“That very church which the world likes, is sure to be that which God abhors.”

Charles Spurgeon

New Age Christianity

by Mark Karapetyan

New Age Christianity is perhaps the most dangerous and toxic form of heretical Christianity that has recently crept into the modern day Christian church. Many churches across the globe, especially in Western countries like the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and England, embrace this new kind of syncretism that is more damaging to the body and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ than anything else that I can think of.

The New Age Christian movement is a counterfeit, heretical, deceptive, unbiblical, and phony belief system that has recently swept the Christian world like a plague. This ungodly movement represents a different Christ, teaches unsound unbiblical messages, offers false salvation, and promotes everything and anything to make Jesus more attractive and appealing.  All sorts of heretical teachings, doctrines, and beliefs are taught and practiced by the New Age churches. Christian Yoga, Kabala, Chrislam, Christian rock music, astrology, occultism, universalism, pantheism, religious mysticism, witchcraft, Eastern beliefs, nature worship, Reiki, Karma, meditation, crystals, and many more…

Unsurprisingly, the New Age movement is a popular, attractive, well-liked, crowd-pleasing, worldwide phenomenon that is being accepted with open arms by followers who are supposedly believers in Jesus Christ and his message, but in reality, is nothing but a group of uninformed, gullible, people who believe a counterfeit message, and distort God’s word because they are unfamiliar with the truth.

Millions of so-called Christians all around the world blindly follow contemporary, cunning teachers and adhere to their false, heretical teachings without realizing that they are being duped. Sadly, these masses fail to understand that just because something has Christian elements in it, that doesn’t make it Christian. Just because a church sings Christian songs, or reads passages from the Bible, that doesn’t make it a Christian church.  Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses do that too, they are NOT Christians!

Humans, naturally, have always searched for love, intimacy, and some kind of emotional fulfillment to feed their hungry souls and water their thirsty hearts; modern- day Christians are no different. They, too, long to fill the void in their lives by trying to connect to the divine. That’s why hundreds and sometimes thousands of them flock to these churches to receive the “emotional” experience they so badly crave. For the New Agers, experience and intuition are the final authorities, and New Age church leaders know this, so an emotional experience those deceptive leaders do provide…

They put on masterfully crafted, staged displays that are worthy of the most prestigious honorary awards, and easily outshine the best entertainment shows in Las Vegas. Excitement, emotional roller coasters, unusual experiences, supposedly divine signs, animation, illusory healings, fake recoveries, bouncing, hopping, leaping, jumping, dancing, rocking, spinning, sobbing, crying, screaming, barking, howling, screeching, hysterical laughing, uncontrollable shaking, trembling, quivering, convulsing, jerking, swooning, collapsing, fainting, falling over, inaccurate prophesying, and acting like complete  fools; they are all, in one way or another, present in New Age church services.

Have you been to any of these New Age churches? Have you seen the insanity that goes on there on a weekly basis?  If an alien from a distant planet were to somehow land in one of those New Age churches, observe their services, and watch them in action, I guarantee you that at the end, the alien would conclude that planet earth is not worthy of alien invasion because its inhabitants are already deranged!

Let me introduce you to some of the lunacy that goes on in those churches: Claiming to be baptized by the Holy Spirit of God, New Age church followers behave like unhinged, demented, pagans by babbling and repeating unknown, unintelligible, vain words and meaningless phrases that no one, including themselves, understands, and call that speaking in tongues, or a secret prayer to God. A meaningless shuffle of incoherent slogans or words, stuttering, stammering, or strange repetitious sounds are not the true gift of tongues we read in the Bible. These people are clueless and ignorant to the fact that Jesus clearly commanded us: “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7).   

When the Bible refers to speaking in tongues, it is talking about speaking in known, intelligible, sane, common languages and dialects the Apostles spoke (a gift of the Holy Spirit) and the people were familiar with, so they could advance the message of God, most effectively, to as many foreign people as possible from different ethnicities, regions, languages, and backgrounds. That simple! Many charismatic and Pentecostal churches even teach that “if you are not speaking in tongues, you are not saved, and are definitely not mature or godly enough to be a leader or even a member in the church.”  This is heretical to the core; the only requirement for salvation is faith, NOTHING ELSE!

This is not all…

Other cringing and unbiblical, creepy behaviors, and in some cases demonic that are present in New Age churches include: uncontrollable laughing, loud screaming, sloppy stumbling as they walk, sometimes even falling back, fainting, and collapsing (God always commands his people to arise, never to fall back and blackout), and then calling their acts “being slain or drunk in the Spirit.”

These kinds of bazaar behaviors are mostly common in the Word of Faith churches (another heretical movement), and are mistaken for the biblical concept of being filled with the Spirit, which is the act of submitting to God, following his commands, and producing the fruits of the Holy Spirit, such as love, meekness, forgiveness, and generosity.  In Ephesians 6:18:20, the Holy Spirit actually tells us what being filled with the Spirit means: “And be not drunk with wine in excess, but be filled with the spirit; Speaking to your selves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

How is this not clear? How can this verse be mistaken for the insanity we see in modern day Christian churches? Seriously, why would God want his people to worship Him in a such disrespectful manner? What’s the point of it? How can “make melody in your heart to the Lord” be misinterpreted to mean make a fool out of yourself?

It is heartbreaking that these crowds fail to realize that NOWHERE in the Bible does it say to be drunk in the Spirit and behave like imbeciles. Whenever the Bible speaks about being drunk, it always has a negative association or meaning. The Holy Spirit does not want anyone to lose control of themselves because the Bible is clear that “the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, because God is NOT the author of confusion.” (1Corinth 14:32-33).

It fascinates me to see so many people easily fall for heresies and false doctrines and defend them as genuine Christian, biblical teachings, when in fact; they are far from anything that even resembles true Christianity.  If they are true believers, where is their spirit of discernment? Do they not possess the wisdom to differentiate between authentic and fake? I personally have several friends who are big on this New Age hysteria, and along with their family members see absolutely nothing wrong with the heretical practices and teachings of New Age churches.

How can this be? How can any true Christian even tolerate this kind of heresy? How can anyone believe that the Holy Spirit wants them to run around in churches, roll over on the floor in an uncontrolled laughter, shake and twitch like possessed demons, and claim that they are worshipping Jesus? How dare anyone associate these kinds of pagan behaviors with a Holy God!

How can any Christian believe pastors who demand “seed money,” claiming it is the Holy Spirit telling them to do it for healing? How can Christians sit through church services week after week, observe leaders and teachers introduce heretical, unbiblical, strange, symbolism and doctrines, and do or say nothing about it?  How can any Christian believe Word of Faith teachers who teach that physical healing comes on demand if you pray hard enough, and if it doesn’t, it’s because either you, or the sick person does not have enough faith?

How can any Christian sit in churches where they literary shower their congregation with golden dust or angel feathers through their ventilation systems and ductwork, and fool everyone into believing that the Holy Spirit is in action?  How can any Christian believe that angels sing along with the choir during worship services? How can any Christian believe false teachers who claim that they regularly speak to angels, and in some cases, speak to Jesus himself, to receive anointing?  Have you heard of Emma, the female, healing Angel who wears a long white dress and floats above the floor? Look her up!

How can Christian parents send their spiritually unprotected children, to churches like Bethel in California, or Hill Song in Australia, where the youth are taught to practice running through walls, walking on water, or howling like wolfs to receive the power of the Holy Spirit? How can any Christian parent even allow their children to be in an environment where they are taught to lay on graves to suck the spiritual anointing from deceased Christians, or run through fire tunnels to receive the Holy Spirit? How can Christian parents watch their children in church twitch, jerk, laugh hysterically, fall over, faint, and do many other repulsive acts, and then believe that the Holy Spirit of God is somehow the cause of all that?

Have they not read Galatians 5:22-23, where Paul informs us that “self-control” is a fruit of the Spirit? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”  If self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, how can uncontrollable laughter be also a fruit of the Holy Spirit?

The New Apostolic Church, a modern day heretical church, is notorious for this kind of unbiblical madness. They are corrupt to the core in every way, shape, and form because they fancy themselves “apostles” and espouse everything from false signs to Word of Faith heresy.  How could they not be heretics when they claim that they have raised the dead by the thousands? What kind of God-based church teaches Kenosis, the idea that Jesus set aside His divinity while on earth? What kind of true Christian church teaches that Jesus was born again, and that he went to Hell when he died? What true church promotes Kenyonism, the idea that our words have supernatural powers similar to that of God’s?  What about their latest heretical teaching- the seven mountain mandate, where they teach that in order for Jesus Christ to return, the church must regain control of the seven major branches of society? Where do these evil charlatans come up with this kind of nonsense?  Do you know why these false teachers are nothing but deceitful charlatans of the highest rank? Because the Bible tells us they are: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.” (2 Corinth 11:14).

Do you know why millions of Christians around the world follow false teachers and adhere to false teachings? They do so because deception is very powerful. The thing about deception is that the deceived person does not even know that he/she is being deceived. That’s why it’s called deception and not a lie. A lie is a flat out lie, but deception is a lie mixed with truth, that’s the difference. If deception is obvious, then it is not deception. When people hear some good biblical teachings in those churches, they assume that there is no deceptive motive. However, they also quickly forget that mixing truth and error is a very dangerous approach because it makes heresy difficult to spot, and that’s exactly what false teachers and heretics do!

Believe me when I tell you this: apathy and ignorance are Christian’s downfall. Christians have become very comfortable and lazy in their faith because it’s all available on demand. Healing on demand, prayers will be answered on demand, becoming wealthy on demand. False teachers know this, so they take advantage of it. I assure you that most Christians have not read the Bible and know very little about it. That’s why it would be very easy to introduce a counterfeit Bible message to deceive them; they have no biblical foundation based on truth. Deception often comes from apathy and ignorance.

I rarely see any believer take a stand on this crucial issue. Why don’t we Christians stand up to this heretical movement and protect God’s truth? Jesus expects it from us: “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” (Revelation 2:2).

New Age churches claim to base their doctrines on the Bible, but in reality, twist and alter what God says and instead feed the church whatever they want or whatever makes it feel good. Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul warned us that the day will soon come when “people will not endure sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will find themselves teachers after their own lusts;  and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3).

Every book in the New Testament except for one, warns us of false teachers and teachings. Do you think God is trying to tell us something? What I want you to understand is that these behaviors and teachings I speak of in this topic are NOT true Christianity, I assure you! This stuff is NOT scriptural. If it’s not scriptural, it is not of God. If it is not of God, it is either man-made or demonic; which in either case is deceptive and ungodly.  Nowhere in the Bible do we see descriptions of people waving hands or rolling on the ground to worship God. Jesus reminds us to worship the Father in spirit and truth, not in madness and confusion.

Where in the Bible do you read anywhere that Jesus or any of the apostles behaved in such a crazy manner?

Here’s my advice to you: If you see any of this crazy stuff in your church at anytime, RUN out of there faster than Usain Bolt ran in the Olympics, because that church does not teach the entire truth about Jesus Christ!

“The moderns say we must not punish heretics. My only doubt is whether we have the right to punish anybody else.”

G.K. Chesterton