Trust in the church (73)Cf. (82)John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on human suffering Salvifici doloris (11 February 1984), 19. It is clear that, in theory at least, the New Age often recognizes no spiritual authority higher than personal inner experience. It may well be one of the signs of a return to religion, but it is most certainly not a return to orthodox Christian doctrines and creeds. Christians are in a constant state of vigilance, ready for the last days when Christ will come again; their New Age began 2000 years ago, with Christ, who is none other than Jesus of Nazareth; he is the Word of God made man for the salvation of all. There is no sin; there is only imperfect knowledge. Zechariah 10:1 states that if we ask of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain, the Lord will make bright clouds and give us showers of rain. It was very beautiful and solemn there. 2.5. Arild Romarheim, The Aquarian Christ. (62)Cf. Web60 reviews of Water of Life Community Church "Water of Life is a great place to fellowship and help you build a deeper relationship with God. Get Free Church Resources Take Your Ministry Online. Water of Life is a non-denominational evangelical church founded in 1990 located at 7623 East Avenue, Fontana, California. (62), Here is a key point of contrast between New Age and Christianity. WebThe Water of Life is huge. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 355-383. Greek religion, religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Hellenes. Practical steps, 7.1. Time is indeed fulfilled by the very fact that God, in the Incarnation, came down into human history. WebIntroduction. Psychology is used to explain mind expansion as mystical experiences. Americans Trust in the Church Remains Near Historic Low It reached its clearest form in the ideas of Helena Blavatsky, a Russian medium who founded the Theosophical Society with Henry Olcott in New York in 1875. (85)Cf. The following is interesting: When respondents were asked to name individuals whose ideas had influenced them, either through personal contact or through their writings, those most often named, in order of frequency, were Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, C.G. Key words are self-fulfilment and self-realisation, self-redemption. Improve this listing. ), Beyond New Age. (18) When there is a shift from one paradigm to another, it is a question of wholesale transformation of perspective rather than one of gradual development. In the great wave of reaction against traditional religions, specifically the Judaeo-Christian heritage of the West, many have revisited ancient indigenous, traditional, pagan religions. WebThe church's founder said that contact tracing for coronavirus exposure would be impossible given the church's size. Rivers of Life - Wikipedia The gracious way in which Jesus deals with the woman is a model for pastoral effectiveness, helping others to be truthful without suffering in the challenging process of self-recognition (he told me every thing I have done, verse 39). WATER OF LIFE CHURCH OF CALIFORNIA It is also important to be patient, as any good educator knows. Mysticism: New Age mysticism is turning inwards on oneself rather than communion with God who is totally other. Cf. (Southern Baptist Convention) Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water. It is evident when the children of Aquarius search for the Transcendent Unity of religions. International Theological Commission, Some Questions on the Theology of Redemption, 1995, I/29 and II/35-36. Water of Life Community Church In most cases it is not really a question of belonging to a group or movement; nor is there much conscious awareness of the principles on which New Age is built. It can be seen as the heir to movements in the early 20th century that promoted a world government. David Spangler, The Rebirth of the Sacred, London (Gateway Books) 1988. The old adage that charity begins at home can give a healthy balance to one's approach to these issues. Spiritual development is contact with the Higher Self, which overcomes all forms of dualism between subject and object, life and death, psyche and soma, the self and the fragmentary aspects of the self. Pastor Dean and Amy have served in various roles as youth pastors, executive pastors and church planters during their almost 30 years of ministry experience together. God is the life-principle, the spirit or soul of the world, the sum total of consciousness existing in the world. Foreign countries visiting our site: David Spangler, The New Age Vision, Forres (Findhorn Publications) 1980. The first symbols of this movement to penetrate Western culture were the remarkable festival at Woodstock in New York State in 1969 and the musical Hair, which set forth the main themes of New Age in the emblematic song Aquarius. Baptized in the Jordan: Restoring a Holy River | Origins 379-383 and (2) in Spirituality, vol. Nor is it the Creator and sustainer of the universe, but an impersonal energy immanent in the world, with which it forms a cosmic unity: All is one. This is all far removed from the message of peace and harmony which is to be found in the New Testament; it is often one of the consequences of the exaltation of humanity when that involves the negation of a transcendent God. cit., 283-290. WebDedicated on November 5, 1905 the church had cost $3,000 in donations from people in Elko, Lamoille and other valleys in northeast Nevada. New Age traditions consciously and deliberately blur real differences: between creator and creation, between humanity and nature, between religion and psychology, between subjective and objective reality. The name "Rivers of Life" should be Planetary Consciousness: this world-view developed in the 1980s to foster loyalty to the community of humanity rather than to nations, tribes or other established social groups. This is not to deny the fundamental and crucial role of developing consciousness in scientific discovery and creative development, but simply to caution against imposing upon external reality what is as yet still only in the mind. (48)Cf. The Evangelical Covenant Church(ECC) is a rapidly growing multi-ethnic denomination in the United States and Canada, with ministries on five continents of the world. 2.2.1. WaterOfLifeChurch.com is available at DomainMarket.com. Call Where there is true love, there has to be a different other (person). What is Religious Life He is coequal with the Father and Holy Spirit. LIFE Church UK, formerly the Abundant Life Church, is a Christian megachurch established and based in Bradford, England. (19)Cf. It is also a step of obedience based on Gods commands Jean Vernette, Le New Age, Paris (P.U.F.) Jesus Christ offers us the water of life, 6.1. Hence great respect is given to ancient agricultural rites and to fertility cults. This is very different from the Christian understanding of God as the maker of heaven and earth and the source of all personal life. Isolated individual personalities would be pathological in terms of New Age (in particular transpersonal psychology). A select glossary7.3. *The beginning of the Third Millennium offers a real kairos for evangelisation. Traditional science and medicine are felt to be inferior to holistic approaches, as are patriarchal and particular structures in politics and religion. For Christians, the real cosmic Christ is the one who is present actively in the various members of his body, which is the Church. Ritual purification There are various expressions of the need for a shift: from Newtonian mechanistic physics to quantum physics; from modernity's exaltation of reason to an appreciation of feeling, emotion and experience (often described as a switch from 'left brain' rational thinking to 'right brain' intuitive thinking); from a dominance of masculinity and patriarchy to a celebration of femininity, in individuals and in society. 6.1. Matthew 3:16-17 , 28:18-20. The eventual goal is gnosis, the highest form of knowledge, the equivalent of salvation. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration. Jung, a former disciple of Freud. Every human person is a hologram, an image of the whole of creation, in which every thing vibrates on its own frequency. Properly understood, this means that authentic spirituality is not so much our search for God but God's search for us. Some neo-pagan religions are recent reconstructions whose authentic relationship to original forms can be questioned, particularly in cases where they are dominated by modern ideological components like ecology, feminism or, in a few cases, myths of racial purity.(105). Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see. Spiritualism: While there have always been attempts to contact the spirits of the dead, 19th century spiritualism is reckoned to be one of the currents that flow into the New Age. They somehow deny history and will not accept that spirituality can be rooted in time or in any institution. The New Age Movement is seen as an invitation to Christians to bring the message of the cathedrals to the fair which now covers the whole world. Join us LIVE, or watch our Worship service archives. The passages that comprise John 4:1026 are sometimes referred to as the 1997-2023 Water of Life Ministries. (84)Cf. *Is there just one Jesus Christ, or are there thousands of Christs? (92)Cf. Documents of the Catholic Church's magisterium. Religion Briefs: St. John Bible Institute registration set for July 15 (2) It is worth remembering that deviations within Christianity have also gone beyond traditional theism in accepting a unilateral turn to self, and this would encourage such a blending of approaches. In the Bible, it doesnt take long for water to be mentioned. Rebirth, biofeedback, sensory isolation, holotropic breathing, hypnosis, mantras, fasting, sleep deprivation and transcendental meditation are attempts to control these states and to experience them continuously. Fakten, Hintergrnde, Klrungen, Freiburg- Basel-Wien (Herder) 2000, p. 726. Following the image proposed, Christians must issue forth from the cathedral, nourished by word and sacrament, to bring the Gospel into every aspect of everyday life Go! Its a habit as automatic as shaking hands or salting French fries. cit., p. 13f. These are precious resources, which ought to be shared generously in areas that are less well provided for. Religion Briefs: Centreville church plans three-night revival This fits in with the New Age vision of moving into an age where the limited character of particular religions gives way to the universality of a new religion or spirituality. Water of Life Townsville (75)A Catholic Response to the New Age Phenomenon, Irish Theological Commission 1994, chapter 3. (19), Science and technology have clearly failed to deliver all they once seemed to promise, so in their search for meaning and liberation people have turned to the spiritual realm. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believers faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Saviour, the believers death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.. Gnosis: in a generic sense, it is a form of knowledge that is not intellectual, but visionary or mystical, thought to be revealed and capable of joining the human being to the divine mystery. GENERAL VIEW. Certainly New Age creates its own atmosphere, and it can be hard to distinguish between things which are innocuous and those which really need to be questioned. It has been said, quite correctly, that many people hover between certainty and uncertainty these days, particularly in questions relating to their identity. (39)Michel Lacroix, L'Ideologia della New Age, Milano (il Saggiatore) 1998, p. 84f. On 30 November 2020, one of the pastors at the California megachurch Water of Life died of COVID-19. A person embraced by the truth is suddenly energised by a completely new sense of freedom, especially from past failures and fears, and the one who strives for self-knowledge, like the woman at the well, will affect others with a desire to know the truth that can free them too.(87). Each Age has its own cosmic energies; the energy in Pisces has made it an era of wars and conflicts. In some New Age writings and practices, it is clear that one life is not enough, so there have to be reincarnations to allow people to realise their full potential. Other friends and counsellors from the spirit world are angels (which have become the centre of a new industry of books and paintings). If the Church is not to be accused of being deaf to people's longings, her members need to do two things: to root themselves ever more firmly in the fundamentals of their faith, and to understand the often-silent cry in people's hearts, which leads them elsewhere if they are not satisfied by the Church. 66 Posts. Working Group on New Religious Movements (ed. Enchantment: There Must be an Angel. Church (50)The shortcomings of techniques which are not yet prayer are discussed below in 3.4, Christian mysticism and New Age mysticism. Stark's mother, a child of the '60s forever atoning for her past, brought her to the church in the mid-'90s. The move from a mechanistic model of classical physics to the holistic one of modern atomic and sub-atomic physics, based on the concept of matter as waves or energy rather than particles, is central to much New Age thinking. 4, November-December 1998, No 21, pp. Peak-experiences (reliving one's birth, travelling to the gates of death, biofeedback, dance and even drugs anything which can provoke an altered state of consciousness) are believed to lead to unity and enlightenment. The Higher Self is our real identity, a bridge between God as divine Mind and humanity. (66)Cf. *The purpose of the incarnation of the inner being is to bring the vibrations of the outer personality into a resonance of love. The fact that the story takes place by a well is significant. Worship Songs about Water It necessarily moves us toward loving solidarity with our neighbour in need. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio (7 December 1990), 6, 28, and the Declaration Dominus Jesus (6 August 2000) by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 12. Water of Life (Christianity) - Wikiwand GENERAL VIEW AND EVANGELICAL IDEA OF THE RELIGIOUS LIFE A. Some of the traditions which flow into New Age are: ancient Egyptian occult practices, Cabbalism, early Christian gnosticism, Sufism, the lore of the Druids, Celtic Christianity, mediaeval alchemy, Renaissance hermeticism, Zen Buddhism, Yoga and so on.(15). In contrast with an experience of increasing fragmentation in science and everyday life, wholeness is put forward as a central methodological and ontological concept. (89)Elliot Miller, A Crash Course in the New Age, Eastbourne (Monarch) 1989, p. 122. Water is the connection between both earthly and spiritual life. Ministries were started and flourished. In all of these areas, the New Age alternatives are called holistic. One year later Marsh moved to Elko, Nevada to work at Elko General Hospital, which in hindsight, he views as And that's why religion and Jesus are two different clans. ), The Rise of Adventism: Religion and Society in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America, New York 1974, pp. Jesus Christ is presented in Christian teaching as The Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14.6). cit., p. 448f. Our problem, in a New Age perspective, is our inability to recognise our own divinity, an inability which can be overcome with the help of guidance and the use of a whole variety of techniques for unlocking our hidden (divine) potential. Religion This book has an extensive bibliography. Christians have only to think of the difference between the wise men from the East and King Herod to recognise the powerful effects of choice for or against Christ. Personal and Social Transformation in Our Time, Los Angeles (Tarcher) 1980, p. 50 (note 1) and p. 434. He provides Christians with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. Yoga, zen, transcendental meditation and tantric exercises lead to an experience of self-fulfilment or enlightenment. Join us LIVE, or watch our Worship service archives. (15)In late 1977, Marilyn Ferguson sent a questionnaire to 210 persons engaged in social transformation, whom she also calls Aquarian Conspirators. WebRitual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of uncleanliness, especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness.Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. To their own master servants stand or fall So then each of us will give an account of ourselves to God So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. The ULC has ordained ministers from a wide 2. New Age is essentially Pelagian in its understanding of about human nature.(74). Genuine dialogue, on the other hand, will always respect diversity from the outset, and will never seek to blur distinctions in a fusion of all religious traditions. Jean Vernette, L'avventura spirituale dei figli dell'Acquario, in Religioni e Sette nel Mondo 1996/2. It developed against the background of the ideas of Swedenborg and Mesmer, and became a new kind of religion. (104)Cf. Evolution: in New Age it is much more than a question of living beings evolving towards superior life forms; the physical model is projected on to the spiritual realm, so that an immanent power within human beings would propel them towards superior spiritual life forms. It is often an ascent on the level of consciousness to what is understood to be a liberating awareness of the god within. This continued under the guidance of Annie Besant, who was in the vanguard of the feminist movement. This is the Water of Life Community Church company profile. New Age is attractive mainly because so much of what it offers meets hungers often left unsatisfied by the established institutions. Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement. We are gods, and we discover the unlimited power within us by peeling off layers of inauthenticity. Christians need not, indeed, must not wait for an invitation to bring the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who are looking for the answers to their questions, for spiritual food that satisfies, for living water. As Tao Wei urgently sought answers to these questions, she longed more and more to attain the supply of the living water of life from God. Our limitations are a fact of life, and part of being a creature. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. For many people, the term New Age clearly refers to a momentous turning-point in history. : New Age and culture, Basically, the appeal of the New Age has to do with the culturally stimulated interest in the self, its value, capacities and problems. WebDo you struggle with lifes hurts, habits, and hang-ups? It is important to acknowledge the sincerity of people searching for the truth; there is no question of deceit or of self-deception. It also looks for the hidden forces that cause matter and spirit to interact, in such a way that human and divine minds eventually meet. She had a spiritual need. (57)John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (10 November 1994), 9. Water of Life Community Church | Visit wateroflifecc.org The surprising share of Americans who dont see political divisions He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (17) New Age is a witness to nothing less than a cultural revolution, a complex reaction to the dominant ideas and values in western culture, and yet its idealistic criticism is itself ironically typical of the culture it criticizes. From Chapter Three onwards some indications are offered for an investigation of New Age in comparison with the Christian message. (31), 2.3.2. You could also visit the "video cafe" with coffee When they have made this discovery, men and women can set out on a path to perfection, which will enable them to sort out their personal lives and their relationship to the world, and to take their place in the universal process of becoming and in the New Genesis of a world in constant evolution. In this blog, I want to share with you my thoughts on how the Catholic faith affects our lives. Some practices are incorrectly labeled as New Age simply as a marketing strategy to make them sell better, but are not truly associated with its worldview. This is portrayed as something tragic. (51)Cf. WaterOfLifeChurch In other expressions, more power is ascribed to the inevitable progression of natural cycles. Far from being a merely human effort, Christian mysticism is essentially a dialogue which implies an attitude of conversion, a flight from 'self' to the 'you' of God. Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture, 1:2-3 (1992) Stanford CA. He observes that new-agers have discovered the inner life and are fascinated by the prospect of being responsible for the world, but that they are also easily overcome by a tendency to individualism and to viewing everything as an object of consumption. At the centre of occultism is a will to power based on the dream of becoming divine. U.S. Supreme Court buoys religious employees who seek Whatever preceded Christianity is reckoned to be more genuine to the spirit of the land or the nation, an uncontaminated form of natural religion, in touch with the powers of nature, often matriarchal, magical or Shamanic. The present study is concerned with the complex phenomenon of New Age which is influencing many aspects of contemporary culture. James defined religion as experience, not dogma, and he taught that human beings can change their mental attitudes in such a way that they are able to become architects of their own destiny. Way Maker: Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu: Add to Favorites. It was invented in England in 1939 by Gerald Gardner, who based it on some scholarly texts, according to which medieval European witchcraft was an ancient nature religion persecuted by Christians. It is an invitation to understand the New Age and to engage in a genuine dialogue with those who are influenced by New Age thought. Heres what we believe as a church. He goes on to issue a challenge to Christians in this regard: But we who have received the grace of believing in Christ, the revealer of the Father and the Savior of the world, have a duty to show to what depths the relationship with Christ can lead (n. 33). From the deep waters of our sorrows to the deep water of His love, we are reminded of His wellspring. So the idea that a paradigm shift in the area of religion and spirituality is simply a new way of stating traditional beliefs misses the point. Water Of Life Metropolitan Community Church The most important instrument for social change is personal example. WebBuild My Life: Brett Younker, Karl Martin, Kirby Kaple, Matt Redman, Pat Barrett: Add to Favorites. Why has New Age grown so rapidly and spread so effectively? He also lists Catholic personalities and spiritual institutions clearly inspired and guided by Jung's psychology. WebDoyle Davidson is an apostle, prophet and teacher of the Gospel ministering from Water of Life Church in Plano, TX. Irish Theological Commission, A New Age of the Spirit? The rejection of modernity underlying this desire for change is not new, but can be described as a modern revival of pagan religions with a mixture of influences from both eastern religions and also from modern psychology, philosophy, science, and the counterculture that developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Edward Anthony McCarthy, The New Age Movement, Pastoral Instruction, 1992. ATTENTION TO RIGHT HOLDERS! The yearbooks make clear the intention to create an integrated world religion. Reinhard Hmmel, Reinkarnation, in Hans Gasper, Joachim Mller, Friederike Valentin (eds. So the Church constantly returns to meet her Lord. (105)On this last, very delicate, point, see Eckhard Trk's article Neonazismus in Hans Gasper, Joachim Mller, Friederike Valentin (eds. WebReligious Life. It is a matter of finding one's own truth in accordance with the feel- good factor. It is suggested by some that the New Age movement is precisely this major change to what is reckoned to be a significantly better way of life.(21). Water of Life Church Humanity will, it is said, be healthier if it returns to the natural cycle of (agricultural) festivals and to a general affirmation of life. New Age and Christian faith in contrast, 5. What is offered is often described as simply spiritual, rather than belonging to any religion, but there are much closer links to particular Eastern religions than many consumers realise. Carlo Maccari, La 'mistica cosmica' del New Age, in Religioni e Sette nel Mondo 1996/2. There is no problem with learning how to meditate, but the object or content of the exercise clearly determines whether it relates to the God revealed by Jesus Christ, to some other revelation, or simply to the hidden depths of the self. J. Badewien, Antroposofia, in H. Waldenfels (ed.) Mitch Pacwa s.j., Catholics and the New Age. It is interesting to note that this criticism was put forward even by an important exponent of New Age, David Spangler, who, in his later works, distanced himself from the more esoteric aspects of this current of thought. New Age is almost always linked with alternatives, either an alternative vision of reality or an alternative way of improving one's current situation (magic). This church is not about "religion". J. Francis Stafford, Il movimento New Age, in L'Osservatore Romano, 30 October 1992. An invitation to meet Jesus Christ, the bearer of the water of life, will carry more weight if it is made by someone who has clearly been profoundly affected by his or her own encounter with Jesus, because it is made not by someone who has simply heard about him, but by someone who can be sure that he really is the saviour of the world (verse 42). WebWhat is Religious Life? Wouter J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture. *Some local New Age groups refer to their meetings as prayer groups. 2.2.2. Water through Ritual and Reverence if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. On the night before His Crucifixion, Jesus Christ met with His Apostles and instituted the sacrament (see Luke 22:1920).After His Resurrection, He instituted the sacrament among the Nephites (see 3 Nephi 18:111).Today the sacrament is an ordinance in which Church members partake of bread and water in remembrance of
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