I was raised with the Bible in high regards.

I was raised with the Bible in high regards.  That means my Christian views are controlled by my understanding from scripture.  To me the Bible is how I tell if something is really Godly or not.

Back in 2020, I was told about the law of attraction.  Not knowing what it was, I had to watch a video about it.  Then I had to watch some more videos about it.  Something didn't feel right, and it didn't take long to find other people that didn't like it either.  In fact I found testimonies of those that had a bad experience with it.  They said, that while it did work, and brought good things into their lives, it also put them in bondage to it.  They said you had to keep a positive mindset at all times, and eventually that gets exhausting.  After watching some of that stuff, and learning how New Age practices have been in some of the of Churches.  I got tired of listening to those podcasts and moved on.

As far as I know all Christians believe in the supernatural.  But we vary in how far we take those beliefs.   When one taps into the supernatural, you can get either God through the Holy Spirit, or you can get Demons acting like they are angels of light.  That is why it is so important to use the Bible as a way to test things out.

When someone from work felt like she was called to missions, I began to feel uneasy about it.  I felt uneasy in several different ways, and I'm not sure if I can list all the different ways I felt uneasy.  For starters how did she receive a message from God to tell her that missions is something He wants her to do?  How come I don't hear God better than I do?  All I get is uneasy feelings when something doesn't seem right to me.

I researched the organization the she went with.  Right away I started finding complaints of spiritual abuse.  This caused me to dig and dig and dig.  I listened to as many podcasts on the subject as I had time for.  I read as many articles as I had time to print.  The picture I started to get was an odd organization that has no central office.  Yet it is one of the largest missions groups in the world.  Some people feel that they get closer to God in it, while others have a bad experience and suffer spiritual abuse.  Some people even leave Christianity altogether.  How can one organization designed to share Jesus with the world, cause such a polar effect on the people involved?

I bought a book by the person who created the organization.  He had some curious ways to figuring out what God wants the students to do.  This lead me to some more books, that examine some of the methods in comparison to scripture.  As it turns out He's combining some New Age like practices with Christianity.  There is a connection between this organization and something called NAR.  It stands for:  New Apostolic Reformation, and it has influenced almost every Church.

The practices of NAR has really stretched my belief system, because I was always content with my views on the supernatural.  I prayed for what I needed and other people as well.  When other Christians could do something extra special, I figured it is possible because one can not limit God.  But now I see that it is possible that some of these Christian people might not be tapping into God's power like they think they are.  What happens when good things happen but you can't compare it to scripture without twisting or stretching things?

Another thing I find so interesting about this journey of research is how, that the very thing I found over 4 years ago, has brought me full circle back to it again.

I made a new friend on 7cups.  She asked me to tag her.  God Bless you my friend!  And I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

@Tinywhisper11

The same goes for everyone that continues to read my stuff.  😊