There has been a lot of talk from the self-proclaimed centre of the Christian universe in the last half century about a new age movement that would detract from Christianity. The finger has often been pointed at spiritualism in it's various forms (excluding of course spiritualism within Christianity).
But this has predominantly been because of the need for surrogate enemies to keep the congregations on guard and loyal to their current Christian movement. The worldly element within Christianity doesn't love it's enemies, it loves to have them in order to set itself apart. They must have their piece of flesh rather than peace of the flesh. This is the newest newer new age movement, which is actually quite old.
The real enemy to this current 'old guard' has actually been silent for quite some time, hence the surrogates to keep the watchful wary and close minded. As a matter of fact, for the church to expose this old enemy, it ironically would be it's own undoing, as this old enemy was the original church founded by Jesus.
It seems to me, and I think you too will also find (if honesty prevails) that fingers are often pointed outwards when there is insecurity within, especially if there is a need to deflect attention away from oneself. Often the false security of using long-standing tradition is not enough. This was just as true in the time of the Pharisees as it is today. Those who pursue this deflection now are no different in motive than were the Pharisees of their day. Human nature is constant throughout history.
When John the B and Jesus came along, the Pharisees were also believers in resurrection, Yet the Pharisees viewed both of these newcomers as cults because of John's and Jesus' popularity, not to mention their bringing of future events into the now. A movement threatened the old school religious establishment and the authority of those in charge of it. These old school were a worldly power in Judah built within the Adversary's Age and upon his same principles of self (as was the rest of the world).
To them this new movement was new age thinking, and indeed it was, the New Age of God's reign. If they were on the ball they would have understood what it meant when the new age came to replace the old age... the old Age of the Adversary of which they were a part. But they were thinking end times, not present. This threatened their current position in the same way the Kingdom threatens 'political Christianity' today (today's real new age cult). To suddenly lose power to another movement was/is unacceptable as it threatens their system. It makes them obsolete, just as the Kingdom makes the world man has created in our selfish image obsolete.
The Pharisees were unwilling to believe, simply because they were thinking in terms man understood, that the new Age would come in visible 'power and glory and might', the greater the better... not at the hands of a nobody carpenter and his merry band of illiterate fishermen, tax collectors and female philanthropists.
The Pharisees were expecting the new Age of God to be in the image of the world of man that they were familiar with, rather than being it's polar opposite and representative of an alternate type of Kingdom. The same thinking also applied to the people of Judah that condemned Jesus for not being a political or warmongering celebrity hero out to make Judah great again. As I said, man's human nature never changes and most Christians today still lost in seeing through the eyes trained in the image of man, look for the same kind of leaders.
These Pharisees were of the world of man built within the Adversary's Age, their position linked to the authority of the synagogue, linked to the king of Israel who was a pawn of Rome, and to Rome itself which was at the head of the colony of Judah which used both king and rabbi to aide governing in their name. Even the US when overthrowing and destabilizing other nations as the Romans did, does not govern themselves but governs through puppet leaders of the various institutions in the overthrown nations. And just as Rome used their own religions to control the people and demand loyalty through commonality within Rome, so does the US use it's religions today, just as other fallen empires before it did all the way back to Rome and beyond. Once again, it is the nature/way of man.
Just as the Pharisees refused to relinquish hold of the world and the ways of man (the old Age of the Adversary), neither throughout the following centuries did Gentile Christianity want to relinquish their hold either, especially after the original church of the Way had been absorbed back into the 'old Age' world of man.
The Way had been absorbed in all but scripture, but this was of no worry to the Gentiles who now controlled the scripture itself. For centuries they gave themselves power over what would be given out to the masses under their authority and in order to protect themselves.
To them, this way of doing things also was the only tradition/way they had ever known. An opposing will of God promoting a better way had no place in their concept of kingdom. Their 'old Age' thinking built upon tradition could not (or would not) understand both concepts of kingdom that God had put forward, and that still occurs today.
We witnessed how the post Way era church completely abandoned the Kingdom of God at the time of Constantine to rejoin the 'old Age' world of man. We witnessed how it even became a king making world power itself, not to mention an especially aggressive oppressor of mankind in the traditions of the 'old Age'. We now, over the last hundred but more openly fifty years, have witnessed the revival of the 'old Age' politicizing of Christianity once again within the new 'Rome' of today.
Easy to accomplish when the Protestant section of the religion, unlike it's Catholic counterpart, had lost it's authority as a world political power of it's own. It had become a tool without use to the world of man or God, and it's willing congregations following tradition, sought a voice in their political nation rather than the Kingdom.
So what are we left with? A religious identity today within a world power, similar to the politicized Pharisees who served a worldly Roman master, both seeking a platform of power in world affairs. Similar to Pharisees who once called the movement of the New Age brought in by Jesus, as being a new age cult and enemy to their worldly 'old age' authority. A religion today in the new 'Rome' that still rebels against the Gospel of the Kingdom, still to this day called by many followers in their own words, a culty new age teaching. Teachings which interestingly were Jesus' original teachings, now condemned just as the Pharisees condemned them.
Ancient and new politicized religions that were/are more interested in their own worldly power (or actually to be more accurate, it's association through consultation with a world power) than it is with the new Age of Kingdom ushered in by Jesus that opposed such previous 'old Age of Adversary' thinking.
Satan's thinking may be alive and well today by way of tradition in both religion and the secular world, but his time ended 2000 years ago. So one might ask, who are these foolish people still following the old ways, seeking by tradition the same useless worldly authority and rewards of their predecessors??
But happily a new old threat has come to life once again where this earth bound religious thinking is once again being slowly but surely challenged by the Kingdom of God, and exposed for what it is.
Forget the yoga and other so called 'new aged' trivially pursued enemies. Forget the abortion and sexual lifestyles designed to draw you into an adversarial age political mindset rather than a religious new age one. A political mindset where you are to overlook all the other sins within a political institution opposing God's will, while focussing on only a few. Roped into the adversarial principles of the 'old age' by appealing to so called Christian sensitivities, forgetting man cannot solve self by way of self.
There's a new but original threat in town and that is a revival of the Kingdom of God as an alternative to corrupted Christianity and the secular world of today. The new Age that overcame the 'old Age' of the Adversary 2000 years ago is slowly but surely coming back in order to light the way, and we are supposed to know the end result.
Time for those who have chosen to remain locked in human 'old Age' thinking to let go and back away from the humanized/politicized Christianity we have been taught by way of tradition as being right, and turn to it's alternative.
The Gospel of the Kingdom after all, was Jesus' only Gospel. His Age replaced the Age of the Adversary and mankind.
Hopefully you are not blind/vain enough to think that your nations or politics can't survive without you or your political input. They won't miss you simply because the nature of man dictates that there will never be enough who step away to make a difference or threaten the power that the elite hold. As Jesus said, no need to fight the system, just simply change to God's system which eventually will rule supreme and overcome those systems of mankind that Christians like to foolishly defend.
Remember, you are not defending a system or nation but defending the 'old Age' principles they are built upon. To do this certainly is not following the new Age principles built upon the will of God that Jesus brought to us.
The Adversary was overthrown 2000 years ago. There is nothing we can do to bring about God's will. That part is done. It is already here for those wishing to follow it. God has just been waiting and watching to see who would abandon the old ways for His ways. So far, not very many, as they cling by way of tradition to the old ways of man and the Adversary.
Are you willing to step back from foolish worldly loyalties built upon the traditional principles of the 'old Age' of the Adversary and learn to live the ways of the Kingdom instead? Would you prefer instead to remain closed minded, mocking and criticizing the will of God?
Would you perhaps like to still go to political threads, but rather than take sides and pretend one side/party or the other represents God, you instead show there is another option outside the traditional ways and will of man that opposes all represented therein? Are your loyalties to a nation or to the Kingdom? Jesus said seek Kingdom first.
Pray on it and see (not who will answer) but which god it is you are willing to listen to. The god of this world who even though he has lost the world, wants to keep you thinking in terms of self and go down with him, or the only one true God who wants you to awaken to the difference between the two Ages and two worlds and set yourself free from those traditional ways of mankind. Your choice what your fruit will be. He only harvests one for the Kingdom.
The real enemy to this current 'old guard' has actually been silent for quite some time, hence the surrogates to keep the watchful wary and close minded. As a matter of fact, for the church to expose this old enemy, it ironically would be it's own undoing, as this old enemy was the original church founded by Jesus.
It seems to me, and I think you too will also find (if honesty prevails) that fingers are often pointed outwards when there is insecurity within, especially if there is a need to deflect attention away from oneself. Often the false security of using long-standing tradition is not enough. This was just as true in the time of the Pharisees as it is today. Those who pursue this deflection now are no different in motive than were the Pharisees of their day. Human nature is constant throughout history.
When John the B and Jesus came along, the Pharisees were also believers in resurrection, Yet the Pharisees viewed both of these newcomers as cults because of John's and Jesus' popularity, not to mention their bringing of future events into the now. A movement threatened the old school religious establishment and the authority of those in charge of it. These old school were a worldly power in Judah built within the Adversary's Age and upon his same principles of self (as was the rest of the world).
To them this new movement was new age thinking, and indeed it was, the New Age of God's reign. If they were on the ball they would have understood what it meant when the new age came to replace the old age... the old Age of the Adversary of which they were a part. But they were thinking end times, not present. This threatened their current position in the same way the Kingdom threatens 'political Christianity' today (today's real new age cult). To suddenly lose power to another movement was/is unacceptable as it threatens their system. It makes them obsolete, just as the Kingdom makes the world man has created in our selfish image obsolete.
The Pharisees were unwilling to believe, simply because they were thinking in terms man understood, that the new Age would come in visible 'power and glory and might', the greater the better... not at the hands of a nobody carpenter and his merry band of illiterate fishermen, tax collectors and female philanthropists.
The Pharisees were expecting the new Age of God to be in the image of the world of man that they were familiar with, rather than being it's polar opposite and representative of an alternate type of Kingdom. The same thinking also applied to the people of Judah that condemned Jesus for not being a political or warmongering celebrity hero out to make Judah great again. As I said, man's human nature never changes and most Christians today still lost in seeing through the eyes trained in the image of man, look for the same kind of leaders.
These Pharisees were of the world of man built within the Adversary's Age, their position linked to the authority of the synagogue, linked to the king of Israel who was a pawn of Rome, and to Rome itself which was at the head of the colony of Judah which used both king and rabbi to aide governing in their name. Even the US when overthrowing and destabilizing other nations as the Romans did, does not govern themselves but governs through puppet leaders of the various institutions in the overthrown nations. And just as Rome used their own religions to control the people and demand loyalty through commonality within Rome, so does the US use it's religions today, just as other fallen empires before it did all the way back to Rome and beyond. Once again, it is the nature/way of man.
Just as the Pharisees refused to relinquish hold of the world and the ways of man (the old Age of the Adversary), neither throughout the following centuries did Gentile Christianity want to relinquish their hold either, especially after the original church of the Way had been absorbed back into the 'old Age' world of man.
The Way had been absorbed in all but scripture, but this was of no worry to the Gentiles who now controlled the scripture itself. For centuries they gave themselves power over what would be given out to the masses under their authority and in order to protect themselves.
To them, this way of doing things also was the only tradition/way they had ever known. An opposing will of God promoting a better way had no place in their concept of kingdom. Their 'old Age' thinking built upon tradition could not (or would not) understand both concepts of kingdom that God had put forward, and that still occurs today.
We witnessed how the post Way era church completely abandoned the Kingdom of God at the time of Constantine to rejoin the 'old Age' world of man. We witnessed how it even became a king making world power itself, not to mention an especially aggressive oppressor of mankind in the traditions of the 'old Age'. We now, over the last hundred but more openly fifty years, have witnessed the revival of the 'old Age' politicizing of Christianity once again within the new 'Rome' of today.
Easy to accomplish when the Protestant section of the religion, unlike it's Catholic counterpart, had lost it's authority as a world political power of it's own. It had become a tool without use to the world of man or God, and it's willing congregations following tradition, sought a voice in their political nation rather than the Kingdom.
So what are we left with? A religious identity today within a world power, similar to the politicized Pharisees who served a worldly Roman master, both seeking a platform of power in world affairs. Similar to Pharisees who once called the movement of the New Age brought in by Jesus, as being a new age cult and enemy to their worldly 'old age' authority. A religion today in the new 'Rome' that still rebels against the Gospel of the Kingdom, still to this day called by many followers in their own words, a culty new age teaching. Teachings which interestingly were Jesus' original teachings, now condemned just as the Pharisees condemned them.
Ancient and new politicized religions that were/are more interested in their own worldly power (or actually to be more accurate, it's association through consultation with a world power) than it is with the new Age of Kingdom ushered in by Jesus that opposed such previous 'old Age of Adversary' thinking.
Satan's thinking may be alive and well today by way of tradition in both religion and the secular world, but his time ended 2000 years ago. So one might ask, who are these foolish people still following the old ways, seeking by tradition the same useless worldly authority and rewards of their predecessors??
But happily a new old threat has come to life once again where this earth bound religious thinking is once again being slowly but surely challenged by the Kingdom of God, and exposed for what it is.
Forget the yoga and other so called 'new aged' trivially pursued enemies. Forget the abortion and sexual lifestyles designed to draw you into an adversarial age political mindset rather than a religious new age one. A political mindset where you are to overlook all the other sins within a political institution opposing God's will, while focussing on only a few. Roped into the adversarial principles of the 'old age' by appealing to so called Christian sensitivities, forgetting man cannot solve self by way of self.
There's a new but original threat in town and that is a revival of the Kingdom of God as an alternative to corrupted Christianity and the secular world of today. The new Age that overcame the 'old Age' of the Adversary 2000 years ago is slowly but surely coming back in order to light the way, and we are supposed to know the end result.
Time for those who have chosen to remain locked in human 'old Age' thinking to let go and back away from the humanized/politicized Christianity we have been taught by way of tradition as being right, and turn to it's alternative.
The Gospel of the Kingdom after all, was Jesus' only Gospel. His Age replaced the Age of the Adversary and mankind.
Hopefully you are not blind/vain enough to think that your nations or politics can't survive without you or your political input. They won't miss you simply because the nature of man dictates that there will never be enough who step away to make a difference or threaten the power that the elite hold. As Jesus said, no need to fight the system, just simply change to God's system which eventually will rule supreme and overcome those systems of mankind that Christians like to foolishly defend.
Remember, you are not defending a system or nation but defending the 'old Age' principles they are built upon. To do this certainly is not following the new Age principles built upon the will of God that Jesus brought to us.
The Adversary was overthrown 2000 years ago. There is nothing we can do to bring about God's will. That part is done. It is already here for those wishing to follow it. God has just been waiting and watching to see who would abandon the old ways for His ways. So far, not very many, as they cling by way of tradition to the old ways of man and the Adversary.
Are you willing to step back from foolish worldly loyalties built upon the traditional principles of the 'old Age' of the Adversary and learn to live the ways of the Kingdom instead? Would you prefer instead to remain closed minded, mocking and criticizing the will of God?
Would you perhaps like to still go to political threads, but rather than take sides and pretend one side/party or the other represents God, you instead show there is another option outside the traditional ways and will of man that opposes all represented therein? Are your loyalties to a nation or to the Kingdom? Jesus said seek Kingdom first.
Pray on it and see (not who will answer) but which god it is you are willing to listen to. The god of this world who even though he has lost the world, wants to keep you thinking in terms of self and go down with him, or the only one true God who wants you to awaken to the difference between the two Ages and two worlds and set yourself free from those traditional ways of mankind. Your choice what your fruit will be. He only harvests one for the Kingdom.
BTW... I speak of what Jesus taught. Unlike some others, I seek nothing for myself. Those are the ways of man. Not seeking a following, no defence of a denomination, no desire for recognition or to lead, no amassing of other like minded for security in numbers or to pat me on the back, no my way or the highway, no financial gain or jet planes, and so on. Again, those are the traditional ways of mankind. None of that matters. We all have the same choice of leaders, the Adversary or God. I prefer the latter thank you and write of His will, not man's.
© ...timothyu
© ...timothyu
