Posted January 17, 2012

BREACHED!
The Symptoms of Seduction by Spirits

By the Discernment Research Group

“Now it came about when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was breached.”

Jeremiah 39:1-2, NASB

Review and Commentary Summation
Have Heart: bridging the gulf between heaven and earth

“It was toward the end of the reading that I first noticed the whirling sensation over my head. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn’t go away. It was a strange but not unpleasant feeling that seemed to flutter and vibrate and even tingle above me. I was startled when Bonnie [my psychic reader] picked up on it.

‘Are you aware that there is a ball of light over your head?’

I was dumfounded. A ball of light? Is that what I was feeling? This was getting a little wild. I told Bonnie that I had been feeling something over my head but didn’t know what it was. She said it again.

‘It’s a ball of light.’

For a moment I tried to understand what a ball of light was doing over my head. Then I asked the obvious.

‘Why is there a ball of light over my head?’

‘You are being shown that you have a lot of help on the other side,’ she said matter-of-factly.

‘What do you mean by “the other side”?’

‘The spirit world,’ was her quick reply. ‘Family and loved ones who have passed away, as well as angels and other spirits who for whatever reasons are sympathetic to your life. They are making themselves known to you. They are reaching out to you and letting you know that they are available if you want their help’.”

—Warren Smith, The Light That Was Dark[1]

Introduction

One of life’s most difficult experiences is the death of a loved one, especially the death of one’s own child. Yet Scripture promises Christians that,

“the God and Father the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ [has]... according to His abundant mercy...  caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5, NASB)

Appropriated by faith, this “blessed hope” is the source of strength and comfort to Christians grieving over the death of a believing loved one who also trusted in the salvation offered by and in the Lord Jesus Christ.

This series of articles has been difficult for the Discernment Research Group to publish. As we read the account of Pastor Steve and Sarah Berger’s loss of their teenage son Josiah in a tragic car accident, our hearts stirred with sympathy for them and their family, for their church and their friends. Yet we rejoiced with them in their assurance that Josiah, a professing believer in Jesus Christ, was in Heaven and in the legacy he had left here on earth.

However, amidst our sympathy for them and thoughtful consideration, we decided it necessary to rebut the New Age view of Heaven that was publicly being spread amongst the evangelical community in the Bergers’ book, Have Heart: bridging the gulf between heaven and earth.[2] Openly endorsed by such high-profile church figures as James Robison, Chuck Missler and Greg Laurie,[3] and promoted by various media outlets[4] and Koinonia House,[5] this book required a public response.[6]

In a point-by-point biblical and theological analysis and commentary, Have Heart was reviewed by Pastor Larry DeBruyn in his 5-part series “Do the Dead Communicate with the Living?” The Discernment Research Group thought this review of the Bergers’ book was necessary because the issues it introduces to America’s evangelical community; namely a New Age understanding of Heaven that allows for visitations from Christian loved ones who have entered the afterlife.

Read the entire post: www.herescope.net

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Posted January 11, 2012

Spiritualism’s Slippery Slope
Do the Dead Communicate with the Living?: Part 5

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn

Have Heart: bridging the gulf between heaven and earth
A Review and Commentary (continued)

“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. For [among other abominations] he . . . practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.”

(2 Chronicles 33:1-2, 6, NASB)

In addition to misusing particular texts of Scripture while ignoring others, Have Heart contains an obvious eschatological (eschatology deals with events which are future) problem. As the Bergers propose, to be able to make “supernatural visitations” to the living-in-Christ requires that the dead-in-Christ possess “supernatural bodies” now, that their soul-spirits reside in a glorified materiality in which they can make trips from Heaven to earth and back (the Bergers call these trips missions). But as the New Testament explains, the bodies of dead-in-Christ have not yet been raised unto glory. Their bodies remain asleep in the grave. Nevertheless, to demonstrate that the dead-in-Christ possess the materiality to manifest themselves to the living-in-Christ, the authors propose an eschatology for the resurrection which departs from the New Testament.

When the Resurrection Body?

Resurrection “Now”
If the living in heaven could make “supernatural visitations” to their loved ones on earth, it would require two things: that they possess the supernatural “materiality” and familial “connectivity” to do so. If that were the case, then just as Jesus appeared in His glorified body to His disciples and loved ones after His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:5-8), so in like manner the “dead in Christ” could visit their family and friends. In these resurrected and glorified bodies, the souls of the dead-in-Christ in Heaven would possess “the technological transport” to make their presence known to the living-in-Christ on earth.

Because of Supernatural Materiality
Have Heart proposes that because the dead-in-Christ possess bodies “characterized by glory and honor and power and supernatural abilities,” they have the capacity to appear to loved ones and friends on earth. (HH, 62-65) The Bergers state:

This is so radically important for us to understand as we go through the grieving process: you will be raised to Heaven with this new and better body, and all the believers who have gone before you already have theirs. They are raised in glory, living gloriously right now with God. (Emphasis added, HH, 63)

Again, the book states:

When you think about Christ’s resurrected body, with all of its unique abilities—including miraculously appearing (John 20:26), instantly disappearing (Luke 24:31), and flying (Acts 1:9)—its pretty exciting to think we’ll have the same kind of body and that our loved ones who are with Jesus have one right now. (Emphasis added, HH, 64)

In the aftermath of the death of a loved one, the Bergers believe the grief-stricken on earth may find comfort when in their “supernatural” bodies, the deceased make their “presence” known to them, as when their son Josiah appeared that evening to Mr. Jim in Grace Chapel’s sanctuary. That the dead in Christ can make such appearances is premised upon Jesus’ appearances to His disciples after His resurrection, but the Bergers also employ diverse experiences to back up their revised interpretation of Scripture.

Read the entire post: www.herescope.net

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