I ran across this today.
Preoccupation with conspiratorial designs leads to paranoia and immobility, even if the devil is orchestrating the whole mess. If you look hard enough, you can see conspiracy and the devil everywhere. Any idea that connects with some aspect of "New Age" thinking will immediately label the entire organization or person as part of the conspiracy, leading to: "Well, I heard the same thing from a known New Ager. He must be part of the conspiracy too."
Some have maintained that "getting your colors done" is a New Age concept. Now, it may very well be that there are a lot of New Agers who get their colors done because of some cosmic color scheme that supposedly puts them in tune with the spiritual forces of nature, but this does not make the practice evil and part of some New Age conspiracy. God created color. Arranging the colors of our wardrobe so the look is pleasing to the eye did not originate with New Age thinkers. Art in all its forms… "is God's gift." The Christian should not reject art, color-coordinated clothes, design forms, and beauty because some pagans distort and pervert their meaning. What do these people think about Joseph's coat of many colors? Were his brothers right in getting rid of him? Was he a secret New Ager?
A few years ago, my wife was asked by Walk Thru the Bible, an Atlanta-based Christian ministry specializing in monthly devotional materials, to sew a quilted backdrop for their display booth. Part of the design was a rainbow. At the National Religious Broadcasters convention in 1986, I had the opportunity to see the completed quilt displayed. I introduced myself to those manning the booth, telling them how my wife sewed the quilt. They told me that a few people chastised them for using the quilt because of the rainbow design. "Don't you know," the New Age critics said, "that the rainbow is the symbol of the New Age Movement?"
This is paranoia. The rainbow is God's covenant sign (Gen. 9:12-17).· We should always be reminded of God's faithfulness, mercy, and grace every time we see the rainbow. If there are hidden dangers in the rainbow, then they are dangers to the humanists who refuse to recognize that God made the rainbow in order to remind Himself of His covenant with man (Gen. 9:16). There are Christians who believe with all their hearts that anything stolen by Satan's followers from Christianity is forever Satan's, and any attempt on the part of Christians to reclaim it in the name of Jesus Christ is an aspect of New Age theology. These Christians take the attitude that "what's Satan's is Satan's, and what's ours is negotiable." So, for that matter, does Satan.
In a statement prepared by Evangelical Ministries to New Religions (EMNR), a cautionary word was given: "New Age teachers often use a common terminology. However, merely using a term popular among New Agers [such as consciousness, holistic, or global] no more indicates acceptance of New Age philosophy than the use of the term 'evangelism' indicates acceptance of Christianity." Christian groups that adopt the rainbow, or use such terms as "holistic" (God heals the whole person) and "global" (our presentation of the gospel should be global) are not necessarily New Agers because they use similar terms.
So........... How do you feel about displaying a rainbow in art of a "church" nature? (Not necessarily as a flag out in front of your building.) Or anything else that has been stolen from God. Yes, the word "Gay" could also enter into a conversation like this.
Preoccupation with conspiratorial designs leads to paranoia and immobility, even if the devil is orchestrating the whole mess. If you look hard enough, you can see conspiracy and the devil everywhere. Any idea that connects with some aspect of "New Age" thinking will immediately label the entire organization or person as part of the conspiracy, leading to: "Well, I heard the same thing from a known New Ager. He must be part of the conspiracy too."
Some have maintained that "getting your colors done" is a New Age concept. Now, it may very well be that there are a lot of New Agers who get their colors done because of some cosmic color scheme that supposedly puts them in tune with the spiritual forces of nature, but this does not make the practice evil and part of some New Age conspiracy. God created color. Arranging the colors of our wardrobe so the look is pleasing to the eye did not originate with New Age thinkers. Art in all its forms… "is God's gift." The Christian should not reject art, color-coordinated clothes, design forms, and beauty because some pagans distort and pervert their meaning. What do these people think about Joseph's coat of many colors? Were his brothers right in getting rid of him? Was he a secret New Ager?
A few years ago, my wife was asked by Walk Thru the Bible, an Atlanta-based Christian ministry specializing in monthly devotional materials, to sew a quilted backdrop for their display booth. Part of the design was a rainbow. At the National Religious Broadcasters convention in 1986, I had the opportunity to see the completed quilt displayed. I introduced myself to those manning the booth, telling them how my wife sewed the quilt. They told me that a few people chastised them for using the quilt because of the rainbow design. "Don't you know," the New Age critics said, "that the rainbow is the symbol of the New Age Movement?"
This is paranoia. The rainbow is God's covenant sign (Gen. 9:12-17).· We should always be reminded of God's faithfulness, mercy, and grace every time we see the rainbow. If there are hidden dangers in the rainbow, then they are dangers to the humanists who refuse to recognize that God made the rainbow in order to remind Himself of His covenant with man (Gen. 9:16). There are Christians who believe with all their hearts that anything stolen by Satan's followers from Christianity is forever Satan's, and any attempt on the part of Christians to reclaim it in the name of Jesus Christ is an aspect of New Age theology. These Christians take the attitude that "what's Satan's is Satan's, and what's ours is negotiable." So, for that matter, does Satan.
In a statement prepared by Evangelical Ministries to New Religions (EMNR), a cautionary word was given: "New Age teachers often use a common terminology. However, merely using a term popular among New Agers [such as consciousness, holistic, or global] no more indicates acceptance of New Age philosophy than the use of the term 'evangelism' indicates acceptance of Christianity." Christian groups that adopt the rainbow, or use such terms as "holistic" (God heals the whole person) and "global" (our presentation of the gospel should be global) are not necessarily New Agers because they use similar terms.
So........... How do you feel about displaying a rainbow in art of a "church" nature? (Not necessarily as a flag out in front of your building.) Or anything else that has been stolen from God. Yes, the word "Gay" could also enter into a conversation like this.