Our Blessed Hope

The Universe According to Oprah

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ElYy6MLUVU

Her success has given her the opportunity to appear on the cover of Time, Vogue, and TV Guide. In 1997, Oprah was named Newsweek’s “Most Important Person” in books and media, TV Guide’s “Television Performer of the Year,” the People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Television Performer,” and in 1996, Time Magazine recognized Oprah as one of America’s “25 Most Influential People.”

And she is not bashful in taking credit for what she does. She has risen to the top by her own effort (power), by putting into practice her spiritual beliefs. The media presents her as a force for good, and she certainly has been a humanitarian. “My intention is to empower people,” she is the queen of self-improvement and has developed into a motivator, par excellent- for the human potential movement of the New Age. Oprah does have practical information to share that can be helpful but it comes mixed with New Age thought that muddies the waters. Any wisdom given is often tainted with some very unconventional spiritual beliefs.

But you cannot find someone that comes across less judgmental and accepting of others beliefs than Oprah (though she has her limits (i.e. such as child abuse). She presents to her audience a non-sectarian spirituality where there exists a loving god who is not a lawgiver or judge, but a god who will accept everyone into heaven (except for the real evil people). What is obvious is what is missing in her presentation of spiritual beliefs- the cross of Christ for our sin is rarely recognized as THE way, but just another way among the many she accepts (though she claims to be a Christian at times). In its place is the Universal Spirit, energy-the universe and that is God to her and her spiritual guests.

She is hosting programs with those who believe in psychic powers, metaphysics, karma, astral life and anything else non biblical; yes anything. On her programs she has promoted a false hope of reincarnation with enthusiasm, trying to soothe the hurt of those who are dying or those whose loved ones have died. Karma has its focus on self, how do I make my own life better- by doing good to others- it will bring good in return. But karma does not distinguish good or bad, it is an amoral energy that reacts to our actions in another life (cause and effect). I noticed after a certain program is over she advertised about Children being abused. And put in cages. She asks what are we going to do about it? What’s there to do about it- you have taught that its karma, remember! If you change that, something else will change. Oh well, so much for consistency.

Oprah Winfrey has been a unofficial spokesman for New Age Movement’s alternative spirituality since she began. Many of her favorite guests are major New Age proponents and authors, her endorsements contribute to their popularity. Some of the New Age guests are: Marianne Williamson, psychic John Edwards, Marilyn Ferguson (A New Age leader, and author of The Aquarian Conspiracy.), Barbara DeAngelis, LaVar Burton, Richard Carlson, Betty Eadie, Dannion Brinkley, M. Scott Peck, Sophy Burnham, Deepak Chopra, Tom Cruise (Scientologist) James Hillman, and psychic medium and best-selling author, James Van Praagh, Shirley MacLain, channeler Kevin Reyerson (Shirley MacLaine’s channeler), Wayne Dyer; Shakti Gawain, Gary Zukav… and the list goes on and on.

Her mission is focused on; “I want people to see things on our show that makes them think differently about their lives…To be a light for people. To make a difference…to open their minds and see things differently…how to get in touch with the spiritual part of their life.” Oprah is on a mission to present a paradigm shift in our thinking. Oprah and favorite guests communicate the NEW AGE message of self-empowerment to millions of people who are searching for meaning and purpose in life. Her Spirituality plays an all encompassing part of her message and method. Her audience is predominantly women who desire to live better lives, it is for this reason they are attracted to watching Oprah and her many guests discuss different beliefs.

Her “O” magazine contains inspiring stories of people overcoming hardships, beating incredible odds all from discovering the power they have within, their spirit. In 1996, Oprah began Oprah’s Book Club designed to get America reading again. The books she selects often become instant bestsellers and can average sales of over 1 million copies each. So it is not unusual to see an increase in sales overnight in anything Oprah endorses. She has made many an overnight success simply by approving of what they are saying or writing in a book. Marriane Williamson in her book “A Return to Love” became one of those successes: A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles, were featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah told her viewers that she had already purchased a thousand copies of Williamson’s book. Williamson’s response: “For that, my deepest thanks to Oprah Winfrey. Her enthusiasm and generosity have given the book, and me, an audience we would never otherwise have had. (p. ix)

A Course in Miracles is said to be “channeled” (spirit guides) by a psychology professor named Helen Schucman (now deceased) who had it dictated by a spirit entity named Jesus (not the real Jesus of course). It intentionally denies nearly everything Jesus said in the Bible about man and God.

Psychologist Phil McGraw who gives some practical advice along with regular psychotherapy became an example of an overnight success by appearing on the Oprah show.

Another of her guests was Deepak Chopra who was formerly taught under guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and a promoter of TM. Chopra published his breakthrough work, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind: The Quantum Alternative to Growing Old. After his appearance on Oprah, Chopra sold 130,000 copies of the book in one day (Newsweek, Oct. 20, 1997, p. 54).

What does Chopra believe and write? Its basic Hinduism, karma and”. . . we will remain unfulfilled unless we nurture the seeds of divinity inside us. In reality, we are divinity in disguise, and the gods and goddesses in embryo that are contained within us seek to be fully materialized. True success is therefore . . . the unfolding of the divinity within us” (Deepak Chopra, The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success, p.3 1994).

So people are listening intently to what Oprah says and recommends. People’s ears cannot be scratched enough when it comes to other spiritual beliefs and Oprah’s show is a modern day Mars Hill for women (Acts 17). Metaphysics are spread to her worldwide audience as the answer to lifes hardships. Is it a coincidence that she has so many people on her program that promote the same spiritual worldview of man and god?

Medical doctor Raymond Moody, whose 1976 book, Life After Life, sold millions of copies and began the NDE craze, was a guest on Oprah teaching communication with the dead may be possible. While he opened deaths door to millions, a door for psychics and out of body experiences became a hot topic of discussion. Dannion Brinkley was also a guest (new age author of near death experience books Saved By The Light, and At Peace With in the Light)

One of the most revealing examples was a show with guest Betty Eadie, (who holds to New Age and is a Mormon- she is author of Embraced By The Light and The Awakening Heart), who told everyone what heaven is REALLY like from her experience. Oprah interviewed her, avoiding any conflict with questions that took place with others that told their metaphysical experiential stories. Eadie tells us how she had a tremendous fear of death from her Catholic upbringing. Until she died at age 31 and three spiritual beings that appeared in my room and they explained to me that they were my guardian angels, and told her she died, she went through the tunnel and saw the light, a golden light around a being of light. The light of this being of light is love and knowledge. She realized heaven was here home. From her experience being told and endorsed by Oprah, she convinced millions of people that death is nothing to be concerned about and that we all make it to heaven, we are all accepted.

Further in the interview Oprah states- “I believe that there are many paths to God, or many paths to the light I certainly don’t believe there is only one way, so did Jesus, you said the figure was Jesus. Did Jesus indicate that to you?”

Betty Eadie responds- Absolutely. “… now I was experiencing something absolutely different than I had been taught in any of the churches.

Oprah- “well I’m glad to hear that because if Jesus is as cool as I think he is he would (BE- he was) he would have had to say that (Betty Eadie – yea– yea, he had a sense of humor)”

Here are two women who have abandoned what Jesus actually said and are intent in making Jesus into the image they want him to be. If what they say is true, and the truth is drawn from Eadie’s experience (who supposedly died and her experience cannot be proven), then Jesus and his apostles all lied to us. Jesus does not have a sense of humor when it comes to contradicting what he has written in the Bible, he is the Only Son of God and the only way to God. Someone is wrong and I’ll bet my life, it isn’t Jesus.

Oprah next asks- “So what did he say to you?

Betty Eadie-“… But he said about the other faiths that it didn’t really matter, that love was, was, what is uh, was the ultimate. That if we love one another that everything else would be okay? ”

The Jesus that scolded the religious leaders for teaching falsely doesn’t really care what we believe about him! This proves this is a counterfeit Jesus- who cares not about the truth. For Jesus tells us there is one faith -Eph.4:5, and this faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

And loving one another has a qualification- Jesus said- as I have loved you, (John 13:34; 15:12). This love is not separate from the love found only in Jesus Christ. no one was ever saved by love itself but by the love of God sending his only begotten Son to be the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus said that it was his mission. So anything said contrary to this is pitting oneself against Jesus.

1 John 3:23: “And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another”

And many of the passages that mention about loving one another need to be read fully in context because they carry the points that Both Oprah, Betty Eadie and so many other guests adamantly deny– 1 John 4:10-11: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ” V.14 “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.”

2 John 7: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh” That is- he is not the only Son of God and the only way to God.

Psychiatrist M. Scott Peck was a guest on the Oprah Winfrey show. His book The Road Less Traveled has remained on the New York Times best seller list for over 10 years. In it he wrote “God wants us to become Himself (or Herself or Itself). We are growing toward God. God is the goal of evolution” (The Road Less Traveled, 1978. p. 270). In 1993, when Peck wrote his first book, The Road Less Traveled, He told Oprah that he had been “divinely led” to write it. Yet he had earlier admitted that he was not a Christian at that time (he taught the collective unconscious is God.)

There are a number of people that are Oprah’s favorites, one of them is Gary Zukav. Gary Zukav wrote a book, that mixed Hinduism with ever day values, called The Seat of the Soul. Winfrey found it a few years later, read it, and since then, Gary Zukav has become Senior Spiritual Advisor to Winfrey’s audience in the Change Your Life phenomenon. Kate Maver, Book Review, “The Story of Soul Stories,” Christian Research Journal 23, no. 3 (2001): 56–58.

Gary Zukav has become Senior Spiritual Advisor to Winfrey’s audience in the Change Your Life phenomenon. Kate Maver, Book Review, “The Story of Soul Stories,” Christian Research Journal 23, no. 3 (2001): 56–58.

Gary Zukav’s book, The Seat of the Soul, he talks about non-physical guides and Teachers. Zukav’s book, “The Seat of the Soul” (1989), was a major influence on Oprah. Winfrey states: Gary Zukav is author of “The Seat of the Soul,” one of my favorite books.

Zukav believes we are evolving from a species that pursues power based upon the perceptions of the five senses into a species that whose power that is based upon the perceptions and values of the spirit. Zukav calls Jesus the most evolved of our species” (The Seat of the Soul p.21). In his book he speaks of karma: “The karma of the soul determines the characteristics of the personality.” “The incarnation of a soul is a massive reduction of the power of the soul to a scale that is appropriate to a physical form. “All of the energy of the soul does not incarnate, the soul creates a personality from those parts of itself that it wants to heal in the physical environment, and from those parts of itself that it lends to the process of healing in that lifetime. So powerful is the energy of the soul that it could not advance into a physical form without, literally, exploding that form” That “Each human soul has both guides and Teachers.”

Since Oprah began her show on TV she has offered to the public an alternate spirituality. She has promoted psychics, channeling, ghosts and haunted houses, reincarnation, witchcraft and false concepts about God and man. She is also one of the most vocal and influential persons against Biblical Christianity, except she does it subtly, indirectly, tactfully. Nearly every authors book on spirituality that she promotes- when they mention Jesus, he is not the Jesus the Bible but the one of metaphysics and mystics (2 Cor. 11:3, 14) an enlightened man an advanced soul. The men and women she is promoting are what we called progressive futurists of spirituality. It is Metaphysics meets science to form a paradigm shift for a new spiritual lifestyle. There may be many who have been convinced of this broad path for their enlightenment but for those who adhere to the Bible as accurately recording the words and meaning of Jesus, God made it simple for all. In Jn.14:6 Jesus eliminated all other teachers and way. If we take Jesus’ own words than Oprah and her guests view cannot be accepted as the truth and should be categorized as more than unsafe, but spiritually dangerous. This becomes especially perilous when one is contacting spirits and the dead.

On her program, guest Wayne Dyer says - “there are no accidents in a perfect universe”

Oprah: “You all talk about energy in the universe and how it flows and we flow with it what do you mean by that?”

Wayne: “the whole thing is perfect” (we need to be unattached) “Everything is thought and thought is energy-everything is from thought.”

Oprah (teaching her audience- “Everything starts with thought, got that…”“The base upon what you think that is how things manifest because this is how you act because what you think.”

Oprah then tells a story about her losing her luggage and normally she would blame it on the airlines but she now thinks it is her fault. “I thought the universe was trying to tell me if that’s what you want this is what you are going to get ”….The porter shortly afterwards told her they found her luggage.

(Oprah show, 1987 with guests Wayne Dyer, Shakti Gawain and Arnold Patent).

Shakti Gawain in her book Creative Visualization whom Oprah highly recommends, We should be open to accept the goodness of the universe. … to receiving the blessings of this abundant universe”( Creative Visualization pp.51-52).

The monistic concept of the universe is that all is one- this one spiritual substance manifests itself throughout the material universe and the spiritual substance is what we can tap into to change, we just need to learn how. One way it can harnessed is through the use of thought or visualization - attuning our-self to the universal mind. Since the universe is all connected you can create anything you want in the world for your use, call it the law of attraction. Metaphysics teach that we can create our own reality.

On one program Oprah states she doesn’t think God is hung up on what you believe about God-whatever that “force” is, it doesn’t care what you call it. He doesn’t have an ego problem. She states, “I believe in the FORCE-I call it God.” A god of forces is not a good thing according to the Bible. God has power but he is personal and we are to know him the way He has given to all mankind. In other words there are not many ways.

In helping her panel define the spiritual movement called the New Age Oprah states –”isn’t essentially the new age movement in all that I’ve read in the Aquarian conspiracy isn’t it just spiritual evolvement isn’t it coming closer to the force that is God whether you call it God or not, isn’t that what it is?” (Oprah show, 1987 with guests Wayne Dyer, Shakti Gawain and Arnold Patent).

This is proposing god is a force, an energy, a universal force that has left laws, spiritual laws for man to manipulate. Then there is no personal God in charge but man is in charge. But the universe is not God- it is a created thing that has no intelligence to think –It stretches all logic to think each of us can control the universe and draw from its abundant resources anytime we wish. It is God who controls the universe, not man.

We can trace these ideas back to the early 1900. New Thought originated with an unschooled inventor in Maine named Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, who believed that he had rediscovered the lost healing methods of Jesus. He popularized the idea that sickness and suffering had their origin in incorrect thinking. Quimby studied mesmerism [early hypnotism], spiritism and spiritual phenomena. Quimby’s followers held that man could create his own reality through the power of positive affirmation (confession). Metaphysical practitioners have long taught adherents to visualize health and wealth, and then to affirm or confess them with their mouths so that the intangible images may be transformed into tangible realities (not unlike their word of Faith practitioners of today).

Quimby was “considered by many to be the Founder of what is now known as “the New Thought Movement.” In the Handbook of Today’s Religions Josh McDowell and Don Stewart write that Quimby: was a self-professed healer who applied hypnosis and the power of suggestion in affecting his cures…[the] early 19th century mesmerist and psychic healer [was also the person] from whom Mary Baker Eddy learned the principles she later claimed were revealed from God as Christian Science” (pp.126,130).

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882); Mary Baker Eddy- Christian Science; Charles Fillmore- Unity; Ernest Holmes the Church of Religious Science and many others began this metaphysical revolution. The movement became known as New Thought, and a number of independent branches grew from its trunk: Unity, Religious Science, and Divine Science. Charles Fillmore who formed The Church of Religious Science. Fillmore spoke of “ unity with the parent Mind. This intercommunion of the man consciousness with the omnipresent spiritual force of the universe was beautifully exemplified by Jesus.”(Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore, Unity school of Christianity)

Fillmore taught “Holding continuously to the reality of things spiritual establishes them in mind — they become mental substance” (Christian Healing Charles Fillmore Unity School of Christianity p. 84);

Like Unity founders Myrtle and Charles Fillmore, The Church of Religious Science, Ernest Holmes based his Science of Mind on the same concepts: “Man, by thinking, can bring into his experience whatsoever he desires ….” In a proud prophecy that has come to pass, Holmes declared, “We have launched a Movement which, in the next 100 years, will be the great new religious impulsion of modern times . . . [destined] to envelope the world . . . .”

We can thank Oprah for doing just that.

The Christ of New Thought was from Quimby’s and his predecessors metaphysics. His Christ was not a person but an impersonal Divine force or Principle. Jesus fully realized his Christ-nature, embodying the Christ principle as no other has. This is the essence of the New Age Christ.

New Thought recognized an open creative energy in the universe. They referred to God as the Universal Intelligence and emphasized positive thinking, our influence through mental processes could change our circumstances. The Mind Sciences reduced God to a Universal Principle that can be utilized according to spiritual scientific laws; the creature then became the Creator.

These same ideas can be found in various religions and philosophies. Hindu philosopher, Sri Aurobindo (I872-1950), taught that divine energy was to be found everywhere.

Charles Fillmore wrote: “Thought clothes itself in a life form according to the character given it by the thinker. Every thought produces a living organism” (p.70 Dynamics for Living).

Every thought that goes forth from the brain sends vibrations into the surrounding atmosphere and moves the realm of things to action” (p.75 Dynamics for Living Charles Fillmore 1967 Unity book).

Wayne Dyer states- “You are what you think about, that’s all you are, you’re purely your thoughts.” (Oprah show, 1987, with guests Wayne Dyer, Shakti Gawain and Arnold Patent).

This is a silly thing to say to the secular world. If this were true many men would be women.

Later on, Norman Peale took these same concepts and spoke of the universe as “mental,” God as “energy,” Peale’s teaching was Science of Mind teaching:

“The world you live in is mental and not physical. Change your thought and you change everything.”

“All the resources you need are in your mind” ( You Can If You Think You Can by Norman Vincent Peale p.224) The spiritual power is demonstrated by the principle, “you can if you think you can” in other words your willpower along with your mind becomes God.

Norman Vincent Peale: “Your unconscious mind . . . [has a] power that turns wishes into realities when the wishes are strong enough.

Who is God? Some theological being… ? God is energy. As you breathe God in, as you visualize His energy, you will be reenergized.”

God has a different perspective- “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:6-9).

Oprah has become a spokesman for the mind sciences that are a vehicle for opening one up to spirit guides and various other occult ideas that are used for human achievement.

We find these same concepts practiced in the occult: for example, the “law of manifestation,” which declares that thoughts held firmly in the mind, spoken aloud, or visualized will “manifest’ in the physical world. This law was taught to Napoleon Hill by demons who posed as Ascended Masters from a School of Wisdom on the astral plane. Taught to Napoleon Hill by the spirits that began to guide him.

Hill claimed that an emissary came across the astral plane. In a voice that “sounded like chimes of great music,” this visitor from another dimension declared: “I come from the Great School of Masters. I am one of the Council of Thirty-Three who serve the Great School and its initiates on the physical plane”

“Hill was informed that he had been “under the guidance of the Great School” for years and had been chosen by them to give the formula of success, the “Supreme Secret,” to the world: that “anything the human mind can believe, the human mind can achieve.”“ Here again is the same lie that turns one from God to the alleged power of the human mind. Peale and Schuller try to link this occult power with prayer and faith” (p.185 Occult Invasion, Dave Hunt, Harvest House Publishers, 1996)

We are told God’s kingdom runs on metaphysical principles that Napoleon Hill and others use and it will work for anyone. Ernest Holmes founded the Church of Religious Science upon the same “Supreme Se­cret” revealed to Napoleon Hill and many others- Through the “Masters of Wisdom.”

The Secret to Her Success (According to Oprah)

Oprah- “and so what you can create for that day you can also create for your life. I realized this and say this often in speeches too I am where I am because for as long as I was cognizant I believed in my possibilities …, I allowed myself to move with the flow of the universe even before I read any of these books I understood that is what I was doing it.. Once you get this and you understand what God is then you never have to be unhappy ever- ever” (Oprah 1987, with guests Wayne Dyer; Shakti Gawain and Arnold Patent).

The focus on “ME” is certainly the message people hear loud and consistently from her and her guests.

To believe in one-self - to love themselves first and the universe will respond is not spirituality but Spiritual narcissism.

On the program with Sister Breige McKenna (the healing nun) Oprah, speaking of unworthiness Oprah says “God wants you to love yourself… it starts with you.”

How does she know this? Who told her- it’s certainly not what Jesus would say. The first command is to Love God; the second is like the first, love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 23:27-29). Jesus never told us to love ourself or learn to improve on self love. He said, “No one has ever hated his own flesh.” We don’t need to learn to love ourselves when we already do. What we need is to learn to love God- then we can love others correctly. And the best way to do this is to give them God’s love- His gospel. Unfortunately this is missing from Oprah- on purpose. It doesn’t fit in with the lifestyle she has created for herself and promoting to others.

Self achievement is good and necessary in its place, but to claim the universe obeys your thought seems to stretch ones credulity. It is one thing to take credit for hard work, it is a whole other matter to say your thoughts created your success because the universe is obedient to the laws you discovered.

One of Oprah’s spiritual mentors is Iyanla Vanzant, an ordained Yoruba High Priestess and founder of “Inner Visions Worldwide.” Winfrey endorses Vanzant as “one of the world’s most admirable spiritual leaders.”

Iyanla Vanzant’s book: One Day My Soul Just Opened Up. Vanzant claims Goldsmith as her spiritual mentor. She stated when she was reading Practicing the Presence, I really do believe that Goldsmith’s spirit spoke to me…” (Phenome NEWS Exclusive interview With Iyanla Vanzant -www.phenoimenews.com). Goldsmith was practitioner of Christian Science who developed his own branch of mind-over-matter spirituality, called The Infinite Way.

Yoruba is an ancient Nigerian religion that practices nature worship and ancestor reverence. The religion has a supreme God (Olodumare), and they worship dozens of deities known as “Orishas” who are personified aspects of nature and spirit. Other historical figures, such as kings, culture heroes, founders of cities, etc. were deified, these are invoked along with personifications of natural forces such as earth, wind, trees, sea, and mountains. Yoruba also believe in the active existence of the deceased ancestors. This is significant as we find Oprah mention that she hears the voice of spirit slaves- they even have names.

In her film Beloved which is based on a novel by Toni Morrison about a former African-American slave visited by the ghost of her dead daughter.

Oprah’s private struggles are displayed in an entry of her diary as she takes on the task in her Movie “Beloved” Winfrey has said:”I ask God for grace, and the power of the spirits….Calling on you. Calling on you…I really believe I can call her up. Her and so many others. I’m counting on them”

“Oprah Winfrey calls these her ‘go there’ moments, spiritual episodes of divine guidance that far transcend the chatty exchanges with her studio audiences- Sometimes the epiphanies carry the voices of Negro slaves-Joe and Emily and Dara; Sue and Bess and Sara. Winfrey says that she has come to know each of them personally and calls them in at will to guide her in her work. The spirits began visiting her a few years ago…”

And she said: “I tried to empty myself and let the spirit of Seth inhabit me…Every morning, before my scenes, I lit candles and said the names of these slaves. I prayed every day to the ancestors.” (sources: Oprah Winfrey By Jason Kovar- http://www.goodfight.org/hwowinfrey.html - Daring to go there By Ron Stodghill Chicago Oct.5, 1998 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989225-1,00.html)

According to movie critics the movie was not a success by any means and made back half of what it cost. One must ask the question- what was “the universe” doing when her movie was made. It is one of the few things she has done that was not successful.

The God (he- her- it) within

Oprah’s view of God has elements of pantheism and panentheism and all the dressings of the New age movements concepts they call God. She is convinced and promotes the idea that God is a universal force- that we are all one in this force. This same idea is found in the new thought religions - religious science and Unity. But she also believes we are divine- gods.

Trans-channeler Don Curtis responds- “Well I’m sure its happening because as you said in the introduction that the new age, new thought religions are very much in line with traditional religion. I think it’s a dimension that comes when we are aware of the awakening in consciousness the shift- the new paradigms of thought and all of the awakening of that divine self within individuals that of course where is one to go to find security or to find a sense of their own reality except within” (show from 1987 with Marilyn Furguson, Glen Leher mineralogist, Marcello Truzzi – sociologist, Kevin Ryerson- Transchanneler, Don Curtis- Transchanneler – video on file).

During a break in the program Oprah comes from the control room telling the panel of new agers that people are calling and they don’t know what you all are talking about-(laughter ) “… so I think what we have to make clear here is what we are talking about. We are talking about the new age movement, which in essence a lot of people are now believing. but you have to take, you are responsible for your life is one of the philosophies , the power of God lives in you as well as above and around and through you and with that power you control your life” (1987: guests- Marilyn Furguson, Glen Leher mineralogist, Marcello Truzzi – sociologist, Kevin Ryerson- Trans-channeler, Don Curtis- Trans-channeler- video on file).

Oprah on her show with the various representatives of the new age movement has promoted the new age concept of godhood. To sum this all up she referred to a book by Butterworth…

Oprah Winfrey states “One of the most important books I have read in my live is a book by Butterworth…” “Discover the power within you” and what Eric Butterworth says in that book is that Jesus did not come to teach how divine he was but came to teach us there is divinity within us, so that is essentially what we are offering”

Curtis responds – A summary statement of exactly where we are and what we call a new age, new thought” 1987 (ibid.)

Oprah further comments – “…but isn’t essentially the new age movement in all that I’ve read in the Aquarian conspiracy isn’t it just spiritual evolvement isn’t it coming closer to the force that is God whether you call it God or not, isn’t that what it is?”

Curtis – “Well its dealing with ultimate reality, the force the infinite intelligence, endeavoring to find out what we really are (ibid.)

To understand what they mean by the pursuit of “what we really are,” we need to look at Eric Butterworth and his teachings?

Butterworth was a Unity teacher, he was Senior Minister of The Unity Center of New York City from 1961 to 2003 when he died. He was the author of 16 best-selling books on metaphysical spirituality, and a respected New Age pioneer and innovator of New Thought.

The book “Discover the Power Within You,” expounded on the Divinity of Man as perceived through mystical practice: Oprah Winfrey says of this book “Discover the Power Within You,” “This book changed my perspective on life and religion.” Eric Butterworth teaches that God isn’t “up there.” He exists inside each one of us, and it’s up to us to seek the divine within” (Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine).

Oprah lives by these metaphysical views and is the greatest advocate for them on TV.

Butterworth thought of himself as “dealing with a technique for the application of fundamental Spiritual Laws, discovered and demonstrated by Jesus and many other great mystic teachers”

Butterworth’s Jesus is the way-shower, who first made the discovery of his divinity and then offers it to each of us. “We must begin to see Jesus as the great discoverer of the innate Divinity of Man, the supreme revealer of the truth about man, the pioneer and way-shower . . .” (Eric Butterworth, Discover the Power Within You, Harper and Row Publishing, 1968, pp.23, 137.)

Butterworth on “The Divinity of Man” – Quite often, I am criticized for saying that Jesus is not Divine. Actually, I am not saying that Jesus is not Divine, but I insist that all persons are Divine. Jesus made the discovery of the Divinity of man. He proved and demonstrated it in his own fulfillment. But the discovery was of the potential of all human beings…. So you see, when we talk about this idea that we have a Divine Potential within us, this does not give less reverence to Jesus, it gives more. Jesus is the “way shower,” the savior, in that he has revealed the Divine Potential of humankind.” (website)

On Jesus he had this to say “Fundamentalists believe Jesus was God becoming man. I believe that Jesus was man becoming God.”

This is a standard belief held by those into occult spirituality. The Scripture is twisted by Butterworth using a metaphysical interpretation that leads the reader to his own beliefs that are not in the Scripture. “The message of the Gospels has been misunderstood. They have been made to appear to say that Jesus was really God taking the form of man . . . It fails to catch the real theme of His teaching: the Truth of the Divinity of Man.” (Eric Butterworth, Discover the Power Within You, Harper & Row, Pub, 1968, p.8, 137.)

On the back cover of his book “Discover the Power Within You,” Butterworth says-”to achieve the realization and unfoldment of his own divinity” In chapter 2 of the book we find The great discovery is Jesus’ awakening and conjectures he made contact through the masters of India and Tibet or even the Druids. This is the typical Occult view of Jesus only because they refuse to believe the Bibles eyewitness accounts of WHO he is and where he came FROM.

“Jesus taught the true nature of man. In other words, man is not a worm of the dust, born in sin and condemned by a shocked and horrified God. He is not doomed to a life of misery in a world that is hostile to him, only to be relieved when death frees him from his slavery and ushers him into some eternal bliss in some “happy hunting grounds,” “beyond the blue.” Jesus taught that man is a Child of God, a channel for the expression of Infinite Life, Substance and Intelligence. He taught that every person can be the master of his circumstances, and that he has been simply hypnotized into believing that he is a slave. He taught that the world is not a hostile place, but that it is man’s servant, and that sin and sickness have no right to dominion over man—that health is the natural condition. He taught that as long as man believes he is limited, he will suffer the chains of his own making. But it is man’s privilege to stand up, throw off the shackles, and sweep into a glorious liberty as a Child of God. As Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” [John 8:32] http://ericbutterworth.com/ -transcripts

He called “SIN: Self-Inflicted Nonsense”

“The greatest thought that man can hold is that of Oneness with God. The great Unity Principle: Oneness with God. The most destructive thought is a thought of separation. Belief in, fear of, weakness and limitation is the beginning of deterioration and sickness and death. (website).

Evil, and evil spirits, devils and devil possession, are the outgrowth of man’s inadequate consciousness of God. We must avoid thinking of evil as a thing in itself-a force that works against man or, against God, if you will.”

His message was “You can change your life by altering your thoughts.” Where you are in consciousness has everything to do with what you see in experience.”

“I am not what I think. I am thinking what I think.” (whatever that is supposed to mean.)

Three aspects of what I call, “The Truth in a Nutshell”: “The Omnipresence of God,” “The Divinity of Man,” and “The Creative Power of Thought.”

This is what is called the Human Potential Movement of the New Age. It is elevating self to god. Oprah’s enthusiasm for this book and others like it certainly needs to be called into questioned.

It was not surprising to find that Butterworth’s book is dedicated to Charles and Myrtle Fillmore of religious science who influenced him greatly.

They all agree on mans divinity and evolvement to be God, and what is disturbing is that Satanist, Lt. Col. Michael Aquino who was guest on Oprah also stated “We are not servants of some God; we are ` our own gods?” (Oprah Winfrey Show, Feb.17, 1988).

Man being his own god is a truthful statement, leave it to a Satanist to tell us this. It came from the first creature to rebel against God. The being is now called Satan because he is against God and wants to be in control of God’s creation. Oprah, with other New Age company are elevating man to take the place of the true God, the creator of the Universe. They may not see it this way but this is the reality of it^. ________________________________________________________________________

When Marriane Williamson was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show she received more pro viewer mail than any other show for 1992, that is, up until now- her show on “The Secret” has exceeded this. Marriane Williamson who promotes the Course in Miracles (a book dictated by a spirit guide) is the pastor of one of the largest Unity School of Christianity churches in the United States (Warren, Michigan). The Unity School was founded by Myrtle and Charles Fillmore. Through them we discover another secret - that it is connected to the popular secret everyone is embracing– “In the course in Miracles” she writes “The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself” (p.147). Once we understand that this same message is found in all the authors, books and practices, we will gain the perspective of what this is all about, where it is going and what it will do to the individual that pursues its ways.

We have all heard everyone loves a secret and this one is the Ultimate secret. If you want to know what has made Oprah successful- this is what she has been promoting from the beginning of her show. As we will see, the Secret that Oprah is promoting is the very same ideas and concepts that many have espoused before her. And they are right out of Religious Science and Metaphysics.

The ideas and concepts in the Secret are spreading around the world In Europe, Canada, S. Africa. The Secret is an 80 minute DVD that is the top-selling DVD on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com. The Book “the Secret” is a top New York Times bestseller, on the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. 6 million copies of the book have been sold; 3 million of the DVD.

Many have accepted it as the newest success technique when it is really a potpourri of occult and metaphysical ideas. It is the basic message of the New age Movement- HUMAN POTENTIAL.

Oprah’s motivation is to inspire people to take control of their lives. This message can be beneficial if it is kept in the practical realm. But when it is enforced by metaphysics it becomes a very different message. “You can choose what happens” is the New Age philosophy. Oprah states, “You are responsible for your life-the power of God is within you, above you and through you. You control your life.” A number of years ago on the Oprah program with guest Sister Breige McKenna (the healing nun), while they were discussing hearing god and healing Rita Klaus gives a testimony of the rosary and being healed. Oprah then says “I’d like to go back to the voice. Because I believe that voice works with all of us, that everyone has it.”

To Oprah everyone already has God and hears from God, but it is her interpretation of God that makes this all the more hazardous. Oprah explains “I center myself each morning by trying to touch the God light I believe is in all of us. Some people call it prayer, and some call it meditation. I call it centering up. I get boundless energy from that . . . . It is because of this God-centeredness that I am where I am” (Virginia Smith, “Oprah Winfrey reveals secret of her incredible success,” in Examiner July 14, 1 987, p. 29- quoted in occult invasion by Dave Hunt).

The Secret Revealed

Oprah Winfrey on her Feb.16, 07 program stated: “for years on the show this is what I’ve been trying to do. To create the life you really want. Make more money, lose weight fall in love land your dream job”

In her search for meaning she has discovered and promoted the love of self to the American culture as something spiritual. You might ask– what’s wrong with desiring these type of things. This will be answered from the Bibles perspective, but after we listen to how they define it.

Oprah- “they say you can have it, in fact you already hold the power to make that happen”

This becomes self -serving spirituality- putting you in control of everything, all that happens is because of you.

Oprah says, “I realized I always lived by the Secret when I watched the Secret and did not know it was a Secret”

Rhonda Byrne describes “The Secret” as the law of attraction. “The law of attraction is the most powerful law”

Byrne says: “The law of attraction says like attracts like. … The law of attraction is giving you what you are thinking about. It is working all the time. “What we do is we attract into our lives the things we want, and that is based on what we’re thinking and feeling,”

“we create our own circumstances by the choices we make in life. And the choices we make are fueled by our thoughts—which means our thoughts are the most powerful things we have here on earth.”(Oprah Show)

She is convincing people that Miracles take place when you know how to apply this law.

We are told that we can unlock the secrets of the universe by focusing the human mind which will unleash powerful, spiritual energies;” sounds like Rosicrucianism to me.

Within the book we have numerous concepts and statements repeated over and over convincing the reader that this is how life operates. The Secret (book) tells us: “Whatever is going on in your mind is what you are attracting” “We are like magnets - like attract like. You become AND attract what you think”“ Every thought has a frequency. Thoughts send out a magnetic energy” “What you focus on with your thought and feeling is what you attract into your experience” “People think about what they don’t want and attract more of the same” “You attract your dominant thoughts” “You will attract everything you require - money, people, connections.. PAY ATTENTION to what’s being set in front of you” “ What you think and what you feel and what actually manifests is ALWAYS a match - no exception”

Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it’s attracted by virtue of the images you’re holding in your mind. It’s what you’re thinking. Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you.

If you don’t like the results in your life, you need to change your thoughts. That’s ALL that the Law of Attraction is about.

This is an orderly universe. Nothing happens by accident. The images you plant in your marvelous mind instantly set up an attractive force, which governs the results in your life.

You are a living, breathing magnet. As you read this article…. Things … Conditions … Circumstances and People you know and even some you don’t know are marching to you like obedient soldiers to aid in the manifestation of your images. Wouldn’t you prefer those soldiers be helping you with your positive images?”

The law of attraction is the foundation for this spiritual belief system. We are told that it works by our thoughts and images in the mind. “You create your own reality with your mind.” The book says that “You are the only one that creates your reality.”

Was not reality existent before you came into this world? And who created us- are we to believe we created ourselves?

There is a logical problem with this view, and it stares them in the face. What about when bad things happen to us. According to “the Secret “we attract both good and bad by our thinking.

Lets take the example of one of the worst evils we have seen in modern times. Were the victims of the Holocaust just as responsible for their own destruction as Hitler was? Did they collectively create it and attract it with their minds. One needs to think this through. This means Hitler was obedient to the universe, and the universe was obedient to those who brought this to be by their own thoughts. The how can he be guilty? This is a cruel worldview. Let me ask a rational question. How many people have attracted floods, earthquakes or tornadoes? The Tornadoes seem to strike often in the same locations. It would appear that everyone who is negative lives in the same vicinity to bring this on themselves. This is a guilt and accusatory system of the worst kind.

In the book we read: “We are the creators of our universe” The “Universe will re-arrange itself accordingly.” “You don’t need to know HOW the universe is going to rearrange itself” “No rules according to the universe… you provide the feelings of having it now and the universe will respond” “The Hows are the domain of the universe. It always knows the quickest, fastest, most harmonious way between you and your dream” “The universe will manifest it.”

The universe which is an “it” knows exactly what you and nearly 6 billion other people are thinking and is in flux all the time to meet your desires. Yet we have no need to understand how this takes place. The universe is under the control of our minds whether we like it or not. We are told “This law listens to everything we think and act” The law is an “it” but it has ears. It has a mind but none of its own, but obeys us. P.46 of “The Secret” states “you are the master of the Universe the law obeys you.”

So we are all masters (like the new age teaching that everyone is Christ). You are the master but you actually become the slave to a law you know nothing about. Considering that they find Bible verses to validate their teaching and practice; yet Jesus said “You cannot serve two masters,” either you are master and the universe obeys you or God is your master and you obey him.

These “Master Minds” of our age are under the impression that they do have this control. Yet they should consider the one who will be the ultimate master- the one that has the greatest power. Past secret teacher Ernest Holmes tells us why they are able to exert this power. Because: “All men are spiritually evolving until . . . each will fully express his divinity . . .” (Ernest Holmes What Religious Science Teaches p.21).

Joe Vitale, another promoter and teacher of the Secret, quoted in the book and DVD. On Larry King Live a caller asked him, “I’m just curious, where does God come into “the Secret”? Vitale responded, “God is all of us. God is the secret and everything about it. This is a law from God” (Larry King Live, March 8, 2007).

Lisa Nichols states- “The law of attraction means that everything that happens to you—good or bad—you attract to yourself. Lisa describes it as if you’re placing an order. “If you were at a restaurant and you ordered something, you fully expect it to come served that way. That’s how the universe is. You’re putting out orders—consciously and unconsciously,”

Too bad this is not how the real world works. Ever have you dinner served late at a restaurant, or it was not made well, or a mistake was made? Ever order something by a catalogue and not get the right item sent. Who follows order perfectly- according to the secret teachers- the universe does.

James Arthur Ray says “Everything happens by principles and laws in our universe. And so consequently, we have an absolutely unlimited power within us.”

Jack Canfeild says everything you focus on can have an effect on your life—it’s all thoughts. “All of that affects how we feel, and the feelings actually send out a wave into the universe, and anything that’s vibrating in a similar level gets attracted into our life” (Oprah show)

Some who teach the secret want success, others wealth, others power to control and manipulate their life. The Secret is a secular health and wealth teaching that draws out mans desire to have everything he wants in life. It all can be summarized into having control of your circumstances and life. You can get everything from this force, or as they call it- the universe (which is amoral), which they substitute for a personal God. Since the Universe is an “it,” it cannot say no to you.

Those who use this idea, abandon there being a personal God who created the universe, a God who made the laws that man must obey. Instead the law[s] of the universe obey us. The universe was not created by man it was here before man, yet we create what we want to exist in it with our minds. This means the atoms are obeying our minds. That should stretch the credulity of any logical thinker.

Repeated over and over are the same phrase and principles: “There isn’t a single thing that you cannot do with this knowledge…the Secret can give you whatever you want…if you see it in your mind, you’re going to hold it in your hand…you create your life with your thoughts…your thoughts are seeds, and the harvest you reap will depend on the seeds you plant…your life is in your hands…what you think about you bring about….You will attract everything that you require. If it’s money you need you will attract it…like Aladdin’s Genie, the law of attraction grants our every command… the moment you begin to ‘think properly’…this power within you that’s greater than the world…will take over your life…feed…clothe…guide…protect…direct you, sustain your very existence. If you let it. Now that is what I know, for sure….”

So who wants to die? No one, so why are there not among us any of the great people who discovered this secret in the past? Because it doesn’t work like they teach. Buyer beware needs to be posted across each book and DVD.

The god they are presenting to people is self, this is the occult secret that has been handed down by initiatives for centuries. That everything is under OUR control.

Robert Collier wrote: The law of the universe is the law of supply… the world belongs to you” (Secret of the Ages by Robert Collier, 27th edition 1979 p.103)

“In the realm of mind, the realm in which is all practical power, you can possess what you want at once. You have but to claim it, visualize it, believe in it, to bring it into actuality. It is yours for the taking. For the Genie-of-your­ Mind can give you power over circumstances, health, hap­piness and prosperity.”

“Being a part of Universal Mind, shar­ing that Universal Mind’s all-power, it has only to put the Creative Force all about it into the mold of your thought and bring the object into being” (p.62 Secret of the Ages).

The Genie-of-your­ Mind seems to sum it up well, except you do not need a lamp or three wishes, it appears to be never ending, and instead of rubbing to summon the genie you visualize what you want.

But in the back of Robert Collier book is found letters from readers who write to him:

Dear Mr. Collier:

… I doubt if any man ever lived other than our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who can be credited, like you, with bringing their fellow being to a real practical understanding of religion and the law of nature such as you have so completely accomplished through the various publications you have written. Sincerely yours _____Like Aladdin’s Lamp”

Another writes:

“Dear Mr. Collier: Aladdin and his lamp couldn’t have done more for me than your book. …”

On the “The Secret DVD, we see that Robert Collier’s works are one of the references. A collage is flashed on the screen where a page from Collier’s The Secret of the Ages is displayed (http://robertcollier.wwwhubs.com/tsota.htm). He is also listed on their website as a past secret teacher.

The theme of the Genie of the lamp is certainly a fixed cliché in the teachings. Secret teacher James Ray, who speaks on wealth, success and our human potential: “If you think about Aladdin and his lamp, Aladdin picks up the lamp, dusts it off and out pops the Genie. The Genie always says one thing: `Your wish is my command” (Excerpt by James Ray, pp. 45-46)

“He then says that the Genie is the universe; traditions have called the universe many things, “and you choose the one that works best for you, but every tradition has told us there’s something bigger than us”’ http://www.rickross.com/reference/general/general933.html)

One sight advertised the Secret as “The universe is like a magic genie who will give you the desires of your heart. You need only ask, believe, and receive - and it’s not just Oprah behind this force!”

“The universe is like a magic genie who says, “Your wish is my command.” It’s as simple as figuring out what you want, visualizing your goal, and then accepting it when it arrives.” http://psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_secret_movie)

The laws of the Universe under the control of the mind is what Mind Sciences are all about. Charles Fillmore of the Unity School of Christianity wrote:

“We are now in a fuller degree of enlightenment concerning the spiritual laws that govern man and the universe (p.37 Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore Unity School of Christianity). Here is how Fillmore of Unity church explains the law works. “We must learn the law of expression from the abstract to the concrete–from the formless to the formed. Every idea makes a structure after its own image and likeness, and all such ideas and structures are grouped and associated according to their offices.”

“The harmony referred to is self-adjustment to the law of Being, to the law of divine nature, to the law of God. …-the important thing is to understand it, and to put yourself in harmony with it.” (p.41). “The Divine Mind creates under law; that is, mental law” (p.61). “The wise metaphysician resolves into ideas each mental picture, each form and shape seen in visions, dreams, and the like. The idea is the foundation, the real; when understood and molded by the power of the word, it creates or recreates the form at the direction of the individual I AM. By working with this simple law, man may become an adept or master” (p.101).

There is a consistency with all these authors. As we will see, the same names and the same teachings seem to surface with nearly all the people involved in the Secret from the past and they are as about as dangerous as a child with a loaded gun.

The Secret (book) is filled with techniques that may be called metaphysical, but they are straight out of the Occult.

“It’s OK that thoughts don’t manifest into reality immediately (if we saw a picture of an elephant and it instantly appeared, that would be too soon).”

“Create a Vision Board … pictures of what you want to attract … every day look at it and get into the feeling state of already having acquired these wants” “Play the picture in your mind - focus on the end result”

Here is how it is done-”Close your eyes and visualize having what you already want - and the feeling of having it already.” “VISUALIZE!!! Rehearse your future” “VISUALIZE!!! See it, feel it! This is where action begins.”

One can be of any religion or no religion at all (an atheist) and use these methods. Called mental or guided imagery, or imaging, in the occult arts the “law of manifestation,” is set in motion by thoughts or pictures held firmly in the mind, visualized (or spoken aloud,) this will “manifest” them in the physical world. It leads one to believe that their mind is connected to and in control of a greater force, in this case the Universe, which will cause to occur in the physical world what they visualized in their mind. For centuries this technique has been used by witch doctors, shamans and occultists all over the world. And this law was taught to Napoleon Hill by the so-called Ascended Masters and it is taught to all searchers who become open recipients to metaphysical spiritual practices. What they do not realize is what they are attracting and cultivating are spirit guides. This is exactly what the ascended Masters (spirit guides) said through occultist Alice Bailey over fifty years ago, a: “newer type of meditation emphasizing visualization and the use of creative imagination.” (The Tibetan Master’s Work -New York: The Arcane School, World Goodwill, booklet, pp. 3-4.)

Oprah has consistently promoted those who teach mind science ideas and visualization. She endorsed and recommended heartily, the book Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain. In the very beginning of her book she answers the question- What is Creative Visualization?

“Creative visualization is the technique of using your imagination to create what you want in your life. There is nothing at all new, strange, or unusual about creative visualization. You are already using it every day, every minute in fact. It is your natural power of imagination, the basic creative energy of the universe which you use constantly, whether or not you are aware of it.”

In her book she also writes: “. . . ask your higher self whether this is really the best thing for you or whether you truly desire it. The universe may be trying to show you something better that you haven’t even considered” (p. 44 Creative Visualization). We should be open to “accept the goodness of the universe. … to receiving the blessings of this abundant universe” (pp.51-52). She gives a meditation “you can do to improve your self-esteem and increase your capacity to handle the love and energy that the universe is ready and eager to flow in your direction” Think of other ways to outflow your energy into the universe for the good of yourself and others” ( p.57). “Picture myself as a clear channel for healing energy, the spiritual energy of the universe, to flow through me and to the person who needs it” p.64).

The Universe, energy, guided imagery- same words, same concepts we read in the Secret.

The universe becomes a substitute for God in New Age metaphysics. It is a created thing that is unable to think on its own but is at the whims and fantasies of the power of man’s thoughts. The universe is an “it,” that has intelligence which they believe they tap into for whatever they need in life. How intelligent is this all powerful force that will do whatever we think, both gone is convinced of its power and believe it works for everyone as the advertisers of the Secret claim, the next step is to abandon all reason and begin a consistent practice. From this the danger can escalate, eventually they find they were not manipulating the universe but they themselves were manipulated. These practices change their worldview to open them up to a spiritual realm that man is not equipped to enter.

________________________________________________________________________

Rhonda Byrne, in her book and DVD, The Secret, tells how a 100-year-old book entered her life and changed it forever. Rhonda’s daughter gave her a copy of The Science of Getting Rich, a book written in 1910 by Wallace D. Wattles. This inspired Byrne to create her bestselling DVD and, subse­quently, to write her book. She has said that it “gave me a glimpse of The Secret. It was like a flame inside of my heart. And with every day since, it’s just become a raging fire of wanting to share all of this with the world” (Oprah program). She believes she discovered the success of “the greatest people in history” (p. ix book)

There are twenty-nine co-contributors quoted by the author of The Secret Rhonda Byrne. Some of the secret teachers are more recognized than others. Bob Proctor, David Schirmer, John Assaraf, Marie Diamond, John Demartini, Mike Dooley, Fred Alan Wolf, Bill Harris, James Ray, Marci Shimoff, Lisa Nichols, Morris Goodman, Neale Donald Walsch, John Gray, Denis Waitley, Loral Langemeier, Bob Doyle, Jack Canfield, Joe Vitale, Michael Beckwith, Hale Dwoskin, Ben Johnson, John Hagelin, and Lee Brower.

They all agree on the practices and concepts tied to the metaphysical worldview presented in the book and DVD.

One of the ways to enact the law of attraction is to visualize. Visualize Your Desired Income, or anything you want” “Visualize your goal” “ Visualizing your goal could be cutting pictures out of magazines, writing it down, or closing your eyes and pretending you’re doing it. The example in The Secret was a fellow pretending to drive a sports car in his living room. The key is feeling the positive emotions and thinking the positive thoughts – those will bring you the desires of your heart.” http://www.themastersofthesecret.com

Visualization is described as– Spend some time each day picturing exactly what you want in your mind’s eye. In his book The Success Principles, Jack Canfield says, “The process of visualizing for success is really quite simple. All you have to do is close your eyes and see your goals as already complete. If one of your objectives is to own a nice house on the lake, then close your eyes and see yourself walking through the exact house you would like to own. Fill in all of the details… This goes for any goal you make – whether it’s in the area of work, play, family, personal finances, relationships or philanthropy. Write down each of your goals and objectives, then review them, affirm them, and visualize them every day.”

Secret teacher- Dennis Waitley states: When you visualize then you materialize I think if you been there in the mind you’ll go there in the body” (audio).

“The Secret”- “Play the picture in your mind - focus on the end result VISUALIZE!!!” “Rehearse your future. VISUALIZE!!! See it, feel it! This is where action begins. Close your eyes and visualize having what you already want – and the feeling of having it already.” “Focus on being grateful for what you have already .. enjoy it!! Then release into the universe. The universe will manifest it.”

Let’s step back in time and see how this has all rolled out to our day. Wallace Wattles who wrote The Science of Getting Rich is advertised as the secret behind The Secret. Wallace Delois Wattles (1860-1911) was the author of numerous books, the best known of which is The Science of Getting Rich. He experienced failure after failure in his early life, after many years of study and experimentation it is said that he formulated a set of principles that, with scientific precision, create financial and spiritual wealth.

Wattles explained that “universal mind” underlies and permeates all creation. Through the process of visualization we can engage the law of attraction, impressing our thoughts upon “formless substance” to bring the desired object or circumstances into material form. “You must know what you want, and be definite. You can never get rich, or start the creative power into action, by sending out unformed longings and vague desires.”

“Thought is the creative power, or the impelling force which causes the creative power to act; thinking in a Certain Way will bring riches to you, but you must not rely upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action. That is the rock upon which many otherwise scientific metaphysical thinkers meet shipwreck - the failure to connect thought with personal action.”

“The more clear and definite you make your picture then,and the more you dwell upon it, bringing out all its delightful details, the stronger your desire will be, and the stronger your desire, the easier it will be to hold your mind fixed upon the picture of what you wan.” ( Wallace D. Wattles The Science of Getting Rich or Financial Success Through Creative Thought, p. 45)

As already pointed out, Visualization is an ancient occult technique where a mental picture is held firmly in the mind, as it is continually seen it will eventually manifest itself into the physical universe. So it goes from thought (the spiritual realm) to the physical. As Wattles taught: “We have not yet reached the stage of development, even supposing such a stage to be possible, in which man can create directly from Formless Substance without nature’s processes or the work of human hands; man must not only think, but his personal action must supplement his thought.”

“Wattles offers techniques for getting in tune with one’s deeper self and thus creating a channel of communication between oneself and universal energy.” (Publisher’s Weekly)

We read- The Science of Getting Rich Attracting Financial Success through Creative Thought is intended for the men and women whose most pressing need is for money; who wish to get rich first, and philosophize afterward.” In other words just do it and any questions you have will be answered later or not at all after you see it work.

Wallace D. Wattles was quite sure of himself when he stated: “The men and women who practice my instructions will certainly get rich; and the riches they receive will be in exact proportion to the definiteness of their vision, the immovableness of their unchanging purpose, the steadiness of their faith, and the depth of their gratitude”.

“There is a science of getting rich. It is an exact science, like algebra or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process of acquiring riches. Once a person learns and obeys these laws, he will get rich with mathematical certainty” (Wallace D. Wattles, “The Science of Getting Rich”)

As positive as Wattle’s was, Wattles lived most of his life in poverty? His book was published in 1910 and He died the next year in 1911 at the age of 51. Wattle’s never was able to reap what he sowed in his mind, for his life was cut short. The question that needs to be asked-did he attract this? Are these men and woman going to live forever, are they going to stay young as they get older- why not? They said anything you want- who wants to get old or sick. Wouldn’t Wattles have wanted to live longer to see the success of that book and to write more about the incredible benefits of “the Secret,” even though it failed him? But he couldn’t add one minute to his life by his mind power and neither can you. The Secret didn’t work for Wattles and it won’t work for you. Why? Because there is no law of the universe like this. But there are spiritual powers that will make you think it works by a law.

But there are some who say they have an answer to how it works. A Teacher of the Secret, Bob Proctor states of Wattles in his video on the web “He tapped into thought, thought is in the ether, Wallace Wattles said he took the ether and turned it into ink. We are going to show you how to turn the ether into ink. Your going to take one of these and determine your own destiny” (http://thesgrprogram.com/special.php?a_id=14511)

How does he actually know he did this? What is ether? He certainly is not referring to what we used to give a patient to knock them out for an operation. This ether is often ascribed to regions of space in the heavens. It is an element believed in ancient and medieval civilizations to fill all of space – some describe it as the space between the atoms. Scientific data or equations do not validate this concept, though it is thrown around by metaphysicians like a ball at a baseball game. Many look to Maxwell who theorized: electromagnetic Waves carry light. The ether was some kind of fluid substance that filled space. Regardless of the scientific debate, what is being claimed is that Wattles was communicating with the ether and writing it in his books. Consider the power this man supposedly exercised and that he is offering it to you- that you too can make use of this ether without ever knowing what it is and control the very fabric of the universe.

For more mind boggling explanations of this metaphysical experience – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether

What Wattles taught is what all new thought teachers have taught…

Fillmore called it the law of mind action. “Divine Mind creates by thought, through ideas.”(Dynamics for Living Charles Fillmore 1967 Unity book)

“God cannot create without law. God is the Mind force carrying forward creation under law.”

Thought clothes itself in a life form according to the character given it by the thinker. Every thought produces a living or­ganism (ibid. p.71

Following the creative law in its operation from the formless to the formed (ibid. p.76)

“Every thought that goes forth from the brain sends vibrations into the sur­rounding atmosphere and moves the realm of things to action. (ibid. p.75)

“All is Mind. The things that appear are expressions of Mind. (ibid. p.189)

“if we lack any­thing it is because we have not used our mind in making the right contact with the supermind” (ibid. p.187).

He also stated, “Science is at last proving what Religion has taught from the beginning-that God gave dominion, and that we have only to understand and use dominion to become the Masters of our Fate, the Captain of our Souls.” (ibid. p.61).

There are many “New Thought practitioners” that say the same things. William Walker Atkinson (1862-1932), was also important person of New Thought. He was an editor of several New Thought Journals. In 1900, he published “a series of lessons in personal magnetism, psychic influence, thought-force, concentration, will-power & practical Mental Science,” titled Thought-Force in Business and Everyday Life. In 1906 he published the book “

Chapter I THE LAW OF ATTRACTION IN THE THOUGHT WORLD.

“THE Universe is governed by Law - one great Law.” “Thought is a force - a manifestation of energy - having a magnet-like power of attraction” “It’s all in the Mental Attitude” “A strong thought or a thought long continued, will make us the center of attraction for the corresponding thought waves of others. Like attracts like in the Thought World”

Chapter XIII THE ATTRACTIVE POWER - DESIRE FORCE

‘In order to attain a thing it is necessary that the mind should fall in love with it”

Is it a coincidence that the Secret has the very same ideas and concepts? Hardly, unbeknown to many, people are being indoctrinated into mind science.

This is the occult/metaphysical worldview- that there is a universal law that says “like attracts like. Using a “metaphysical” interpretation of the plain words in the Bible is misleading to the unlearned in the Scripture. The Secret- “The law [of “attraction”] responds to your thoughts, no matter what they may be….People who have drawn wealth into their lives…think thoughts of abundance and wealth…nothing else exists in their minds.” “You’ve got to feel good about money to attract more to you….Start to say and feel…I am a money magnet. I love money.”

This is not a good thing to be taught. The Bible says “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).

On the Oprah show, Maureen has a question many people want answered: “[My family puts] our faith in God, and it seems that The Secret teaches you to put your faith in yourself. And so I was wondering, is God anywhere in this?”

Michael says The Secret involves the laws of the universe and they, in turn, describe the nature of how God works. “[Jesus] said, ‘Pray believing that ye have that ye may receive.’ That’s The Secret in a nutshell,” he says. “Pray believing and feeling and sensing that you already have it, and then you’re available to receive it.”

The appeal is that the Law of Attraction is available to all- anyone from any religion can use it. Yet the promoters of the secret want you to also believe that Jesus approves of their teaching, claiming it is found in the Bible. They end up using the Bible as a formula for getting whatever they want much like a witch would in casting a spell.

They quote Mark 11:24: “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (also Mt.21:22) .

But they neglected the previous verses v.20- especially v. 22 “So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God.” It is not have faith in yourself, your mind power, your thoughts or faith in the universe. It is not believe and you will receive as the mind science teachers teach but believe in God, one must ask to receive, and he decides. The difference is dramatic. To them the universe is not a personal but an “it”, and they are not asking but using their mind to put in an order into the universe. The Bible teaches that God is personal and is all knowing and he is in control, not man.

Jesus had much to say that is the opposite of what they say in the Secret, especially on money. Jesus warned, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). They are offering the world to everyone on silver platter, but it will be for nothing unless they know God’s real secret (which we will cover at the end of these articles).

Michael says “The Secret isn’t about contradicting religion—it supports it. “It actually goes underneath the culture and explains to you the sacred laws that these wonderful teachers have brought to us,” he says. According to James, “The Secret is about supporting the great spiritual traditions in a more modern form. “It really is just putting Christianity, Judaism, all the great teachings into a current vernacular,” he says. (Oprah Show Feb. 16, 2007)

Not only does the universe obey someone from any religion but it does not matter how sinful or evil a person is. This brings the problem of a lack of ethics in ones life or thought as having no bearing on the outcome. If someone is thinking what is good, he attracts good; someone who is evil equally attracts evil. There is missing a standard for morality which then insinuates that man makes his own morality, but in the end it does not matter. Many people have different outlooks on what is good or evil- does the universe sort these out? No, because it is amoral and has no input for us. This proves that the universe is not God and is even less intelligent than man!

We are also told “…the Law of Attraction is not religion-based. In simplest terms, it’s about believing in yourself and aligning your thoughts and beliefs with your greatest desires. However, the Law of Attraction is complementary to a wide range of religious beliefs.”

This is an appeal to man’s lowest nature of lust and calling it spirituality. Satan is the ultimate salesman, and he can use the ultimate lie- inflaming ones desires using the bait- “anything you want you can have.” The lure of attraction is repeatedly stated in the book: “The Secret” gives you anything you want: happiness, health, and wealth….You can have, do, or be anything you want….We can have whatever it is that we choose. This is Spiritual self reliance- who needs Jesus if you have the mind power to control or get anything you want from the universe.

Rhonda Byrne, the author of The Secret, is also greatly influenced by a couple named Jerry and Esther Hicks‘. In the Acknowledgements of The Secret, Byrne thanked Jerry and Esther Hicks and the teachings of Abraham.

Who are the Hicks and who is Abraham?

Jerry Hicks had experimented with a number of things in pursuit of truth, one was a Ouiji board. In 1965, Jerry Hicks had been a devotee of the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, and he eventually began teaching the principles discussed in the book. He believes that the book helped him to become successful in business.

This is significant and we must pause and look at Napoleon Hill’s teachings to understand his connection to all this. Napoleon Hill said of his book- “This book contains the secret” (Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich p.9).

This law was taught to Napoleon Hill by demons who posed as Ascended Masters from a School of Wisdom on the astral plane (reference-Occult Invasion by Dave Hunt). These were disembodied masters who declared: “I come from the Great School of Masters. I am one of the Council of Thirty Three who serve the Great School and its initiates on the physical plane.”

Hill was informed that he had been “under the guidance of the Great School” for years and had been chosen by them to give the formula of success, the “Supreme Secret,” to the world: that “anything the human mind can believe, the human mind can achieve.”“ (Occult Invasion by Dave Hunt p.185)

Hill responded to it, “whoever you are-whatever you are come into me now”

Hill gave himself to this spirit and others influence. They taught Hill the power of visualization, and following their advice, Hill visualized nine famous men from the past sitting around a table as his “advisers.” These nine men were Emerson, Paine, Edison, Darwin, Lincoln, Burbank, Napoleon, Ford and Carnegie. “Every night… I held an imaginary council meeting with this group whom I called my “Invisible Counselors.”

“In these imaginary council meetings I called on my cabinet members for the knowledge I wished each to contribute, addressing myself to each member… they have led me into glorious paths of adventure … [and] I have been miraculously guided past [scores] of difficulties….”

“I now go to my imaginary counselors with every difficult problem which confronts me and my clients. The results are often astonishing . . . Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone, Success through a Positive Mental Attitude (Pocket Books, 1977), p. 44. Napoleon Hill, Grow Rich with Peace of Mind (Fawcett Crest, 1967), pp. 215-19, 159)

Hill had been led by his spirit guide[s] into occult techniques. Hill also drew on many other new thought concepts and techniques they introduced to him

He specifically mentions Andrew Carnagie in his preface and later in his book spoke on harnessing Kundalini energy, manifesting psychic powers such as telepathy, tapping into higher consciousness, and getting in touch with the great minds of past history.

Hill stated “I know I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” (Think and Grow Rich p.215-)- word for word of Charles Fillmores book Dynamics for Living. Napoleon Hill died penniless and sick in a hospital.

Napoleon Hill co-authored with W. Clement Stone Success through a Positive Mental Attitude, which was a guide for tapping into “the great univer­sal storehouse of Infinite Intelligence. The connection to Hill and Clement Stone is clear- the Secret (book) says: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive, it can achieve” (W. Clement Stone).

“Now and again I have had evidence that unseen friends hover about me, unknowable to the ordinary senses. In my studies I discovered there is a group of strange beings who, maintain a school of wisdom….

The School has Masters who can disembody them­selves and travel instantly to any place they choose. .. to give knowledge directly, by voice….

Now I knew that one of these Masters had come across thousands of miles, through the night, into my study….

I shall not set down every word he said … much of what he said already has been presented to you in the chapters of this book and will follow in other chapters.

“You have earned the right to reveal a Supreme Secret to others,” said the vibrant voice. “You have been under the guidance of the Great School. .,. Now you must give the world a blueprint. …” (“Grow Rich with peace of Mind 1967 pp.158-160)

We find there is a common source to all these teachings of Hill, other mind science teachers and the Hicks- spirit guides.

Ernest Holmes founded the Church of Religious Science upon the same “Supreme Se­cret” that was revealed to Napoleon Hill (and many others) through the “Masters of Wisdom,” teachings. Holmes stated “All men are spiritually evolving until . . . each will fully express his divinity . . . . ” (Ernest Holmes What Religious Science Teaches p.21).

Holmes explained this “Supreme Secret”:

The “ supreme, creative Power of the Universe, the source of all substance, the Life in all living things, is a cosmic Reality Principle which is present throughout the universe and in every one of us.

Science of MIND teaches that Man controls the course of his life … by mental processes which function according to a Universal Law … that we are all creating our own day-to-day experiences … by the form and procession of our thoughts.’ The Viewpiont of Science of mind concerning certain Traditional beliefs (Quoted in chpt.2 p.21, Seduction of Christianity by Dave Hunt).

Holmes in the end believed what nearly every occultist does-“Man, by thinking, can bring into his experience whatsoever he desires…( ‘Ernest Holmes The Science of Mind (textbook) p.30 (Science of mind Sept.1983 p.47).

So we see a common source- both Byrne and the Hicks have a connection to the book of Napoleon Hill dictated by spirit guides. Byrne writes: “And on that spring day in 2004, when a small, old book called

Where does this all come from- the “law of manifestation.” This law was taught to Napoleon Hill by spirits who posed as Ascended Masters. And these spirits are found as the influence in nearly all the authors of the source for the Secret.

Hicks began doing further research on metaphysical topics in the 1980’s. He read Seth Speaks by Jane Roberts and became a fan (also channeled by a spirit) which states like many other books of its kind that “you create your own reality.” Esther became interested in the topics discussed in the Seth books. 1985, Esther and Jerry encountered another channeled entity named ‘Theo’. Esther and Jerry were told to meditate, and that more information would be given to them at a later time. (http://www.money-health-relationships.com/jerry-and-esther-hicks.html)

They began meditating, and they claim that they eventually began communicating with Abraham. Since then, through the communication with Abraham, they have developed a metaphysical belief system

Jerry and Esther Hicks - their early communication with spirits

“Each day for about two months, Esther spent about two hours translating for Abraham by the somewhat laborious means of nose movements. Then, one night in bed, Esther’s hand began to thump on Jerry’s chest. “That’s not me” announced Ether, “It must be them”. She felt urged to go to the keyboard. Her fingers were powerfully driven and she typed “iwanttotypeiwanttotypeiwanttotype …” for a whole page before spelling out a request for her to spend a few minutes each day in this manner. A further two months passed with typing being the translation method.

This is how spirit communication (channeling) works, as the spirit manipulates the person for as vehicle. This is the same way The Course in Miracles was dictated to Helen Schucman.

Abraham is a group of spirit guides that the Hicks look to for guidance. These same spirits have been manipulating mankind into lies from the beginning.

On April 5, 2007 Oprah interviewed Esther Hicks about her involvement with the original version of “The Secret” and the “non-physical entities Abraham-Hicks“ (who is channeled by Esther).

This is “spirit communication” that has been forbidden in the Bible by God (Deut 18:11; Lev. 20:6). Today it is called by other “channeling” which has been promoted consistently and openly on Oprah’s program.

We should conclude by examining some of the points on their website:

The 12 Lessons of Abraham-Hicks’ Teachings “1. You are a Physical Extension of that which is Non-physical. 2. You are here in this body because you chose to be here. 3. The basis of your life is Freedom; the purpose of your life is Joy. 4. You are a creator; you create with your every thought. 5. Anything that you can imagine is yours to be or do or have. 6. You are choosing your creations as you are choosing your thoughts. 7. The Universe adores you; for it knows your broadest intentions. 8. Relax into your natural Well-being. All is well. (Really it is!) 9. You are a creator of thoughtways on your unique path of joy. 10. Actions to be taken and money to be exchanged are by-products of your focus on joy. 11. You may appropriately depart your body without illness or pain. 12. You cannot die; you are Everlasting Life”

The Teachings of Abraham

“Words do not teach. True knowing comes from life experience. We offer these words, that they might stimulate your thinking. Truly, a teacher is a stimulator of thought.” – Abraham http://www.abraham-hicks.com/teachings.php (emphasis mine).

How do you offer words if they don’t teach? These peoples philosophy makes no sense.

“All-That-Is, or God, is not finished and waiting for you to catch up. You are the leading edge of thought, here seeking more: more of all that feels good to you, more of that which is fresh and gloriously uplifting. (You are, in essence, bringing heaven to earth.)”

What they are teaching is pantheism- everything is God. Bringing heaven to earth is not at all what Jesus said man can do, but this is what the New Age movement teaches.

“You are here in this body because you chose to be here.

“You wanted the opportunity to experience this delicious contrast in time and space, and with great anticipation you came to co-create with other joy-seeking beings, to fine-tune the process of deliberate thought. (What, where, when and with whom are your choices, too.)”

We chose to be here? This is implying we existed before we are conceived and born; it certainly points to reincarnation.

“Anything that you can imagine is yours to be or do or have.

”As you ask yourself why you want it, the essence of your desire is activated, and the Universe begins to bring it to you. The more intense your positive feelings, the faster it is coming to you. (It is as easy to create a castle as a button.)”

They are teaching people that everyone is in control of their life unconsciously, and they need to become conscious of their latent powers that control the universe.

You can not die; you are Everlasting Life.

“In grace, you may choose to relax and allow your gentle transition back into your Non-physical state of pure, positive Energy. Your natural state is that of Foreverness. (Have fun with all of this. Lighten up! You can’t get it wrong.)”

So everything we do is right, (even those who are evil) and of course God’s view of heaven and hell are missing from the equation. This means there is no consequences for what anyone does. This is the philosophy of living they are offering people!

On

“Abraham, a group of obviously evolved teachers, speak their broader Non-physical perspective through the physical body of Esther [Hicks]. Speaking to our level of comprehension, from their present moment to our now, through a series of loving, allowing, brilliant yet comprehensively simple, recordings in print, in video, and in sound - they guide us to a clear connection with our Inner Being–they guide us to self-upliftment from our total self” (provided by lighthouse trails research).

What is our inner being? We find what this all is from the book the Secret:

“You are God in a physical body. You are Spirit in the flesh. You are Eternal Life expressing itself as You. You are a cosmic being. You are all power. You are all wisdom. You are all intelligence. You are perfection. You are magnificence. You are the creator, and you are creating the creation of You on this planet (The Secret p. 164).

“The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist, without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who You Really Are. You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life. And now you know The Secret” (p. 183) (emphasis mine).

This universe has this power and intelligence to give everyone what they want without a mind of its own, it has no will-YOU are the creator of your own universe. This is a teaching of a spirit not from God? One that says that YOU are God that it all revolves around YOU. Nothing exists without us. We are all One, everything is one with a universal Mind, and of course the ultimate flattery You are God manifested in human form.

And where did they learn this?

Byrne’s “Secret” is traced back to its source, it is Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden to Eve all over again, “You will be like God” (Gen. 3:5). Once again Satan whispers and is using women who are ill equipped to SPREAD HIS LIES. This is no secret, it was told to the first woman you will be like God. The Bible says No lie is of the truth; The spirit that spoke to Eve lied, he is now called the Father of lies and Jesus said there is no truth in him.

This is the essence of the Secret that they are spreading throughout the world, it is really anti God, anti truth and let the people be warned of entertaining spirits and teachings that lead away from God and not to him as the Bible explains.

________________________________________________________________________

Jack Canfield author of “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” says: “Since I learned `The Secret’ and started applying it to my life, my life has truly become magical.” And: “Decide what you want. Believe you can have it. Believe you deserve it, and believe it’s possible for you.” I remember when I was involved in the new age movement I came a cross a lot of books and booklets that promised the very same things- they all agreed that the power is in your hands. You can have it all by learning to be a spiritual alchemist and manipulate the fabric of the universe. This book, DVD and its contained concepts need to be strongly challenged by Christians for people to hear a contrary point, that actually agrees with reality.

A word of caution is needed. There are those inside the church that associate themselves w or promote those who are involved in the Secret.

Paula White recently appeared in the Dallas Morning News alongside Donald Trump (Class ”Think Big”) Tony Robbins (Class – “unleash the Power”) and a number of others who are going to teach Classes on becoming a millionaire. Among them was Secret teacher Jack Canfield whose subject in class was none other than “the Secret”. Whites Class was called “Why God wants you wealthy.” (“This weekend can make you a millionaire” Dallas Morning News May 7, 07.)

One should not be surprised with others doing the same. For example Loren Cunningham the founder of YWAM on Benny Hinn’s program is talking about the blacks and god instilling their leadership skill said this:

“As I began to see how God was starting to give Africans in diaspora as well as from Africa new leadership worldwide. I saw that they took the leadership into the realm of music. I saw they leadership into the area of athletics and you, you see it in the area of the arts look at the ones that won the Oscars last year. Their coming up. The richest woman in America is also one of the greatest communicators in the world, Oprah Winfrey. You begin to see this as you watch Cosby who is not only a communicator, but a funny one at that and as you see this, it goes out into the politics, the leader of the United Nations is an African from Ghana , the second most powerful man in the world is Colin Powell. The first most powerful; woman in the world is Condaleeza Rice. And- and you begin to see this and you say what is that God is up to and I began to watch and I saw the area of the spiritual leadership. ” He then mentions Dr. Adeboye, (Hinn Interview with Cunningham from Kona Hawaii YWAM Feb. 2003 Day Star programming )

Did God give Oprah her leadership? Is she promoting God? She promotes visualization, channeling, yoga, and various other occult type practices along with denying Jesus as God and the only way along with her guests on her program. So how has God raised up Oprah. With a lack of discernment like this, no wonder the church is in a state of compromise, the most visible people are leading the Church in a wrong direction.

Rhonda Byrne explains the law of attraction in various ways: “Nothing [good or bad] can come into your experience unless you summon it through persistent thoughts” (p. 28). “Your thoughts are the primary cause of everything” (p. 33).

What about babies and children that die or are murdered, are we to believe they attracted this to themselves. Maybe they will say the parents had a part in attracting this- but this idea still goes against man being in control of the universe and it certainly does not help anyone who wants to live in the real world. Where is the compassion? There is none from a amoral force, it is bankrupt of morals.

Charles Fillmore of Religious Science was teacher of the Secret before it was recently released for commercial use in our day. He said: “A most important part of the law of mind action is the fact of thought-unity. It is absolutely necessary to understand the nature of this fact before one can demonstrate the power of the superconscious mind” (Christian Healing, Charles Fillmore Unity School of Christianity p.30).

We know about the subconscious mind but a superconscious mind? What he means ids god like powers contained within us all. How can everything made obey us? How can we as creatures make the universe obey our desires?

Charles Fillmore described it as “a mental system that holds man as being one with God (good) through the power of constructive thinking.”

Religious/mind Science teaches thoughts become things. What if several people all want the same thing- like a job. Who gets it? The one with the strongest influence on the universe. This becomes an answer to a misuse of power, a force that has no say in how it is used by competitive creatures all reaching for the same things.

Are we to believe that all of us are controlling the universe or is it like then Bible teaches- none of us are; God is. The Universe is not God, God according to the Bible is intelligent, in fact he is the most intelligent of all creatures and things that he has created- he is all knowing. In the Secret the Universe is incapable of making any judgments and waits for man to dictate to it what it is to do.

Joe Vitale is one of The Secret teachers interviewed on Larry King Live (Larry King called the DVD the “most profound information he has run across in 40 years.”)

A caller asks: “I’m just curious, where does God come into the whole “Secrets”.

Vitale answers: “God is all of us. God is the secret and everything about it. This is a law from God” (Larry King Mar. 8th, 2007) (emphasis mine)

Everyone is God is their secret. This becomes a denial of what God wrote to mankind to help us. We are fallen creatures striving to regain what we once had. We use the most absurd ideas and inventions of our own mind, our vain imaginations to restore ourselves to what man once was.

There is a law- God’s law and everyone has broken it. God has moral laws -that is the universal law just like gravity. And there are eternal consequences to breaking these laws. God wants you not to be ignorant, for we have all heard ignorance of the law is no excuse .The REAL Secret, God’s secret, is revealed to all mankind in his gospel- by sending his Son to earth to live a perfect life die for our sins.

Rom.16:25-26: “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith–According to my Gospel.”

Since the world began means in all past times this has been concealed, so it was a mystery – until Jesus Christ came into the world. But now God’s plan of saving people was made known to all nations by the “writings” of the prophets and the subject of the prophets- Jesus Christ.

God’s secret is revealed in the gospel by sending Jesus Christ to earth. Jesus wants everyone us to live a abundant live- John 10:10 “ I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” This means a changed life, one that is holy and spiritual but he must deal with our sin to give us this life. We must be changed from creatures that practice sin to those who want and practice righteousness, living the life of the Spirit instead of the desires of the flesh (the things of the world the Secret offers). The things the Secret offer cannot be given to us without our being trustworthy and seeking and knowing the giver of these things. Jesus says “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness , and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt 6:33-34). Why? Because it is in Jesus Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). This was kept hidden and is now revealed to everyone. But it is still kept a secret by those deny God’s way and offer people another way- i.e. the secret.

I John 1:5-6: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Jesus never lied and he is called the light of the world.Jn.3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

When we tell people about Jesus and his death for our sin “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7-8).

Paul writes in Eph. 3:3-7 “by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel”

Vv: 8-11 “that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery , which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Paul asks for prayer that he may “boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel”( Eph. 6:19). Why? Because it is the greatest gift God has given to mankind.

Col. 1:27-29: “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.”

Psalm 25:14: “The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.”

Those who want to know God and his truth seek God by his ancient eternal word in the Bible. He will reveal himself to them and give them His promised blessings because they respect Him above all others. God has shown you his love by giving you His word so you may know the right way. We do not need to choose what we think feels right but what is right, because he has given us the way. Spiritual tends may come and go but God’s way will not change.

God says, Isa. 45:19: “I have not spoken in secret, In a dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in vain’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness”

This is the secret everyone should know- the gospel which god has revealed to all mankind. Because this is what will affect your life now and throughout eternity.

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