Is the world being sold a lie through the New Age “new thinking”? Are they really coming across new information? Are we not are told in Ecclesiastes 1:9 “what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;there is nothing new under the sun“…. The concepts promoted through the New Age are just regurgitations of the same material passed down through the centuries.
Eckhart Tolle, author of “The New Earth” tells millions of listeners material that has been told over and over and over again…… What makes him so different than the hundreds of other self-improvement, and motivational speakers out there? The difference is he is branding himself as “spiritual teacher”.
Does he provide any answers to questions such as “Is there life after death?” Apparently not.
Oprah asked Tolle, where we go after death, and he stated to one person that he really didn’t know because he had never died to experience (feel) it. Yet millions are following him, and he doesn’t seem to have clear answers to life’s most important questions. To Oprah he stated that one either goes to join with souls or perhaps goes through other experiences to attain a higher level of consciousness. Or perhaps goes…..??
Eckhart Tolle doesn’t have the answers, yet points to HIM who is able to defy logic- Yeshua the Christ. The foundation of Christianity is based on the person who has experienced death. Yeshua Jesus died, rose again, and showed himself to more than 500 people, but Tolle, and Oprah dismiss the words of Yeshua, and go after their own conclusions with all things related to life and death.
Tolle finds himself baffled with WHY and HOW Yeshua could do these things, and offers up a mystery tale of how Yeshua was able to use his brain at a higher level than the rest of us. Tolle, goes on to tell us that we are to life for today, because tomorrow there may be nothing-less. Aren’t we told to life our “best life now” Why is that? …………..because there is no heaven or hell waiting for us?
The Holy Scriptures tell the exact opposite.
Question: Why Did Yeshua Jesus Have To Be Tortured ? Why Did He Willingly Die?
Isaiah 53:5-6 says, He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was laid upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
John 3:36 says: 36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 14:16 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Nothing New Under The Sun ????
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have” Eckhart Tolle
We have seen this way of thinking before… From WHO?
Isaiah 14:12-15 “How you are fallen from heaven,O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven,I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”
Words like “no sin” or “no hell” speak to many people who don’t want to be told their ways lead them down the path of destruction. People throughout time have always embraced the notion of no accountability for sins. This kind of lie will lead all of its followers to hell (Romans 6:23 NIV). This desire is the very same desire for which Satan was thrown down from heaven and into the earth.
Are We Like Yahweh? Not Even Close
If you haven’t read the book of Job, I would encourage you to open to the 37th chapter and read to the end of the book.
In Chapter 38, God Speaks! Here HE tells us HE is in charge, and HE is the one who creates order in the universe.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors, When it burst forth and issued from the womb;
9 When I made the clouds its garment, And thick darkness its swaddling band;
10 When I fixed My limit for it, And set bars and doors;
11 When I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, And here your proud waves must stop!’
12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place,
13 That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?
14 It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment.
15 From the wicked their light is withheld, And the upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
18 Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this.
19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
20 That you may take it to its territory, That you may know the paths to its home?
21 Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great?
22 “Have you entered the treasury of snow, Or have you seen the treasury of hail,
23 Which I have reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?
24 By what way is light diffused, Or the east wind scattered over the earth?
25 “Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt,
26 To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;
27 To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?
28 Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth?
30 The waters harden like stone, And the surface of the deep is frozen.
31 “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the belt of Orion?
32 Can you bring out Mazzaroth in its season? Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you?
35 Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?
36 Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?
37 Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven,
38 When the dust hardens in clumps, And the clods cling together?
39 “Can you hunt the prey for the lion, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
40 When they crouch in their dens, Or lurk in their lairs to lie in wait?
41 Who provides food for the raven, When its young ones cry to God,
And wander about for lack of food?
Isaiah 46:9″Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me“
No sin, No heaven, No hell, No God?
One can open the bible and read that SIN is mentioned over 500 times throughout the bible, the need to turn away from it, or the consequences for not doing so.
John Walvoord, in his contribution to the book Four Views on Hell says that when it comes to the doctrine of hell in the Bible, “Jesus himself defined this more specifically and in more instances than any New Testament prophet. All the references to gehenna, except James 3:6, are from the lips of Jesus Christ himself…” [Walvoord, “The Literal View” in William Crockett (ed.), Four Views on Hell (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 19-20.]
If one were to ask at random, people outside Christianity, where they will go after death, almost unanimously, it’s heaven. Is there a Hell?
In a survey several years ago, the question was asked, and thousands of churches participated in the answers to one of the most perplexing questions – Is There A Hell? This question rated below 50% in most of the mainline churches and this was among the ministers, which is very surprising.
Hell isn’t a popular subject. Most people don’t even like to entertain the thought of looking into it. Most people won’t approach investigating the answers, for fear of what they might find. Yet why did Yeshua speek more on hell than on heaven ? Why did He have very strong warnings to keep people He loved from going there?
How many times have you heard, “How can a loving God send people to hell?” or “I can’t believe in a place of everlasting punishment.”
People will believe what they WANT to believe, yet I ask you do YOU have solid proof FOR Your Beliefs?
Do Near Death Experiences Prove There Is An Afterlife?
According to a Gallup poll, approximately eight million Americans claim to have had a near-death experience. Individual cases of NDEs in literature have been identified into ancient times. Furthermore, up to 2005, 95% of world cultures have been documented making some mention of NDEs.
In this short blog, After Life Answers, digs into the proof found behind the Near Death Experiences. Are NDE’s just “miss-fires of the brain“, or caused by drugs, or lack of oxygen….? They say no….
Scientific Proof Of Near Death Experiences
After the review of thousands of near death experiences doctors such as Dr Bruce Greyson, Dr Peter Fenwick, Dr Parnia,and Dr Pim Van Lommel have determined that life after death does have serious scientific proof.
Dr Sam Parnia- from Southampton University, conducted a 3 year study in Sept 2008 which 25 hospitals examined 1,500 heart attack patients-survivors. Dr Parnia understood the debates surrounding NDE’s and looked into possible stimulants that could invoke hallucinations such as lack of oxygen, drugs, as well as their religious backgrounds. Dr Parnia was extremely selective in his tests where he studies only people who suffered cardiac arrest,and who were clinically dead. Sam Parnia also concentrated on researching patients who could accurately describe the situation of the emergency room after being clinically dead. He tested their testimony with the nurses and doctors who attended to the person to verify the conversations and events.
Dr Peter Fenwick- is an accomplished doctor with over 240 papers in medical and scientific journals to his credit. In 1996, Dr. Fenwick a neuro psychiatrist to the Epilepsy Unit at the Maudsley Hospital, which he ran for twenty years, he is also chairman of the Scientific and Medical Network, a group of doctors and scientists seeking to deepen understanding in science and medicine. Dr Fenwick published a book on the subject of NDE, titled ‘The Truth in the Light, which was a critical examination of over 300 cases selected from approximately 3000 that had been sent to him.
Dr Bruce Greyson- Dr Bruce Greyson- Professor of Psychiatry, studied 1,595 patients admitted to a cardiac care unit with heart trouble. Dr. Bruce Greyson is one of the leading academic researchers into Near Death Experiences. He is a psychiatric researcher and teacher at the University of Virginia Medical School.
Pim van Lommel-The findings of Pim van Lommel suggests that research subjects can experience consciousness, with self-identity, cognitive function and memories, including the possibility of perception outside their body during a flat EEG. Dr Pim van Lommel in Holland studied NDE in which patients did not have a heart beat, breating, and loss of brain function. Dr Pim Van Lommel conducted a huge study, with 344 cardiac arrest survivors with in 2 days of their heart attack within 10 hospitals. Forty-one survivors reported NDEs, and it was found that NDEs was not influenced by the duration of either unconsciousness or cardiac arrest, or by medication. He also found that significant NDEs were reported in persons who were clinically dead.
Dr Melvin Morse– Dr Melvin Morse is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington. He has studied near-death experiences in children for over 15 years and suggests that memory could be stored outside the brain, that the right temporal lobe acts as a transmitter and receiver of the universal mind. Dr. Morse claims that there are many scientific facts that validate a higher power.
Dr Mario Beauregard, PhD discusses how mainstream science regards the study of consciousness, and the religious spiritual phenomenon are widely being ignored by the medical community.
Is this because heaven and hell could possibly be real?
Scriptures About Death
What do the scriptures say about death? Do we go into nothingness? Here are a couple main points the scriptures tell us over and over.
1) The body returns to the dust of the earth it came from.
2) The soul and spirit return to God in heaven, or rejection of Christ results in damnation.
3) Now absent from the body, we are present with the Lord.
4) We join the company of the “spirits of righteous men made perfect”.
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 Remember him — before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, [7] and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
2 Corinthians 5:1, 6-8 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands…. [6] Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord…. [8] We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Philippians 1:22-24 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! [23] I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; [24] but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
Acts 7:55-59; 8:2 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. [56] “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” [57] At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, [58] dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. [59] While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” … [8:2] Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him.
Revelation 6:9-11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar [in heaven] the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. [10] They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” [11] Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
Luke 23:39-43 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? [41] We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [43] Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Hebrews 12:22-24 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, [23] to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, [24] to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
In Rev. 14:10-11 . “And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Heb. 10:28-29: “Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? The law was to bring one to Christ to reject its testimony of showing ones sin is to reject Christ who died for the sin.
Luke 12:4-5: “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him , who after he has killed, has power to cast into hell, yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
Matt. 11:23-24: “And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.” All these statements show that God will treat all in judgment with different degrees of punishment.