Practical Christian Mysticism

Theocentric posed a review of a new book called “Top Secret: The Truth behind Today’s Pop Mysticisms” by Robert M. Price.  It is a critical look at fad or “pop mystics”.  I am glad someone finally put a good book together for this since these con-artists give mysticism a bad name. 

The book “The Secret” which, unless you live under a rock, is one the most popular of the pop-mysticism books out there.  It is part of a movement called “New Thought”, which basically is “The Matrix” combined with old-school health and wealth cultism.  

CLICK HERE FOR THE REVIEW

Buy the book!

Scientists have finally discovered the four winds talked about in Scripture. I mentioned this briefly in my Twitter feed last week, but didn’t have time to write a post about it.  Throughout many passages in Scripture, which I will list at the end of this article, it refers to the “four winds” of the earth.  Since scientists have, so far, acknowledged only 2 major sources of wind (called “air cells”) on the globe, many theologians have interpreted the “four winds” as the four cardinal directions.  However, I have long thought and recording in my own journals that I believed the “four winds” to represent four major sources of wind.  Part of the reason I believed this is because of the passage in Revelations 7:1 that says:

“After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.”

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The never ending debate of nature vs. nurture in modern psychology overlooks a third obvious possibility: choice. Medicine and psychology are chomping at the bit to blame all our actions on genetics, chemical imbalances, or bad parenting… just about anything other than choice. The recent rebirth of the classic Batman comic, The Killing Joke, reminded me that there are two kinds of perspectives people have. To some, all the injustice and hardships in life serve as fuel to excuse their poor and destructive behavior. To others, all those hardships and injustices are just obstacles to overcome and opportunities to grow. Continue Reading »

“Why does God let bad things happen to good people?” , “Why do the innocent suffer?”, “How can a loving God let this happen?”…. These questions bother many, both religious and non-religious alike. Many who fall away from their faith quote these ancient ever-present questions. A new book out called “God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why We Suffer” by Bart Ehrman is about the thought process of one such person who struggles against those questions. I believe the source of these questions has very little to do with Scriptural inadequacies, and much more to do with fundamental problems in our perception of who God is. Continue Reading »

Evolution vs. Intelligent Design has been a hot topic for decades, and is still just as hot as ever. I tend to stay away from “fad” issues just because I feel they are distracting to the pursuit of real Truth (which is timeless). However, the nature of this debate is “science vs. religion”, which IS a common problem to man. I do not believe in “check your brain at the door” religion, Truth is always found where our hearts and minds meet together. So if you will indulge me, I would like to make a interject a few guidelines for how and why science and religion should play nicely together. Continue Reading »

St. John of the Cross is one of the major founders of Christian mysticism, his book “The Dark Night of the Soul” exhaustively outlines the spiritual process all who seek a deep mystic experience with God must go through. Basically, the book explains a period of “darkness” that all who travel the mystic path experience at some point as their own sinful nature and worldly attachments must be purged in order to continue toward enlightenment and communion with God. This experience is testified too by later mystics such as C.S. Lewis in “A Grief Observed”, and John Bunyan describes it in “A Pilgrim’s Progress”. The “darkness” is caused us having to face the sinful and perverse reality of our true self and the world around us. During this time we feel lonely, depressed, discouraged, and overwhelmed. As St. John of the Cross would explain, the darkness is not from God but from the light of God exposing our own darkness. The Dark Night of the Soul is the point at which most people give up, and usually take medication. For those who preserver, God rewards them with the secrets of His Kingdom. Continue Reading »

This a kind of holiday tradition of mine. Every Christmas season I post this article on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol. It is probably the greatest story told for the modern age and is precious to me and my family.

I have talked to people many times about how we have become distracted through morality, and how we obsess so much over the things we shouldn’t do that we forget the things we should do. In fact, the greatest evils in this world are perpetuated, if not created, by apathy and heedlessness more than hate. Continue Reading »