures. Even worse, they go far beyond subtly “weaning evangelicals off the Word” to rendering the Bible and its doctrines as the enemy when it comes to drawing the world in general and, specifically, our postmodern culture, to the love of Jesus.

The Emergent Church Movement claims to desire—above all things—to show the love and life of Christ to a culture that is distrustful of the Christianity it perceives as oppressive and absolutist. We’re assured by ECM writers that “numbers of postmoderns are attracted to Jesus but detest His church” and can therefore be reached by the emerging church approach. It professes to be more amenable to the culture, more viable in its practice of Christianity, and truer to what Jesus had in mind for His church on earth.

Admirable—but let’s see how true it is to the Scriptures. As Isaiah exhorted, “To the law and to the testimony [i.e., God’s Word]: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” Isaiah 8:20 [6]).

First of all, one has to wonder what a postmodern—a person characterized chiefly by his or her general disdain for authority and absolutes, particularly those dealing with moral issues and religion—thinks about this “Jesus” to whom he or she is supposedly drawn. The critical question is “Jesus who?” Is it the biblical Jesus they like, the one who declared absolutely, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6 [7])? What about the authoritarian Jesus, who announced, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love” (John 15:10 [8])? His words weren’t referring only to the Ten Commandments but rather to every instruction He gave. Is that the Jesus a postmodern desires? What about the Jesus who gave mankind an ultimatum: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36 [9])?

The biblical Jesus certainly does not accommodate postmodernism, which is one more example of humanity’s rebellion against its Creator. The good news is that Jesus offers deliverance from the delusion of postmodernism, as well as all the other man-centered isms: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31,32 [10]). The bad news is that the emerging church approach attempts to accommodate Jesus and the Scriptures (actually “another Jesus” and a corrupted and emasculated Word) to our postmodern culture.

Although some regard the Emerging Church Movement as nothing more than a passing spiritual fad among young evangelicals, its potential for shipwrecking the faith of our next generation (should the Lord not yet return for His saints) is staggering. Here are just a few of the faith-destroying beliefs as espoused in the writings of the emergent leaders. First of all, foundational to the ECM is the subversion of the Bible. It’s akin to Satan’s scheme to destabilize Eve’s trust in what God commanded: “Yea, hath God said…?” (Genesis 3:1 [11]). They give lip service to the importance of God’s Word while undermining its inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency.

Rob Bell writes in Velvet Elvis, following 22 pages of weakening the authority of the Bible (making statements such as “It is possible to make the Bible say whatever we want it to, isn’t it?” and “With God being so massive and awe-inspiring and full of truth, why is his book capable of so much confusion?”): “[L]et’s make a group decision to drop once and for all the Bible-as-owner’s-manual metaphor [i.e., God’s specific instructions for mankind]. It’s terrible. It really is….We have to embrace the Bible as the wild, uncensored, passionate account it is of experiencing the living God.”1 No! “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pt 1:21 [12]).

His view, common to most emergent writers, is that the key to the authority of Scripture is one’s interpretation, and that is most authoritative when the interpretation takes place in a community and validated by a “group decision”: “Community, community, community. Together with others, wrestling and searching and engaging the Bible as a group of people hungry to know God in order to follow God.”2

Although we find thousands of times throughout the Bible clear, direct, and absolute commands prefaced by phrases such as “Thus saith the Lord” and “The word of the Lord came to me,” we’re now told that understanding and obedience to what God said are subject to a community’s interpretation. Consequently, ECM churches disdain preaching and authoritative teaching, yet they delight in discussion, causing some to dump the pulpit in favor of a dialogue-led Starbucks environment. As the goals of the community change, we’re told the interpretation may also change.

The claim that the ECM approach has not jettisoned sound doctrine is either a delusion or an outright deception. This becomes clear when one asks for a biblical position on an issue. Kristen Bell acknowledges in a Christianity Today emerging church article, “I grew up thinking that we figured out the Bible…that we knew what it means. Now I have no idea what most of it means, and yet I feel like life is big again—like life used to be black and white, and now it’s in color.”3 Brian McLaren, the most prominent of the emergent leaders, echoes Bell’s “doctrine” of avoidance regarding what the Bible says about homosexuality:

Perhaps we need a five-year moratorium on making [doctrinal] pronouncements. In the meantime, we’ll practice prayerful Christian dialogue, listening respectfully, disagreeing agreeably. When decisions need to be made, they’ll be admittedly provisional. We’ll keep our ears attuned to scholars in biblical studies, theology, ethics, psychology, genetics, sociology, and related fields. Then in five years, if we have clarity, we’ll speak; if not, we’ll set another five years for ongoing reflection.4
TBC has received numerous letters from parents and evangelical pastors who find their young people seeking out emergent churches for the “new” experiences, which they offer in abundance: religious art (primarily impressionistic images of “Jesus”), “biblical” films, rituals based upon Catholic/Orthodox liturgy, community, personal relationships, contemplative spirituality and mysticism (some include yoga), Bible dialogues, ecumenical interaction with “people of faith,” a social gospel, plans to save the planet, restore the kingdom, and so forth.

Regarding the seductive nature of such things, few evangelicals, young or old, have a defense. Too many function as biblical illiterates, meaning they know some things about the Bible and are capable of reading it but simply haven’t made any effort, outside of following along with their pastor’s teaching on Sundays. They are the spiritual con man’s delight.

Satan’s seduction of Eve began subtly, “Yea hath God said?” It was a confusion tactic, setting her up to believe his lie and reject what God had said: “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” That was his punch line to destroy the human race. Eve fell for it; Adam went along.
One finds a strikingly similar approach in the writings of the ECM leaders in regard to destroying faith in the gospel: Brian McLaren leads with doubts about what God had said:

The church latched on to that old doctrine of original sin like a dog to a stick, and before you knew it, the whole gospel got twisted around it. Instead of being God’s big message of saving love for the whole world, the gospel became a little bit of secret information on how to solve the pesky legal problem of original sin.5

He says elsewhere, “I don’t think we’ve got the gospel right yet. What does it mean to be saved?…None of us have arrived at orthodoxy.”

British emergent leader and Zondervan author Steve Chalke delivers the punch line that unabashedly rejects the essential gospel belief that Christ paid the full penalty for the sins of mankind necessary to satisfy divine justice. Incredibly, he condemns that doctrine as a form of “cosmic child abuse” and a “twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith.”6 This is where these emergent pied pipers, wittingly or unwittingly, are seductively leading our youth.

Hopefully, the above will move you to prayer and action regarding the biblical strengthening of your own children and the youth in your fellowship. If you need more motivation (this brief article allowed me to give you only the tip of the “emerging” iceberg), see our TBC Extra page (p. with multiple emergent leaders’ quotes helpfully compiled in Roger Oakland’s latest book Faith Undone: The emerging church…a new reformation or an end-time deception? TBC

Endnotes

1. Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 044-45, 062-63.
2. Ibid., 053.
3. Andy Crouch, “The Emergent Mystique,” Christianity Today, November 2004, Vol 48, No 11, 36ff.
4. http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2006/cln60123.html [13] .
5. Brian McLaren, The Last Word and the Word After That (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005), 134.
6. Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), 182-83.

Published on thebereancall.org (http://www.thebereancall.org)

After we come to Christ as Saviour, we need to carefully check our former friends and associates. Where there have been wrong activities, a confession of actions, thoughts, desires and attitudes as sins is necessary, claiming forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9). Many, if not all, of these friendships and alliances will have to be renounced.

Inordinate affections include close friendships outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, involving affections, heterosexual or homosexual contacts and fellowship in other sinful practices.

All former friendships and ties were after the flesh (2 Corinthians 5:16) and the fleshly or carnal mind is enmity with God; not subject to, nor can it ever be, subject to God (Romans 8:7). Remember if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, and all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

To break ungodly connections with the past, this prayer will be helpful:

“Satan, in the name of Jesus I come against the demon authorities who controlled and motivated my relationship with {name friends} and break your power and authority over my life and affection, especially as related to him/her, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, I remove myself from any authority you ever exercised over me. I renounce all such ties of affection and ask that the Lord Jesus help me to love him/her only with His agape love, in the bowels (affections) of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:8). I give my affections (desires) completely to the Lord Jesus Christ for His use. Amen”. 

Note here that the true agape love for a former friend may at this point include staying away from him/her long enough for you to stabilize spiritually. Unsaved former friends will not understand your desire to follow the Lord and may even resent it and attempt to pull away, enticing you to follow them into former habits of sin.

Remember who your first love is. His command is plain: “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing…” (2 Corinthians 6:17). When in doubt consult with your pastor, parents or others in spiritual authority about the advisability of continuing a former relationship.

If you invite a former friend to come to a church meeting or to fellowship with you where other Christians gather and he/she refuses, then part company with them. Be friendly, but firm, for your Christian growth may well be at stake. If you do not become strong you will never be able to help them. Continue to pray for them as the Lord reminds you of their need of Christ.

You can claim that God will bring him/her back across your path when you are stronger spiritually and when he/she is more interested in seriously seeking the Lord. Know that in the meantime, they will be watching your life to see if your life equals your profession. This is the most important testimony you will be able to give, for if your life does not bear witness, then your words will have little effect in turning them to Christ. You must renounce all pacts, covenants, promises and other binding allegiances to former friends in the world and break all curses which may have been incurred by such relationships or agreements. Try this prayer:

Having confessed my former relationship with {name} as sin because sinful practices were involved, I now break any curses which have come to me as a result of this association. Jesus became a curse for me on the cross (Galatians 3:13) and blotted out the handwriting of ordinances which were against us (Colossians 2:14).

In the name of Jesus, I take authority over every demon who has inhabited my mind, will, emotions, body or spirit because of any friendship outside of Jesus Christ. I have confessed these relationships (with their activities, thoughts, desires and attitudes) as sin.
I have given my affections (desires) and body to the Lord Jesus Christ and all curses are broken. By the authority of Jesus Christ (Luke 10:19, Mark 16:17) and by the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), I command you all to leave now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Bathe your emotions and mind in scripture, praise, spiritual songs and pure and wholesome thoughts (Ephesians 5:19,26; Ps 34:1; Philippians 4:8). Think about and walk in fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:17). Pray with the understanding and in the Spirit (Jude 20, 1 Corinthians 14:4), especially when desires for former relationships press.

Resist the evil spirits by using scripture as often as they suggest wrong desires or attitudes for former or new friends (James 4:7; see how Jesus handled this in Matthew 4). Memorizing and meditating on scripture can be an invaluable aid (1 John 2:14).

Fill your days with good hard work (1 Thessalonians 4:11), serve in the church and seek out Christian companions. Find those who have matured in the Lord and cultivate them to learn how to develop a Christ-like character. Renounce and destroy all rock, melancholy and sensual music. Especially shun music which brings remembrance of former sinful pastimes and friends. We are highly susceptible to music and its associations are powerful means of recall. Fill your life with music which promotes and deepens your growth and fellowship with the Lord.

The following is an excerpt from “Warfare Prayers, Booklet #4? by Pastor Win Worley. Copyright © 1983 by Win Worley, Revised © 1991, WRW Publications 2004. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including storage and retrieval system, without securing permission in writing from the publisher, WRW Publications, PO Box 852626, Mesquite, TX 75185.

If you’d like to obtain your own copy of not only this, but other materials authored by Win Worley, please contact WRW Publications at www.wrwpublications.com

“Ye worship ye know not what. . .”  Jesus Christ, John 4:22

Throughout history the tattoo bears the mark of paganism, demonism, Baal worship, shamanism, mysticism, heathenism, cannibalism and just about every other pagan belief known.  The tattoo has NEVER been associated with Bible Believing Christians.  And whenever and wherever, in history Christianity appears –– tattoos disappear.  The only exception — 20th century, lukewarm, carnal, disobedient, Laodicean Christians.

The birth of the tattoo has always born the fruits of pagan religion and mysticism.  Without exception, research after research, study after study, book after book, the roots of the tattoo never wavers.  The following documentation is just a small (very small) drop of the ocean of research documenting the pagan and demonic source of the tattoo.

Please remember. . . The following documentation is from pro-tattoo books simply documenting the obvious spiritual and religious link to the tattoo.  These are not Christian writers trying to paint a negative portrait of the tattoo.  No matter how much the carnal, rebellious, Christian desires to justify their perverse reasoning for “marking” themselves with the forbidden demonic tattoo, the facts are loud and clear, backed by tons of research and documentation by the leading pro-tattoo authorities on the planet –– the foundation, origin, meaning and purposes of the tattoo is pagan demonism, shamanism, Baal worship, and occult mysticism.

A tattooist in many cultures is also a shaman, magick-man, priest or priestess.  According to the dictionary a shaman is a “intermediary between the natural and supernatural worlds, using magic to cure illness, foretell the future, control spiritual forces, etc.”

“Tattooing is often a magical rite in the more traditional cultures, and the tattooist is respected as a priest or shaman.”  (Michelle Delio, Tattoo: The Exotic Art of Skin Decoration, p. 73)

“In Fiji, Fromosa, New Zealand and in certain of the North American Indian tribes, tattooing was regard as a religious ceremony, and performed by priests or priestesses.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 64)

“The actual tattooing process, which involved complex ritual and taboos, could only be done by priests and was associated with beliefs which were secrets known only to members of the priestly caste. . . Hambly concluded that historically tattooing had originated in connection with ancient rites of scarification and bloodletting which were associated with religious practices intended to put the human soul in harmony with supernatural forces and ensure continuity between this life and the next.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 158)

The tattooist, shaman or the occult priest many times uses the tattoo as a point of contact, or inlets into the spiritual world.  The tattoo is much more than just a body decoration.  It’s more than just a layer of ink cut into the skin.  In fact, the tattoo in every culture, in every country, up until the 20th century, was a vehicle for pagan spiritual and religious invocations.  Even today, in many countries (including the United States), the tattoo is believed to be a bridge into the supernatural world.

Famous witch and author Laurie Cabot writes of the tattoo: “The origins of tattooing came from ancient magical practices. . . “  (Laurie Cabot, Power of the Witch, cited in Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated by Dr. Cathy Burns, p. 301)

“According to Amy Krakow in her chronicle The Total Tattoo Book, “tattooing has had well-defined roles: marking a rite of passage at a stage of life, calling the spirits, proudly, defiantly or sneaky showing who you are via body art.”

“Many native tribes practiced therapeutic tattooing.  The Ojibwa, for instance, tattooed the temples, forehead, and cheeks of those suffering from headaches and toothaches that were believed to be caused by malevolent spirits.  Songs and dances that were supposed to exorcise the demons accompanied the tattooing ceremony.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 90)

“Tattooing is about personalizing the body, making it a true home and fit temple for the spirit that dwells inside it. . . Tattooing therefore, is a way of keeping the spiritual and material needs of my body in balance.”  (Michelle Delio, Tattoo: The Exotic Art of Skin Decoration, p.

Among today’s latest tattoo craze is “tribal tattoos”, which are pure paganism.  Tribal tattoos are designs that bear serious symbolic mystical and occult meanings.  Tribal tattoos, especially, are possible channels into spiritual and demonic possession.

“When the designs are chosen with care, tattoos have a power and magic all their own.  They decorate the body but they also enhance the soul.”  (Michelle Delio, Tattoo: The Exotic Art of Skin Decoration, p. 13)

“The reasons why puncturing the skin should be regarded with some degree of awe are not far to seek, for in the first place, there is the drawing of blood, which to the savage world over is full of significance as a rejuvenating and immortalizing factor.  There is in addition to the opening of numerous inlets for evil to enter. . .”  (Hambly Wilfrid D. 1925. The History of Tattooing and its Significance, p. 233, cited in Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 162)

Rolling Stone magazine describes famous tattoo artist Paul Booth during his tattoo as, “. . . allowing his clients’ demons to help guide the needle.”  (Rolling Stone magazine, March 28, 2002, p. 40)

“Burmese tattooing has been associated with religion for thousands of years.  Tattooing among indigenous North American groups including the Arapaho, Mohave, Cree, and Inuit (Eskimo) is rooted in the spiritual realm as well.”  (Laura Reybold, Everything you need to know about the dangers of tattooing and body piercing, p. 15)

“Skulls imprinted on skin abound, and depictions of the Grim Reaper are commonly seen. . . These images, indelibly marked on the skin, reflect uncertainty about the future, and sublimate the pervasive fear of the unknown.  Possibly, at the same time, to wear a death’s figure on one’’s body may be an invocation of whatever undefinable forces of nature and the cosmos that exist, in an attempt to protect the wearer from such a fate.”  (Henry Ferguson and Lynn Procter, The Art of the Tattoo, p. 76)

Ronald Scutt, in his exhaustive book, Art, Sex and Symbol covers a great deal about the history and culture of tattoos.  Scutt documents that most of the time tattoos are connected to spiritual, religious and mystical purposes. The following documentation is from Scutt’’s book:
 
“In fact tattooing is much more likely, in view of its subsequent development, to have had a mystical significance, or to have been used as a status symbol, the red ochre carrying an association with blood and life.” (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 22)

[Tattooing] “In association with sun-worship, megalithic building, ear-piercing, serpent worship, . . .”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 22)

“These marks [tatoos] are believed to be associated with the worship of the sun-goddess Neith”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 24)

“Be that as it may, primitive tribes were certainly convinced that the spirit, having escaped from the body at death, retained a replica of its earthly tenement. They therefore used tattoo marks as a means of identification in the next world and a passport to future happiness.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 63)

“The Mohave Indians in the Lower Colorado instituted chin tattooing for both sexes because it was believed that a kind of Judge looks over each one who comes to Sil’aid (Land of the Dead) and if a man don’t have marks on his face, He sends him down to where the desert rats are.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 63)

“Among other Indian tribes there was a conviction that on the journey heavenwards to the ‘‘Many Lodges’’ they would be stopped by an old woman and examined for the presence of tattoo marks on the forehead, chin or wrists.  I absent, the luckless warrior would be pushed off a dizzy height to fall back to earth with no hope of ever gaining readmittance to the spirit world.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 63)

“Hindus in Begal believed that without tattoos parents would not be able to recognize their children in the next world.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 63)

“Then there is the ghastly fate of the untattooed Frijan women: “struck down by the souls of their own sex and without further ado served up as food for the gods.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 64)

“Yet the worship of the sun-god Baal had involved the marking of the hands [tattoos] with the divine token in a mystic attempt to acquire strength.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 64)

According to survey and statistics, Scutt lists the reasons why people get a tattoo and the number two reason –– “to secure a place in heaven”.

Reasons for getting a tattoo:

2. To secure a place in heaven.
5. To propitiate malignant spirits at time of death.
6. To acquire special characteristics through totemism and ancestor worship.
9. To make the body sexually interesting.”

(Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 13)

Dr. Hambly, probably the greatest tattooist historian and researcher that ever lived, writes over and over, that tattoos are based on pagan spiritual and religious rituals.  Any serious and honest study of the origin and foundation of the tattoo will clearly expose a demonic and supernatural intent of tattoos.

Tattoo enthusiast and historian, Steve Gilbert, in his popular, Tattoo History: A Source Book, cites some of the historical facts Hambly found in his extensive research.

[Hambly] “retailed a wealth of examples which he had culled from field work by anthropologists in many parts of the world.  Tattooing was supposed to: prevent pain; protect against gunshot wounds; cure illness; confer superhuman strength; preserve youth; enhance the supernatural powers of a shaman; ensure the survival of the soul after death; identify the soul in the hereafter; attract good luck; protect against witchcraft; ensure the protection of a deity; confer occult powers; prevent drowning; exorcise demons; ensure the protection of a totemic animal or spiritual guardian; record a pilgrimage to a holy place, etc. . .

Hambly reported that previous investigators had often been misled because obtaining information as to the religious and magical uses of tattooing was fraught with difficulties.  In the myths of many cultures tattooing was of divine origin.  The actual tattooing process, which involved complex ritual and taboos, could only be done by priests and was associated with beliefs which were secrets known only to members of the priestly caste.  Anthropologists were often misled because their informants either did not know or would not reveal the secret significance of the rituals and taboos.  Hambly concluded that historically tattooing had originated in connection with ancient rites of scarification and bloodletting which were associated with religious practices intended to put the human soul in harmony with supernatural forces and ensure continuity between this life and the next.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 158)

THE TATTOO’S GREATEST ENEMY. . . THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

In the pages of history, whenever and wherever “tattooing” pagan tribes were converted to Christianity, without exception, one of their first pagan practices to “pass away” [ 2 Corinthians 5:17] –– was the tattoo.  Why? Because, unlike today’s disobedient carnal “tattooed” Christians (or so-called?), the converted pagan KNEW the tattoo was against the Word of God. The Holy Spirit quickly “told” the converted pagan –– no tattoo.

“Just as occurred in other cultures with tattoo traditions, when these pagan tribes were ‘‘converted’’ to the Christian religion, their spiritual and cultural rites (which included tattooing, piercing and scarification) were outlawed. . .” (Jean-Chris Miller, The Body Art Book : A Complete, Illustrated Guide to Tattoos, Piercings, and Other Body Modifications, p.9)

Amazing. . . When the Lord Jesus Christ enters in –– the tattoo goes out.  “Whenever missionaries encountered tattooing they eradicated it.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 101)
 
“While these and other body modifications continued to be practiced underground as a way for non-Christian people to identify each other, God forbid you got caught and your mark was revealed.”  (Jean-Chris Miller, The Body Art Book : A Complete, Illustrated Guide to Tattoos, Piercings, and Other Body Modifications, p.11)

I have many friends before they were saved received a tattoo.  And without exception, everyone of them is ashamed, and as much as possible they cover it.  But before they got saved –– like the pagan tribes –– they proudly displayed their tattoo.  And let me add –– most of the time, this is before they’ve read Leviticus 19:28, or before anyone even told them a tattoo is wrong.  After receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, they KNEW the tattoo was displeasing to their God.  What about you?

A booming testimony to the author of the tattoo is recorded by Steve Gilbert:

“When Cortez and his conquistadors arrived on the coast of Mexico in 1519, they were horrified to discover that natives not only worshipped devils in the form of status and idols, but also had somehow managed to imprint indelible images of these idols on their skin.  The Spaniards, who had never heard of tattooing, recognized it at once as the work of Satan.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 99)
 
Even though, these Spaniards “had never heard of tattooing” –– they “recognized it at ONCE as the work of Satan”.

And some of today’s carnal, rebellious and disobedient Christians (or so-called Christians?) gibber-gabber nonsense about “marking themselves for Jesus”. . .

TATTOOS. . . AND TODAY’S CIVILIZED SOCIETY

Somebody says, “Sure that was back in the dark ages.  That was in heathen lands.  Today that has all changed.  Nobody connects any kind of ritualistic or pagan spiritual rituals to a tattoo.”

Yes. . . They do. . .

“These tattoos act as protective and empowering talismans for the wearer.  There are even some body artists who perform ritual tattoos, piercing, brandings and cuttings.  They may suggest you consult your astrological chart to pick the right time to get your body art.  They will burn incense, light candles, . . .”  (Jean-Chris Miller, The Body Art Book : A Complete, Illustrated Guide to Tattoos, Piercings, and Other Body Modifications, p. 29)

“Some tattooists in the West are experimenting with ritual tattooing.  This method of working incorporates doing a ritual to create a sacred space in the area where the tattoo is positioned.  Often incense is burned and the gods invited to bless the proceedings.”  (Michelle Delio, Tattoo: The Exotic Art of Skin Decoration, p. 75)

TATTOOS: THE CUP OF DEVILS

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.  1 Corinthians 10:21

THANK YOU TO TERRY WATKINS WHO HAS DONE SUCH AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THIS TOPIC
http://www.av1611.org/tattoos/pagan.html

The Bible, from cover to cover, and over and over, condemns rebellion.  The Lord God considered rebellion so serious –– He compared rebellion to witchcraft.  And may I remind you, witchcraft was punishable by death!

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, . . . “  1 Samuel 15:23

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”  Exodus 22:18

And if there’s one message the tattoo cries out –– loud and clear –– it’s rebellion.

Throughout history tattoos have symbolized rebellion.  There’s nothing normal about a tattoo.  A tattoo screams of unabashed rebellion and deviancy.

Every tattoo book, and every article, I researched, both old and new, openly affirmed the deliberate rebellion symbolized by the tattoo.  Book after book, article after article, sung the same song –– tattoos are open rebellion.  It’s worth noting –– all the following quotes are from pro tattoo books.

“Since body art is still not mainstream, having marks on your body that you put there on purpose shows the world your rebellious and unconventional nature.”  (Jean-Chris Miller, The Body Art Book : A Complete, Illustrated Guide to Tattoos, Piercings, and Other Body Modifications, p. 32)

“In this culture, a tattooed person is still looked at as a rebel, as someone who has very visibly stepped out of the bounds of normal society, . . .”  (Michelle Delio, Tattoo: The Exotic Art of Skin Decoration, p. 75)

“Unquestionably tattoos are socially unacceptable.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 179)

TATTOO: A MARK OF DISGRACE OR REPROACH

Steve Gilbert, in the very popular, pro-tattoo book, Tattoo History: A Source Book, documents that even the word “tattoo” means “. . . a mark of disgrace or reproach”.  “The Latin word for “tattoo” was stigma and the original meaning is reflected in modern dictionaries. Among the definitions of “stigma” listed by Webster are a “prick with a pointed instrument,”  “. . . a distinguishing mark cut into the flesh of a slave or a criminal,” and “a mark of disgrace or reproach.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 15)

In fact, for most of it’s slimy history the tattoo was used to mark the criminal, adulterers, traitors, deserters, the deviant and outcast.  The tattoo was a dreaded mark of reproach and disgrace.

“Adultery, also, was punished in this way [tattooed] in some parts of Britain, and “bad characters” were marked BC. . . In 1717, branding was abolished in the Army and replaced with tattooing. .. with the letter “D” “Deserter”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 162)

TATTOO: THE MARK OF THE “SIDESHOW FREAK”

As late as the early 1900’s, the tattoo was so far “out of bounds” of normal, civilized society, the tattooed was mainly found freaking people out as an attraction in the circus “freak show”.

“By 1897 tattooing had reached the United States, where it immediately became a circus sideshow attraction.”  (Laura Reybold, Everything you need to know about the dangers of tattooing and body piercing, p. 17)

“The popularity of tattooing during the latter part of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century owed much to the circus.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 135)

TATTOO: THE MARK OF INDECENCY

Tattoos are so rebellious and disgusting to most people –– they compare a tattoo to filthy pornography –– “dirty, indecent and subversive to morality”.

“In a society that considers nudity as dirty, indecent, and subversive or morality . . .it is not surprising that decorations to the body are allocated to the same category.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 179)

Even in the barbaric and immoral ancient Greek and Rome, the tattoo was considered “barbaric” and used primarily to mark slaves and criminals.  It’s interesting, they promoted slavery and other forms of depravity –– but felt tattoos were barbaric.  What does that testify of today’s barbaric Christian tattooing craze?  Is the next step in Christian depravity –– slavery?
 
“Respectable Greeks and Romans did not indulge in decorative tattooing, which they associated with barbarians.  The Greeks, however, learned the technique from the Persians, and used it to mark slaves and criminals so they could be identified if they tried to escape.”  (Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 15)

TATTOO: THE MARK OF DEPRAVITY

Criminals, drug addicts, sex perverts and social outlaws are the overwhelming majority of the tattooed.  Statistics, both old and recent, clearly reveal tattoos are largely worn by the rebellious and deviant.

“In addition to being a form of self-destruction, the tattoo seals the wearer off from the rest of normal society forever.  It’s not all that surprising to note that the largest number of tattooed in Japan belong to the underworld, and in America tattoos are most prevalent either in jail or hard rock bands.”  (Danny Sugerman, Appetite for Destruction: the Days of Guns N’’ Roses, p. 40)

“It was ancient Japanese tradition to tattoo convicted criminals. . . “  (Laura Reybold, Everything you need to know about the dangers of tattooing and body percing, p. 15)

“A study of young offenders on the West Coast of America concluded that delinquents tattoo themselves significantly more often than non-delinquents, and that the inclination develops at an early age without any thought for the future.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 113)

“In the Borstal institutions [criminals] it has been estimated that the incidence of tattooing can be as high as 75 per cent.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 113)

Comprehensive studies performed in Denmark, revealed the following enlightening statistics concerning tattoos:

42% of homes for short-term detentioned were tattooed 60% of homes for young men with behavior difficulties 72% of prisons for young men 52% of prisons population (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 114)
 
“The same Denmark studies also disclosed less than 4.8 in the general population were tattooed.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 114)

Investigations by law enforcement officials also came to the conclusion that:

“the presence of ornamental body tattoos could serve to indicate the existence of personality disorders which are liable to manifest themselves in criminal behaviour”.  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 117)

“Therefore, many authorities link tattooing with aggression, i.e. anti-authoritarianism, and it cannot be disputed that gangs and delinquents, juvenile or otherwise, display massive evidence of aggression”.  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 114)

According to study after study, a tattoo so personifies and establishes a “rebellious atmosphere” that one of the most important steps in prison rehabilitation is the removal of the tattoo.  According to many serious studies, a tattoo is linked so strong to criminal behavior and delinquency, that without question, the mere decoration of the tattoo inherently contributes to the criminal behavior pattern.

“This [tattoos] is one of the problems behind prison rehabilitation. Hence the reason why some plastic surgeons associated with prison service are prepared to spend an enormous amount of time removing tattoos, especially those on exposed areas. . .”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 181)

The famous architect, Adolf Loos, who also studied the connection to tattoos and crime, blatantly wrote:

“Tattooed men who are not behind bars are either latent criminals or degenerate aristocrats.  If someone who is tattooed dies in freedom, then he does so a few years before he would have committed murder”.  (Adolf Loos, 1962 Ornament und Verbrechen. Samtliche Schriften, edited by F. Gluck.  Vienna: Herold, 1962, cited at www.into-you.co.uk/contents/misc.htm)

TATTOO: THE MARK OF PERVERSION

Studies have linked tattoos to homosexuality, lesbianism, and gross sexual perversion.

“To be fair to those who maintain that tattooing is linked to homosexuality, investigations conducted in a New Zealand Borstal for girls revealed that of the 60 per cent tattooed, 90 per cent admitted to lesbian behaviour during corrective treatment. . . Yet further analysis indicated a ratio of aggression to the number of tattoos, and that the most heavily tattooed girls were unstable and insecure and tended to take the masculine role in their sex encounters.”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 87)

“[associated with tattoos] Among these conditions Raspa cited: impulsiveness, low self esteem, lack of self control, homosexual orientation, sexual sadomasochism, bondage, fetishism, bisexuality, lesbianism, antisocial personality, borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, mania and bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.”  (Raspa, Robert F. and John Cusack 1990, Psychiatric Implications of Tattoos, American Family Physician. 41: p. 1481 cited in Gilbert, Steve, Tattoo History: A Source Book, p. 159)

TATTOO: AND PERSONALITY DISORDERS

Studies also show that “self-inflicted” tattoos are frequently associated with people with personality disorders, troubled backgrounds and self-mutilation tendencies.

“Evidence indicates that it is the mere presence of the tattoo, not its artistic content, that correlates with certain diagnoses.  Thus, any tattoo can be viewed as a warning sign that should alert the practicing physician to look for underlying psychiatric conditions.”  (Raspa, Robert F. and John Cusack 1990, Psychiatric Implications of Tattoos, American Family Physician. 41: p. 1483)

“. . . studies suggests that people with personality disorders frequently have multiple small tattoos. . .”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 115)

Research clearly indicates “. . . the presence of tattooing was often indicative of a deprived and troubled background,. . .”  (Ronald Scutt, Art, Sex and Symbol, 1974, p. 117)

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TATTOOS OF TODAY?

I know what some are thinking. . . Sure, in the past tattoos were linked to criminals, depravity, and immoral behavior –– but not today.

Today, the tattoo is worn by celebrities, athletes, politicians and business people. It’s adorned in high fashion mags and sports mags.  There’s absolutely no data to even remotely suggest tattoos are linked to criminal or immoral behavior.  No sir.  Today’s tattoo is high-fashion and cool.

Oh. . . Really?

A very comprehensive study and analysis of tattoos, was recently published in April, 2001.  The study was performed by Dr. Timothy Roberts, a pediatrician at the University of Rochester Children’s Hospital.  The detailed analysis was taken from a study of 6072 young people, ages 11 to 21. From all over the United States.  From all different ethnic groups.  From all economic and social backgrounds.  In other words, very thorough and reliable data models were constructed for the study. In fact, this study is probably the most comprehensive and conclusive analysis of tattoos ever conducted.

According to the study, today’s tattooed young people:

* Are nearly four times more likely to engage in sexual intercourse
* Over two times more likely to experience alcohol related problems
* Nearly two times more likely to use illegal drugs
* Over two times more likely to express violent behavior
* Over two times more likely to drop out of high school

Dr. Roberts writes, that the results of the study reveal:

“Tattooing in adolescents was significantly associated with sexual intercourse, substance use, violence and school problems in bivariate analyses and in logistic regressions adjusting for sociodemographic factors and peer substance use.”  (Timothy A. Roberts, M.D. and Sheryl A. Ryan, M.D., Tattooing and High-Risk Behavior in Adolescents, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Strong Children’s Research Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY)

Dr. Roberts, writes in the “conclusion” of the study that tattoos “have strong associations with high-risk behaviors in adolescents”

“Conclusion: Permanent tattoos have strong associations with high-risk behaviors in adolescents.  The presence of a tattoo during examination of an adolescent should prompt in-depth assessment for high-risk behaviors.”  (Timothy A. Roberts, M.D. and Sheryl A. Ryan, M.D., Tattooing and High-Risk Behavior in Adolescents, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Strong Children’s Research Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY)

It is worth mentioning, Dr. Roberts, himself has a tattoo.  And before the study, Dr. Roberts admittedly believed that people with tattoos were unfairly stereotyped.  One of his purposes of the study was to prove that point.  After the overwhelming results, Dr Roberts, admitted, “I was more than a little surprised at the result.”

After evaluating the data, Dr. Roberts says, “A tattoo is a sign that doctors, parents, teachers ought to be asking about the teenager’s behaviour.”

BUT WASN’T JESUS A REBEL?

I hear this “rebel-party-line” from Christians: “Hey dude, yea man, I’m a rebel just like Jesus.  Yea, man, He was the real rebel.  He rebelled against the system, man.  Yea, man, He’s the ultimate rebel.  Man, like, that’s why I wear my tattoos –– I’m rebelling against the system.”

Heavily tattooed, Sonny of the “Rastafarianism-Christianity-AND-God-Knows-What-Else” punk-rap-metal rock band P.O.D. claims Jesus Christ was the first rebel —— and the “first punk rocker”!

“We believe that Jesus was the first rebel.  He was the first punk rocker going against all the rest of it”  -Sonny, P.O.D. (http://www.shoutweb.com/interviews/pod0700.phtml)

Let’s get something straight!  The Lord Jesus Christ was NOT A REBEL!  The Bible is very clear.  The Lord Jesus Christ was OBEDIENT unto death –– even the death of the cross!

“And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” -Phil. 2:8

Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing that every wicked, abominable sin committed in history was going to be placed upon Him (2 Cor. 5:17), knowing that He was going to drink the cup of wrath of God, and in great agony, His sinless sweat was dropping as it were great drops of blood —— even then, Thank God, Thank God —— HE DID NOT REBEL!  As He prayed “. . .not my will, but thine, be done.”

42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not mywill, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  Luke 22:42-44

Yes.  The Lord Jesus Christ was “against” the world and the system –– but it was because the world was the REBEL –– not the Lord Jesus Christ.  Thank God –– He was OBEDIENT to the will of God.  The world, the flesh and the devil REBELLED and is REBELLING against the Word of God.  Just like anyone that disgraces themselves with a “God-forbidden” tattoo.

Oh my friend, aren’t you glad that Jesus Christ was NOT a rebel.  That He was OBEDIENT unto His Father’s will.  Aren’t you glad that Sonny of P.O.D. is so wrong.  If Jesus Christ REBELLED, one second, one thought, one sin, there would be no hope.  Aren’t you glad Jesus Christ loved you so much that He died for you on Calvary?

Have you ever received the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour?

A THANK YOU TO TERRY WATKINS WHO HAS DONE SUCH A CREDIBLE IN-DEPTH STUDY OF THIS TOPIC… http://www.av1611.org/tattoos/pagan.html

In the Name of my Lord, Savior, and Deliverer, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we come against and bind the Strongman, Prince, Prince-Ruling Spirit, and all Spirit Guides associated with (specific name or coven). We right now bind all psychic heredity that was enheritted through the blood line of these (this) witch(es) and ask you, Lord Jesus, to seal the third eye through which they see into the occult realm. We also ask, Father, that you would restrain them from astral projection and that their cursing come back upon their own heads as your Word declares. We also ask that you send your angels to make sure that their curses are returned to them, and that these returning curses are not blocked by their magic or sorcery. We come through the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Name of Jesus Christ as we bind, blind, gag, deafen, paralyze and silence you, demons, and forbid you from influencing or strengthening any witch, warlock, spiritualist, satanist, (or specific name) right now in the Name of Jesus Christ.

We bind the spirits of Hate, Bitterness, Murder, Wizardry, Sorcery, Witchcraft, Magic, Occult, Control, Lust for Power, Lust for Position, Rejection and Pride (etc.) in order to destroy the demonic work, power, influence, plans, or appointments of these demons in the Name of Jesus Christ. We place you on notice, demons, that you will not be able to use these (this) soul(s) any longer against any church, group, family, individual, or themselves, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We take authority over and come against the spirits of Blindness, Spiritual Blindness, Darkness, Occult Darkness, Wicked Heart of Unbelief, Pride, and Deception; binding the spirits of Bondage, Heaviness, Fear, and Hate in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We ask You, Heavenly Father, in the Name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, to send Warrior Angels to blind, gag, deafen, and paralyze these spirits, forbidding them from influencing or interfering with these souls so that they can have control over their own free wills and be able to make up their own minds should they choose to repent. We pray that they would be able to do this without any demonic or satanic interference.

Lord Jesus, we pray that you would release Warrior Angels to wage war against these demons and their activities. We also pray that you would send ministering angels of Salvation, Adoption as Children of God, Conviction, Repentance, Humility, Contrite, Brokenness, Knowledge, Revelation, Understanding, Grace, Mercy, Truth, Forgiveness, and any others necessary to minister to their souls.

Lord, open their eyes so that they can see the Glory of Jesus. Open their hearts so that they can hear Your voice. Break the yokes in their lives and give them liberty in their souls so that they may be free to repent. Show them every evil work and deed that they’re guilty of, and Lord Jesus, convict their hearts unto repentance. Bring these souls out of darkness, save these souls so that You may have the Glory.

Heavenly Father, we humbly ask all these things in Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen, Amen, and Amen!

www.hbcdelivers.org

The Bible instructs and strengthens believers when they are misunderstood and mistreated for their faithfulness to God and to His Word, when they are rejected, ill-spoken of, and reviled.  Jesus said, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12).  Rejoice when rejected?  Blessed when reviled and persecuted? Exceedingly glad when ill-spoken of?  Yes!  The reward in heaven is great and the blessedness of being in Christ right now far exceed any human discomfort that may come from such negative responses.

Jesus was hated and scorned.  The night of his betrayal he told his disciples, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.  If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also” (John 15:17-20).

Present-day disciples also have the distinct privilege of accompanying Jesus “without the camp, bearing his reproach” (Heb. 13:13), of being outcasts with Him now, and of looking forward to spending eternity with Him in glory.  Therefore, by God’s grace, we urge each one of us to continue to speak forth and warn believers about the psychological wisdom of men and we encourage all to draw closer to Him in the midst of problems.  May we all be faithful in our desire to follow the Lord and His Word.  Let us gird up our loins and not fear or resist rebuff, rejection, or whatever may come from following Christ and from being faithful to His Word.  May we all patiently endure ill treatment for Christ’s sake.  But, each one of us needs to determine by God’s Word if we are suffering because of Christ or because of our own sin. 

For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently?  But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.  For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls (1 Peter 2:19-25).

If people accuse any of us who are contending for the faith of being mean-spirited, we must indeed judge ourselves before the Lord to see if the accusation is true.  If true, we must repent.  If untrue, we may rejoice.  And that is what we must do whenever we are accused.  We must go before the Lord to determine the accuracy of the accusation.  And then we will discover if we are being buffeted for our own faults or if we are suffering wrongfully for the sake of Christ.  Either way, we are all to suffer patiently as we consider Jesus.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin (Heb. 12:2-4). 

Let us all, therefore, do what God calls us to do, looking to Jesus in anticipation of his appearing, when “we shall be like him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

(from PAL V6N3)

PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries, 4137 Primavera Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93110
                    
www.psychoheresy-aware.org

Unfortunately, PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries doesn’t believe in the Deliverance Ministry the way we do.  Nonetheless, many of the articles they publish are sound and have much value for the body of Christ. -HBC

It’s a new ad campaign in Britain: Islam is Peace. Buses and trains are sporting the legend, “Islam is Peace,” and an array of images, including that of a Muslim policewoman, a Muslim scout group, and a Muslim chef, attempt to show that Muslims in Britain are ordinary citizens, and should not be regarded with suspicion.

The group’s website derides as a “misconception” the idea that “jihad means holy war.” It speaks about jihad as involving a “struggle to improve the quality of life in society and the struggle against injustice, oppression and tyranny,” but says nothing about armed struggle. It leaves unexplained how innumerable thousands of Muslims worldwide could have gotten the idea that jihad had something to do with violence. The site also dismisses the idea that “terrorism is supported in Islam,” saying, “this misconception is one of the most widely held misconceptions about Islam today,” and quoting the Qur’an to show that “it is clearly Islamically unlawful to murder an innocent person.” However, it doesn’t specify what qualifies a person as innocent, and thus does not answer the jihadist claim that no non-Muslim can be innocent.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=22737