Hello Friends!
The very popular book written by Sarah Young Jesus Calling has
reportedly sold millions of copies. Sarah says the she was influenced to write
this book in part by reading the book titled God Calling which was
written back in the 1930’s by two female Catholic mystics known as the "Two Listeners."
This recent book by Sarah Young was
originally brought to my attention by several women –
and men – via various "spiritual" conversations and direct lines of
questioning. As a result of these excellent inquiries, I decided to do
some research.
This article represents a small portion of what I learned during my
"journey" into this mystical never-never land...
Two Books: “God
Calling” & “Jesus Calling”
Although it was not a “big seller” when it was first
published back in 2004, the book Jesus
Calling has recently become a widely “successful” craze within main-steam Christianity. In
terms of content, the message of the book is reducible to one point: Trust me more in daily dependence and you’ll enjoy my presence. The introduction in God Calling written by the “Two
listeners” says:
“We felt all unworthy and overwhelmed by the wonder of it, and could hardly realize that we were being taught, trained and encouraged day by day by Him (Jesus) personally, when millions of souls, far worthier, had to be content with guidance from the Bible, sermons, their churches, books and other resources.”
Unfortunately, I don’t think they tested
the spirit that they were apparently in contact with as we are commanded to do
via the Scriptures. These ladies were NOT
hearing from Jesus Christ, God the Father, or the Holy Spirit!
These “Two Listeners” were originally a part of Dr. Frank
Buchman’s Oxford group, a
“moralistic” movement that swept across the world in the 1900′s. It was renamed
to the Moral Re-Armament in 1938 and
was later changed again to the Initiatives
of Change in 2001. Supposedly the Oxford
group began as a “Christian movement” and many genuine Christians were caught up
with the wave of hysteria, would join them and then soon realize that the
premise of the group was false. They would soon leave and go back to “ordinary” church. So, it was this “Oxford movement” which
spawned the “Two Listeners” of the book God
Calling.
This Oxford Group is indeed quite a
trail of discovery when researched in depth. One of the four “absolutes” these folks adhered
to was sitting in daily “quiet time” privately or in a group and journal what
God was “speaking” to them. Another “absolute” was having “house parties” where
they would convene and “confess” their sins to one another. Apparently many of
these “house parties” became a “focus time” to converse of the gross choices they
had made and how “sorry” they were (that they got caught) – rather than a godly
sorrow which leads to repentance of sin. They would clap after each person "confessed" – Welcome recovery group
therapy...
The two founders of Alcoholics Anonymous,
Bill Wilson and Dr. Robert Smith, were also enthusiastic members of the Oxford
Groups. Both Bill Wilson and "Dr. Bob" believed that the principles
of the Oxford Groups were the key to overcoming alcoholism. Thus, AA's “bible” –
the so-called “Big Book” – in large part reads like a piece of Oxford Group
Movement literature and the “12 steps” cornerstones of AA ideology are for all
intents and purposes a codification of Oxford Group principles. Think “Higher Power”…
Editor, A. J. Russell, literary
editor of perhaps the most virile and progressive London daily newspaper from the end of 1923 until the middle of 1926, was another of
the influences for Sarah Young in where she sits in the silence and “listens” to
Jesus. Obviously Sarah didn’t perform a “background check” on this man or these
anonymous “Two Listeners” before delving into such a practice of her “quiet time” activity!
The substance of the book
is also drawn from the wells of the 1870's British Keswick "holiness" or “higher life/victorious life” movement that B. B. Warfield critiqued
so thoroughly at the turn of the twentieth century in his massive study Perfectionism.
The Keswick teaching calls believers to enter into
the “higher [deeper] life” and to "let go and let God." While they are "saved," many believers fail to "experience the
presence" of Jesus in their daily lives. By “surrendering all,” letting go of
their attachment to the things of this world, and striving to enter into this
"realm of ultimate peace," believers can attain a perpetual state of "victory" in life.
As Warfield pointed out,
the higher life/victorious life movement
exhibited a deep inner contradiction in its message. On the one hand, you
aren’t supposed to do anything, but simply rest in Jesus – leave off striving! On the other hand, there are many things that
you have to strive to do in order to enter into the higher life. Warfield
traced the lineage back to Oberlin theology and German mysticism.
Andrew Murray (1828-1917)
was a classic spiritual writer in this stream and his book, The Secret of
the Abiding Presence, has been a staple of Keswick piety. Murray’s emphases
are replete throughout Jesus Calling. The only difference is that they
are placed on the lips of Jesus himself.
To
be honest, there are some good points in Jesus
Calling. Jesus, according to Sarah, doesn’t promise a problem-free life;
trials are opportunities for growth spurts. He’s in charge and works everything
together for our good. Don’t seek Jesus merely to confirm your own plans for
the day, but be transformed by his purposes. And above all, fix your eyes on
Jesus. All good points to be sure.
However, we must ask ourselves, “What 'purposes' is Sarah referring to here”? and “Who is Jesus
and why should I fix my eyes on him?” In short, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
taken for granted in these two books. When exhortations to trust in Him are separated from a clear
proclamation of Who Jesus Christ is, what He has done, and why He died on the Cross – trust then simply
becomes a work – something that one
needs to muster up on their own.
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said…?” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die…” – Genesis 3:1 & 4
Evidently, like Eve, Sarah was just looking
for “something more” than the Word of God to satisfy her fleshly desires. In fact, Sarah
Young read the fore mentioned book God
Calling and was so inspired, she decided to receive messages from “Jesus”
too! On June 14th – page 173, she received this “message” directly from
“Jesus:”
“Sometimes you felt naked–exposed to the revealing Light of My Presence. I wrapped an ermine robe around you: My robe of righteousness. I sang you a Love song, whose beginning and end are veiled in eternity.”
So, Jesus Christ is going to cloth us with
fur? No! He already did that via the form of a fig leaf in the Garden of Eden as a temporary covering as a
result of Adam and Eve’s (our) sin! He does not need to kill an animal to cover
us. His blood was shed once for all! – AMEN!
Again, Sarah contends that she longed to
have “Jesus” speak to her because she longs for more than the Bible alone:
“I knew God communicated with me through the Bible but I yearned for more”
“Increasingly, I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day”
On a lighter note… As my friend Justin
Peters so aptly states:
“If you want to hear God speak to you, read your Bible. If you want to hear God speak to you audibly, read it out loud!”
Well said, Justin!
The Apostle Paul warned of these perilous
times to come and the perilous, god-less men who would pervert the Word of God:
For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth – 2 Timothy 3:6-7
Whenever anyone claims to receive direct
revelation from God and it doesn’t line up with His Word, we have a very BIG
problem! God calls us to listen and learn through His Word:
But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work – 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Then Paul charges us with the following
exaltation:
I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables – 2 Timothy 4:1-4
It is my contention is that the two books God
Calling & Jesus
Calling are very
dangerous for the Christian, as they are promoting new-age mysticism, “channeling” and
automatic-writing occult practices which undermines the authority of God’s
Word. The Bible-minded Christian should not be consulting occultic, new-age or
pagan sources, which are activities clearly forbidden throughout the Scriptures.
Young’s Jesus Calling and the
mystical writings found in God Calling
clearly represents “guidance” and “information” that is absolutely outside of
the Biblical boundaries of God’s Word!
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!
Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"
Lighthouse Publications <><
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)
Lighthouse Publications <><
"Dedicated to the Never Ending Search for the Creator's calling within You" (TM)
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