Rescued From 20 Years in the New Age Movement
by Cathy Fowler
I was a true-blue New Ager for 20 years. Over those years I had many experiences
with spiritual powers -- or "forces," as they say. And I know they exist and are
extremely powerful. If someone had told me at that time that I was tampering
with Satan's kingdom, I would have laughed in their face!
In fact, the reason I moved to Sedona, Arizona, was because it is such a strong
metaphysical area and community. Sedona is advertised widely in metaphysical
and occult circles as one of the few "vortex areas" in the United States. (A "vortex
area" is an area where the veil between this world and the spiritual world is
allegedly very thin, so to speak. New Agers believe there is a higher concentration
of psychic or cosmic energy in such areas.) I thought I could really find and
experience "higher consciousness" in Sedona. And guess what! I did. But through a
totally unexpected source -- the Lord Jesus Christ!
The funny thing is that I grew up attending a Baptist church and spent the first 18
years of my life going to church at least three times a week. I was even baptized.
But I never had a personal relationship with Jesus. How do I know? Because I have
one now -- and I know I've never had this before.
Many Christians ask me how I ever could have left the church for "New Age"
thinking. Didn't I realize what I was mixed up in? The answer to that is a big NO! I
was always the curious sort and even when I was very young, I sensed the
spiritual side of life. However, when I asked too many (or "wrong") questions in
Bible studies or at home -- or asked for genuine, credible reasons for the Christian
faith -- I was always hushed with blanket answers like, "Because the Bible says so,
that's why!"; no further explanations were ever given. What all this really sounded
like to me was, "Shut up and don't ask questions."
So I started looking for answers elsewhere. And I thought I had found answers too
-- in astrology, eastern religion, yoga, reincarnation, crystals, channeled
information, and meditation.
I had arrived in the New Age.
As I look back over these years, I can say that channeling is probably the most
dangerous of the New Age practices from my experience. New Agers take every
word that comes out of the channeler's mouth as the "New Gospel." I was no
exception to this.
It took me 20 years to build up a New Age belief system, with new ideas being
added all the time. Would you like to know how long it took the Lord to knock this
belief system down? Just three months! I was led to books written by Christians
about the New Age movement, and I also had a very close Christian friend who
prayed for me on a regular basis. The books quoted Bible verses and led me back
to God's Word which I hadn't looked at a single time in 20 years.
My Bible was on the bookshelf along with my more than 180 New Age books. And
guess what I found inside it when I opened it up for the first time? A little daily
devotional book opened to a page entitled, "Test The Spirits." All those 20 years,
the warning was there waiting for me to see it.
I could go on and on, but let me just wrap this up by saying that I praise God every
day for loving me enough to rescue me -- even though I had turned my back on
Him by my involvement in the occult. How gracious the Lord is! My life has totally
changed since a year ago last summer.
My daughter, who is now 16, was also interested in some of the occult activities I
was involved in and showed some genuine ESP-type abilities. But now she's deeply
involved in a youth ministry here which is an extension of the Bible church we now
attend. She has accepted Jesus Christ and can see the evil deception going on
under the guise of the New Age movement.
One last thing. Many church-going Christians either ignore or are afraid of people
involved in the New Age movement. Many Christians are so wrapped up doing their
church activities that they rarely attempt to tackle the "outside world." But New
Agers are easier to convert than most people might think. Why? Because unlike the
average person, they already have a strong belief in the spiritual world; they just
don't realize exactly what spiritual world they are mixed up in.
So please don't ignore New Agers or laugh at them or give up on them. Give them
one of the many fine books on the New Age movement written from a Christian
perspective as well as a pocket Bible. Miracles happen every hour of every day
through Jesus.
Taken from the Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 2: Number 6, 1989. Copyright © 1994 by
the Christian Research Institute, P.O. Box 7000, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-7000. The
Editor-in-Chief of the Christian Research Newsletter is Ron Rhodes. Faith and Reason Forum would
like to thank CRI for graciously allowing us to put this testimony on our website. This data may
not be used without the sole permission of the Christian Research Institute for resale or the
enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content with the exception of a few
brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words.
End of document, CRN0018A.TXT (original CRI file name), "Rescued from 20 Years in the New Age
Movement" release A, March 21, 1994 R. Poll, CRI, A special note of thanks to Bob and Pat Hunter
for their help in the preparation of this ASCII file for BBS circulation.