Mix Matched

Mix match, shabby chic, hodge podge, a little of this and a little of that, all words that would describe most of how I have lived my life. Growing up there was so little of the mix matched in our house that poor described our life best.  Way back then I was determined  not live with mix matched things when I set my own house up.


 Like most newlyweds we started our life with mostly mixed match things,  a furnished apartment with others cast offs.  There finally came a point when we could  afford to buy our own furniture, all matching in color and style.  Here's the thing though...happiness and contentment does not come with having matching furniture or clothes.



  In the decorating world mixing and matching items can be good.  Mix match faith is whole other thing.   The Bible is full of warnings about mixing our faith in Him with other gods.  Some people take the verse in Deuteronomy 5:7 that states we are not to have any gods "before" God and  think we can worship Allah or Ram or any idol as long as we give our first priority to God.  Verse 8 clarify that thought. In this verse we learn that God forbids the making or the worshipping of any graven images.  So the answer to the question above is a big 'NO'. We are not to worship anything/anyone that we make god by our hands or perhaps by our imaginations or experiences.  God is a jealous God and does not want us mixing Him with our own aims and ambitions, or anything we crave or anyone we long for more than God Himself.  


There is movement that is as old as time, and still making a hard push for the hearts of people and it starts with a lie just as it did when satan told Eve, you will not die if you eat of the forbidden fruit, you will be like God.  I have been doing some studying on this movement to give me tools to witness to those trapped in it.  Below is some of what I have discovered about the NAM, New Age Movement.  


What exactly is the New Age? Impossible to narrow down, the New Age is actually a vast smorgasbord ( mix and match) of beliefs and practices. Each New Ager fills his tray with whatever assortment fits his appetite. All is liberally seasoned with self-centeredness. It's really a Have-It-Your-Way religion – thus its modern appeal.
Although there are many branches of New Age thought –-here are some of the typical beliefs. 

      God is in everything (pantheism) 
      All things are one (monism)
      Man is God
      Mind creates reality
      One’s own experience validates the truth

New Agers do not usually believe in evil. Therefore, they do not accept man's problem as separation by sin from God. Instead, they believe that each of us has forgotten his or her own divinity. Therefore, the New Age solution is to seek "higher consciousness" through meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, diet, crystals, channeling. spirit guides, and more. Each of these diverse practices has the same purpose: to awaken the god in man.


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)


Here is a five-step approach to discussing Jesus with new Agers:
1. Whom do you believe Jesus is?
2. Whom did Jesus say He is?

• The Son of God (John 11:4)
• "I and the Father are one" (John 10:30).

3. What did Jesus say about other spiritual paths?

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

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).
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.
(the above is from several sermons and articles I read online, all give permission to share)


I have been challenge in my search to understand what the NAM believes.  Challenged to know God's Word better.   Really challenged to not live a mix and match faith before other. To be clear and not confusing about what the bible says.   To love others as Christ loved, to give out this invitation to know the creator of the universe, the one True God.

                                Any thoughts on the New Age Movement?