In a recent sermon Pastor Mark Driscoll called out young men for putting off manhood and extending their adolescence as “guys” rather than maturing into men. Watch this clip to see what he said:

Click through to the Resurgence if you can’t see the video.

If you care about ministering to emerging adults (18-24 year olds), or guys (16-26 year old males), then the following books should prove helpful to you in understanding their world. These books are filled with the best and newest sociological research on the topics. They are not “how to” books on ministering to young adults. Rather, they are descriptive and will give you the lay of the land.

Book #1: Souls in Transition

Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults by Christian Smith and Patricia Snell

This book is top-notch research that tells the definitive story of the religious and spiritual lives of emerging adults, ages 18 to 24, in the United States. It describes the major influences on their developing spiritual lives and reveals how the religious beliefs and practices of teenagers are strengthened, challenged, and often changed as they move into adulthood.

Many of their findings are surprising. First, parents are the single most important influence on the religious outcomes of young adults. Second, participation in evangelization, missions, and youth groups does not predict a high level of religious vitality just a few years later. Third, the common wisdom that religiosity declines sharply during the young adult years is shown to be greatly exaggerated.

What many will find particularly helpful is how Smith and Snell describe the broader cultural world of today's emerging adults, how that culture shapes their religious outlooks, and what the consequences are for religious faith and practice in America more generally.

Book #2: Guyland

Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men by Michael S. Kimmel

This book is about “guys.” Guys are initiated into guyland sometime around high school and hopefully exit in their mid-20s. Kimmel paints a vivid picture of this depressing place populated by “almost-men.”

Young men are doing things very differently today than they have in the past. Guys are delaying the milestones of adulthood for a longer period of time, such as moving out of their parents’ home, getting jobs, buying homes, marrying, and having children. They are rejecting the traditional notions of mature masculinity by opting for vanity and narcissism. They follow Hugh Hefner's model of a life based on unrealistic and childish male wish fulfillment. Guyland celebrates and sustains guys’ failure to launch into the adult responsibilities of work and family.

Kimmel powerfully drives home the point that guyland defines “being a man” through consumption rather than production: video games, pornography, bars, parties, sports, the media, and other things. Guyland is filled with many of the most toxic elements of our culture: violence, hazing, drinking, drugs, pornography, emotionally detached intimacy, sexual harassment, and degradation of women.

It is clear why guyland is detrimental to both women and men. But Kimmel is hopeful. He discusses possibilities for change, addressing the importance of actively involved parents beyond their children’s high school years. He also provides stories of hope and bravery of individuals and institutions that have sought to address the problems associated with guyland.

Book #3: After the Baby Boomers

After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings are Shaping the Future of American Religion by Robert Wuthnow

Wuthnow offers a broad description of this demographic: “Young adults are marrying later, having fewer children and having them later, moving more often, going to college in higher numbers, living with more immigrant neighbors and therefore more ethnic and religious diversity, and living in the suburbs even more than their baby boomer parents.”

This plays out in the fact that 46 percent of those in their early forties attend church weekly while only 29 percent of people in their twenties do.

The biggest single social factor related to declining church attendance among younger adults is the postponement of marriage and children. Wuthnow explains: “Being married or unmarried has a stronger effect on church attendance than anything else. Children also make some difference. This means that the postponement of marriage and children continues to suppress church attendance at least until adults are in their early forties.”

While those in their early forties go to church more often, young adults in their twenties talk about religion with their friends more than any other demographic. Furthermore, Wuthnow reports that “core beliefs have remained remarkably pervasive and stable” over the past 30 years. This means younger adults are interested in spirituality and are sympathetic to essential Christian doctrine.

Trial Study Guide

Get the companion study guide to Pastor Mark's Trial sermon series in downloadable PDF form. Find out more.

How NOT To Be a Missional Church series: Click | View Series

The missional church movement has been good and bad. On a positive note, let’s focus on the bad. I want to suggest three ways to not be a missional church. In continuation of the series, this post examines some of the defects of evangelism-driven mission.

Evangelism-Driven Mission

These churches focus almost exclusively on evangelism. Their view of the gospel leads them to see social action as optional. For them, mission is synonymous with evangelism, and evangelism is highly programmatic. They focus on training individuals through evangelism training programs, apologetics, and use of evangelistic tracts. What’s wrong with learning evangelistic presentations, memorizing apologetic defenses, and using tracts?

1. Evangelism-driven mission is often answer-based and heaven-centered.

These churches train individuals and teams “How to present the gospel” in a brief period of time. Typically, these programs look for the person being evangelized to offer a specific answer. For example, “If you died tonight and stood before God and he said: ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’ What would you say?” Notice that the questions are answer-driven. The goal is to get someone to say the right answer and to believe the right facts, like “Jesus died for my sins.” What we need is less belief and more faith.

In his new book, The Future of Faith, Harvey Cox makes a helpful distinction between belief and faith. He writes: “We can believe something to be true without it making much difference to us, but we place our faith only in something that is vital for the way we live.” We can believe without it making a difference.

Many Americans believe that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, but it makes very little difference in their lives. They possess mere belief. This mere belief undermines the gospel. What we need is faith. Moreover, mere belief in the right answer baits people, not with Christ, but with heaven. It is heaven-centered, not Christ-centered. In evangelism-driven mission, Christ is subordinated to the treasure of heaven, instead of heaven being subordinated to the treasure of Christ. The goal is heaven, not Jesus. Answer-driven and heaven-centered evangelism leads to nominalism and distorts the gospel. Evangelism-driven mission can undermine, not advance the gospel.

2. Evangelism-driven mission can be defensive and fact-oriented.

Training in apologetics has its place; however, when our approach to non-Christians is driven by apologetics, we very often reduce people to projects. Apologetic mission can foster too much defense and too much offense because it aims at the head to the exclusion of the heart, to change someone’s mind, but not their lives. Just because someone agrees with our facts and embraces our logic doesn’t guarantee true conversion. We need to be prepared, not only to defend the faith, but to love people intelligently. Most objections to the gospel have existential and personal roots. If we can get beyond the arguments to the idols of the heart, we can show just how tremendously superior and satisfying Jesus is to whatever they love, desire, and pursue most!

3. Evangelism-driven mission is often outdated and fails to contextualize.

The methods used are often prepackaged and outdated. Evangelistic programs falsely assume that our listeners still understand the meanings of sin, Christ, and faith. But very often, they hear something very different, like legalism, moral teacher, and mere belief. When we fail to express the gospel in context and vocabulary that our listeners can understand, we fail to share the gospel. Christ dated and contextualized himself to all kinds of people so that his message would make sense and connect with their deep needs for redemption. Using packaged illustrations and methods assumes a one-size-fits-all, but the Incarnation reminds us that the gospel is much more personal and dynamic.

4. Evangelism-driven mission is individualistic.

This approach to mission trains individuals, not communities. It reduces the gospel to a conversation between two people, without focusing on embodying the gospel in communities. Statistics have shown that individuals are consistently converted to communities before they are converted to doctrines. Our methods are often doctrine-driven and individualistic.

Jesus prescribed a kind of communal evangelism in John 17, where our community is so redemptive and rich that it points people to Jesus. Paul called for a distinctive discipleship in churches that set the community of faith forth as an example, as salt and light in their cities, attracting others to them. Individualistic evangelism doesn’t create community because it doesn’t convert people to the church. It aims at converting individuals to a set of answers and to heaven. Evangelism-driven mission has very little to do with the Jesus of the Church, the Head of the Body.

To be continued.

This series is based on Jonathan Dodson’s talks at the LEAD ’09 conference.

Resurgence Literature

Re:Lit is a ministry of Resurgence. There you will find a growing line of books to help guide the resurgence of the new reformed. Find out more.

How NOT To Be a Missional Church series: Click | View Series

The missional church movement has been good and bad. On a positive note, let’s focus on the bad. Over the next few posts, I want to suggest three ways to not be a missional church. We’ll organize these reflections under three headings:

1. Event-Driven Mission
2. Evangelism-Driven Mission
3. Social Action-Driven Mission

Event-Driven Mission

These are churches that, in the name of mission, throw block parties, do Easter egg drops from helicopters, hand out water at intersections, do gas buy-downs, or even, as was recently suggested to me, do coffee buy-downs. What’s wrong with these approaches to missional church?

1. Event-driven mission is works-based.

It begins on the wrong foot, the foot of action instead of the foot of identity. It makes mission out to be an act of man, not a participation in an attribute of God. Mission is something we are before it’s something we do. Event-driven approaches to mission turn mission into an event, something that is optional for the super-spiritual, gets us points with God, and gets him on our good side. But God can’t be bribed by mission or anything else. Event-driven mission builds mission on works, not grace.


2. Event-driven mission is very often consumerist.

The event approach to being a missional church often appeals to consumerism, not to genuine social or spiritual needs. It aims at the consumer-in-want-of-stuff, not the sinner-in-need-of-grace. These attempts at mission appeal to the consumerist longing for a deal, instead of the sinner’s deep down longing for redemption. They try to buy people off: “I’ll give you an Xbox if you come to my church. I’ll pay for your gas if you visit on a Sunday.” If you have to pay people to come meet Christians, something is seriously wrong with your understanding of gospel and mission. Event-driven mission makes appeals based on idolatry, not grace.


3. Event-driven mission doesn’t work very well.

In urban contexts, people can smell a bait and switch a mile away, and that is exactly why they left the church (if they were in it in the first place). If we want to reach non-Christians in a post-Christian context, then we will have to prove to them that they cannot be bought off, that we are a real community, and that we care about them enough to live next door to them, eat with them, work with them, suffer with them, rock out with them, and be with them. Event-driven mission is a bait and switch.

To be continued.

This series is based on Jonathan Dodson’s talks at the LEAD ’09 conference.

Pastor Dad

Every dad is a pastor. The important thing is that he cares for his flock well. Pastor Mark Driscoll's new eBook offers spiritual insights on fatherhood. Get it here.

Acupuncture Series: Click | View Series

Key Terms Regarding Acupuncture

• Meridian: In traditional Chinese medicine, a channel or pathway through the body along which qi flows. Practitioners use acupuncture points to reach the meridians and affect the flow of qi.
• Qi: In traditional Chinese medicine, the vital energy or life force proposed to regulate a person’s spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical health and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin and yang.
• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): An Eastern medical system that originated in China. It is based on the concept that disease results from disruption in the flow of qi and imbalance in the forces of yin and yang. Practices such as herbs, meditation, massage, and acupuncture seek to aid healing by restoring the yin-yang balance and the flow of qi.
• Yin and Yang: The concept of two opposing yet complementary forces described in traditional Chinese medicine. Yin represents cold, slow, or passive aspects of the person, while yang represents hot, excited, or active aspects. A major theory is that health is achieved through balancing yin and yang, and disease is caused by an imbalance leading to a blockage in the flow of qi.
• Five Element Theory: The Five Element theory is used to explain the cause of particular diseases, and to associate signs or symptoms with particular organs and afflictions. In the context of "phases," the Five Element theory helps to explain the processes that are occurring in the body throughout various stages of disease and healing. The Five elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. For more information, check out this link: http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/abc/fiveelementtheory.php

The Practice of Acupuncture

Acupuncture has been practiced in China and other Asian countries for thousands of years. Scientists are studying the efficacy of acupuncture for a wide range of conditions.

Few complications have been reported from the use of acupuncture. However, acupuncture can cause potentially serious side effects if not delivered properly by a qualified practitioner, due to its use of needles and energetic principles.

If practiced in the strict Buddhist tradition it can be risky for the Christian believer. There are Buddhist rituals practiced that are contrary to biblical principles, for example, dedication of needles in sacrificial worship to Buddha and other gods associated with Buddhism.

There are channels known as meridians. Fourteen of them are considered main channels "connecting the body in a web-like interconnecting matrix" of at least 2,000 acupuncture points.

Acupuncture in the United States

Acupuncture became better known in the United States in 1971, when New York Times reporter James Reston wrote about how doctors in China used needles to ease his pain after surgery.

American practices of acupuncture incorporate medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. Acupuncture use in the United States continues to grow, and ongoing research continues to validate its use in varied health conditions.

A report from a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1997 stated that acupuncture is being "widely" practiced—by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners—for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions.

According to the 2002 National Health Interview Survey—the largest and most comprehensive survey of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by American adults to date—an estimated 8.2 million U.S. adults had ever used acupuncture, and an estimated 2.1 million U.S. adults had used acupuncture in the previous year. A recent survey not concluded yet for 2009 estimates that 6 million adults will have used acupuncture as a form of treatment.

Check out this website for more information regarding traditional chinese medicine and acupuncture: http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/abc/.

To be continued.

Re:Sound

The musical arm of the Resurgence offers music that is theologically unified, stylistically diverse, and musically excellent. Find out more.

Acupuncture Series: Click | View Series

A Funny Story

In my years of practicing medicine I have heard many amazing and humorous stories about healing encounters. This one had me in stitches of laughter. A man had chronic, excessive body heat and sweating. He had been seen by many traditional physicians, but no cause was found. A friend recommended that he see an acupuncturist in Chinatown who had a reputation for clearing such strange symptoms. Even so, he was nervous about his first acupuncture experience.

He arrived at the Chinese acupuncturist’s office and was met with strange aromas of moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicine technique that involves the burning of mugwort, a small, spongy herb, to facilitate healing. Moxibustion has been used throughout Asia for thousands of years; in fact, the Chinese character for acupuncture, translated literally, means "acupuncture-moxibustion." The purpose of moxibustion, as with most forms of traditional Chinese medicine, is to strengthen the blood, stimulate the flow of qi, and maintain general health. It is a strong aroma and can smell like something is burning.

This Is How They Do It in China

The patient realized that he was seeing a truly traditional and authentic man, as he did not speak any English. The doctor motioned him to the table, and then motioned to him to take off all of his clothes. He did as he was instructed, and the doctor began treatment. He had 20 needles at different points on his face, arms, legs, back, and feet. Just after the last needle was inserted, the doctor was distracted by smoke that was coming under the doorway of his office.

FIRE, FIRE, FIRE

He didn’t seem too alarmed at first, because moxibustion creates a good amount of smoke at times, so it could have been the practitioner next door. At this point the patient was wondering if he should have ever listened to his friend regarding this treatment. When the Chinese doctor opened the door, he began to scream in Chinese and English, "FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!!" The patient, with no clothes on and all these needles, jumped up, looked through the door, and saw that the entire office was going up in flames. He and the doctor fled and managed to get out of the building safely. From that time this patient has never had another bout with excessive body heat and sweating again—he was cured!

To be continued.

Mars Hill Global

Serving the church and spreading the gospel. Help support this effort by giving to the Global Fund. More info at MarsHillGlobal.com.

Eastern Healing: Click | View Series

The Danger of Undiscerning Acceptance

I have been in practice in alternative medicine for many years and have witnessed many disturbing experiences. However, one example that always comes to mind is about a young woman who called me in distress because she had heard that I could give her guidance regarding an awful experience she encountered.

This poor woman was plagued with fear. She said that she was given the name of a supposed Christian healer who had worked with many of her Christian friends and healed them. The practitioner used therapeutic touch and some Eastern meditation practices. She lay on a massage table in silent room lit by candles and fragrant with incense.

He passed over her numerous times, never laying a hand on her but manipulating her body energy. The session lasted for one hour. As she remained in this room her spirit became agitated. She noticed a decor of New Age icons. She was not sure about this practitioner but felt that since he was a Christian, he must be safe. After the therapy was over she traveled home; then serious body tremors and aching of muscles began.

A Call for Help

She became highly anxious to the point that her mood became very dark. A deep depression settled over her, which she had never encountered before. Through the night her body remained in tremors, and she felt very cold. She called me the next morning and desperately needed help. The first thing we did on the phone was pray, and I asked God's directed intervention to overcome any adversarial force that had been imparted upon this woman. Her spirit began to calm, and her anxiety lightened. As she calmed in tears, she asked me some very serious questions:

• What did I do?
• Did I allow an evil thing to take hold of me?
• Was this recommendation of this Christian friend wrong?
• What did this man do to me?
• Was he a Christian?
• What was he practicing on me?
• What kind of an evil was he practicing?
• Have I done serious harm to my mind and spirit now?
• What should I do now?

All of these questions just rolled off of her tongue. She was seriously frightened and buffeted with the guilt of making a wrong decision. I felt her anguish and pain. After talking with her for an hour, I gave her direction about things she should do in the future. Most of it you are reading in this article. Everything turned out well for this woman, but she learned a serious spiritual lesson she will never forget.

Here are further questions for evaluation:

1. Did God give you consent through the direction of the Holy Spirit?
2. Do you believe that God can actively heal every aspect of your life?
3. Are you forcing your way in disbelief?
4. Are you making a decision in desperation and doubt?
5. Are you accepting a teaching or practice on the recommendation of another person, either Christian or not?
6. Are you allowing a teacher or healing practitioner access to you without any consideration how it may compromise your faith in Jesus Christ? All things must be evaluated from the reference point of obedience to Jesus Christ. If there is any compromise whatsoever, leave the teaching and/or practice immediately!

Always evaluate from the following standpoint: Is this practice or teaching compromising my faith and obedience to Christ? Will this teaching or practice cause serious harm to me spiritually, emotionally, or physically? Does it take away from my total reliance and trust in God? God will make it clear to you through the guidance of the Holy Spirit as he guides us in all truth. Ask, seek, and knock, and God will open up the way of clarity.

To be continued.

Death By Love:

Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears tackle some of the most serious redemptive aspects of Jesus' work in these twelve letters of counsel to individuals. Find out more.

Eastern Healing: Click | View Series

Receive

When we receive a teaching, we also receive the teacher. When we receive Jesus Christ's teachings, we also receive the Teacher. What we accept and embrace in our mind and spirit as a teaching, we allow to be part of our lives. With regards to any practice that is outside of Christian living, we must seriously, carefully, introspectively, and prayerfully discern what God's mind is on a teaching that is not directed by him. The bottom line is that if your spirit is unsettled and your peace disturbed, the teaching or practice may be against God's plan. If you are confused and unclear about a teaching or practice, this is automatically a red flag. Rushing in and ignoring God's Spirit is ignorance, not wisdom.

You do not have to make a decision right away. Wait on God, and he will direct your decision. A good rule to consider is that if you don't know, don't go! Should I accept any or all of this practice and teaching? This brings us to the next level, which may give some more clarity: is any of this practice or teaching redeemable?

Redeem

To redeem a practice or teaching means that we carefully consider its usable parts. To redeem in this regard means that careful work needs to be done in order to discover the usable parts of a teaching or practice. The Christian must research prayerfully, with a guarded mind and spirit, and openly, honestly, and actively seek God's direction. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. If there is anything that is contrary to this truth then it should not be considered redeemable and therefore must be rejected. If any part is redeemable then clear guidelines must be established before embracing any teaching or practice.

• What is emotionally, spiritually, and physically safe for me to accept?
• Is it consistent with God's spirit of healing?
• Am I choosing to redeem this practice or teaching for quick relief of pain?
• Do I know that God is leading me through the Holy Spirit's guiding presence to accept this teaching or practice?

If after everything is carefully evaluated there remains confusion, lack of clarity, and disturbance of inner tranquility, then your answer should be No! Never redeem a teaching or practice based solely upon the recommendation of another person, even a Christian.

To be continued.

Resurgence Podcasts:

Get all the latest audio sermons, interviews, and lectures delivered straight to you as soon as they are released. Find out more.

Eastern Healing Series: Click | View Series
Continued from: Part 7

Evaluating With Wisdom (Receive, Redeem, Reject, and Relate)

Now with a foundational understanding of the basics of Eastern healing practices and some elements of alternative healing, we can begin to carefully evaluate the various practices in alternative medicine. This vast subject requires a basic blueprint that would assist the Christian in knowing what to receive, redeem, reject, and relate in the faith experience. This is essential because every successive generation that is not given proper education about these Eastern practices endangers Christendom.

There is evidence that Christians accept and reject practices which they do not understand. I have personally seen devastating outcomes when Christians accepted and allowed healing practices that are clearly anti-theistic (anti-God) and were seriously injured as a result. Conversely, I have seen Christians reject valuable healing resources that are biblically safe. By basing their opinion on hearsay rather than researching and investigating for themselves, they give a valuable practice the reputation of being satanic. Guessing is not a safe option here; knowledge and understanding is crucial.

Springs Without Water

Christian, you must know how serious this is. The church as a whole is threatened by the dangerous encroachment of Eastern philosophy, which we are warned not to embrace. In 2 Peter 2:17-19 we are warned not to be given to false teaching:"Those false teachers are like springs without water and clouds blown by a storm. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them. They brag with words that mean nothing. By their evil desires they lead people into the trap of sin--people who are just beginning to escape from others who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For people are slaves of anything that controls them." (New Century Version)

I believe that the "4 R" evaluation method above will be very valuable to assess whether or not certain practices are acceptable. It is very simple to use, and I will provide the basic blueprint of this method in the following posts. At the very least the Christian will be able after this evaluation to deduce what aspects of a particular practice does or does not violate Christian faith, theology, and doctrine, and see more clearly the reasons why acceptance or rejection is necessary.

To be continued.

Recommended Books:

A collection of fantastic reading material on various important topics, used and shared by Pastor Mark Driscoll. Find out more.

Eastern Healing Series: Click | View Series
Continued from: Part 6

The Christian's Healing

"The true Christian life, true spirituality, is not merely a negative not-doing of any small list of things. Even if the list began as a very excellent list of things to beware of in that particular historic setting, we still must emphasize that the Christian life, or true spirituality, is more than refraining from a certain external list of taboos in a mechanical way."
—Francis Schaeffer (True Spirituality)

Every Christian needs some form of healing spiritually, emotionally and physically. The overwhelming number of healing resources available for the Christian is exhausting. There are many authors with many views, some claiming to be Christian. The lists and requirements go on ad infinitum. As Christians we need to know that our spirituality can be seriously altered if we allow false teachings and dark practices to become the staples of our total healing and well-being. Any healing practices must first be carefully researched and verified as to whether they are in line with the Christian worldview and are theologically sound. 

True spirituality involves knowing the ultimate effects that a healing practice may have upon total well-being, not just developing a list of practices to stay away from. It understands the eternal threat some practices pose if embraced and integrated in experience.

Francis Schaeffer says it well: 

"The Bible makes the possibility of healing very clear, and our experience confirms this teaching. We have seen times in which God reached down into history and completely healed, either physically or psychologically, at a certain point of time. But we must point out that both Scripture and experience show that while sometimes God does this, sometimes He does not. This is not always a matter of faith, or of the lack of faith. God is personal, and He has his own purposes: God is not a mechanical dispensing machine. Just because a person is not healed physically, we must not assume that this necessarily implies a lack of faith. . . . (True Spirituality)

The Magic of it All

The Scripture is clear on all types of occult art and practice. The use of crystals, jewels, dust of precious metals, tarot cards, ritualistic use of plants, animal parts, and other elements, metaphysical and transcendental meditation, and any sacrificial ritual is clearly anti-theistic in nature. The worship of nature is not the same as worship of the Creator of nature. God can and does use the beauty of nature, the healing principles of plants, and the healing retreats of deep reflection, contemplation, and prayer to achieve his healing work. God is not the inventor of magic, nor does he need it to accomplish his complete work of healing in his highest creation of humankind. C. S. Lewis warns that beyond the obvious practical benefits of modern scientific advance, there may emerge a kind of religious energy very much like the old occult arts: 

There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the "wisdom" of earlier ages. For the wise men of old, the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men. (The Abolition of Man)

To be continued.

Recommended Books:

A collection of fantastic reading material on various important topics, used and shared by Pastor Mark Driscoll. Find out more.

Part of the Eastern Healing series.
Continued from Part 5.

All of the following theories are pagan in nature and none of the philosophical views are Christian whatsoever. The goal here is that by understanding the foundational philosophies of these theories that are anti-God, Christians can discern where these philosophies have crept in to some healing practices. We can then carefully weed out the bad elements in order not to allow other gods in under the guise of Christian faith.

Christian Science

Mary Baker Eddy is the founder of Christian Science and its healing system. Metaphysical healing and psychosomatic healing are strong systems in Christian Science. It acknowledges that the power of healing comes from a Supreme Being, but it denies that the power of healing belongs to the only true God in and through his Son Jesus Christ.

The basic views of Christian Science deny the existence of the Trinity and the redemptive work of Christ:

• God is divine Love, Father-Mother, supreme. 
• The true nature of each individual as a child of God is spiritual. 
• Healing comes from God's infinite goodness, realized in prayer.

The basis of her theory is best framed in her own words: "I submitted my metaphysical system of treating disease to the broadest practical tests. Since then this system has gradually gained ground, and has proved itself, whenever scientifically employed, to be the most effective curative agent in medical practice."

Scientology

Scientology views man as a sole spiritual being and denies that God created this spirit being. It is centrally humanistic, based upon human intellect and evolutionary thought. In fact, this theory affirms that man deteriorates to the degree that he denies his spiritual nature and ceases to live with moral values, such as trust, honesty, integrity, and other sometimes intangible characteristics.

Though this all sounds good, humankind is left without the source that gives hope to live life with moral values, trust, honesty, and integrity. It is impossible to please God without the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of all healing.

Scientology strongly draws upon the metaphysical healing theory and has specific names for different types of healing. They are known as "assists," and there are several different types, including contact, touch, nerve, and location process assists.

"An assist, then, can be described as a Scientology process which is done to alleviate a present time discomfort. A process is an exact series of directions or sequence of actions taken to accomplish a desired result. There are many processes contained in the materials of Scientology, but assists make up a class of processes in themselves." (Scientology Handbook)

Again, we see the denial of the Supreme God, the Trinity, and the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. I love the words of John Piper that sum up all that is contrary to our infinite personal God: "If all the universe and everything in it exist by the design of an infinite, personal God to make his manifold glory known and loved, then to treat any subject without reference to God's glory is not scholarship, but insurrection." (The Pleasures of God)

Advance Conference:

Advance is coming June 2009. The Resurgence is hosting this conference in Raleigh, NC, to provision the local church for the advance of the gospel. Find out more.