The Push Towards Meditation and What It Means for Christians

Everywhere, ok not exactly "EVERYWHERE", but in a Big way,the modern push towards meditation and "mindfulness" has quickened.

As a christian this change in society has been both inspiring and alarming, comforting and disturbing.

When I go to a local gym, there are "Yoga" classes teaching meditation.
Even in the public school system, some of the teachers are taking the time to teach the class room of vulnerable minds, how to meditate and practice their own version of "mindfulness".

What Encourage me is the following:

1/ I am encouraged that society has become self aware of the need for stress reduction strategies in the classroom and the work place. We can't control stress, but we certainly can learn how to deal more constructively with it in our daily lives. We CAN control how we react to stress.
2/ There is a spiritual quality to meditation which has been touted by such business leaders such as
Ariana Huffington and others. Ariana Huffington gives credit to the Biblical applications of meditation as described in the Bible, for the promotion of interaction with God and listening for His impressions.
3/ It is always a healthy sign when leaders in society allow and even encourage their workers to
take "meditation" breaks during the work day. This practice allows a christian to spend time with God in the practice of prayer, scripture study, and meditation in the scriptures and prayer.
4/ Meditation and rest are cousins. Those who promote meditation promote rest and usually are peace loving folks. Who doesn't like a peaceful person?

What Concerns me about meditation and mindfulness training:

1/ I don't want my children to be taught spiritual principles outside of the teachings of the Bible. Although
I want my children to learn how to "self calm" via deep breathing and focusing on God and His word, I am concerned that some of the modern bents of meditation training does not respect a traditional understanding of christianity or the Bible, but has assimilated a few concepts from many of the major religious groups of the world and mixed them into some kind of strange new unscriptural religion.

2/ Some meditation techniques involve "emptying" the mind, which is not what the Bible teaches. The bible teaches us to renew our minds by filling it with God's Word, as revealed to humanity in the Holy Bible.

3/ What precisely is "mindfulness"? Is is being aware of what we are thinking constantly? Is it obsessing over
ourselves and making us into even yet more self centered humans?
Not to be too simple minded....but what should our "minds" be full of???
According to some gurus, our minds should be blank slates? But who are we clearing our minds for?
For God to write on? Yes, that would be great. But what if we are being encouraged to empty and clear our minds in order for some false religion to start to fill our minds with their priorities?

I don't know about you, but the only "being" or "person" who is permitted to write His thoughts onto my mind, is God, Jesus and His Holy Spirit. I know that narrows down my options, but that is a choice I have made in calling myself a Christian. Christian IS a narrow road, and does not embrace any and all religions. To pretend that Christianity embraces any and all religious teachings is simply wrong and inaccurate.

So how about you, my friend in Cyberspace? Does modern meditation comfort you? Or does it set off warning bells in your heart?
Looking forward to reading your comments,

Peace,
Carla.

God can be trusted with Your Intelligence

It has not done Christianity a favor when folks affiliated with the christian church in North America have consciously or unconsciously advocated a lifestyle devoid of knowledge, calm peaceful decision making, and intelligence.

God has created us with a hunger for knowledge and wisdom. I don't know where some church people got the idea that God prefers those who live blindly by faith over those who think and ponder things over first before they make a decision about something in their lives.

God is not in a hurry. He is a God of Wisdom and Good Counsel.

Those who are encouraging you to rush into making a decision are usually trying to steal something from you...whether that be the control of your life and family or your wallet.

Be peaceful this sunday, my friends and colleagues. God is pleased with the knowledge that you have made an effort to learn. Don't let anyone bully your intellectually from within the church or outside of the church. And if a pastor or teacher trys to tell you something that doesn't pass the "thinking and pondering" test of a few good days, then bring it in prayer to your Heavenly Father in Heaven. He has the final say.....not your pastor.

It used to really upset me when I realized that pastors and preachers were human and actually made mistakes and errors in judgment. To admit that fact, just  made me feel like I had no floor beneath my feet.
But now I have Christ Jesus and His Word as my firm foundation......so that no matter what mankind or my circumstances dictate I can rest peacefully knowing His Word is my guide and that God is on the throne.

When you have the grace to go to a church service, please don't check your intellect at the door. Bring it with you and sift the words that are being spoken to you from the pulpit. Test them against your own wisdom and the words of Holy Scripture and retain only those things and teachings that pass through those two good filters.

God is all about wisdom. The book of Proverbs, which is located after Psalms in the bible, has a chapter fully dedicated to the search for wisdom. 
The New King James Version says it nicely in Proverbs 2:6,7a
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;


Therefore from these words we come to affirm that God is firmly in favor of knowledge and wisdom, not a flaky emotion based decision making process.
Be rightly proud of the knowledge that you have gained.....and may God bless you with even more knowledge to add to the grand collection you already have.

Peace and security.
Carla



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Success Strategies, Gurus, New Age and Idolatry

Yes, perhaps that is a much too heavy title for a simple blog post.
But somehow I want to convey something about all of those four things listed.

First of all, I just want to say out loud, that I love success, and I am determined and have been for many years to be increasingly successful. What I learn today is the foundation upon which I will build my tomorrow's school of thought.

But that being said.....  in my many years of studying success "gurus", success "strategists", and after having read a boat load of their books, I have come to a few firm convictions.

First of all, we all have to have the courage to throw out the teachings of folks which are simply promoting the opposite of what we value most. For example, when I was given the recordings of the teachings called "The Secret".... I listened patiently for a while and appreciated some of the teaching. But then the alarm bells started going off when I realized that there were some portions of the teaching which were completely opposite of what the Bible teaches about Heaven and Hell. Therefore, when friends or coworkers or clients talk about "The Secret" I can appreciate certain aspects of the principles being taught, but I can also say confidently that not everything that is taught in "The Secret" is scripturally accurate.

And so, I had a similar experience again this week, when I had received a reading suggestion from a blogger that I follow regularly. Therefore I leaped to the library to find a couple of the specific author's books to drag them home and begin to greedily consume the contents. But again, lo and behold, I found again more teachings that were blatantly idolatrous and against the teachings of Christianity. Big sigh....ugh....and disappointment.

I must say that I personally don't find any moral contradiction between studying the principles of success and I find it to be in keeping with my Christian values. However, when I, who am no expert, can easily discern when a teaching is not biblical, I know when I need to stop reading. With my faith in Jesus Christ,  my guard goes back up tall and strong and I have a personal recognition that when I can not trust a certain author to respect my christian world or life view.

The "New Age" has brought a refreshing hunger for ALL things spiritual. But just because a teaching is "spiritual" doesn't mean that it is biblically accurate or trustworthy. Well, you might be saying to yourself....how do we then know if a book or author or teaching is biblically accurate?  Well , my simple answer is this.....we all need to get regularly tanked up on the reading and speaking of the Holy Bible. Read the bible often, or listen to it on line or on your smart phone. Bible gateway has a great Audio Bible app that is free to download. When we fill up our brains with His word, we become more sensitive to be able to discern when something sounds off kilter. We become better able to guard our hearts and minds from false teachings and half-truths.

So, I am not going to recommend that you throw out all your "self help" or "success strategy" books or cd's or tapes. I  am just going to say, that you have the duty to yourself to not submit to every teaching that comes up on the radar as trendy or popular. Use your common sense, prayer and your own understanding of the Scriptures to glean the goodies from the baddies. Don't fall into the temptation to become a "book burner"
and don't become fearful of bookstores or audio teachings. Just pray and ask your Heavenly Father to honor your quest as you seek to learn more and become more. God wants to bring you success even more than you want to achieve it. Let's just not be so gullible as to fall for every spoken or written word that comes our way.

Peace and prosperity.
Carla



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