Christians...we must denounce Anti-Semitism

My heart hurts. Yesterday, in a senseless act of terrorism, 11 lives were ended and many more people were injured. Tonight, I am sitting here thinking about my own community--several years ago, the local synagogue put a sign outside the temple that let people know it was a Jewish congregation. Many of the elderly Jewish members of the congregation, had been Holocaust survivors or had lost family in the Holocaust and were worried about the fact that Anti-Semitism is alive and well in our nation and they felt putting the sign outside would invite trouble. 

The student Rabbi at the time said that the community should be proud to let the world know where they worshiped and honestly I agreed with the sentiment. After all, it's the 21st century and anti-semitism is so 20th century...or so I thought until yesterday, when I read that 11 people had died and all of them senior citizens. As a Christian, I immediately thought about evil that is wrought against "my spiritual cousins." As the names started to come out, as well as ages, I heard one was a holocaust survivor. Earlier today, I read on twitter that the "survivor" wasn't a Holocaust survivor--but here is my belief--she was 97 years old; she may not have been in Europe during the Holocaust, but what if her family was? What if she lost someone in a concentration camp?

Today, however, the various news sources have written about the victims, and what caused the shooting. I get it, the shooter was a non-Trump supporter, hater of Israel. However, we've not spoken out about what we really need to stand against! 

Christians, we must denounce Anti-Semitism. I was reading the ERLC website and have chosen to use their 6 reasons as to why we, Christians, must denounce anti-semitism. 

1. Anti-Semitism is hatred of the Jewish people

A human rights agency of the European Union once attempted to craft a working definition of anti-Semitism:

“[Anti-Semitism] is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”[1]

Some will say this is only a working definition of what anti-semitism is and while that is somewhat true; Christians are called to love. Matter of fact, Ruth, a Moabite, gives us our true first example of how we should view the Jewish people and God when she pledges her life to her mother-in-law Naomi “But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 

2. Anti-Semitism is contrary to Imago Dei

As confessing Christians, we learn from the very beginning of the biblical narrative that anti-Semitism is contrary to the biblical teachings of the Imago Dei. Specifically, Genesis 1:27 tells us, “God created man in His own image, He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.” “In the image of God.” This is a distinction given only to humanity amidst a vast and diverse creation. It is not merely that humans are at the top of a creation hierarchy. It is that we are in a different category altogether.

I love how the United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline states “We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God,” 

To speak, therefore, of any fellow human being as equivalent to—or lesser than—an animal is anti-human and, ultimately, unbiblical. Yet this is exactly what we find in anti-Semitism: the dehumanizing of human beings. Along with other forms of racism and xenophobia, anti-Semitism dehumanizes a very special member of God’s creation, a creature who bears the Imago Dei.

3. Anti-Semitism is an indicator of ethnic and religious intolerance

Where anti-Semitism is found, we also find intolerance of and persecution of other ethnic and religious groups. Anti-Semitic attitudes, rhetoric and actions mark the least free and most oppressive societies on our globe. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power observed that anti-Semitism “is often the canary in the coal mine for the degradation of human rights more broadly. When the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Jews are repressed, the rights and freedoms of other minorities and other sectors are often not far behind.”

An account by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, (USCIRF) shows clear evidence anti-Semitism often corresponds with persecution and targeting of other minority groups. For example:

• In Egypt, where the media and government authorities permit anti-Semitism to run rampant, we see persecution of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Baha’is, among others.
• In Iran, where leaders have a history of denying the Holocaust, and calling for the destruction of the state of Israel, we witness imprisonment and torture of converts to Christianity, and other faiths like Baha'i and minority expressions of the Muslim faith.
• Where anti-Semitism persists in Belarus, other minority faiths are denied registration and Baptist churches are raided by the government.[2]

That is but a glimpse of the data, but the point is clear. Where anti-Semitism remains unchecked, persecution of other ethnic and religious groups also persists. Anti-Semitism is a problem for all human beings, not just Jews. It warns of other existing or future human rights abuses. Anti-Semitism is a worldview of thugs and despots.

4. Anti-Semitism is contrary to the behavior of a civilized people

Anti-Semitism is contrary to the behavior of a civilized people. By any measure, the countries mentioned above are not healthy, thriving societies. Instead, their governments aggressively antagonize and persecute their own citizens. Their governments collude with non-state actors to blame the Jewish people for their own self-imposed poverty, violence, and instability. Or, the government looks the other way and permits social hostilities to abuse Jews. A nation marked by rampant anti-Semitism is not a country entitled to normalized relations with the United States. Those complicit in either propagating or excusing anti-Semitism are no friends of freedom and, therefore, no friends of the United States of America.

5. Anti-Semitism is contrary to God’s gifts of freedom of thought and religion

Jewish identity is not limited to religious expression, of course. But to the extent religious expression is part of what it means to be Jewish, hatred of the Jews qualifies as hatred of a religious people and their beliefs. Thus, anti-Semitism is contrary to God’s gift[3] of freedom of thought and religion. God created humans as autonomous creatures. His instructions in the Garden gave us the responsibility of choosing our eternal allegiance. Even God did not pre-program us to blindly believe in and worship him. If the Creator granted individuals with a responsibility and freedom for belief, certainly it is wholly inappropriate for another human or temporal institution to persecute another on the basis of religious belief.

6. A lesson from history

Protestant Christianity learned our lesson on anti-Semitism the hard way in the 20th Century. As historian Timothy George accounts, aside from the Barmen Declaration of 1934 there was little in the way of protest from the organized church in Germany and Europe during the rise of Hitler and National Socialism. Instead, following the Holocaust that slaughtered 6 million Jews, the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Baptist Union of Germany could do nothing but issue statements of remorse, confessing they themselves shared in the guilt through their own “omission and silence.”

Regrettably, our own Convention was not exempt from this guilt. In 1936, Southern Baptist leaders visited Berlin to attend the Baptist World Alliance Congress:

“They met under the banner of the swastika, received greetings from Hitler, and returned to America with glowing reports on the great things happening in Germany. They specifically minimized the totalitarianism and glaring anti-Semitism which was obvious even in 1936.”[4]

Those who either fostered or ignored anti-Semitic attitudes were not merely on the wrong side of history. They were, as Russell Moore might put it, on the wrong side of Christ. Millions of our fellow human beings paid for our indifferent attitudes with their lives. Therefore, Southern Baptists have since resolved to no longer stand idly by when anti-Semitism rears its evil head. As we continue to witness new and virulent forms of anti-Semitism here and around the globe, Southern Baptists will–with God’s grace, and hopefully the broad spectrum of evangelical Christianity–stand up and yell, “stop” on behalf of Jewish people.

Notwithstanding the above dark history, Southern Baptists have otherwise commonly expressed solidarity with either the Jewish people or the state of Israel for nearly 100 years. A 1919 resolution called on the U.S. government to provide relief for displaced Jews. A resolution in 1947 called for the U.S. to admit 400,000 displaced Europeans in the aftermath of World War II, including Jewish populations. In this spirit, the following are excerpts from the Southern Baptist Convention’s most recent Resolution On Anti-Semitism, worth quoting at length:

WHEREAS, Southern Baptists deplore all forms of hatred or bigotry toward any person or people group; and

WHEREAS, Scripture speaks of God’s love for the Jewish people, through whom God has blessed the world with His Word and with His Messiah, our Lord Jesus; and

WHEREAS, There is a rising tide of anti-Semitism across the globe, which manifests itself in despicable acts of violence and harassment against the Jewish people; and ...

WHEREAS, Populist expressions of anti-Semitism are becoming widespread in some     European countries to a degree that has not been seen since World War II; and

WHEREAS, The bloody history of the twentieth century reminds us of the unspeakably evil legacy of anti-Semitism; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention… denounce all forms of anti-Semitism as contrary to the teachings of our Messiah and an assault on the revelation of Holy Scripture; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we affirm to Jewish people around the world that we stand with them against any harassment that violates our historic commitments to religious liberty and human dignity; and be it finally

RESOLVED, That we call on governmental and religious leaders across the world to stand against all forms of bigotry, hatred, or persecution.

And I am going to add a 7th reason Christians MUST denounce anti-semitism: 

First, anti-Semitism is totally inconsistent with the stated attitude of Jesus toward the Jews. To believe that Jesus is the Messiah or Christ and then not reflect His attitude toward the Jewish people is the height of hypocrisy, let alone a fallacious inconsistency. Jesus was born a Jew, He lived as a Jew, and He died a Jew, by His choice. Even His resurrection was molded after Jewish expectation. He lived in the midst of His Jewish people and He loved them with a love unparalleled in the annals of Jewish history. Even when it became apparent that a large number of His people had rejected His Messianic claims, Jesus wept over a city that not only missed His arrival, but also a city that would come under the Roman destruction in the very near future. Jerusalem, the golden, would become Jerusalem the ruin (Luke 19:37-44).

Even in His hour of death, He prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). His dying heart desired forgiveness, not revenge! Is it any wonder that Jesus told His disciples that love would be the one undeniable evidence that they had been with Him (John 13:34-35)? He commanded them, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). One can argue against a doctrine and fight against a cause, but when love is felt, the message is heard! The early Jewish believers were known for many things, but none more forcibly than their undying love for their Messiah and their Jewish kinsmen. It is utterly inconsistent to despise those who are so dearly loved by Jesus Himself. Prejudice must fade in the dawn of His love.

Early Jewish leadership of the Church

Second, anti-Semitism is absolutely inconsistent with the attitude and teaching of the Apostles, the early Jewish leaders of the Christian Church. They were not only loyal Jews who had come to believe that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, but they also wrote the documents of the New Testament. They knew Jesus personally and willingly died as martyrs rather than renounce Him. The Apostle Paul, more than any other, carried the good news of the Jewish Messiah to the farthest corners of the earth. And yet, wherever he traveled, he never bypassed the Jews; he always went to them first. God’s program begins with the Jews (Romans 1:16). Paul’s greatest sorrow was that many of his kinsmen had rejected their Messiah. This great Apostle’s love for his Jewish people was so intense that he was willing, if it were possible, to surrender his own salvation and suffer the eternal judgment of God, if they would only come back to Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. “I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from the Messiah for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:2-3). His prayers were constantly rising before the throne of God on their behalf: “My heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is their salvation” (Romans 10:1).

Paul realized that Israel’s future was anchored in her great heritage. The Jewish people “are beloved for the sake of the fathers” (Romans 11:28). God’s covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not broken and irretrievably cast aside. The promises stand firm and secure. Like Jesus before him, Paul foresaw a day in the distant future when Israel would experience all of the Messianic blessings, that glorious day when the nation would turn to Jesus as the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the world (Romans 11:25-29). The Apostles would have been appalled at the centuries of anti-Semitic hatred. It is absolutely inconsistent with not only their love and concern for the Jews, but also with their hope for Israel and her future.

Is the Bible Authoritative? Is Jesus the only way?

There's an old story about four blind men who were introduced to an elephant for the first time. None of them knew what an elephant looked like. "Ah!" the first one cried out as he grabbed the elephant by the trunk. "An elephant is like a giant and powerful snake!" "No, you are wrong," said the second blind man as he ran his hands over one of the elephants floppy ears. "The elephant is like a large, leafy plant." "No, you are both wrong," said the third blind man as he wrapped both arms around one of the elephant's legs. "The elephant is like a strong, sturdy tree." "All of you are wrong," said the fourth man. He was holding onto the elephant's tail. "The elephant is like a rope."

I tell this story to help you realize that people approach the Bible with the same confusion. 2. People approach the Bible with the same sort of confusion:

1) The Bible is the literal Word of God without error.

2) The Bible is the flawed product of men.

3) The Bible is both the Word of God and the product of men.

4) The Bible is the Word of God and the product of men, but it does have mistakes in it.

b. Like the blind men examining the elephant, each one of these statements embraces only part of the truth about the book we call the Bible.

1) The Bible is the Word of God.

2) The Bible is also the product of inspired men.

3) The Bibles we have today do contain some copyist errors and some seeming/apparent contradictions.

3. What is important is to see the whole picture--the entire elephant, so to speak.

a. The Bible is the Word of God given to us through inspired men.

b. Mistakes and seeming contradictions are there, but they can be corrected and/or explained.

c. The Bible, as it was originally written and received is totally and completely free from error. 

But then people say "Well with all the different translations, can I trust the Bible?"

A man went to a bookbinder to get a well-used New Testament rebound in leather. He wanted the side binding to read: “The New Testament”. When the job was finished, the binder explained that he just wasn’t able to get all the letters on the side, so he abbreviated: “TNT”.

Some people might like to think they can take some of the powder out of this dynamite, but it’s not possible to disarm God’s word. Comparing the Bible to TNT is appropriate; the author of Hebrews describes the Scriptures as a “double-edged sword” (4:12). The edge of our sword is not dull and cannot be made so by skepticism. Spiritual blindness keeps people from recognizing God in nature and in the revelation of His written word.

We live in an age where it is popular to question authority, and this extends to what God has said. Although for most of the past 2,000 years all branches of Christianity have agreed that the Bible is completely trustworthy, in recent times the validity of Scripture has been questioned by some. Can we trust our Bible? Can we trust its message?

We believe that the Bible is our basis for living. We base our decisions and set our priorities according to what is revealed in God’s word. To deny the divine origin of Scripture is to open the door to further unbelief—any or all teachings of the Bible could be tossed overboard if we do not accept the Bible as our authoritative word from God.

When Martin Luther was put on trial, he stated that he would gladly renounce his opinions if he could be shown where his views disagreed with Scripture. “Prove me wrong from the Bible, and I’ll gladly change,” he asserted. The Scriptures, not man-made rules or tradition, was Luther’s sole basis of authority. So he declared to the Council: “Here I stand! I can do nothing else!”

How to we respond to people who contend the Bible is full of errors and contradictions? Skeptics have over the years argued that there are discrepancies in Scripture, yet no one has ever come up with any firm evidence that might topple the basis of our faith. For every charge against the Bible there is a scholarly answer. There may be some difficult statements in Scripture, and we might not understand all we read. But when something appears inconsistent, we have to realize that the problem is with us, with our limited understanding. How we interpret the text may be what is keeping us from arriving at a satisfying answer. With time and study, we will be able to grasp what is being said in the pages of God’s word, and when we arrive in Heaven, all questions will be adequately answered to our satisfaction. The bottom line is that the Bible is a unified book and can be defended. People may hammer at an anvil, and their many hammers will break, but the anvil will remain.

Peter describes the process of inspiration, stating, “No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (II Pet 1:21). The word “moved” could be translated “carried along”. The Bible is divine in origin; God superintended the production of Scripture. It’s not “creative writing” or inspired in the same way we think of people like Shakespeare, Mozart, or Rembrandt. Theirs was a gift of genius, but those who wrote the Bible were guided by the inward work of the Holy Spirit; they wrote in such a way that God got written exactly what He wanted. Because of its divine origin, the Bible (in the original languages) is completely trustworthy. There may be errors in translations, which is why it’s important to choose a reliable version, and then compare translations. 

As far as translations go, there isn’t a Bible translation that we, fallible humans, can point to and confidently identify as “the best.” It is of course possible to translate the Bible well, or to translate it poorly—just as with any other human activity. But for the most part, the Bible translations readily available to us today don’t differ as much in quality as they differ in translation philosophy. A translation philosophy isn’t a philosophy in the “Socrates, Descartes, and Confucius” sense of the word. Rather, the translation philosophy behind a particular Bible translation represents the way that the translators chose to answer the questions that must be answered when translating any text. And all Bibles fall into one of three categories: 

Word-for-word Bible translations, which emphasize faithfulness to the original text’s literal wording. A popular example is the English Standard Version.
Thought-for-thought Bible translations, which emphasize faithfulness to the original text’s intended meaning. A popular example is the Contemporary English Version.
Bible translations that mix the above two approaches. A popular example is the New International Version. 
I will tell you now, that the best Bible for anyone to get is the English Standard Version--as it is a word for word translation. 

However, aside from all this, The primary way that we United Methodist discern salvation is through understanding Scripture... and Scripture tells us that the way to salvation is through the atoning blood of Christ. In fact the UM official doctrinal statement is "The Holy Scripture containith all things necessary for salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." (p. 60 "Book of Discipline" (2000)

So Scripture contains what is necessary to believe in salvation, and the story of Scripture is the story about Jesus. It my friends, is not the story of Allah, or Gandi; nor is it the story of Buddha, or any other way, for that matter. It is, quite simply, the wonderful story of a God, made manifest in Jesus Christ!

Now that doesn’t mean that we beat up the Buddhist, or drag Muslim’s kicking to discipleship, but what it does mean is that "The Way" we teach is Jesus. And "The Truth" we preach is about Jesus and when we know the truth "the truth will set us free"...!

But, I know what you thinking...this leaves out a lot of people. True enough, so let's look at the exclusive claims of Christianity against that of world religions. The issue of exclusivity – is it truly a Christian only claim?

Christianity is not the only religious that claims exclusivity…

For the Muslim, one must believe in the Koran and know its Arabic language.

For the Buddhist, you must reject Hindu scriptures and the caste system.

For the Hindu, you must believe in karma (every cause has an effect), the authority of their scriptures (Vedas), and reincarnation.

For the Sikhist, you must reject both Hindu and Buddhist thought.

For the Baha’ist, which claims to embrace all religions, they exclude those who don’t agree.

For the Jew, you reject Jesus Christ.

Truth is in the eye of the person claiming the truth…

“If truth does not exclude, then no assertion of a truth claim is being made; it is just an opinion that is being stated…”

Jesus made many claims about truth…many of them recorded by John.

John 8:31-32 says “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

John 3:21 - “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly what he has done through God.”

John 15:26 - “When the Counselor (HS) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.”

John 16:13 - “But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.

“The clear implications of Jesus saying he’s the way, the truth, and the life are that, first, truth is absolute, and second, truth is knowable.”

Christianity cannot be faulted for being the only religion that holds to its truth, but we can be faulted for claiming to know the truth, because the truth is absolute and knowable through Christ. No other religion can make the claim that they know absolute truth and that truth is easily knowable. Matter of fact, if you keep turning your back on the Gospel message, it will not matter how good we are, how good we've been, if we tell God he is not needed, He will be a gentleman and leave. Anytime we put what we think we know, ourselves, our knowledge, our good works, our opinions, our ideas ahead of the gospel message, then we are telling God, we don't need you, we don't need your grace or your mercy that can only be found through His Son Jesus Christ. As soon as we say that or even act like that by embracing false doctrines, our lives become about ourselves and not about Him.  

Seeing God in the Ordinary

*Names are changed in this post to protect the privacy of individuals. I asked the individuals if I could share the story and they each gave permission and asked for prayer. 

Tonight when I left work, I headed over to Aldi. While in the store, I picked up a few items and spoke with the cashier. I made a joke about "If it doesn't ring up, It's free." She said "I've never seen anything for free, well at least not anything worth having." After paying, I took my groceries out to my car. Upon returning my cart to the front of the store, I didn't notice anyone getting out of their cars. So I was getting ready to hook the cart back up and a woman approached me. I dropped the lock and the said "Here you go ma'am."

"Let me give you a quarter for this cart." she said. "No, Ma'am, please take the cart and hang on to your quarter." As she took the cart by it's handle, she looked at me one last time and that's when I noticed the tears in her eyes. I said "Ma'am, I don't know what you are going through, but I want you to know that God is there with you every step of the way." she looked at me and smiled; "Thank you." Her phone rang and I heard her say "*Maggie's phone." and as I was walking back to my car, I heard a young man (HS age) say "I've never seen Jesus before." 

I kept walking and got in my car and he said a bit louder "Miss, thank you. I asked God for a sign that there are still good people in the world. You're the answer to that prayer." Another man also heard the young man and stayed near by listening. I asked the young man his name and he said "Jimmy*" I then asked "Why did you ask God for a sign that there are good people in the world?" His reply touched my heart. 

"Over the past few weeks of school, I've been considered the outsider. The seniors are making my life hell. I've been targeted, called all manner of names that are derogatory for a homosexual because I don't have a girlfriend and I am not sleeping around. I am a Christian, and honestly I just don't know what I believe any more. I came here to tell my mom good night and good-bye."  

Seeing tears in my eyes, the bystander asked "What do you mean, Good-bye?" He continued, "Well, I've reported the students at school and they are unrelenting and it seems that the administration doesn't care because I am not a popular student. So I figure "If they don't care, God doesn't care and if God doesn't care, why should I? I honestly just want to die! So I was going home to end my life before my mom got home from work." I told the kid, "My entire life has been fraught with bullying. If I write something on social media, I am put down. I have been lied about by my best friends, I have been attacked, called names and told that I was stupid. However, God has been with me every step of the way, and He's with you. Do you believe in Jesus?" Jimmy said "Yeah, I do." I asked Jimmy if I could pray with him...he said "Yes, please." So we prayed; then I walked him into Aldi to meet with his mom and to stay with her. She was getting off at 8:00pm, but we asked her manager to run the register, so she could talk with her son. We told her about what her son had planned. I left the young man with his mom, and walked to my car, the mom came to the door and said "I guess some things are free and they are good things and worth having." 

Today, I experienced God in a major way--I saw a young man turn from wanting to commit suicide because of bullying. A mom saw that God's salvation goes beyond saying a prayer, but that God saved her son's life for free and it was worth having. A young man experienced God in seeing a woman hand over a cart at Aldi and not taking a quarter for it. An elderly woman experienced God when she was told "Hang on to your quarter."

I don't know about you all, but God is amazing...even in the ordinariness of life! 

New Age Spirituality...and ministering to New Agers

I started writing this prior to Hurricane Florence and I was reading some religious articles. In my last blog, I wrote about God not being found in The Shack and someone posted on my facebook, "He's found between your ears and in your heart." While that is true enough, that isn't the whole truth. Matter of fact, that is very much the answer I would expect from someone didn't read my article and who practices New Age Spirituality. Then my mind turned to the music I like; I am 39 (almost) and love the music of the 1960s; especially the Woodstock/Free Love era. 
One of my favorite songs is "The Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In." However, I never really caught on to the new age lyrics as I do now: 


Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind's true liberation
Aquarius

Generally, New Age thought supports the theory of organic evolution, but extends the concept to the evolution of the spirit. This is the concept of "Evolutionary Godhood," where the next step in evolution won't be physical, but spiritual. The principles of evolution are constantly moving mankind toward god-consciousness, where man and reality connect in unified enlightenment. The "fittest" already understand this reality, while the "unfit" (such as Christians and other proponents of dogmatic worldviews) act as a hindrance to evolutionary forces. Many New Age practices are designed to accelerate the evolutionary push into the spiritual realms. These practices include: (i) astral projection, which is training your soul to leave your body and travel around; (ii) channeling spirits, so they may speak through you or guide you; (iii) crystal usage, which purifies the energy systems of your body and mind; and (iv) visualization techniques, which include everything from basic mental imagery to role playing of animals or divine creatures. In a nutshell, Evolutionary Godhood means that mankind will soon see itself as god. This is often referred to as the "Christ principle" or "Christ consciousness." New Age teaches that we are basically good and inherently divine, and ultimately, we can create our own reality.

The second major doctrine of the New Age movement is "Global Unity." This concept typically consists of three parts: 
Man Unified With Man. One New Age principle is that we will all realize our proper divine relationship with one another and achieve pure harmony through the acceptance of this divine knowledge. With relational harmony comes economic unity. With economic unity, we can achieve political unity (a single world government) and spiritual unity (a one world religion). 
Man Unified With Nature. Another New Age principle is that god is everything, and everything is god. Therefore, nature is also part of god. We must be in harmony with nature. We must nurture it and be nurtured by it. Mankind is no different than any other animal. We must live in harmony with them, understand them, and learn from them. Actually, many in the New Age movement refer to the union of earth and nature as "Gaia." Gaia is revered, respected, and even worshipped as a god by some. American Indian rituals are also popular in the New Age movement because they focus on the elements of nature and man's relationship to them. 
Man Unified With God. Since man is divine by nature, all people can realize their "divinity" and contribute to the unified purpose of man, earth and nature. The ultimate goal in life is to fully realize our own divine goodness. The New Age god is impersonal and omnipresent. He (it) has not revealed himself (itself) to mankind, and therefore, mankind is not accountable to any notions of moral law or absolute truth. There is no objective morality in the New Age philosophy. We should have tolerance for all systems of truth, meaning and purpose. We should create a world of pure relativism, where morality and religion are strictly relative to each person's individual notion of reality itself.

•    God is in everything (pantheism) 

•    All things are one (monism)

•    Man is God

•    Mind creates reality

•    One’s own experience validates the truth 

•    The Son of God (John 11:4)

•   "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).

•   "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

The New Age movement is all about monism (all is one), pantheism (all is God) and  mysticism (experience of oneness with the divine). New Age has two major stages of doctrine: 

New Age: The Doctrine of Evolutionary Godhood

New Age: The Doctrine of Global Unity

All of this can be summed up in the simple points of: 

Instead, the typical New Ager believes:

A true understanding of New Age practices makes one thing clear: Eastern practices cannot be blended into Christianity to produce something better. New Agers are Universalists, believing that all paths lead to God. They fault Christians for being intolerant and narrow-minded. But God's word anticipates this: "Enter the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13, NIV)

1. Whom do you believe Jesus is?

2. Whom did Jesus say He is?

3. What did Jesus say about other spiritual paths?

4. Jesus was either who he said He was or He was a fraud. Given His claims, we can't logically believe he was only a great teacher, for He would have been teaching falsehood rather than truth (this is an argument by C. S. Lewis).

5. Jesus alone is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

Sharing Jesus with New Agers can be difficult; and you will get discouraged, but remember New Agers are in a lot of confusion. That's because they haven't found the Truth, but only what fits into the spiritual perspective they have constructed. As in the Garden of Eden, the lie has never changed.

But neither has the Truth. Don't be discouraged if you don't see immediate results from sharing with New Agers. In many cases – like my own – when they finally come to Christ, it's because God had been planting seeds and watering for a long time. Just keep praying and loving and sharing the words of Jesus because in many instances they will not want to hear this; but they need to hear and know that Jesus loves them. 

A restless evil, full of deadly poison

I had a conversation a few years ago with my friend who is involved in Youth Ministry. Her youth group was struggling with how to love their gay friends. The problem as they saw it was "If we love them then when are condoning what they are doing. If we don't support them, then we obviously don't love them." It was a problem that we spoke about and came to the conclusion that God would want us to show our friends love, through our actions and words, even when we can't support their actions. 

Today, I have found myself sickened by the retorts of "Christians" bashing a Bishop in Sweden. After I wrote my first response which was simply "Remember John 3:16, WHOSOEVER" I went to town and completed my errands. While I was out, I shot off a few short prayers about how to handle this situation. In my soul, I felt God whisper, "Until she has a real experience with Me, I won't be real to her." After a stop at the library, I shot off another short prayer and this time I felt the spirit say "Until your last breathe, I can save you." 

When I got home, I was reading the responses and I was being attacked, left and right. I even said "Maybe she's never had a real encounter with God; but He could change her." and "Until she breathes her last, she can be saved." Immediately someone named Edmond Greer went to my Facebook page and said "Oh, I get it now...you're a crossover." I knew full well what he meant, but I wanted to see him write it out. Evidently I was born a man...something that was news to me, because my official birth certificate says I was born a girl. 

Friends, your words matter. According to Dr. Mark Pagel, Language provides the rails on which thoughts ride. The words we use — and how we use them — matter immensely because they shape the way we perceive the world and participate within it.

Chris Hazell states "As Christians, we try daily to use our words with care and to cultivate understanding. But still, we fall short." As a matter of fact, James 1:24 says "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless." Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."

Are you scaring people away from God with your words? 

Ephesians 4:29 urges us to "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

Job 6:24-25 states "“Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray. How forceful are upright words! But what does reproof from you reprove?" 

When it comes to my Homosexual friends, I want everyone to know that as a Christian, I believe that every individual is made in God's image: "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). This means that everybody is loved by God and has innate dignity and worth as a human being. And when the time comes to answer the question "Is it possible to believe in Jesus and be a homosexual at the same time?" The answer, as I see it, is both yes and no. I take the view that there's an important difference between feeling gay and acting on those feelings. As with any form of sinful behavior, the transgression comes not in being tempted, but in willfully engaging in activity that is contrary to God's law. So yes – you can be a Christian and struggle with homosexual tendencies at the same time; but no – you can't be a faithful, obedient Christian while willingly involving yourself in homosexual acts. Anybody who seriously desires to follow Jesus Christ needs to make it his or her goal to abstain from sexual practices that the Bible clearly identifies as sinful.

Now, before all of my LGBTQA+ friends get angry, I want to go a bit deeper; the great mystery of the Christian life is "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). Not alongside you, not over you, but in you. This is the deeper reason why a practicing homosexual cannot be a practicing Christian. The same would go for any human being engaged in any sexual sin; just as Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!" (1 Corinthians 6:15). When we accept Christ as Savior, we also make a decision to live the way He wants us to live – righteously by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Death of Discernment and The Shack

"Don't you dare put my God in a box!" "God can be anything and do anything...including a woman named Papa." "God is greater than you know, and everyone will be saved!" 

These are just some of the things that people often tell me when we discuss The Shack. If you don't know the story of "The Shack" let me provide you with Amazon's description: 

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of what he refers to as 'The Great Sadness,' Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant 'The Shack' wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" However, as Eric Barger points out in his video The Shack, the Death of Discernment, we need to examine EVERYTHING that claims to be a message from God. Friends, even mature Christians are being deceived by this movie/book.  Paul tells Timothy that this is coming. Check out 2 Timothy 3:1-7  But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.  In 2 Timothy 4:1-8 he goes on to say  I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.  6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.  How many Christians, can truly say this? How many will be able to say that they will receive a crown of righteousness? Today I see so many Christians turning and listening to every wind of doctrine, many so much so they that they have no training in apologetics, which in a lot of ways isn't their fault because the church has greatly ceased teaching discipleship and landed on the repetitive "GET SAVED, GET SAVED, GET SAVED" message. While there is nothing innately wrong with this message, something has to come after "Getting Saved!" Otherwise, how do we grow?  This is where apologetics comes in and really apologetics is a big seminary word that means "Defend your faith!" If the church isn't discipling people we aren't teaching them to defend their faith! When I was in elementary school, I was pegged to play the "Center Guard"--evidently there was something good about being 5'11" in 5th grade. Yet, I didn't really know what that position did. My coach would say "Defend the goal." Okay, but how? I wasn't being trained on how to defend anything. Faith is like that too, if you aren't trained in defending your faith, then when the time comes to use discernment, you really don't know what to do.  What is discernment? Simply put discernment means "perception in the absence of judgment with a view to obtaining spiritual direction and understanding." In other words, to judge something and see if it lines up with scripture.  What teachings don't line up with scripture in The Shack? I can name at least 13 teachings that do not line up with scripture in the Shack as well as some things that are said by "Papa" that don't line up with scripture. So let's start with the 13 heresies.  1. God the Father was crucified with Jesus. Because God’s eyes are pure and cannot look upon sin, the Bible says that God would not look upon His own beloved Son as He hung on the Cross, carrying our sins (Habakkuk 1:13; Matthew 27:45). 2. God is limited by His love and cannot practice justice. The Bible declares that God’s love and His justice are two sides of the same coin – equally a part of the personality and the character of God (Isaiah 61:8; Hosea 2:19). 3. On the Cross, God forgave all of humanity, whether they repent or not. Some choose a relationship with Him, but He forgives them all regardless. Jesus explained that only those who come to Him will be saved (John 14:6). 4. Hierarchical structures, whether they are in the Church or in the government, are evil. Our God is a God of order (Job 25:2). 5. God will never judge people for their sins. The Word of God repeatedly invites people to escape from the judgment of God by believing in Jesus Christ, His Son (Romans 2:16; 2 Timothy 4:1-3). 6. There is not a hierarchical structure in the Godhead, just a circle of unity. The Bible says that Jesus submitted to the will of the Father. This doesn’t mean that one Person is higher or better than the other; just unique. Jesus said, “I came to do the will of Him who sent me. I am here to obey my Father.” Jesus also said, “I will send you the Holy Spirit” (John 4:34, 6:44, 14:26, 15:26). 7. God submits to human wishes and choices. Far from God submitting to us, Jesus said, “Narrow is the way that leads to eternal life.” We are to submit to Him in all things, for His glory and because of what He has accomplished for us (Matthew 7:13-15). 8. Justice will never take place because of love. The Bible teaches that when God’s love is rejected, and when the offer of salvation and forgiveness is rejected, justice must take place or God has sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for nothing (Matthew 12:20; Romans 3:25-26). 9. There is no such a thing as eternal judgment or torment in hell. Jesus’ own description of hell is vivid. It cannot be denied (Luke 12:5, 16:23). 10. Jesus is walking with all people in their different journeys to God, and it doesn’t matter which way you get to Him. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one will come to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). 11. Jesus is constantly being transformed along with us. Jesus, who dwells in the splendor of heaven, sits at the right hand of God, reigning and ruling the universe. The Bible says, “In Him there is no change, for He is yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 11:12, 13:8; James1:17). 12. There is no need for faith or reconciliation with God because everyone will make it to heaven. Jesus said, “Only those who believe in me will have eternal life” (John 3:15, 3:36, 5:24, 6:40). 13. The Bible is not true because it reduces God to paper. The Bible is God-breathed. Sure, there were many men through 1,800 years who put pen to paper (so to speak), each from different professions and different backgrounds, but the Holy Spirit infused their work with God’s words. These men were writing the same message from Genesis to Revelation. If you want to read more about the place of Christ in the Scripture, read “We Preach Christ” (2 Timothy 3:16). If this doesn't worry you, maybe the 21 statements made by "Papa" will.  “The first aspect of God is never that of the absolute Master, the Almighty. It is that of the God who puts himself on our human level and limits himself” (from p. 88).This statement, to say the least, is over stated. God has revealed himself both as being Almighty, as transcendent, as beyond us in omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. Yet he also is One who desires a deep relationship with his people, as being immanent or close to them. “When we three spoke ourself into human existence as the Son of God, we became fully human” (99).While this statement reflects knowledge of the Trinity, it represents serious, even heretical distortion. Only the Lord Jesus Christ became incarnate. Jesus and the Father are one in nature or essence (John 10:10; Hebrews 1:1-3) but only Jesus became a human person. Throughout his life he submitted himself to do the will of the Father as a distinct person of the Godhead who had not become incarnate, as even the Lord’s prayer recognizes (Matthew 6:9-13; see also Hebrews 10:5-10). As Jesus faced the greatest challenge of his human existence, his death for sinners, he committed himself in the Garden of Gethsemane to do the Father’s will (Matthew 26:36-45). Finally, Paul the Apostle asserts that all the fullness of deity abides in Jesus in a bodily form (Colossians 2:9). And in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 the distinctive natures of the Father and Son are delineated: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.” Jesus Christ is the perfect bridge between God and human beings because he alone has two natures—divine and human, with the latter being acquired at his nativity. While there is much beyond human comprehension in understanding the Trinity, nowhere in all of Scripture is it ever said that the entire Trinity became human. The movie, “The Shack,” is extremely deceitful here regarding the Trinity (see BDS, chap. 2). “Although Jesus is fully God, he has never drawn upon his nature as God to do anything” (99-100).Yet on rare occasions Jesus did manifest himself as equal with God. Note that he could pronounce that someone’s sins were forgiven, which only God can do (Mark 2:5-7). He was self-consciousness that he is God (John 10:30). He proclaimed himself to be divine (Matthew 26:63-65). His death was both human and divine in the sense that he died as a human being dies but in that he died for the sins of all humankind he did a divine act (BDS, chap. 2). “God cannot act apart from love” (102).Again this is an over statement and misrepresents God’s true nature. While love is always a constant in God’s nature, and The Shack contributes to our understanding of God as love, the Bible asserts that holiness too (Leviticus 19:2) and righteousness (several times mentioned in Romans 3:21-26) are equally and perfectly eternal attributes of God. Both love and righteousness/justice are found mentioned together in many places: Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 45). Thus God always acts in both love and holiness. Since Paul Young later says things which limit God’s holiness or justice, his statement here is a distortion of who God is. But it is in line with the basic tenet of UR that God’s justice and holiness are trumped by his love (BDS, chap. 2). The Father, the Spirit, and Jesus were together at the cross and together were crucified (95-96, 102, 222).This teaching clearly constitutes heresy. While the Trinity was indeed present at the cross, and Jesus never ceased to be God and One of the Trinity, yet Jesus alone became human and he alone made the sacrifice of atonement for sin. While the divine nature of the Trinity is the same for all persons in the Trinity, different persons in the Godhead have differing roles. Countless Scriptures make this clear—that God the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (among many, note John 3:16; Romans 3:21-25-26; note again the Biblical texts cited under #2 above). Indeed, the prophecy of the death of Jesus, found in Isaiah 53, reveals the role of the Father as the One who brings forth the sacrifice of Jesus (almost every verse in this great text affirms this truth). God planned the sacrifice of Jesus, and Jesus was the One sacrificed (BDS, chap. 2). God says: “I am not who you think I am” (120).The next point (#7) is in the immediate context where this statement is made. It is Papa’s reply to Mac when he asks whether God is a God of wrath and punishes sin. It follows a discussion in earlier pages (107ff.) where holiness and love are discussed. In light of the following chapters in the novel and scenes in the film, the words are meant to portray God to be supremely love, that he doesn’t judge people in hell, that all are his children. Thus this statement, as other reviewers have also recognized, is the bedrock of the whole story of The Shack. Paul Young is seeking to redefine God as UR consistently does. All of God’s other attributes are subjected to his attribute of love. Yet this redefinition of God destroys God as revealed in the Bible where all his attributes, including love and holiness and righteousness, are in perfect balance, are equal, and are in harmony. Indeed, the Apostle John, who expands the direct speech of Jesus in John 3, describes God who out of love gave his special Son to give eternal life to those who believe (v. 16), also describes God as the God of wrath for unbelievers (v. 36) (BDS, chaps. 3-4). “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it” (120).This statement is in the context of #6 above. While this statement is true it is not the complete truth. It ignores the fact that people are born in sin and commit sins. The Bible says that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The consequences, the wages, of sin is death for everyone who has not accepted the gift of forgiveness and eternal life found in believing in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). God punished sin when Jesus took the punishment we deserve and bore this in his death on the cross. (BDS, chap. 4). In a “circle of relationship” involving God and people there is no authority, no hierarchy, and no submission (122-124).Yet Jesus claimed that all authority over all creation belonged to him and he commands his followers to obey him (Matthew 28:19-20). While Jesus calls them brothers (Hebrews 2:10-18) and friends (John 15:14-15), in the New Testament his followers never call Jesus by these titles. Jesus also is teacher and Lord to his followers (John 14:13; Colossians 2:6ff.; Romans 10:9-10). Jesus said that our obedience to him proves our love for him and becomes our source of joy (John 14:15-24; 15:9-17). In many other ways this definition of relationship is false. All pure relationships ultimately betray people and are doomed to failure. Relationships require structure in order to have a stabilizing and positive influence on culture. Finally, the Apostles themselves identify subversives in their day as those who “reject authority” (Galatians 2:4; Jude 8). They pray that God be given glory and authority through Jesus Christ (Jude 25) (see BDS, chap. 5 where I note the failures of a “pure relationship”). God cannot send any of his children to an eternity of hell just because they sin against him (162).This is a summary of what Papa says in several conversations. The problem with this belief is threefold. First, it obscures who his children are. Because all people have been created by God all people can be labelled “God’s children” or “offspring” in a general sense. The Apostle Paul does this in Acts 17:26-28. But in a more exact sense only those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ are God’s children. Again this is why Paul insists that those who are God’s children in a general sense must repent and believe in Christ who has been raised from the dead: Acts 17:29-32. They believe that Jesus Christ has taken their sin and for them paid the penalty of eternal death. The rest of humanity will experience an eternity in hell. Second, it is the sin of refusing to believe in Jesus that condemns people to an eternity of judgment in hell (John 3:16-18, 36). Jesus himself said that unless a person is born again—spiritually reborn—he cannot see, will not enter, God’s kingdom (John 3:3-8).  Finally, hell must exist and be everlasting if heaven exists and is everlasting. See BDS, chap. 9. “Your understanding of God is wrong.” I’m not one who will “condemn most to an eternity of torment” (162-164).This is typical universalist thinking. It goes to the heart of who God is and what he does. UR redefines God. UR believes that the attribute of God’s love trumps his attributes of justice and holiness.  By such reasoning God cannot condemn anyone to hell but must rescue all humanity and even the fallen angels from an eternity of judgment. If people don’t believe the gospel about salvation in Jesus before they die they will repent in hell by means of the corrective (not punishing) fires of hell. Yet such teaching effectively destroys who God is—one perfect and complete in all his attributes. And Jesus spoke clearly that there are only two destinies: “eternal life” for his people, who serve him; and “eternal punishment” for those who reject him (Matthew 25:46) (BDS, chap. 9). A major fault with UR is that while it sounds reasonable to human thinking it violates Biblical teaching (=God’s thinking). God loves all his children the same, equally, and “perfectly,” but “differently” (154-163).As pointed out above under #9 not all people are God’s children in the sense that they belong to him on the basis of faith (=the only basis). The Bible says: “To all who received him (=Jesus), to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13) (BDS, chap. 9). “Mercy triumphs over justice because of love” (164).This is probably the most central affirmation that universalists make about the actions of God. For them it explains why hell cannot be forever, why God cannot punish sin, why God does not judge, and several other statements in the present list. It is close to a quotation of James 2:13 but is actually a misquote and misinterpretation. Young adds the words, “because of love” (not in the verse) and uses these words to explain God’s actions when in the context James is describing what people should do—they should be impartial and not judge their neighbors. Indeed, Young omits the first part of the verse that actually affirms God’s judgment (something which universalists deny): “For judgment will be merciless to the one who has shown no mercy.” God will judge believers for showing partiality (note verses 8-11). (BDS, chap. 9) “Judgment is not about destruction but about setting things right” (169).These words are an exact quote of what the early church father, Origen, a universalist, said in the third century. They contradict Jesus’ words that the broad way leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13); and the apostles spoke of the destruction of the wicked (Romans 9:22; Philippians 3:19; 1 Thesssalonians 5:3; 2 Thessal. 1:9; 2 Peter 2:1; 3:16). In Romans 8:1 Paul said that there is “now no condemnation [=judgment] to those who are in Christ Jesus.” The implication is that those who are not in Christ are under judgment already (BDS, chap. 9). “Every human institution is the matrix, a diabolical scheme” (122-124).Yet the Bible teaches that God created the institutions of marriage (Genesis 2; Ephesians 5), the government (Romans 13:1-7), and the church (Matthew 16:16-19: it is “his” church). It is a false dichotomy to oppose relationships to institutions. Without institutions there cannot be lasting, meaningful relationships, but “every person will do what is right in his own eyes” (BDS, chap. 6). “I don’t create institutions—never have, never will.” The institutions of the church, government and marriage are the “man-created trinity of terrors that ravages the earth and deceives those I care about. It’s all false” (179).Clearly again this is universalist thinking. Throughout its history the proponents of UR have opposed the evangelical, Christian church as an obstacle to their success. As stated above under #14, God created the three institutions as part of his wonderful plan to bring light to the nations and to stabilize society and relationships. These institutions preserve culture and needful structures. Without these the world would collapse into darkness under the sway of anarchy foisted on the world by Satan, the prince (John 14:30) and god (2 Corinthians 4:4) of this world. Because Young falsifies and opposes the three necessary institutions as “a trinity of terrors” he is an anarchist, terrorist, and demonic. See a fuller defense of these institutions in BDS, chap. 10. About all people Jesus says: “I have no desire to make them Christians” (182).Again, UR thinking wants to distance itself from Biblical Christianity and thus makes this silly argument. It is true that Jesus never used the word “Christian.” It first comes into play after Jesus ascended and returned to heaven. In Acts 11:26 the disciples, the believers in Christ at Antioch, are first identified as Christians. But it is Jesus’ desire to make disciples from all nations and he commands his followers to do so and to baptize them in the name of the Trinity (Matthew 28:19-20). Disciples and Christians are one and the same group (see further in BDS, chap. 10). “I am now fully reconciled to the world. . . . It’s not the nature of love to force a relationship but it is the nature of love to open the way” (192).Reconciliation means that God has taken the initiative to make peace with sinners. It’s one of the great doctrines of the Bible. But while God has made reconciliation available for all, he has not reconciled anyone until a person believes. Without faith a person remains alienated from God and an enemy (Colossians 1:20-23). Indeed the world hated Jesus and his disciples before and after the cross (John 15:18-16:4). If UR “opens a way” by which the will of some not to believe is voided, how then is this belief not “forcing a relationship” and thus contrary to love (BDS, chap. 11)? See #20 below. God has opened “a path of reconciliation” (222).Again, the Biblical truth is that only believers in Christ are on this path of peace with God. Faith is the condition. People must be “in Christ.” Otherwise, people are on the path to destruction (2 Corinthians 5:17-21; and Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:13-14). Note that the words above are “a path” instead of “the path.” Universalists don’t want to exclude anyone from a destiny with a loving God; they want to include all. They don’t like Jesus’ exclusive claim in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I devote two entire chapters to the Biblical word “reconciliation” and what it means, in BDS, chaps. 11-12. The Holy Spirit says: “I have a great fondness for uncertainty” (203).While we can appreciate the mystery surrounding how the Holy Spirit works we can be sure of one thing: the Spirit, Jesus said, will never speak independently but will speak and lead in accord with what Jesus has said and says (John 16:12-15). The Bible makes it clear that the Spirit must be in agreement with our Lord’s teaching—in accord with the truth (1 John 2:21-22, 26-27). If Jesus spoke of the certainty of eternal judgment and eternal life (so Matthew 7:13-14; 25:41) the Spirit cannot and will not contradict this—or breed uncertainty about Jesus’ teaching. One thing of which believers can be certain is the Spirit’s witness to them that they belong to God. He assures us of our salvation (Romans 8:13-16). False, subversive teachers do not have the Spirit (Jude 19 says) (BDS, chap. 13). “For you to forgive this man (the murderer) is for you to release him to me and allow me to redeem him. . . . He too is my son. I want to redeem him” (224).Here the issues of forgiveness, redemption, and sonship are deeply intertwined. It is necessary that Christians forgive those who harm them. But the relationship of being a son or child of God in the narrow sense (see # 9 and 11 above) is reserved only for those who repent (confess that they are sinners; Romans 10:9-10), believe in Jesus Christ and receive him as their Savior (John 1:12). Finally, God’s desire to save or redeem anyone (as 1 Timothy 2:4 expresses it) cannot be accomplished unless that person wishes to be saved. It is here that UR becomes extremely deterministic. It teaches that in the end God overrides a human being’s will not to believe before death to bring one to salvation after death. UR teaches that God voids human will. “In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me, but only some choose relationship” (225).The Bible teaches that being forgiven by God is to enter relationship with him. Young’s failure to mention faith as the only means whereby one is saved from the judgment for sin (Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16) and receives both forgiveness and relationship with God is really the face of non-loving. It is like a scientist withholding the key to a box containing the antidote for a worldwide plague. Universalists doom all humanity to eternal separation and death. Friends, there is no universal salvation for people, you either call upon Jesus as your savior or you don't. As Mandisa says in her song Dear John "The Father is waiting with open arms, but you get to choose." You can choose heaven or hell, life everlasting or death. You can choose to think I am a quack or heed my words to learn more and to challenge yourself. However, I urge you to take a HARD look at Scripture and compare it to what The Shack actually teaches, and I promise you won't see the secular teachings of William P. Young in the Bible.