CHAT WITH A FORMER NEW AGE PRIEST

W.B. Was drawn to the ‘New Age’ circles first by a “GOOD MOVIE” about “GOOD WIZARDS” that he saw as a teen- and later by seeking “Holistic Healing” for a health problem.

Hoping for enlightenment and a better life, he soon found himself virtual slave to a spirit entity who called itself “JESUS”. WB believed it was the Bible Savior, and obeyed it- resulting in the loss of his family contacts, job and savings and even worse— his freedom!  See below to find out how he BROKE FREE!

First let’s hear his lowdown on the New Age Movement:

As a former New Ager who is now a Christian, how do I view the New Age?

In essence, I regard the New Age as a counterfeit system of religion devised by Satan to be an attractive alternative to Bible-based Christianity. Its ultimate goal is to lead the churches into a great apostasy in preparation for the appearance of the Antichrist, so that he will be accepted as the Messiah by both Christians and New Agers alike.

At its core, New Age is primarily based on Hindu philosophy suitably adapted for the Western culture. Satan has cleverly repackaged Hinduism into a form devoid of the fearful, repulsive deities who are endlessly placated in the traditional Hindu rituals. Instead of advocating a plethora of grotesque gods, the New Age focuses on a single, pantheistic god, who is presented as being the same god as the Father Most High of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

In the New Age religion, the Hindu teachings are com­bined with ancient paganism, contemporary occultism, spiritualism, and Christianity to produce a multifaceted hodgepodge of deceit.

The pagan elements include astrology, numerology, tarot, kabala, and various other divination methods. These practices generally originated in Babylon and Egypt during the Old Testament era and were expressly forbidden by the Bible.

The contemporary Western occult element derives from such sources as Theosophy and Rosicrucianism, both much colored by ancient paganism. New Age occultism now incorporates more modern pseudoscien­tific activity into its repertoire, such as found in the cur,. rent New Age fascination with crystals, auras, UFOs. and parapsychology (ESP)..

The spiritualism element, especially New Age channeling, adds a dynamic and sensational aspect to the New Age. The apparent ability of mediums to contact the spirits of deceased relatives and great spirit guides, convinces the New Age followers that the spirit world is a realm of reality. And of course it is, except that the spirits the medium contacts are not the benevolent en­tities the followers think they are.

Many New Age organizations emphasize only one, or possibly just a select few, of the various branches New Age knowledge and activity. Frequently New Age groups even advocate competing philosophies, but conflict does not really create a problem for Satan. Because the philosophies are all deception, it doesn't mat­ter if the various groups have conflicting ideas, as long as potential victims will find one of them attractive.

The New Age movement is not a clearly defined organization. It is a blanket term used to denote the col­lective existence of all the organizations and individuals promoting the New Age philosophies. It has no single human leader or umbrella administration.

Satan is well aware that a clearly defined, single organization with homogeneous philosophies would have a serious drawback. Its critics could easily confront and expose it as a fraudulent system masquerading under the auspices of divinity. To avoid this disclosure, Satan appears to have deliberately organized his counterfeit religion by the network concept. Under this mode thousands of organizations exist independently under the New Age identity, each organization being respon­sible for its own particular blend of teachings.

Many allied organizations also share similar ideas to mainstream New Age, but do not even call themselves New Age or use that term in their general vocabulary. Examples are the Unity School of Christianity, Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist), and Scientology (L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics).

Satan has set up his New Age movement with such a multitude of teachings and practices available that at least one of them is bound to appeal to almost anyone. Thus, if financial success attracts a person, the variety of human potential seminars could start him on the process of being led into Satan's domain. Perhaps a cer­tain person would not be drawn by channeling, but hatha yoga exercises may sound interesting and useful. The hatha yoga could then lead to meditation, which could eventually lead to channeling, the activity of which the person was originally wary. Some people start by reading simple astrology predictions in their daily newspaper.

You may ask what Satan's motive is for setting up counterfeit religions such as Hinduism and the New Age. It would seem that Satan wants everyone to be an atheist.

Satan probably has several motives. One of them, I am sure, is survival. The counterfeit religions provide severe competition against the spread of the Christian gospel message, thus extending Satan's time. However, I think the most fundamental motive for Satan's promo­tion of counterfeit religions is aptly described by the prophet Isaiah:

You said in your heart,

"I will ascend to heaven;

I will raise my throne above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13, 14).

Satan desired and coveted God's position in heaven. On the human level, this sin of covetousness, which caused Lucifer's fall, is denounced by the tenth commandment. Counterfeit religions are an avenue

Satan now receives worship, just as if he were a god.

It seems more than chance that one of the main tenets of Hinduism and the New Age is the concept that humans are gods in the making. By emphasizing this philosophy, Satan appears to be projecting his own desires onto the motives of human beings. At the begin­ning of human history in the Garden of Eden, Satan was busy pushing the same temptation. During the world's first channeling session, Satan, the master guide, used a serpent as his first medium and com­municated to Eve, "Your eyes will be opened [you will have enlightenment], and you will be like God [have cos­mic consciousness)" (Genesis 3:4).

Not only does Satan's Hinduism ascribe to the idea that the goal of man is to become a god, it also claims that the great gurus of India were literally god incar­nated in human flesh. Thus it seeks to confer the status of Christ upon its prime leaders, those super-gurus known as avatars. Even some New Agers believe that they themselves are gods and are thus free to create their own code of moral conduct and belief system, rather than abide by the code and faith given to mankind in the Bible.

New Age "Christianity"

One way for Satan to make his New Age more accept­able to Christians is to "Christianize" it. The "conver­sion" of the Lighted Way is an example of an attempt to cloak the New Age in a Christian disguise, thus making it more effective in influencing Christians.

However, I do not think Satan will "convert" all New Age centers into counterfeit Christian churches. Probab­ly most New Age centers will retain the emphasis on traditional metaphysical teachings. Only time will reveal whether Satan has a general plan to give other New Age centers a Christian flavor.

Regarding what happened at the Lighted Way, it ap­pears that Satan's angels deliberately put it through a bogus conversion because they decided its best mission was to act as a counterfeit Christian church, engaged in the task of leading Christians and potential Christians into false doctrines and dangerous meditation practices. The fact that we really believed we were Christians made us potentially more effective for that task.

To a counterfeit Christian, the idea of Satan's exist­ence can itself be quite acceptable. Satan's work is con­veniently pointed out as evident elsewhere—in atheism, secret occult groups, drugs, crime, or the actual Church of Satan. It is less easy to believe that Satan expresses himself through organizations and people calling them­selves "Christian."

As a New Age "Christian," I had read those biblical passages that warned against false prophets and teach­ings. But I never seriously considered that I was in­volved with them. The deception was possible because I did not believe that the whole Bible should be under­stood just exactly as it is written. Because of this, I was able to compromise and embrace false teachings while knowing that they contradicted plain Scripture.

We need to pray in earnest for ourselves, for our Christian family, and for our church leaders, that we will not be led into false doctrines by deceiving spirits and their followers. Paul warned us about this trend in his letter to Timothy:

The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:3. 4).

Unmasking the Mastermind!

WB. Here describes the intervention that finally broke his chains and freed him from control of the demon spirit masquerading as Christ:

"Do not go," the voice of conscience exhorted. After work, 1 was planning to attend a special evangelistic rally. "Tonight you have to witness for me in the mall,"  The voice commanded. Strongly wanting to go to the rally, I decided to ignore the inner voice.

A tension had been building inside of me for a couple weeks. 1 could sense that ‘jesus christ’ wanted me devote even more time and effort to his ministry work. At yet a rebelliousness started to grow inside me, as another force countering the instructions from jesus were coming into play..

Rebelling against my voice of conscience, I attend the evangelist's meeting. It was held in the auditorium of a local college.

During the meeting 1 was seated next to a woman who looked to be in her thirties. At the end of the eve: she asked me in a soft voice, "Have you enjoyed evangelist's talk?"

"Yes, he's pretty good," I replied, "but I find his view to be very narrow-minded." The truth was that I had felt very uncomfortable during the preacher's talk. By the time it was over, I was boiling with agitation against his fundamentalist stand, and was determined to start being bold and open about my New Age-oriented beliefs. I decided that I had to counteract these heresies preached by the fundamen­talists in the name of my master.

The woman asked calmly, "What kind of religious views do you have?"

"I am a New Age Christian," I blurted out.

This was the first time I had made such a statement to a Christian believer. The inner voice of conscience had always cautioned me not be open about my New Age beliefs. But after hearing the evangelist, ! was angry and unwilling to be silent any longer. Unwittingly the preacher had fanned the flames of my passion and courage.

To my surprise, the woman did not express any dis­gust at my answer. "Oh," she commented humbly, "I used to be involved with the New Age myself, until I came to the Lord."

From the way she expressed herself, I sensed that she no longer approved of the New Age.

"Well, you shouldn't feel bad about it," I said frankly. "The New Age has some excellent ideas and truths. Most of the New Agers just lack the direct power of Jesus Christ in their lives."

When she didn't answer, I asked politely, "Which church do you attend?"

"The Church on the Way."

"Oh yes," I interrupted, "I know about it. I have never been there, but I sometimes listen to ___ on the radio."

"Concerning this New Age Christianity you are in­volved in," said the woman, "do you mind if I pray for you right now? I do not know what you believe, but I would like to pray for you."

"Yeah, sure, we can pray," I replied, thinking that I could always use extra prayers to help me in my ministry work. The woman took hold of my hand as we prayed. "Dear Heavenly Father," she began. "I ask that you will give this brother wisdom to perceive that which is true. "

“Help him fully understand your Word. I ask that the might power of the Holy Spirit will be at work in his life, leading him to a true knowledge of Jesus. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen."

How nice to be prayed for, I thought to myself as I the auditorium. Even though I have a close relationship with Jesus, I would like to be filled with more of power and truth. About a week after the gospel rally, I was preparing, to quit work at the end of the day. "Do not go to the library,” the inner voice instructed. "You must witness in the mall this evening. "

I remained aloof to the unwelcome voice of conscience "You have to do my work," it commanded sternly," as if expressing the words of Jesus. "Time is running out. You have to get your ministry established."

The spirit of rebelliousness against the inner voice rose again. On this particular evening, I stubbornly continued to ignore the prompting. An alternative project loomed in the forefront of my mind: I wanted to read a particular book. Even though the inner voice kept exhorting me to do mall witnessing, I determined to obtain a copy of this book.

In my earlier study of Gordon Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions, I had read an interesting section describing a woman who claimed to have had visions from God during the middle of the nineteenth century. The idea that a Christian mystic lived before the time of Madam Blavatski and Alice Bailey stimulated my deep interest. It sounded as if she may well have been a New Age Christian living decades before the start of the cotemporary New Age movement.

From a library I borrowed Ellen G. White, Prophet Destiny by Rene Noorbergen.

It began by describing a vision in which Ellen White saw the San Francisco earthquake several days before its actual occurrence. The apparent psychic ability was impressive and encouraged me to read on.

A general discussion followed concerning the difference between psychic ability and prophecy. The author analyzed psychic mediums such as Edgar Case, Jeanne Dixon, and Peter Hurkos from the standpoint of comparing their teachings with biblical Scripture. Then followed a short biography of Ellen White's early life.

My attention was then drawn to the chapter "Unmasking the Mastermind" containing Ellen White's narrative of a vision she had in 1858. [Ellen White was the daughter of a lay preacher and was brought up as a strict Methodist. She claimed to have had her first vision in 1844. In 1863, she co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a formal denomination. The vision is known as the Great Controversy Vision.]

She wrote:

The Lord has shown me that Satan was once an honored angel in heaven, . . . next to Christ. His countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His forehead was high and broad, showing great in­telligence. His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. But when God said to his Son, "Let us make man in our image," Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted con­cerning the formation of man, and because he was not, he was filled with envy, jealousy and hatred. He desired to receive the highest honors in heaven next to God.

I wondered whether there really was a Satan who rebelled in heaven with a bunch of evil angels. I remem­bered that Muriel sometimes talked about Satan and negative forces; she seemed to think he was a real being. Djwhal Khul, (a spirit entity that had appeared to WB)  on the other hand, denounced the idea that a great enemy of God existed; he consider, the devil to be a fictitious myth.

Ellen White's narrative drew my attention again:

‘Until this time, . . . all heaven had been in order, harmony and perfect subjection to the government of God. It was the highest sin to rebel against His order and will. All heaven seemed in commotion. . . . There was contention among the angels. Satan and his sympathizers were striving to reform the government of God. They wished to look into His unsearchable wisdom and ascertain His purpose in exalting Jesus and endowing Him with such unlimited power and command. They rebelled against the authority of the Son. All the heavenly host were summoned to appear before the Father to have each case decided. It was there determined that Satan should be expelled from heaven, with all the angels who had joined him in the rebellion.’

I began to consider that maybe there really was: archangel in heaven called Satan who became jealous and rebelled against God. Perhaps Satan existed somewhere upon our planet in the realm of the spirit plane, I read on.

‘Satan stood in amazement at his new condition. His happiness was gone. He looked upon the angels who, with him, were once so happy, but who had been expelled from heaven with him. Before their fall not a shade of discontent had marred their perfect bliss. Now all seemed changed. Countenances which had reflected the image of their Maker were gloomy and despairing. Strife, discord, and bitter recrimination were among them. . . .

‘When Satan became fully conscious that there was no possibility of his being brought again into favor with God, his malice and hatred began to manifest. He consulted with his angels, and a plan was laid to still work against God's govern­ment. When Adam and Eve were placed in the beautiful garden, Satan was laying plans to destroy them. It was decided that Satan should assume another form and manifest an interest for man. He must insinuate against God's truth­fulness and create doubt whether God did mean just what He said.’

Putting the book down, I contemplated on this fascinat­ing account of the rebellion. Did Satan really rebel and then feel gloom and despair in his separation from God?

I picked up the book again and continued to read:

‘Satan commenced his work with Eve, to cause her to disobey. . . . As soon as Eve had disobeyed she became a powerful medium through which to occasion the fall of her husband. . . .Then Satan exulted. . . .The news of man's fall spread through heaven. Every harp was hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads in sorrow. All heaven was in agitation. . . .Satan triumphed. He had made others suffer by his fall. He had been shut out of heaven. . . they out of paradise.’

Wondering whether there had been an Adam and Eve who were tempted by the devil in Paradise, I recalled that, as a Christian teenager, I had accepted the teaching that life started with God's creation as recorded in Genesis. But for some reason, I had discounted the idea that Adam and Eve were tempted and fell. It was as if I didn't want to believe in a Satan who could tempt people. I felt more at ease with the idea that temptation was an internal process occurring within a person's psyche caused by foolishness and ignorance.

I recalled that Muriel believed in the Genesis account of the fall. Based upon revelations from Jesus, she told us that Eve's sin was a terrible catastrophe and subsequently caused all the suffering we now find on the planet.

I returned to Ellen White's narrative:

‘He [Jesus] then made known to the angelic host that a way of escape had been made for lost man. He told them that He had been pleading with His Father, and had offered to give His life as a ransom, to take the sentence of death upon Himself, that through Him man might find pardon; that through the merits of His blood, and obedience to the law of God, they could have the favor of God, and be brought into the beautiful garden, and eat of the fruit of the tree of life.

At first the angels could not rejoice; for their Commander concealed nothing from them, but opened before them the plan of salvation. Jesus told them that He would stand between the wrath of His Father and guilty man, that He would bear iniquity and scorn, and but few would receive Him as the Son of God. Nearly all would hate and reject Him.’

Resting my eyes for a moment, I thought, So this was how the beloved Jesus planned to redeem mankind: He offered to take on the karma of the world and pay the price by his own death. Amazing!

I was anxious to read on.

‘He would leave all glory in heaven, appear upon earth as a man, humble Himself as a man, become acquainted by His own experience with the various temptations with which man would be beset, that He might know how to succor those who should be tempted; and that finally, after His mission as a teacher would be ac­complished, He would be delivered into the hands of men, and endure almost every cruelty and suffering that Satan and his angels could in­spire wicked men to inflict; that He would die the cruelest of deaths, hung between the heavens and the earth, as a guilty sinner; that He would suffer dreadful hours of agony, which even an­gels could not look upon, but would veil their faces from the sight. Not merely agony of body would He suffer, but mental agony, that with which bodily suffering could in no wise be com­pared. The weight of the sins of the whole world would be upon Him. He told them He would die and rise again the third day, and would ascend to His Father to intercede for wayward, guilty man... .

With a holy sadness Jesus comforted and cheered the angels and informed them that hereafter those whom He should redeem would be with Him, and that by His death He should ransom many and destroy him who had the power of death. And His Father would give Him the kingdom. . . under the whole heaven, and He would possess it forever and ever. Satan and sinners would be destroyed, nevermore to disturb heaven or the purified new earth.’

I felt a sense of admiration and awe as I appreciated the task that Jesus had accomplished. Turning back to the book, I read further:

‘I was shown Satan as he once was, a happy, exalted angel. Then I was shown him as he now is. He still bears a kingly form. His features are still noble, for he is an angel fallen. But the expression of his countenance is full of anxiety, care, unhappiness, malice, hate, mischief, deceit, and every evil. That brow which was once so noble, I particularly noticed. His forehead commenced from his eyes to recede. I saw that he had so long bent himself to evil that every good quality was debased, and every evil trait was developed. His eyes were cunning, sly, and showed great penetration. His frame was large, but the flesh hung loosely about his hands and face. As I beheld him, his chin was resting upon his left hand. He appeared to be in deep thought. A smile was upon his countenance, which made me tremble, it was so full of evil and satanic slyness.’

In my imagination I pictured the image of Satan as described by Ellen White. Suddenly I felt devastated and weak with a monumental realization.

"It is him," I gasped aloud. "It is my master."

"I have been a follower of Satan all these years." Feeling as if I had been thrown out of an airplane without a parachute, I shuddered in anguish as my whole world collapsed before me.

As I again imaged the evil, sly smile upon Satan's countenance, a horrifying thought pierced my mind: I had been watching him set up his New Age, counterfeit Christianity; his final trump card would be for him to appear on our planet in a physical body and claim to be Jesus Christ-the New Age "reappearance of the Christ."

"Oh, God!" I exclaimed in shock and agony. "Djwhal Khul and Jesus Christ are Satan's evil angels. They have been deceiving me all these years." There was no doubt about it in my mind: I had been a disciple of Satan; the whole New Age movement and its counterfeit Christianity is a clever plan by Satan to thwart the mission of true Christianity. I suddenly understood that Satan is ultimately preparing the world for his spectacular appearance in which millions and millions of people will proclaim him to be Christ, the retumed Messiah. In reality it will be the appearing of the Antichrist.

A biblical text flashed into my mind: "False Christs and false prophets will appear. . . to deceive even the elect - if that were possible."

Devastated with anguish, I was inundated with one horrifying insight after another: Satan and his angels had been training me to be a false prophet. I had become their slave. All those so-called masters of the Hierarchy have never lived as evolved humans in the Himalayas or anywhere else. The masters and the other New Age spirit guides are nothing more than Satan's angels masquerading as agents of God; they are the very angels who were thrown out of heaven at the time of Satan's great rebellion.

Thinking back to the incredible visitation of Djwhal Kuhl some six years before, I realized that I had been completely fooled by the brilliance of his appearance and the claim that he was a 350-year-old Tibetan guru who had finally reached immortality after several incarnations upon this planet. I was shattered to know that Djwhal Kuhl had never ever lived as a human being, but was, in fact, a satanic angel.

I realized that, as an angel, Djwhal Khul had the power to take on a human form and appear as a man, even look­ing like Jesus Christ. He could appear in his etheric "light body" as he had appeared to me; or he could appear in a physical, flesh-and-blood body, as he had first appeared to Muriel in 1963.

Feeling like a person who has just received news of the death of a spouse, I was stunned into motionless silence.

Thoughts began welling up in my mind concerning all the money and time I had devoted to the New Age move­ment, all the hours spent in meditation and study. It was all for nothing. All that had been achieved was to ensure my eternal destruction by the fires of hell. All my endeavors to lead people to Jesus Christ and New Age Christianity were simply maneuvers to bring them on the road leading to everlasting death.

The rapidity of my conviction paralleled several convictions recorded in the book of Acts - the conversion 3,000 in one day after Pentecost, Saul's encounter on the road to Damascus, and the conversion of the Philippian jailer.

Sitting in motionless introspection for hours, I found the memory banks of my mind flooding open like a bursting dam. I began to review my youth and remem­bered the long-forgotten steps I had taken that slowly led away from Christian teachings and brought me into the world of mysticism and the occult.

Suddenly, a profound memory surfaced that made me aghast at its implications. The memory concerned a visit I had made as a youth to a movie theater showing a certain film about devil worship. I had completely this event in my life, as if the memory had been buried deep in my subconscious. In the trauma of my dramatic exit from the New Age, the memory surfaced with vivid clarity and detail.

I was fifteen years old at the time, and life seemed somewhat boring. Everyone portrayed on TV seemed to live a dynamic and interesting existence. This created desire for excitement to counteract the mundane rut perceived myself to be in.

Across from my high school was a theater in horror movies, generally of the Frankenstein type. Looking at the posters, I used to think how exciting it would be to see some of these films that were too grisly to be shown on television. Disobeying the counsel of parents, I visited the theater on several occasions. Remembering clearly the scenes from this specific devil-worship movie, I was shocked to realize that this film was directly responsible for starting me on the road to the real world of the occult.

The movie The Devil Rides Out had two main characters. The leading character was a young man who was being lured into a group of devil worshipers. His antagonist was a modern-day Magus, or occult magician. The Magus - the "good" man in the plot - was attempting to rescue the young man from his involvement with influential Satanists.

The devil worshipers were a group of rich aristocrats and powerful businessmen. At prearranged times, they met at a remote, country estate to participate in various satanic rites and rituals designed to enhance their wealth, power, and social standing.

The crisis in the film centered on a major festival planned by the Satan worshipers, during which they planned to invoke the personal presence of the devil him­self, so that he would bless them with even greater power and wealth. As part of the festival, the young man was scheduled to be ceremonially initiated into full member­ship of the satanic lodge.

The film showed the members of this satanic cult arriving at the worship scene in beautiful antique Rolls Royces, with paint and chrome glistening like diamonds. A large bonfire was burning in a forest clearing. Near the fire, they erected an altar dedicated to Satan.

The movie depicted the Magus-planning to orchestrate a dramatic rescue of the young man - performing ritual magic to protect himself from the power of Satan. He centered himself inside a large astrological horoscope drawn on the floor of a room in his mansion. He performed various prayers and incantations, using a crucifix and other mystic paraphernalia in the process. He lighted large candles and recited various occult mantras, even quoting some biblical-sounding texts.

I can remember being deeply fascinated by the film. As a bored teenager, the exciting lifestyle and drama depicted in the film scenes especially intrigued me. It was easy to be drawn by the lavish wealth and the beautiful women possessed by the lodge members. The exciting activities of the Magus, with all his mystical paraphernalia, were equally stimulating and intriguing.

Sitting in deep introspection as I vividly remembered the scenes from the movie, I realized in horror that something subtle and sinister had happened to me as I watched that film. A powerful seed of fascination with the occult and the mystical had been sown in my own psyche. The seed did not germinate for several years. But it was deeply rooted and gradually drew me into the enchanting world of mysticism and the occult.

As I focused on the memory of the movie, I had the powerful insight that, as a teenager, my absorption with the film started a definite relationship with Satan. I had subtly crossed over a subconscious threshold in which my inner nature accepted the idea of mysticism as a means of gaining personal power. I was primed and ready to later enthusiastically swallow Satan's lure of New Age metaphysics.

I shudder when I think about what is happening in the movie theaters of today. Films about the occult and the mystical are commonplace. Even such apparently innocuous episodes as E. T. and Star Wars are seeped in occult and mystical concepts. For example, it is known that. George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars trilogy of films, was heavily influenced by Carlos Castaneda's book Tales of power. Castaneda's account of the Mexican Indian sorcerer, Don Juan, was a book that strongly motivated me to search for New Age shamans in Los Angeles.

How ironic that the "good" character in the film The Devil Rides Out was actually every bit as satanic as the devil worshipers themselves, the supposedly "evil" people in the plot.. Today I can see how Satan uses his brilliant intellect to deceive New Agers into believing that they are "good" guys trying to spread light and wisdom in an evil world of ignorance.

The devil has scored a major publicity victory by inspiring the media to represent him as a loathsome, fictitious being having the form of an ugly beast. The Devil Rides Out portrayed Satan as a beast with the body of a man and the head of a bull. Other common images picture Satan as a red ghoulish devil with horns, wearing a black cape and holding a pitchfork. This image is so bizarre that most people have totally discounted Satan's real existence and regard him as a purely mythical figure. Even though I was brought up as a Christian, I did not believe that Satan existed. Few people are aware of Satan's true existence and identity: an angel of light looking similar to how one would expect Jesus Christ to look.

If people do not stand firmly behind the truth of the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, they are easily led astray when Satan appears in his shining angelic form. They automatically think that the great being of light in front of them is Jesus Christ - or at least one of God's great angels - no matter what unbiblical ideas the false messenger begins to propound.

When the same manifestation occurs to New Age apostles, they are stimulated to teach philosophies of greater deception.. Take, for example, Paramahansa Yogananda, the guru founder of the USA-based Hindu/Christian sect, Self Realization Fellowship. When a satanic angel visited him and masqueraded as Jesus Christ, Yogananda incorporated Christianity into his pagan Hindu religion, thereby making it simultaneously more devious and acceptable to Westerners. By this manoeuvre, even more people could be led astray.

When you consider, for example, 54 percent of the clergy of a major mainline denomination do not believe that the devil is a personal being who directs evil forces, then it is no wonder people will be led astray by signs, wonders, and miracles. [Gallop survey published in Christianity Today. June 6. 1980]. For if they reject the idea of Satan's existence, they assume that all miraculous and wondrous religious manifestations must come from God.

Even if a person believes in Satan's existence, the visit from an angelic being tends to so inflate one's ego that he is reluctant to consider the possibility that the mysterious visitor is other than a divine being sent from God.

For a couple of weeks after the realization that I had been a disciple of Satan, I was awash with memories of how as a child and adolescent I had become more and more rebellious against Christian teachings and the good qualities of my character. For instance, I started to curse and use obscene language in order to blend in with the habits of my play friends. Eventually I was so immersed in sin and worldliness that the devil was able to take control of my life and lead me into his domain.

Later I had mistakenly believed that my subsequent entry into "mystical Christianity" was a venture bringing me toward greater godliness and peace. Instead, I was actually being lured deeper and deeper into the Mastermind's evil trap.

I recoil in horror as I think about what would have happened to me at the second coming of Christ if I had not been rescued from my counterfeit beliefs. When the trumpet sounded, the mighty earthquake shook, and the host of heavenly angels appeared, I would have considered myself ready and eager for the rapture. Then would have followed the terrible devastation as I discovered I was not being taken up. I would have claimed in desperation, "Lord, Lord, did I not preach in your name; did not miracles and signs and wonders appear in my life?"

Imagine the excruciating shock to hear the words, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer." .

After my rescue from Satan's darkness, I was so glad to have found deliverance and to know the true Jesus Christ, his mission, and his sacrifice on the cross. In­stead of being a false apostle, I now joined Christian congregations as a repenting sinner.

I apologized to my Christian contacts for trying to lead them astray. After I told them of my former identity and story, they were amazed to learn I had been a Bible-carrying disciple of Satan. They were not aware that they had been targets of the secret invasion.

I was so shaken at the time of my departure from the occult, I had to seek counseling support from Christian pastors and educators. Several weeks of trauma passed before I started to feel confidence in victory over Satan's counterattacks of intimidation and harassment.

My exit from Satan's web of deception not only involved drastic changes in my religious beliefs; I actually noticed quite marked changes in my physiology.

For example, I had always regarded the stereo in my new car to perform poorly in spite of its being an expensive unit. The system seemed to lack bass tones. I had taken the car in to have the sound system repaired, but without success.

A couple of weeks after ceasing all meditation and metaphysical activity, I noticed I could hear rich, deep bass tones on my car stereo. It seems as if my total bondage of slavery to Satan had actually produced changes in my physiology. These changes seemed to reverse when I became a follower of the real, biblical Jesus and stopped my meditation activities.

I now regard deep involvement in New Age consciousness-raising techniques to act somewhat as a cocaine of the mind. For example, after my exit from the New Age, I noticed that for about a month I felt oversensitive to stimulus. For instance, the noise of a crowded restaurant bothered me a great deal. It was as if I were suffering from "cold turkey" withdrawal symptoms. I concluded that the prolonged use of meditation techniques actually produced subtle changes within my brain, as if I had been absorbing a type of psychic cocaine during meditation. It took a couple of months before I felt normal.

Upon my return to the body of Christ, a lot of my thinking had to be reprogrammed. I had been so deeply indoctrinated into the ideas of metaphysics that I was sometimes unsure if an idea was biblical, or if it was something that I had absorbed during New Age training and study.

I was relieved to be rescued. Satan's angels had made my life a nightmare of oppression. Having taken over my voice of conscience, they could interject into my mind and influence my emotions at any time, thereby making me a slave to their demands. When the slavery was broken, I rejoiced in the release of freedom of choice.

I am so thankful to God for sending the Holy Spirit to inspire me to read something that broke the Master­mind's power. I attribute the action of the Holy Spirit to be in response to the earnest prayers of devoted Christians, particularly my parents, who had suspected I was being deceived and who had diligently spent years praying for my deliverance. For their prayers, I am humbly thankful. For the special prayer by the woman from J H's church, I am grateful.

I thank God I am saved through the love and grace of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for his word, the Bible, and for the power of prayer that reveals truth and protects us from deception and evil. I am thankful for the assurance of one day being with God in his glorious heaven and reigning with him on the new earth.

I say with Paul. 'The Lord will rescue me . . . and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever" (2 Timothy 4: 18).

I rejoice that I have personally experienced the fulfillment of Jesus' promise that "the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

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