Gnosticism

I just recently found out that the ancient heresy of Gnosticism is still alive today! I thought it was something that was just around during Biblical times… but I was wrong.

I was having a conversation with someone who told me that early Christians believed in reincarnation (for those of you who don’t know what that means, it is the soul that journeys through time occupying different bodies through different lifetimes. The aim of reincarnation is to teach the soul different lessons in order to enlighten them). Obviously this is not a Christian belief. Nowhere in the Bible does it mention multiple lives. As this was not the first time I had heard that, I decided to do some research and found that there is some minute truth to this statement. There was a group of heretics within the Christian circles, called the Gnostics, who believed in reincarnation:

“[Gnosticism] emphasized spiritual ‘resurrection’ (i.e. spiritual rebirth) and physical ‘resurrection’ (i.e. reincarnation) as opposed to a resurrection defined as people sleeping in their graves… Christian Gnostics held the view that if spiritual resurrection was not attained in one lifetime, then the soul would be subjected to as many reincarnations as it takes until spiritual rebirth is attained.”

www.near-death.com/experiences/origen06.html

In essence, what the Gnostics are saying is salvation for all, “If you don’t get it right the first time, don’t worry there’s always next time,” giving people a false hope.

Another thing they believe is that the world we live in is evil. Only the spiritual side of us is good.

“Gnosticism is a Greek philosophical belief, which encompasses the persuasion that all matter is evil, and in contrast, spirit is good. For example, it taught that the human spirit and soul is imprisoned within the evil material body. Therein departing from the fundamental biblical concept of good and evil.”

http://www.itac-israel.org/church/Gnosticism_Dualism.htm

Again the Bible never says that all matter is evil. God created everything and, as Genesis recounts, the Lord said it was good. Matter is not evil it is good. What we do with matter, as humans with sinful natures, might be an entirely different thing. God’s creation is good, wholesome and beautiful.

As I was researching I came across a name I’ve been familiar with since I was a child. He is a modern day “prophet” also known as the Sleeping Prophet. His actual name is Edgar Cayce and is one of the main names out there in the esoteric world. I found a quote by him on one of the sites:

“Gnosticism is the highest form of Christianity.”

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen06.html

I was flabbergasted! Firstly because Gnosticism is still very much alive today and people refer to it as such but also because that was the last thing I expected to hear by Cayce. I knew he called himself a Christian but I also knew that his walk and deeds didn’t correspond to his claim. As a result I kept going with some research and found that Cayce has received some or most of his information by putting himself in a trans.

“For forty-three years of his adult life, Edgar Cayce, the Sleeping Prophet demonstrated the uncanny ability to put himself into some kind of self-induced sleep state by lying down on a couch, closing his eyes, and folding his hands over his stomach. This state of relaxation and meditation enabled him to place his mind in contact with all time and space. From this state he could respond to questions as diverse as, "What are the secrets of the universe?" to "How can I remove a wart?" His responses to these questions came to be called "readings" and contain insights so valuable that even to this day individuals have found practical help for everything from maintaining a well-balanced diet and improving human relationships to overcoming life-threatening illnesses and experiencing a closer walk with God.”

http://www.edgarcayce.org/edgar-cayce1.html

“This state of relaxation and meditation enabled him to place his mind in contact with all time and space.” To me this is a scary statement. What is this ‘all space and time’ referring to? Is it a voice? A state of just “knowing?” And the most important question to me is; why do you need a trans in order to get ‘in touch’ with it?

Deuteronomy 18:9-13 states:

“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.”

If the Lord is not the one talking to Edgar Cayce, if the Lord isn’t the ‘all space and time’ then who, or what, is it? Personally, I believe it’s demonic. If it’s not from God there is only one other place it can come from; His enemy Satan.

Another interesting thing about Gnosticism is the fact that they get a lot of their “knowledge” in the Gnostic writings. Here are a few examples:

The book of Thomas the Contender

The Gospel of Thomas

The Secret Book of John

The Pisti Sophia

The Gospel of Philip

The Apocalypse of Paul

All these writings have one thing in common: they are masquerading as “true” biblical texts. Unfortunately this is a view commonly held by a lot of people. They also believe that the Bible we have today has been tampered with and so is unreliable. Hence they rely on those texts and not the Bible. What I find really interesting about these so-called gospels is that they were all written in the 2^nd and 3^rd century A.D! If I am wrong please correct me! As far as I’ve found they were written 200-300 years AFTER Christ’s crucifixion! The Christian Bible, and I’m mainly talking about the New Testament writings here, as we know it today was written within 100 years of Christ’s death:

“The oldest, probably the book of James, written as early as 45 A.D. The Book of Revelation is the youngest book of the New Testament, written about 95 A.D.”

http://www.juliantrubin.com/biblefacts.html#24

What would you consider the real writings to be? Books that came well after Jesus lived or books that were written within a lifetime of when He lived? Also the Bible is one of the most documented ancient writings in the world. Here is a chart illustrating some of the more known historical documents that we read today. These are documents we take for granted and often don’t question their validity.

Author	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Approximate Time Span between original & copy	Number of Copies	Accuracy of Copies
Lucretius	died 55 or 53 B.C.		1100 yrs	2	---
Pliny	61-113 A.D.	850 A.D	750 yrs	7	---
Plato	427-347 B.C.	900 A.D.	1200 yrs	7	---
Demosthenes	4th Cent. B.C.	1100 A.D.	800 yrs	8	---
Herodotus	480-425 B.C.	900 A.D.	1300 yrs	8	---
Suetonius	75-160 A.D.	950 A.D.	800 yrs	8	---
Thucydides	460-400 B.C.	900 A.D.	1300 yrs	8	---
Euripides	480-406 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1300 yrs	9	---
Aristophanes	450-385 B.C.	900 A.D.	1200 yrs	10	---
Caesar	100-44 B.C.	900 A.D.	1000 yrs	10	---
Livy	59 BC-AD 17	---	???	20	---
Tacitus	circa 100 A.D.	1100 A.D.	1000 yrs	20	---
Aristotle	384-322 B.C.	1100 A.D.	1400 yrs	49	---
Sophocles	496-406 B.C.	1000 A.D.	1400 yrs	193	---
Homer (Iliad)	900 B.C.	400 B.C.	500 yrs	643	95%
New Testament	1st Cent. A.D. (50-100 A.D.	2nd Cent. A.D. (c. 130 A.D. f.)	Less than 100 years	5600	99.5%

http://www.carm.org/christianity/bible/can-we-trust-new-testament-historical-document

As we can see from the above chart, if we question the Bible, which obviously is the most reliable document we have, then we need to question Plato, Euripides and even Aristotle! The Bible has not been tampered with. What we are reading today is as true now as it was then.

Gnosticism is a very real thing to us today, especially within the occult, esoteric and New Age practices. As believers we need to know about it, research it and ultimately bring people to see the One and Only, the Creator of all time and space. If Cayce was only able to get ‘in touch’ with all time and space, we have a personal relationship with its Creator! Don’t be afraid of stepping out and letting people know whom it is that you worship. People need to hear the truth!

If you know more information that I might have missed please comment!

Driving on the wrong… I mean, sorry, the… left side of the road

OK so I guess that the biggest adjustment I have had to make here in South Africa is driving. The desire to change gears with my right hand and hitting the door instead, forgetting to take the e-break off because my left hand just isn’t used to doing it, ending up on the left side of a lane instead of staying on the right, focusing really hard when turning on/off a road making sure I’m on the “right” side of the road has been an interesting challenge to say the least. I guess the weirdest thing so far is sitting on the right side of the car. I’m used to driving with the rest of the car to my right and being able to judge distances accordingly. You have NO IDEA how often I’ve thought I might hit this or that car/wall because my brain just doesn’t work with the car to my left, resulting in me over-adjusting by staying well on the right side. Have you guys seen the movie “The Holiday” where Cameron Diaz is driving for the first time in England? She’s passing this huge truck and the only thing she can say is “Don’t hit me!” in this really annoying squeaky voice. Well, I always thought that she was being a bit silly but now, I TOTALLY understand her! You really feel like the car coming the opposite way is going to hit you! Or I might be driving on a two to three lane road and I feel like I’m dangerously close to the car on my left, when in fact, I’m exactly where I need to be. It really is an uncomfortable feeling let me tell you.

Another funny thing is, because they drive on the left side of the road, everything else is flipped. What do I mean? Well, for instance, at the mall the escalators are the opposite of what we’re used to. The descending side is on the right while the ascending side is on the left. It’s a little mundane thing that, in our day-to-day lives, we don’t even notice, and I’m sure that you’ve never even thought of it, but it’s one of those things where you get to the escalator and you just know something’s odd, you just can’t put your finger on it, until it hits you; they’re reversed!

Anyway, I’m rambling so I’m going to stop. It’s getting better, I promise. I am learning and getting used to the system here, it’s just going to take a wee bit of time :o)

Dubai

Now, how do I describe Dubai? It is a modern city where every other building is a 5 star hotel and a tribute to what man can do. Their motto is; second to none. The man who is responsible for most of the development there said that everybody remembers the first man who climbed Mount Everest but no one remembers the second (actually I don't know the name of the first man who climbed Everest, but hey that's just me). As such they need to be at the forefront of everything so as not to be forgotten. Hence they have the tallest hotel in the world, the only 7 star hotel in the world, they have the tallest building in the world with the fastest elevators: a dashing 18m a second! Since they couldn’t have the first robot operated metro in the world they have the longest one. They also have some of the largest shopping malls in the world. One of them is actually the size of, no less than, 50 football fields! You get the idea. They need to have the biggest, the fastest and the best of everything. Dubai is a great place for people who want a luxurious 5-7 star vacation. It is the place to go if you want to do things, not the place to go if you want to see things. Dubai has no character. It is one of the most impersonal places I have ever been to. Don’t get me wrong, the people there are some of the friendliest that I have ever met, which is a stark contrast to the city itself, who is as cold as it is modern. I went on a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the city and their entire commentary was about the different hotels, how many stars they have, what kind of attraction they offer, how tall they are and who designed them. There is no real soul to the city; it is all about business and luxury. It’s sad really because it truly is a beautiful place and I really enjoyed the contrast displayed in the city. On one side you have the turquoise blue sea with the most amazing palm trees and greenery while on the other you have the sandy planes of the desert; life vs. death; lush vs. barren. I know it’s a little morbid but the contrast really is fascinating. Anyway, I had the opportunity to go dune bashing while I was there. This consists of getting into a 4WD jeep and driving up and sliding down desert dunes. Let me tell you, I thought the car was going to tip over a couple of times. It was a LOT of fun! :o) After all the bashing was done we ended up in a Bedouin campsite… which is more artificial than the hotels… for a BBQ – which consisted of… shaved meat! LOL I left Greece to go to the U.A.E. and have gyro! Oh the irony, LOL.

The best part of what I did in Dubai was the old town. I wish I had gone there from the very beginning. If you ever go, do that first! There you finally feel like you’re in the Middle East. I heard the call to prayer, which previously I hadn’t heard, I saw their local gold and spice market, which is the real deal and finally saw the soul of Dubai. The contrast is interesting; on one side of Dubai you could be anywhere in the world, with it’s hotels and shopping malls, whereas on the other side you can really tell that this is the U.A.E.

Anyway, I had a great time in Dubai and really enjoyed seeing it. You have to go there at least once in your life.

Leadership Camp

I’ve just come back from Leadership Camp where I spent 4 amazing days on the Morning Star with a great team. It was a wonderful experience of parea (fellowship), laughter and adventure – in my opinion the best combination :o) There were 16 people onboard including Alex our skipper, so it should have been quite close quarters but it didn’t feel like it. It felt like we all had the personal space that we needed, which is good I guess, since everybody was really tired. We left Porto Astro on Friday morning at 6:30 to be in Pefki by that evening. Pefki is a small port on the northern part of Evia, which is the closest island to mainland Greece – it is actually connected by a bridge. On the way there we stopped by another port called Limni, which too is situated on Evia, due to paperwork as well as for the most important part of the day… breakfast! En route we also stopped by a beautiful beach for a swim. We spent the night in Pefki and then sailed on to Skiathos where we spent the remaining two days. During our stay there we had sessions where we spoke about leadership and what that means. I guess the main thing that I learned during this camp is that anybody that influences somebody else is a leader. I have never viewed influence as leadership before and that was an interesting revelation. Once we start influencing somebody we are leading them down a specific path, which is our path and hence we become leaders as the path if familiar to us. So potentially we are all leaders as everybody influences somebody at some level. We can influence people by words or by actions. One of my favorite quotes is by St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel, if necessary use words.” Here he is talking about leading by actions. I believe that as Christians we need to be extra careful because people are watching us all the time. Our every word and action is being analyzed by people around us because they hold us to a higher standard. I can give an example that happened to me recently during Teen Camp. I wasn’t really part of that camp as I was on the Morning Star working. Every day after breakfast and siesta I would gather my stuff, go onboard and paint the deck. I didn’t think much of it because for me that is part of what I do… I paint the boat. After the camp, as we were ferrying people across to the cars, a guy told me that I had challenged him in his walk during that week. I was very surprised as this was a guy I had joked around with but we had never had the time to sit down and talk… so my first thought was how on earth did I challenge this guy? He kept on going and said that the way I would go to the Morning Star and work in the sun all day and come back to do the slideshows with a smile and in good humor really impressed him. It challenged him in the sense that I was a hard worker and that he needed to become more like that. All this to say that just by being who you are, living and breathing can influence somebody. So my challenge to you, dear reader, is to be careful because in your day to day lives you are influencing people around you, knowingly or unknowingly, and hence you are being a leader whether you want to or not. It’s an interesting way to look at it and a different perspective on leadership but that was the thing that stood out the most to me. By being who I am, I am leading people which is cool and scary all at the same time.

Just to end on a fun note… as we were sailing back towards the property on Sunday I was on the wheel steering. Here I am sitting on the helm seat, on this beautiful and peaceful day, keeping the boat on its course when all of a sudden I see Alex, with an intense look on his face, booking it towards the wheel. He grabs it out of my hands and steers the boat HARD to starboard. My heart almost stopped. My first thought was “Oh my goodness we’re about to hit another boat!” I am like “Alex! What’s happening?! Are we on collision course with another boat?!” He looks up at me and gets this sheepish look on his face and says “My hat!” He hands me the wheel back and tells me to keep turning. Meanwhile he’s got everybody else on lookout trying to find his hat. All of a sudden somebody yells out “I see it Alex! I see it!” Alex lunges into the sea and starts swimming towards his hat with the guys directing him to it. Meanwhile, I snap out of the shock and the realization hits me… my captain just jumped off board… for his HAT…. there is no captain on this ship right now and I’m at that helm… this is NOT ok! So I just start steering towards him. He finds his hat, puts it on and starts swimming back – guys I wish I could show you a video of this… it was hilarious! He gets to the poop deck of the boat and climbs up. As he’s climbing and I’m looking at him with a look exhibiting a mixture of shock, disbelief and amusement, he looks up at me and says, “It’s my favorite hat man! My favorite hat.” Oh Alex! I turn to my fiend Georgos and say “Well that was our excitement for the day.” LOL!!!!

Never a dull moment in Greece, never a dull moment…

Alex climbing the poop deck with his hat... :o)

This is what it's all about!

AMEN! The Lord did it again!!!! Camp just finished and oh my goodness, I am so blessed by this Teen Camp and for several reasons: the spirit was amazing, the kids were responsive, as well as the leaders, and the atmosphere in general was wonderful. There was a lot of laughter and joy was prevalent everywhere. It just seemed that people got it this time around. On one of the last nights before camp ended Neil Macris gave a really great message, at the end of it he gave an altar call asking people to come up into two groups; on his right he asked people to come up that wanted to profess Christ as their Savior and on his left people that were already born again but wanted to dedicate their lives to the Lord. If you are familiar with altar calls then you know that the preacher is standing there for at least 5 min giving everybody the time to come up that need to psyche themselves to go. I kid you not; within 10 seconds all but 3 of the campers were sitting in one of the two groups! 4 people gave their lives to the Lord that night and the rest dedicated themselves to Him! AMAZING! 10 seconds people, 10 seconds! I’ve never seen anything like this before. My only prayer is that these were real commitments and not just an emotional hype. I truly hope that we will see much fruit from these kids in the future. A lot of these kids know me from the Teen Worship Events which means that it’s going to make it easy for me to do some kind of follow up with them :o) I’m really excited!

Another reason why I was really blessed by this camp was the leaders that were there. I made a point of it this year not to hang around the foreigners that are there to help but the Greek leaders. For example at lunch or dinner, instead of sitting down with the English speakers, thus taking the easy language route, I sat down with the Greeks. I need to advocate that this is the first year I feel like my Greek is up to it. Still now I don’t understand everything that goes on around me but I understand most of it. Praise the Lord I’m finally getting to where I need to be :o) Its taken its time! Greek is not an easy language let me tell you… :op As a result I feel like I really got to know the leaders. I’m walking way with friends. People that I’ve seen around for years but never had a chance to really talk to. Others that were acquaintances from Bible school but during this week grew closer. I feel so blessed :o) Just today I went out for lunch with some of them that turned out to include coffee afterward. I love the Greek culture! They have a savoir vivre that not many other cultures have. The relational aspect of the culture is wonderful. They are always up to just hanging out. Parea is a very important word within the Greek language and means fellowship or company. I am so thankful that the Lord brought me to this country! I have come to life here surrounded by people that love life just as much as I do, it is a wonderful thing to be a part of :o)

Thank you Lord!

Life

Life, we live it at a hundred miles an hour and as a result we probably miss about half of it. Those rare moments in life where you just have to go “Thank You Lord!” are few and far in between. I believe that if we were more intentional we’d be able to have those moments more often. Like right now, I’m sitting on a chair overlooking Skorponeria Bay, the only light is from the moon (except for the computer screen, obviously :op ) and I’m listening to the crickets in the background and the water washing up on shore. Occasionally there is a fish that jumps in and out of the water. It is absolutely beautiful. These are the types of moments we need to live for (ps there is a frog out on its evening walk right besides me!) How beautiful is God’s creation? How absolutely perfect and He made it not only for His glory but also for our enjoyment. I want to encourage you next time you’re on your way home from work or school or whatever, and you find yourself by a forest or the sea or even a large park, take a walk through it. Go, experience what God has made for us. Take ten minutes and concentrate on the sights, smells and noises around you. It’s God’s picture you’ll be looking at, it is His aroma you’ll be smelling and it is His music you’ll be listening to. We all need to stop being too busy to experience life as God intended it to be and start living, really live. God gave us the five senses and we don’t use them anymore. We take medication to numb our feelings, our eyes are bent on the TV screen all evening, we force pre-made stuff onto our taste buds - we are numbing our bodies to God’s world!

I love being out at Porto Astro because every time I come out here it feels like I reconnect with God on a more personal level as I see Him and His glory and beauty everywhere in the raw nature that surrounds us and at night in the stars. I love the stars! To me space puts God into perspective. If these stars that we look up to are the same size and bigger than our sun and they’re placed thousands of light-years away from us, how big is space? It is HUGE yet God is BIGGER! He holds space in the span of His hand and looks down, lovingly upon us. To me there is such a comfort in that.

Anyway I’m getting carried away and I need to go to bed so I’m going to stop now.

Thank you Lord for these moments! May we pay more attention to them and may we pay more attention to You!

Here I am guys, sitting in the cafe area of the campsite we're residing in for Operation Joshua, reflecting on what's going on. This is the second OJ we do and it feels different, more relaxed somehow. We've had an incredible team this year and it seems like it's flowing by smoothly. The Lord has ministered to my hear, giving me peace in a time that should have been hectic and full of stress. Somehow I feel fine and trusting. I'm trusting in the Lord's sovereignty and plan. He has gone before us and has already won the victories we are now experiencing. The Lord is good and this has been an amazing time.

Stem Cell Research

I keep hearing, by the media and others, that stem cell research is a good thing and that it will help us advance in medicine. While I tend to agree with the research itself and agree with the amazing potential and goodness that can come out of it, I find myself disagreeing ethically with the procedures. By doing research on embryonic stem cells scientists are killing embryos, and every time I hear about it one word coming to mind:

GENOCIDE

The majority of people in this world today claim that the embryo is not "alive" and so is not a human being. My question is, what is a human being? Scientifically a human is a being that is capable of thought and complex speech, a being that stands erect and is able to use tools. Well, according to science, babies aren't humans! Babies, to our knowledge, don't have complex thought processes, aren't capable of speech, do not stand erect and are unable to use tools. Yet nobody would argue that a baby is not a human. The baby is merely a human in its early stage, on its way to becoming a thinking, talking, walking person. The baby or human, even in its early stages, is an individual, a unique person waiting to grow. But what makes a person truly unique? What makes me who I am and not somebody else? My DNA. DNA will determine if we will be tall or short, have brown eyes or blue eyes, left handed or right handed, if we are smart or stupid, if we are predisposed to be happy or manic depressive - in short DNA makes us who we are, it gives us our individuality (on a scientific level). Fully functional DNA is produced when two gametes combine, in the womb, to create a zygote. When this zygote starts multiplying it becomes an embryo. The DNA in this embryo has already predisposed who this baby is going to become and what he or she will look like. How can we not view this embryo as a human being? And, if we agree that this embryo is a human being, merely in its beginning stages, then how can we accept the killing of it in the name of science? Hitler's scientists performed experiments on Jews in the name of science. They tortured Jews in the name of medical advancement. We cry "OUTRAGE", which it is, but why can't we accept the same for these unborn babies? These future adults (there might even be an Einstein or two amongst those embryos) should have a right to live, a right to use those legs and lungs that those very same stem cells are preparing to knit together.

Stem cell research in itself is not bad. The potential to what can be achieved is virtually limitless:

“Stem cells are the building blocks of blood and the immune system, as well as all tissues in the body. Amazingly, these cells can replenish themselves and transform into other cell types including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. This enables them to replace other cells in the body that are abnormal, weakened, or destroyed by disease. Stem cell transplants have been used to treat patients with more than 80 diseases to date, including aplastic anemia, leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell disease.” *

What scientists are not readily telling us is that stem cells are found in other places than embryos, for example in bone marrow and even in umbilical cords and placentas:

“Cord blood, the blood that's left in the umbilical cord after a baby is born, is rich in stem cells. Umbilical cord blood stem cells have the ability to multiply and form different kinds of cells. The cord blood stem cells may be used for blood formation, much like the stem cells taken from bone marrow. These cord blood stem cells are typically discarded with the umbilical cord and placenta after birth, yet they can be used in lifesaving therapies. Cord blood stem cells have been used for transplants in patients with life-threatening diseases such as leukemia or immune system disorders.” *

“Cord blood and placental stem cell use will likely increase in the future as new developments occur in medical research. Current research in the field of transplant and stem cell therapy includes a focus on Parkinson's disease, stroke, diabetes, Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), spinal cord injuries, and cardiac repair. Thanks to the use of placenta stem cells and those found in cord blood, lifesaving treatments for these
conditions may be within reach." *

Let us say “yes” to cord blood and placental stem cell research but “no” to embryonic stem cell research. Since there are other places where stem cells can be found let us tap into those resources and spare the babies. Let us stop this genocide.

(* to view the articles where these quotes were taken from please click here.)