Light in New Age darkness
Dwayna Litz of Lighting the Way International (LTW) describes a recent outreach at Little Five Points, Atlanta, Georgia. LTW is a unique ministry to New Agers and others.
I sure met a lot of hurting people on this first day of apologetics outreach in Atlanta. ‘Jesus’ was popular; it seemed the seekers in Little Five Points were turning to every ‘Jesus’ under the sun for comfort, except for the real One.
A lesbian woman, dressed like a man, watched me as I was walking over to the area to set up the book table. I had some DVDs on Pure passion (about how God has changed homosexuals and those with gender confusion) and asked God to bless the materials to the people right where they are.
Which Jesus?
A Rastafarian approached, and I offered him some literature and CDs for free. I explained there were CDs on psychic phenomena and angels and he was interested. I asked if he believed in Jesus. He said, ‘Yes’, and reached into his pocket to pull out a New Testament to show me.
I said, ‘Wow, you carry around a New Testament!’ I continued, ‘So, tell me about what Jesus means to you’. He said, ‘Well, I just got out of the mosque’. I interrupted, ‘The mosque? So, you are a Moslem?’ He answered, ‘Yes, and I embrace all religions as one. It is all about the “one love”.’
I replied, ‘Well, the Jesus of Islam never died. He never died on the cross, as Surah chapter 4 teaches, so the “Jesus” of Islam is a different Jesus from the Jesus of the Bible who died as a Saviour for the sins of the world’.
Another man approached. He was getting off heroin. He took several materials, saying, ‘I believe in Jesus, and I really need help’. I told him Jesus could help him one day at a time. ‘God understands when you turn to heroin. You are hurting. You want to escape feelings. It is a way out, yet it is a way of shame. Jesus comes to give you a way out, too, but with no shame’.
He took some sermons and a Bible, including a CD on Unity School of Christianity and commented, ‘I know about this group. They believe in Jesus’. I answered, ‘Yes, but their Jesus is a christ-consciousness’.
Occult
Another man, wearing amulets, approached and asked, ‘What is the occult?’ I answered, ‘Well, if you look up the definition in the dictionary, you will find that the occult means secret, initiated power. It is all about power and control’.
He picked up a sermon and read the title out loud, ‘Tools of the occult’. I said, ‘You can have that sermon if you want it’. He replied, ‘No, I know all about it already. I am involved in palmistry and tarot cards’. He said, ‘I believe in a christ-consciousness’.
I asked, ‘Does the “consciousness” love you?’ He looked bewildered. I said, ‘Jesus loves you. An impersonal “consciousness” can’t love you’. He left the table without taking anything.
We saw several homeless people and offered them free food. A homeless woman said she was suffering from a broken heart. She said her mother had just died and started to cry. I gave her a hug and told her that I could not ease her pain but I know God never gives us more than we can handle.
She took materials on Heaven (by Randy Alcorn) and After death, what then? I said, ‘You have a broken heart. Where are you going to go with all the pain?’ She had no answer.
I said, ‘Satan would like to ease your pain’. She answered without hesitation, ‘I know that is the truth! I have an evil man in my life!’ Looking stern she repeated, ‘He is evil’. I explained that the Bible teaches to ‘put off the old and put on the new’. She took books to read.
Teens passed by seeing the Christian brochure Occult nightmare. One took a copy, passing by quickly and yelling back, ‘Thanks for the Jesus news’.
Literature
A man stopped by who said he believed in Jesus. With conviction he said, ‘Satan was created as a brother to Jesus’. I said, ‘No, Satan is a fallen angel’ and offered him a sermon on angels. He took a John’s Gospel.
I went to a store to get a bottle of water, and the cashier was talking about what she wanted for Mother’s Day. She said, ‘I sure would like to have some cheesecake’. Then another idea dawned on her. She announced, ‘Wait a minute. I will channel it’.
Looking up to the ceiling, she repeated with her eyes closed, ‘Cheesecake, cheesecake. I want some cheesecake’. I returned to give her materials exposing New Age errors.
Several copies of the books The light that was dark and After death: what then? were taken, and some New Agers found the tracts Spirituality, a matter of choice? and Magic of interest.
One conversation in particular broke my heart. I asked a man involved in occult spirituality, ‘Do you believe demons are real?’ He answered, ‘Yes’. He started to cry and asked, ‘How do I keep them away?’
I gave him a Bible and turned through its pages to read to him about the love of Jesus and his power over demons, explaining that there is protection in Christ Jesus alone (James 2:19; Mark 1:23-26; Acts 4:12).
www.lightingthewayworldwide.org
