Monday, April 23, 2007
It Is No Secret
The Secret, the craze of the year attempts to empower mankind once again to create our own utopia. The only reason we haven’t thus far? Well, it’s been a secret! But NOW, in the last throws of the Enlightenment, the age of reason, with its last gasping breath, reveals all! But you mustn’t just know it, explain the gurus; you’ve got to feel it! And to be sure the Christian Left doesn’t feel left out, god is eventually introduced as the energy or force that brings it on. You know, the heavenly bliss of all your dreams come true!
Edith Schaeffer has a refreshing take on these age old ideas, going back to the Tower of Babel version of man’s attempt to reach god-status. Her suggestion, if you care to read on, is to take an eraser to the blackboard of life’s’ teacher notes and begin to consider the idea that if God IS our Creator and if we ARE made in God’s own image, THEN logic allows for His desire to and success in communicating with us, out of His sincere love for us, in a way that we can understand. His revelation of true Truth, I acknowledge, comes in a variety package but, since we are dealing with words here, I am advocating God’s written Truth.
There is a difference between Beckwith’s path to joy and God’s. In fact, they are diametrically opposed. Has man been able to bring about his own peace and happiness—simply by his own vices? For that matter, have Christianity’s armies made considerable progress either? Granted, Dr. Kennedy’s books, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? and What If America Were a Christian Nation Again?, written with Jerry Newcombe, display the great strides in man’s accomplishments when given God’s purpose and Spirit. Accepting our need for Him and relying on His direction and strength assuredly brings a civility unsurpassed but utopia? Let’s face it, we’ve never come close. After all, we are a fickle bunch and the fall repeats itself interminably. Beckwith would say we forgot the secret. God knows we so shamefully turn from Him and His ways. We try to drive ourselves, turn to our ways, and feel the dream! So The Secret goes. God says, “Look to Me, acknowledge Me and I will show you things you never imagined.” (Loosely Jeremiah 33:3) It’s not look to yourself and it’s not “live the dream”, in earthly or materialistic terms. Jesus offers “life more abundant” to which Kennedy and Newcombe’s research attests.
Does The Secret ever credit Christ, the Living Word, for the redemption of anything and everything good in this life? Is it Christ in us who makes God’s purpose of redemption possible at all? The Secret blatantly encourages man’s purpose—which, defined, means self-purpose. The irony is, in the beginning of the DVD, the secret is said to have been known by the Babylonians. Of course it was! They were truly ignorant of the purposes of God—defined: selfless surrender to God’s good, perfect, and pleasing will.
The distinction between these two paths is defined as sacrifice and the absence of it; outward vs inward focus, looking up humbly instead of self aggrandizement, pleasing God, not YOU, for we cannot make ourselves happy. History is our witness. With God, the road will surely have rocks and snares just the same but peace will be in knowing it’s the right one. Do not be deceived by what looks like a smooth ride. Key to choosing is found in God’s road map. The Bible offers the wisdom to discern God’s pleasure, which surely will bring you joy in the morning.
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” ~Proverb 4:18
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” ~Psalm 5:3
“Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” ~Psalm 30:5b
Edith Schaeffer has a refreshing take on these age old ideas, going back to the Tower of Babel version of man’s attempt to reach god-status. Her suggestion, if you care to read on, is to take an eraser to the blackboard of life’s’ teacher notes and begin to consider the idea that if God IS our Creator and if we ARE made in God’s own image, THEN logic allows for His desire to and success in communicating with us, out of His sincere love for us, in a way that we can understand. His revelation of true Truth, I acknowledge, comes in a variety package but, since we are dealing with words here, I am advocating God’s written Truth.
There is a difference between Beckwith’s path to joy and God’s. In fact, they are diametrically opposed. Has man been able to bring about his own peace and happiness—simply by his own vices? For that matter, have Christianity’s armies made considerable progress either? Granted, Dr. Kennedy’s books, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? and What If America Were a Christian Nation Again?, written with Jerry Newcombe, display the great strides in man’s accomplishments when given God’s purpose and Spirit. Accepting our need for Him and relying on His direction and strength assuredly brings a civility unsurpassed but utopia? Let’s face it, we’ve never come close. After all, we are a fickle bunch and the fall repeats itself interminably. Beckwith would say we forgot the secret. God knows we so shamefully turn from Him and His ways. We try to drive ourselves, turn to our ways, and feel the dream! So The Secret goes. God says, “Look to Me, acknowledge Me and I will show you things you never imagined.” (Loosely Jeremiah 33:3) It’s not look to yourself and it’s not “live the dream”, in earthly or materialistic terms. Jesus offers “life more abundant” to which Kennedy and Newcombe’s research attests.
Does The Secret ever credit Christ, the Living Word, for the redemption of anything and everything good in this life? Is it Christ in us who makes God’s purpose of redemption possible at all? The Secret blatantly encourages man’s purpose—which, defined, means self-purpose. The irony is, in the beginning of the DVD, the secret is said to have been known by the Babylonians. Of course it was! They were truly ignorant of the purposes of God—defined: selfless surrender to God’s good, perfect, and pleasing will.
The distinction between these two paths is defined as sacrifice and the absence of it; outward vs inward focus, looking up humbly instead of self aggrandizement, pleasing God, not YOU, for we cannot make ourselves happy. History is our witness. With God, the road will surely have rocks and snares just the same but peace will be in knowing it’s the right one. Do not be deceived by what looks like a smooth ride. Key to choosing is found in God’s road map. The Bible offers the wisdom to discern God’s pleasure, which surely will bring you joy in the morning.
“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” ~Proverb 4:18
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” ~Psalm 5:3
“Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” ~Psalm 30:5b
