Some friends and I did the weigh down program years ago at our local church….
It’s amazing when I reflect back on my life…how easy it was to be drawn into some new thing.
Especially if it appears to be the new way for living or self help.
We just returned from Greece…lovely time with the Posts with the Grandsons.
Paul in Athens
Act 17:16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
Act 17:17 Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
Act 17:18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
Act 17:19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
Act 17:20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
Act 17:21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
There is nothing new about “new things”!
Ecc 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Or then there are the old paths….
Jer 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
Jer 6:17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.
Errors I made…lot’s over the years.
Weigh Down Workshop
At Digital I was taught a bit about the Law of Attraction,
“AI Overview Law of Attraction visualization is the practice of creating vivid mental images of desired outcomes to manifest them into reality. Key techniques include focusing on the feeling of already having attained the goal, using all senses, creating vision boards, and practicing daily to build positive momentum and align with your goals.”
I actually remember even teaching a form of this in a Sunday school class at 1st Pres, before MVPC. Luckily, I wasn’t called on it an never got into really deep aspects of that…
“Visualization in The Secret is the process of creating, in your mind, vivid, emotionally charged images of having already achieved your desires, functioning as the “Believe” step in the manifestation process (Ask, Believe, Receive). By focusing on these mental pictures and feeling the joy of them now, you attract that reality, as explained in the Visualization chapter of The Secret.”
After that I was pretty heavy into the Spiritual Formation early movement. Foster, Willard, even teaching two full course on the Works of Foster at MVPC…
Even the old Blackaby texts and all the Rick Warren and emergent/seek friendly stuff. I did it all…
My confession…sorry for the dump…You may see these differently.
Nothing ever felt right…But many still are so popular today.
Richard Rohr and the Enneagram and the new Ways of John Mark Comer, I’ve avoided.
There are many others…..all Faces of the Modern Visible Church.
Ron
Smiling Faces
L-R: Benny Hinn, Brian McLaren, Kenneth Copeland, Ruth Haley Barton, Richard Rohr
Rainbow Trout 