A Christian Look at The Secret, Part II

After mulling over my last post, I realized I had not taken into account Quantum Physics.

I'm no scientist, but from what I understand, Quantum Physics is an exciting new field. It has been said that Quantum Physics has actually proven that everything, even inanimate objects, emit a kind of vibration. Since all matter is composed of energy, and thoughts emit their own vibrations (also proven by Q.P.), it is not at all inconceivable that what you think about, you will attract into your life, simply because that is the way God designed things. This would be an explanation I could accept, and it would not contradict science. You see, science and the Bible must harmonize. If science SEEMS to contradict the Bible, it's because there is something the scientist is hiding or does not yet know (that would reveal that the Bible is right).

It is a proven fact that scientists who took pictures of water at the molecular level in three situations-- 1) before it had been spoken to, 2) after negative things were spoken to it, and 3) after positive things were spoken to it-- noticed a startling difference between the three images.

The image of the nomal water looked... well, normal. The image of the water molecules that had been surrounded by negativity actually showed molecules that were in complete disarray, and images of water molecules that had been surrounded by words of positivity and love showed water that was whole, complete, strong. This is probably the exact reason that negative people are befuddled with health problems, and positive people seem to be luckier and healthier. As the Bible says, "As a man thinketh, so is he."

Also, there is proof that not only thoughts, but things do indeed emit a vibration, what my friend Joe W., a Christian, calls a Life Force. When he was a student in high school, he had an experience that never left him. His science teacher had a guest speaker speak about life force, and chose Joe W. to demonstrate. He had Joe hold on to a healthy tree with one hand while he pushed down on Joe's other hand (and told Joe to resist). Joe was pretty strong, so it was hard for the speaker to resist his arm. Then the speaker cut a branch off and instructed Joe to place his hand onto the part of the tree that had been cut off, and proceeded to push down on his other arm again. The change was amazing. Joe had no strength at all. He was unable to resist the speaker at all! Joe is trained in Tae Kwon Do, so nobody can accuse Joe of being weak. He's not. Amazed, Joe listened carefully as the speaker explained that every living thing has a Life Force, and when there is an injury, it needs strength and support from other Life Forces to heal (but temporarily weakens those forces as it heals).

As a Christian, we must recognize that we are entering a new age, the information age. Science and technology now at levels never heard of before, we are able to find out some amazing things. We need to not reject this new information, nor blindly accept it, but prayerfully consider what is real knowledge and what is another parlor trick of demons.

To conclude, it is absolutely true that your thoughts affect your life, first by changing the way you think, feel, and act, and second, by attracting events, things, and people to yourself. I remember a few years back I had become interested in learning Spanish. There were also a couple of other things I had wanted to learn, but now I have forgotten what they were. The point, though, is that about a week after deciding I was going to learn Spanish (plus the other things), I was walking around my neighborhood, when I saw a box with the words FREE on it, sitting on the sidewalk. As I approached, I saw books in it, and I had hoped there would be some good books in there, as I am a bookworm. When I leafed through the box, I was AMAZED, because there was a book there called, Teach Yourself Spanish, plus other books on subjects I had decided I wanted to study! It was mind-boggling. It was there that I decided our thoughts do indeed attract people, events, and things to us. But as a Christian, I had to take this thought one step further: I had already seen that it DID work, but now I had to study HOW it worked. Was it all demonic activity? You can see this line of thinking reflected in yesterday's post. Or is the explanation closer to this: God is a Creator, and making us in His Divine Image, He made us all also creators. Not just by the works of our hands, but by the very thoughts we think, which is why the Bible explicitly warns us to take every thought captive and submit it to Christ. God made us in this powerful way, and we are only just now beginning to understand how it works, thanks to advancements in fields like Quantum Physics. Mind-boggling stuff, here.

I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes, "When the Student is Ready, the Master Will Come." I can't tell you how many times I started to learn a new skill, and right in front of my face were people who were masters at that very skill. Either they were right in front of my face the whole time, and I just did not see it (because I was not looking for it), or they appeared. For example, I have always been somewhat interested in the Martial Arts, starting with brawling with some neighbors as a kid, and pretty much ending with graduation as high school wrestling came to an end... until a few years ago when I became interested in it again.. then I started to discover that some people I had known for a while were "closet" martial artists, and purely by chance, I started to meet more and more people who were interested in it, and as my mind opened, I realized there was a whole subculture out there of MA enthusiasts, and as I got deeper into the study of MA, I realized a lot more that I had been missing out on: there were Traditionalists, MMA athletes, and Reality-Based adherents. I could go on and on, but the point is, there is a whole world out there of whatever it is you want. The first step is opening your eyes and your mind and realizing how much information is out there, and with this open mind, you will meet people who are interested in the very same things. This has to do with the Law of Attraction, which says that like always attracts like.

The Secret challenges people who are full of doubt, to start small. In the book, it gives an example of one guy who decided he would use the Secret to manifest a feather. But to know it was a result of the Secret, it had to be a very unique feather. So, in his mind every day, he pictured a large white feather covered with pink and yellow spots. Quite out of the ordinary! One day he had a job interview (if I remember correctly), and just as he was about to walk into a huge building for the interview, something prompted him to look down. He did, and lo and behold, right there at his feet, was the feather, exactly as he pictured it. Are you getting goosebumps?

Randy Gage, a popular speaker on the subject of Prosperity, and of course, a multimillionaire, taught me a lot about altering your thinking to receive prosperity. He says, first of all, that you have to visualize EXACTLY what it is you want. Randy wanted a red Viper, and looking for a picture of one in a car magazine to hang up on his Dream Board (or Vision Board, as some call it), he could only find a picture of a black one. He still wanted a red one, but decided this picture would suffice, and he could still attract a red Viper to himself. What happened? As you probably guessed, a friend called Randy up and said he was getting rid of his Viper, and wanted to include it in a contract he had with Randy so Randy could have it (I guess he knew Randy wanted a Viper). Well it turns out, the Viper was black, exactly like the picture hanging on Randy's board.

Another, similar story that I'll never forget is of a woman who desperately wanted a husband. Her real dream stud was a blonde guy with a certain build. But, not being able to find a magazine picture of this guy, she settled for a picture of a dark-haired guy in a tuxedo. She still wanted a blonde guy, but figured any picture of a guy in a tuxedo would do. A few years later, she met someone, and they married, and when she looked back to her picture that she had hung up, she was shocked to find that her husband looked almost identical to the picture in the magazine, in just about every way. Yes, as a man (or woman) thinketh, so is he (or she).

This, my friends, is why Einstein said that Imagination is the most powerful resource man posesses (something to that effect). Know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and give the glory to God.

A Christian look at The Secret

Being a born-again Christian, and an ardent student of life/men/women/psychology etc.,  I had to read the book The Secret, put together by Rhonda Byrne, and see what it meant to me. You see, Bruce Lee told us to take what is useful to you (applicable to you and your life), and leave the rest. This applies not only to the martial arts, but any art, any skill, any belief, including your religious belief.

Where I stand is that the Word of God as written in its original language is the absolute truth of life. Jesus is my Savior and the prophesied Messiah of the Jews. I fully believe in the Word of God, and I take it as the utmost authority. In the Liberty of Christ, I study areas like psychology, accepting what makes sense to me, and rejecting what the Word of God rejects.

Having said this, you know where I am coming from. I keep an open mind in the freedom of Christ, but avoid sin. There are those who, to use a cliché, become so open-minded, their brains fall out. They embrace current societal standards to the detriment of the living Word inside them. Don't be one of those people. Study any area you wish, but always keep the Word of God as Utmost Truth.

Back to the topic of this post... The Secret. What does it teach? What is the one Secret that the author claims was known by every great thinker that ever lived, including Einstein, Plato, Galileo, Beethoven, Edison, Carnegie, and others? And how could she possibly know that they all knew this one Secret?

For the sake of utter simplicity so I can move forward in this post, I will boil the Secret down to its essentials: You Get What You Wish For.

What? Thats it? It's simplified, I know. I apologize. If you want to get deeper, read the darn book.

We've all basically grown up hearing the Secret called something else: a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. It's like this: If you want to have or be something, you must visualize it, you must desire it, and you must believe that it will come to you. This sounds great, but the only thing bothering me as a Christian, is that I must acknowledge God as the giver of all good things. If I simply visualize and manifest things on my own (or what I suppose to be my own... there is always a spirit behind every manifestation), I'm stealing glory away from God. Plus, we're humans, not supernatural beings. There's gotta be SOMETHING, some power, bringing these things to us.

I think it's one thing to visualize yourself as being healthier and happier, and focusing on that picture of yourself as you strive to your goals. It's quite another to come into POSESSION OF something simply by visualizing it. It's very possible, from my understanding of the spirit world, that demons are answering the call of those who use the Secret, because these exact same methods are used by psychics, Shamans, shapeshifters, and the like. These people deliberately call upon a power greater than themselves to give them whatever they want... unaware that these powers are demonic beings. How do they do it? They see what they want, believe it will come, and it comes. You see, faith is the key to getting whatever you want, whether you use it to get power from God or from demons. Doubt is truly the greatest barrier to operating in the spirit world.

We should ask God for all the things we want, and give glory and praise to him when we get them. Let everything we own glorify him.

Do Not Pass Me By

As I've been meditating on the Word more lately, and opened my spiritual ears and eyes to the Holy Spirit more lately, a song from deep into my past (which isn't really that long ago anyway, I'm just a baby) has occupied my mind so I'm gonna release it here on my blog before I burst, ha

There's something special about the way that You hold me,

You make me, take me, Ya shape me, and Ya mold me,

And in my heart and in my soul and in my spirit,

The love of God, and everyday I've gotta be near it

They took me to the water, I went down in Your name,

I repented of my sins and I haven't been the same

My knees started shaking, my legs just had to run

His love lifted my heart, and His Spirit lifted my tongue,

I'm loving my Lord until the day that I die, so

Please, Please, Oh Please don't pass me by.

Sing!

While the others thou are calling,

Doooo Not Pass Meeee By

I have a feeling and the feeling is not the same...

I did a little hip hop, the Hammer and the Gang

But a touch, a touch from up above,

And I have a feeling, the feeling of your Love

Reachin' Out (Reachin' Out!)

And lookin' for some people,

Keepin' us all safe from this world that's full of evil,

Tryin'! Tryin! Lord, sometimes I'm crying,

The Son gave his Life, and the people are still denyin'

When I think of His goodness, and what He's done for me,

My soul cries Hallelujah! Thanks for setting me free!

Whiiiiile the others Thou are calling,

Doooo not pass meeee by, oooooh

I don't want the Lord to pass me by (3X) (oooooh)

(Can't make this part out, and all the lyrics I checked left this part out)

I need Him every hour, I need Him every minute

Whatever I do, I need the Lord in It

Do ya need Him?

I need Him!

I know ya need Him!

I need Him!

Cultural Crossover

Separating Facts from Theory

In my college Psychology class, we were shown pictures of (straight) male and female brains. Photoimaging shows that they look different. How? Electrical signals emitted show that females use their whole brain while activity in men’s brains are high in the left side and almost nonexistent in the right side. If you have ever taken a basic psychology course, you’ll remember that the left brain is logical and linear, and contains the language center. The right brain is abstract, emotional, and highly visual. What connects the right and left sides of your brain? A tiny little bridge called the corpus callosum. In females the c.c. is thicker. This allows for better communication between the right and left sides. Those with thicker c.c.'s will also be more highly emotional and visual.

Those are facts. Undisputable because of the evidence we have (the photoimages). Now, it has been shown that the brain activity of gay men resemble the brain activity typically found in a female.  This too is a fact. Proof is proof.

Here’s where things get muddy. The application of theory to fact. Gay proponents say this proves people can be born homosexual. Should Christians back down and say, “well, golly, they’ve got the proof, nothing I can say but throw some bible verses their way and hope they listen!” ? Wrong! While it is possible some men are born with a thicker corpus callosum, which would give them easier access to their emotional and visual brain functions, I believe it is the actions of the person that hard-wires the brain into becoming what it is, in this case, more feminine.

Is there any proof of this? When you learn something new, your brain creates little things called neural pathways. As you struggle and make mistakes trying to learn a new skill, your brain creates more neural pathways. The more of these you have, the more skilled you are. Ever have an aha! moment? Clarity finally came to you after months and months of hard work and you finally just GET IT! That happens when neural pathways cross each other; you’ve begun to think and understand in ways you never could before. The brain indeed is influenced by our actions, as well as the other way around.

It is the same with natural selection. Natural selection is a very easily understood concept that has been a building block for evolutionary theorists for a long time. But it doesn’t mean they are right, it just means creationists aren’t doing their homework or being vocal enough. See, we can “select” genes through generations; people do it all the time. It’s called breeding. By picking animals (or even plants) with certain characteristics, and mating them with other animals within the SAME SPECIES (this is important), breeders can develop a specialized group of animal.

For example, if Johnny the breeder has 12 monkeys and two of them who just happen to be a male and a female, show an ability to jump higher than the other monkeys, Johnny can breed these two together. Not all of the offspring of these two monkeys will have an exceptional ability to jump high, but a few will. Johnny can then interbreed these high jumpers with each other, and with every generation, the high-jumping gene becomes stronger, until voila! Johnny has created a race of high-jumping monkeys. Is this evolution? NO! You CANNOT breed animals from different species (with an exception I'll talk about soon). It has never been possible, and it never will be possible. Evolutionists play on the public’s ignorance of these things to make it seem like they have a strong case, but they are just putting their own theory (evolution) onto the facts (natural selection). Christians need to take those facts (natural selection) and explain it in the light of creationism. That is, we need to tell people how amazing God is that he gave people, animals, and plants an amazing ability to ADAPT (not evolve) to the environment.

What is the difference between adaptation and evolution, anyway? Adaptation is sort of a HORIZONTAL EVOLUTION, which is adapting to the demands of the environment, but staying the SAME species. Evolution is a kind of VERTICAL jump, where one species of animals actually miraculously CHANGES into a completely different species of animal. There are a couple of differing species that man has successfully bred together, for example, the mule is a cross between a horse and donkey. However, the resulting offspring between two similar but different species are always sterile (unable to have their own offspring).

As Christians, we need to not be afraid to delve into the world of facts. Science and psychology contain an entire plethora of facts like those I have mentioned above that are being exploited by secular people to further their own theories for their own agendas. We need to not be afraid to look at the facts and what is being presented as fact (very important to separate the two. This is called discernment), and then present the facts in the light of God’s word. Since God is real and his word is truth, true science will support the bible and vice versa, NOT disprove it.

Though I find both science and psychology fascinating, my point isn’t to get into a discussion of either of those right now. Those were just examples of what I mean that we should be able to study any topic and know how to separate the facts from the theories imposed on them, then compare the facts to God’s word, and you will see that the truth of science and the truth of psychology MUST support the truth of God’s word. In fact, think about this: since Christians believe that evolution is untrue and all of nature and science are God’s very handiwork, then TRUE scientific research MUST reveal evolution to be a completely false premise. We must have faith in this. We need more Christian scientists and psychologists willing to examine the facts and argue for them in light of our understanding of scripture. It is then, the Christian psychologist and scientist's spiritual duty to study and be proficient in both the area of their chosen field, and scripture. This would clear up a lot of the confusion about why research of science and behaviorism (psychology, or, "why people do what they do") sometimes seem to lean in favor of the secular than the divine. Christians, have FAITH that God is true and his word is true, and true research must support what is in the bible. Then go out and write, write, write about it! Lack of knowledge causes us to perish.