Seriously

**Updated: The video I had on this post earlier had an advertisement for a book at the end which I did not actually mean to be endorsing. I had just posted the video because it had some clips of Oprah that illustrated what is of concern to me about her teaching. I should have looked for another video or put a disclaimer that I wasn't endorsing the book earlier, since I didn't really mean to be endorsing a book or author I do not know. It seems that portions of that book may have been plagiarized, so I have changed the video, since the advertised book wasn't the reason for my posting the video anyway, and I do not want to seem to be endorsing it. *** (HT: Slice of Laodicea)

1 Timothy 3:1-7
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

I tend not to blog much about overly controversial or pop culture kinds of things, but the general topic of the so-called ‘New Spirituality’ or whatever its various names and forms (Contemplative prayer, meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, and so many other things) has been of concern to me for a long time now, and the particular thing I’m going to blog about today has been something I’ve been praying about and debating about blogging for a few days now, but I think it is important enough I need to say something.

Let me back up for a minute and mention something I read in Chapter 2 of The Excellent Wife that I didn’t really hit on in my last post. In the final section of that chapter Martha Peace talks about why women (well, she’s specifically talking about wives because that is the focus of her book, but I’m broadening it to women for the sake of this post because it fits) need protection. The three reasons she lists are: 1.) The influence the world has on her. (1 John 2:16) 2.) The devil. (Ephesians 6:10-11, 13) 3.) Women are more easily deceived. (1 Timothy 2:12-14)

These are things that modern women have a hard time hearing. They are considered controversial and counter-cultural. But I think Mrs. Peace is right to point these out. As a woman, I can testify that it is very easy to be drawn into thinking like the world when I spend time reading the ‘women’s magazines’ and watching daytime TV which is geared toward women. Really, most of that stuff is garbage, spiritually speaking. The advice offered in most of the women’s magazines and talk shows is horrendous and fosters a self-centered, worldly, unbiblical mindset. Which you would expect from things written and produced by unbelievers – I’m not so much criticizing the people who write and produce the stuff because they are just writing what they know, we expect worldly people to offer worldly advice, and I’m sure most of them mean well by it. I’m not questioning anyone’s motives, but I am saying that a Christian woman really needs to be careful what she fills her mind with and what advice she seeks for how to live. The advice and worldview offered in those magazines and TV shows are not biblical. It really isn’t wise to open myself up to deception by focusing on them. How much better if I fill my mind with God’s Word and learn what He has said for how a woman is to live.

What better way for deception to creep into the homes of women than through the television? I’ve been wary for a long time of much of so-called Christian television which mostly seems to promote health/wealth prosperity false teaching and other false teaching. But also, the daytime television shows are deceptive because they are not presented as religious or spiritual at all. But you better believe there are worldview assumptions behind the things being said, and a constant steady diet of those shows will have an impact on how we think. I turned off the TV during the day back when my oldest son was just little. First of all, my home is much more peaceful without the constant chatter. But, also, I see a difference in my attitudes and how I look at things the less time I spend with the faulty reasoning many of those chatterers espouse.

Now, to the point of this post. There is one daytime TV host who has way more influence than all the others. I think we need to pray for Oprah and for the millions of people who swallow whatever she recommends hook, line and sinker. I’m concerned that Oprah is deceived and is taking many people along the road with her. There are a lot of people writing about this, and I found some information following links here and here if you want to see for yourself the kinds of things she is being much more open about teaching these days. And something to think about is that this is not new for Oprah. She’s been participating in this stuff for a long time, by her own words on some of the stuff I’ve read and heard, but she’s just recently bringing it more into the forefront of her influence. I have never really understood Oprah’s appeal to people, because I was put off by things she was saying even back in the 90’s when I was a young wife and mom at home. Even then I wasn’t comfortable with the spirituality she espoused, and, to be honest, I have not seen her show for years. But apparently these days she is being much more open about the false teaching she has embraced.

So, be alert. Be sober minded. Test the spirits and know the Word of God so that you can better recognize when what someone is teaching is not right. Pray for Oprah, but don’t heed the false teaching she’s making so popular. This is a video with some clips of what Oprah is saying these days:



I think it is easy to just ‘pooh-pooh’ the concerns some of us have about the whole ‘New Age/New Spirituality’ and etc. movement. It’s easy to think that it’s just kooky and on the fringe and not that important or that it’s harmless, that it isn’t as dangerous as some of us think. The thing is, very subtly, the worldview and teachings of this movement are being mainstreamed, and it isn’t innocent or harmless. In fact, I had to, very politely, go and talk to a teacher at my sons’ school not too long ago to find out why my son had come home talking about some things that sent red flags up in my mind. Turns out I was not the first to come in, and she was ending the section on the intro to yoga and tai chi that she’d been using in their P.E. class since so many parents were not happy about it, and we were able to use the experience to have a great discussion with our boys about this topic and about what it is that concerned us about it and about worldviews. Her justification to me was that she wasn’t using meditation, but just the stretches. Fine. Do stretches, but I really don’t want my first grader learning about chi while he stretches. When I had looked up the author of the “innocent” video she was using, I found that he does have a desire to teach children how to meditate and do all the other stuff that is left off this video. That video was his entry to get into what he really wanted to teach. The boys' teacher, however, was just trying to find something to use to get the kids moving. She wasn’t actually trying to draw them in, and I didn’t expect her to really understand my concerns from a spiritual standpoint. After all, she told me she had nixed another video which did have the kids meditate because she knew that wouldn’t be acceptable. So, when I went in, I did not go in there with figurative guns drawn and angry words. I politely asked to see what she was teaching, what video she was using and voiced my concerns in a rational way. But, my point is, these things are becoming so mainstreamed that people don’t realize there is more to it than the surface intro demos present. There is more to it than “just exercise.” They are rooted in the deeper religious and altered consciousness teachings, even if what the kids were exposed to didn’t go that far. But it opens the door to deception later on. That’s the danger.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, watch and pray. Be alert and sober minded. Know the Word of God, spend time in His Word. Seek godly counsel, not the false hope the world offers.