Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The Christian Prospective of Reiki.

Tom's Journal. http://tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com/




tschuckman@aol.com


What is the Christian Prospective of  Reiki ?


....and I do not celebrate Halloween, either....  sorry.   But I do not wish to put down nor criticize others who do !   It's like this:  After I got home from the war in Vietnam, I just had so many questions and was bone tired of being lied to.....  by the Catholic church, priests, false religion, fakes, the U.S. Gov't and the stinking VAMC system, especially in Milwaukee, WI., that messed up my Right knee replacement surgery, and then the lame, ghetto workers on 3rd shift recovery abused me, big time, and I am not a cripple/ worse off, Disabled because of those butchers [about 6 years ago] !!    Sorry,  but I didn't expect to be turned into a worse cripple after all the terrific pain and suffering at that goofy, Milwaukee VA 'hospital,' house of horrors.   I refuse to ever go back there again, even if it means my life ! !   May the Lord deal with them accordingly.     
        I am too old to hold back now, and let the truth be known.   Yes, I have my own opinions --- but I like to cut and paste the Authorities of certain mind sets, but above all the Holy Scriptures... the KJV Bible. 


















My friend is a Christian who practices Reiki and thinks that it’s the Holy Spirit working through her. She has a heart for healing and I don’t want to discourage her from pursuing that or deny that the Spirit is at work in her. But I fear that these counterfeits are keeping her from realizing her true potential in Christ.
I guess I have two questions: how can I lovingly discuss with her what the Bible says about these practices, when she doesn’t fully accept it as God’s Word; and can you tell me more about Reiki from a Christian perspective?
Thanks for your questions. It’s terribly difficult to reason with someone from the Scriptures if they do not already accept their Divine authority. If she’s open to doing some reading in the area, you may want to encourage her to look into what conservative scholarship has said about the inspiration, authority, and inerrancy of Scripture. A General Introduction to the Bible, by Norman Geisler and William Nix is a fairly exhaustive treatment of the subject. Many books on Christian apologetics have chapters dealing with the trustworthiness of the Bible. One book you may want to recommend is I’m Glad You Asked, by Ken Boa and Larry Moody. It is an excellent, beginner’s level text in apologetics and has a chapter entitled, “How Accurate is the Bible?,” which might prove helpful. Suffice it to say, until a Christian accepts the Bible as the inspired word of God, it is difficult to use it as the final authority for proper Christian belief and practice. Such a person can always claim that the texts they don’t like are simply not inspired by God, etc. Thus, this is a critical issue to deal with.
Having said that, I think you are exactly right about your friend. There are very good grounds for rejecting Reiki if one is willing to listen to the Bible. In a book entitled Basic Questions on Alternative Medicine, a corporate project by members of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1988), there is a short chapter on Reiki (pp. 61-63). I will draw some information from that chapter. Although Reiki claims to be an “ancient healing practice that Buddha (and Jesus) used,” all records of it were lost. It was allegedly rediscovered by Mikao Usui, a Zen Buddhist monk, in the mid-1800s “during a psychic experience.” Additionally, it is claimed that details about lost aspects of the practice have “been revealed through channeling.” Channeling is the New Age term for mediumship and involves contact with, and usually possession by, “spirit guides.” The authors of this chapter state that a second-degree Reiki practitioner “learns about spirit guides and how to contact and use them in healing sessions.” They further state that third degree Reiki masters give “complete control of healing sessions to their spirit guides.” Healing sessions appear to be based on the use of “life-energy” (i.e. ki, chi, or prana), which is sent from the practitioner into the patient’s body.
The greatest concern would seem to be the identity of the “spirit guides.” Since they are typically contacted in ways expressly forbidden in Scripture, and since they advocate unbiblical ideas and practices, it is honestly quite difficult to view them as anything other than the biblical demons. The authors of this chapter conclude by stating: “Reiki is antithetical to biblical Christianity. Channeling is a way of communicating with spirits to obtain information not otherwise accessible. It is denounced in the Bible as sorcery, mediumship, and spiritism (Lev. 19:26, 31; 20:6; Deut. 18:9-14…).”
It seems to me that Reiki has the potential to be spiritually harmful. I would pray for your friend and encourage her to give serious consideration to the biblical warnings mentioned above.
I wish you all the best with your friend.
Shalom,
Michael Gleghorn
Probe Ministries
+ + + + +
A former Reiki master who has become a Christian wrote this testimony to Sue Bohlin:
“Reiki is something that is very mis-stated, and misunderstood, by those outside of the Reiki circle. Having been in it, I can tell you everything you need to know. I will tell you right up front that it was a hard one to shake, that it was VERY real and beneficial, but that it is decidedly non-Christian.
“I highly recommend anyone looking into it to just stop. Prayer is very powerful, and is our direct link to God through Christ. If we petition directly for healing, it may come. If we have faith that it WILL come, our chances are far better. As with anything we are to test, does Reiki point either the practitioner or the client to Christ? No. Big no. It uses a Universal energy that is non-personal and can be manipulated. You can pray to God, to the Earth Mother, to Mother/Father God, etc. But it in fact leads you AWAY from Christ.
“It is all about what you FEEL in your hands, what you FEEL in your spirit, what the client FEELS in their body/emotions/spirit. In that regard it is very very real. My hands get hot, I hit a place of extreme peace and quiet, I heal people who feel a tingle or hot spot or whatever. Their headache, menstrual cramps, emotional distress, bruises, whatever, goes away. But is God glorified? No way. Is self glorified? Yes.
“If it is so good and right, why do practitioners go on to other things once they hit Master level? The teacher who taught me was going on to accupuncture and other new Reiki teachings. Always something else, something new, something you NEED to be a true master. Sound familiar? It is like everything else in this world, but Christ. There is no lasting peace, no connection with the universe, there is a big void in your soul that is not going away. WE ALL NEED CHRIST! I told my wife when she questioned my stopping in my search for peace once I found Christ (she had followed my years of searching through New Age theologies, etc) that Jesus Christ filled the hole. All the puzzle pieces fell into place and everything suddenly made sense. For a long time after that I tried to make Reiki fit into Christianity but it didn’t. I prayed a lot about it. God firmly and solidly showed me in Scripture how it couldn’t work. The two major things against it, regardless of how well it works, are 1) it does not point anyone to Christ and in facts points people away from a single triune God, and 2) it is no different than all the pagan rituals in the Old Testament that would have people pray to the rain god or fertility god, etc. They must have worked or people wouldn’t have kept praying to them, and God’s people wouldn’t have been attracted to them. But either way it isn’t what GOD has asked us to do. Everything we need is in Him. We can pray for any healing we need.”


Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker/writer and webmistress for Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 35 years. She is a frequent speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian Women's Connections), and serves on the board and as a small group leader of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women's Leadership Team and is a regular contributor to Bible.org's Engage Blog. She is also a professional calligrapher; but most importantly, she is the wife of Probe's Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of their two grown sons. Her personal website is suebohlin.com.
What is Probe?
Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org.
Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting us at:
Probe Ministries
2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000
Plano TX 75075
(972) 941-4565
info@probe.org
www.probe.org
Copyright/Reproduction Limitations
This document is the sole property of Probe Ministries. It may not be altered or edited in any way. Permission is granted to use in digital or printed form so long as it is circulated without charge, and in its entirety. This document may not be repackaged in any form for sale or resale. All reproductions of this document must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2015 Probe Ministries) and this Copyright/Limitations notice.




Save our Precious InterNet !

Tom's Journal. http://tomschuckmanjournal.blogspot.com/




tschuckman@aol.com







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09/13/2016The Final ActSuicide   [Here is the talk I heard last night !] --- Tom  Schuckman








Good Day, Friends,
   What a great sunny Fall day this morning U.P. here where I live !   But the important move the 'President' has made regarding the InterNet, IMHO, is scary and just plain wrong !  Please access the short Video below and find out why.   I love and enjoy my Freedom here in the USA,  but being a History buff,  I know that a nation/ people can lose everything in one short generation... as President Ron Reagan said.   That is why I felt compelled to post this subject today, and then get busy trying to hang a close line outside, because my gas driven clothes dryer died and I just cannot afford a new one right now $$$, as they run about $800, and I am just renting here for a while.... for about 8 months now !    My, how a man's fortunes can change now days in the blink of an eye.   But I know that I have changed for the better and try to use my brain before I engage my mouth these days.   It's not so hard being a nice guy when you are usually dealing with other 'nice people...'   And,  I am thinking that being alone is not all that bad, either, some of the time.    It gives me time to think about things.
       And yes, God has blessed me with a good memory, as I reminisce about the good old days, and the 'not so good old days.'    I used to stand night time guard duty in Vietnam: 68-70, and for a "Hot, muggy, humid, Tropical country," I could actually see my breath at night --- so it got a bit chilly at times, so surprised I was, at age 19, when I got over there !   And let me depart here for a moment/ change gears, please .... that ALL the good education, mentoring, schooling, fatherly advice that I got prior to my service in RVN [Nam] really helped me so much !!   Pay attention to older, mature, smarter, wiser people !!!   They just might save your life sometime !    And knowing what I know now, about the KJV Bible, etc.,  if God didn't save me from death over there and before,  I would have surely ended up in HELL !   Because I wasn't yet Saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, yet !   In fact,  there are so many times that I escaped death over in Vietnam, flying every day in Helicopters and on the ground, dodging rockets, mortars, bullets, etc., that I painted a 'motto' on the back of my Flight helmet:  "Nine Lives."    Yes,  I am so very thankful that God kept me alive.... PTL  --- Praise the Lord.


Something  great happened to me last night in bed that really gave me encouragement !   I turned from my fav. 'rock n roll music station,' to get something else for a change.   I landed on a good strong wave length, a Christian radio station, and program called, "Night Sound." [shown up above in this post].   And the kind gentleman was talking about the subject of "Suicide," and how the bible and Lord looks upon that subject.   Wow!  That fine Christian man. with a soothing low, deep, voice,   made all the sense in the world, and also used logic and sweet kindness to make his point.   I wish I would have caught the entire message, and prayed that I would remember it the next morning,  today, and I did.   Friends,   I know about depression and Combat PTSD, and how many military people take their lives all the time !   I have had cousins and old friends take their own lives in the past,  and I am NOT their judge,  but it seems a waste to me,  sorry to be so blunt and direct.    If you or anyone you know is thinking or talking about taking their own life --- please contact me fast !   I honestly know what it is to be all alone, lonely, super depressed, feeling sorry about everything in the world, worried, and at the end of my rope -- so to speak.   Write down my email address, please:  tschuckman@aol.com   And if you email me, I might also give you my cell phone number, too, so we can talk.    Also,  pray to Father God in a mighty way and ask/ beg Him for help right then on the spot !


A few times in my own life,  God put someone in my path to reach out and mentor me, and I so much needed that encouragement right at that dire time !!   I firmly believe that God intervenes at the right time with all of His followers and servants, and He has helped me many times and stopped me from doing something STUPID !   I like to "pay my bills" on time, and had a good up-bringing, IMHO, even though my Dad was a bit harsh with me,  being the 'first-born.'   It was his way, or hit the high way.   All that discipline paid off when I joined the Army and never had too much problem taking orders and obeying commands..... lawful commands.  
     We shall talk more about suicide and that Christian radio station, later.    I just don't want to waste a precious sunny day without catching some healing "Rays" outside, or roasting some of my fav. Italian sausage on the grill, etc.   And I will admit that too many 'rainy days and Mondays get me down.'   That was a nice song by the "Carpenters."


Warm Regards,
Tommy  Schuckman










Posted: 13 Sep 2016 10:08 AM PDT
tedcruzTed Cruz is out with a new ad this afternoon calling on Congress to protect the freedom of the internet by ensuring its governance doesn’t fall into the hands of the UN . . .
Trump Campaign
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Poverty Is Exploding! Get Your Money Out of the Bank



By Dave Hodges on Sep 13, 2016 09:48 am
In this instance, the numbers do not lie. The numbers have never been worse. America’s poverty level is exploding. The crash is coming and there’s nothing that can be done. The following video will hopefully motivate you and your family to action. Donate to The Common Sense Show  In large part, The Common Sense Show […]