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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Spiritual Disciplines: Some Thoughts

article by Marcia Montenegro (CANA/Christian Answers for the New Age)

For the past several years, the popularity of what are called the “spiritual disciplines” has grown at a breathless rate. This is not an in-depth response but rather some general remarks on a few points. I address specifics about the problems with the meditation usually advocated by those promoting the spiritual disciplines in several articles on my website.

A Passage in First Timothy

One of the issues I have with the spiritual disciplines advocacy is the widely held assumption that 1 Tim. 4:7 refers to practicing specific"disciplines," and the presumption that the Spiritual Disciplines advocates can decree what these disciplines are. Not only do they enumerate these disciplines,but they assert or strongly imply that one must do these in order to grow as a Christian. Here is one disturbing statement: "I will maintain that the only road to Christian maturity and Godliness passes through the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines" (from Donald Whitney in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, pp. 16-17).

It might be helpful to look at 1 Tim. 4:6-8 to view the context:

“In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

The passage above is emphasizing “godliness,” defined also as religion and piety;that is, godly living based on reverence toward God (piety). This godly living results from sound doctrine in contrast to behavior produced by meaningless asceticism from unsound (false) teachings, which are likened to “worldly fables.” The NET Bible states that the fables “refer to legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete,” also referred to in 1 Tim. 1:4, 2 Tim. 4:4, and Titus 1:14 (online source).

The word “doctrine” appears six times in First Timothy, and the word “teaching” four times (“teach” is not being counted as “teaching”). Paul is clearly concerned with false teachings in the church (see 1:19, 20; 4:1-3; 6:3-6, 20-21), some of which appear to be advocating asceticism, and he is exhorting Timothy to continue in sound doctrine.

A bit further, in verse 11, Paul advises Timothy, “Prescribe and teach these things,” and his closing words in chapter 6 plead with Timothy to “guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’ --- which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith.”

Thus, Paul ends the letter on the note of warning against these false teachings referred to in the passage under discussion. Paul is writing to Timothy to encourage him (in these passages) to continue sound teaching and reject false teachings and fables disguised as knowledge. Godliness can only result from teachings based on sound doctrine; there is no profit or growth from ascetic practices or other practices based on false teachings.

Disciplines or Rules?

Labyrinth

I also take issue with the concept of “spiritual disciplines,” a term from Roman Catholic monasticism which indicated a salvation by works. And I question the idea that certain Christians can define disciplines for other Christians. Since the Bible does not specify any specific practice as a “discipline,” then I think it is up to each Christian to discover from God’s living word which area he or she may need to focus on and at which point in their lives.

I do not see biblical validity for "silence and solitude" as disciplines.There is nothing wrong with silence and solitude, and I think they are of value at times, especially if one is praying or reflecting on God’s word. But I don't think the Bible supports doing these as disciplines. Moreover, “silence” is often a code word for “going within” in order to hear from God.

Other named disciplines include journaling, fasting, and stewardship. There is no prescriptive basis in the Bible for journaling or fasting as “disciplines” for Christians. There are biblical principles for stewardship of time and money, but is this a discipline? Christians are under grace; the Lord wants us to desire to serve Him, not live by imposed rules, or disciplines as defined by others.

If someone feels that they should fast, seek solitude, or journal, and they believe this will help their Christian growth, then that is their choice. However, I don't think anyone has a basis for telling me or others that we must do these things as disciplines or we won't grow in Christ.

The advocates of spiritual disciplines who tell Christians that we must be practicing these disciplines often use narrative as prescriptive, give worldly examples that are not analogous to biblical examples, and read their own meanings into the biblical text.

Sanctification By the Spirit

One thought continually bombards my mind in response to this epidemic of “spiritual disciplines” in the church:

“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”Gal. 3:3

A Christian should yield to the Holy Spirit, who is transforming us into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18;Col. 3:10), but the growth of each Christian varies according to the pace and design of the Lord’s purposes through God’s grace. This is the process of sanctification.

If a Christian tries to do any spiritual growing by their own effort or out of their own strength, it is wasted because the Lord makes it clear that we can do nothing fruitful outside of abiding in Christ (John 15:4; 1 John 2:27, 4:13), which means doing it by the Spirit (Rom.8:4; Gal. 5:25). It is only by dependence on Christ, the grace of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit that any Christian matures in the faith.

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4

“If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”Gal. 5:25

photo credit: lars hammar via photopin cc

CANA Articles on Contemplative Prayer and Meditation

Psalm 46:10 and Meditation

The Be Still DVD

Contemplative Prayer

Eastern Meditation

Additional Resources

What is Spiritual Formation?

A Book Review: Donald Whitney's "Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life"

The Dangers of Contemplative Prayer

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Psalm 46:10 and Hearing God Speak

Posted by Christine Pack

"Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

Writes Saddleback Pastor Rick Warren in his Daily Hope blog (1/17/13):

"You say, 'I want to trust God, but I don't hear him.' To hear God, you have to get near God. You don't hear God when your mind is filled with a thousand other distractions. You've got to get alone with God and be quiet. The Bible says, 'Be still and know that I am God' (Psalm 46:10 NIV). That means sit down and shut up. That's how you hear God and get near to God. You have to sit alone and just be quiet with your Bible and say, 'God, is there anything you want to say to me?' You read God’s Word, and you talk to him about what's on your heart. Pray this today: 'God, I want to listen to you, not the voices of doubt. I want to hear you, and I promise to then obey you. I want to be one of the people that you can use and bless in the next 10 years. I want those years to be a decade of destiny for me and my family.'" (source)

Is this true? Do we need to get still and wait for God to "speak" to us, as Pastor Rick Warren teaches? Absolutely not, and Marcia Montenegro of Christian Answers For the New Age has written a great article in response to this now commonplace (but incorrect) teaching in today's church that Psalm 46:10 is about getting still and "hearing" God speak to you. Marcia, a former New Ager/professional astrologer, is now a born again Christian in full-time ministry, and is devoted to exposing how many of the things she once believed as a New Ager (such as the oft-misinterpreted Psalm 46:10) are coming into the church.

From Marcia's article:

"God's word teaches us to think and use our mind. Rational thinking and reason flow from the nature of God. We can be still or quiet, of course, in order to contemplate God and His perfect love, justice, and mercy. We can be still and appreciate His might. But we do not need to numb our brains or create a mystical experience to do so; in fact, these techniques will hinder us from practicing true contemplation."

Continue reading Marcia's article here.

photo credit: Connor Tarter via photopin cc

Additional Resources

Christian Answers For The New Age

What Is Mysticism?

Mysticism: A Counterfeit Holy Spirit

Interview With A Former Mystic

Contemplative Monvee: Placing Experience Above Scripture

Contemplative Prayer, Spiritual Formation and the Kundalini Effect

Mysticism: Who Needs Crack?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Myths From Hislop: A Call To Examine Facts

by Marcia Montenegro (Christian Answers For the New Age - CANA)

“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” Proverbs 18:13

“A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who tells lies will not escape.” Proverbs 19:5

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Colossians 3:12-14

Many mistaken views can be traced to the pages of The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop. This book made a number of claims which do not rest on clear historical data, but were conclusions drawn by Hislop influenced by his own biases.

One of Hislop’s supporters, Ralph Woodrow, wrote a book based on Hislop’s book titled Babylon Mystery Religion. However, Woodrow later discovered that Hislop’s claims were largely unsubstantiated, and Woodrow withdrew his support of Hislop, pulling his own book out of print. Woodrow wrote a book to expose the false claims he was now rejecting, The Babylon Connection?

In an article (link below), Woodrow shows the fallacies behind some of Hislop’s thinking:

Let’s suppose that on May 10th a man was stabbed to death in Seattle. There were strong reasons for believing a certain person did it. He had motive. He was physically strong. He owned a large knife. He had a criminal record. He was known to have a violent temper and had threatened the victim in the past. All of these things would point to him as the murderer, except for one thing: on May 10th he was not in Seattle—he was in Florida!

So is it with the claims about pagan origins. What may seem to have a connection, upon further investigation, has no connection at all!

By this method, one could take virtually anything and do the same—even the “golden arches” at McDonald’s! The Encyclopedia Americana (article: “Arch") says the use of arches was known in Babylon as early as 2020 B.C. Since Babylon was called “the golden city” (Isa. 14:4), can there be any doubt about the origin of the golden arches? As silly as this is, this is the type of proof that has been offered over and over about pagan origins.

Since many popular ideas derive from Hislop’s book, some may not want to face the facts and prefer to cling to these unproven or even false views. Many notions linking Easter and Christmas with paganism are linked to Hislop. This is often used by cultists as a battering ram against Christians.

But as Christians, we are called to truth. After all, Jesus is the truth (John 14:6)! How can we as Christians claim to embrace and preach Jesus if we ourselves do not want to see factual evidence that overturns some cherished beliefs that came from Hislop (or any other less than credible sources)? Therefore, it is suitable and biblical to examine all claims in the light of objective truth and reject any that are unsupported by solid data and which spring from dubious sources. Let us not jump to conclusions or make hasty judgments.

Exposé of Hislop’s book

Article by Ralph Woodrow, regarding his previously published book Babylon Mystery Religion, and his public statement of the errors in that book (Woodrow also wrote and published The Babylon Connection? as a corrective to his original book that promulgated the Hislop errors)

Woodrow’s book, The Babylon Connection?

A point-by-point refutation of some of the major claims by Hislop

Is Easter a pagan word?

Why Christmas on Dec. 25?

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Demystifying Symbols

Article by Marcia Montenegro (Christians Answers For The New Age)
Expanded and Adapted from Marcia’s book, SpellBound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today’s Kids

NOTE: I wrote the following post partly as a reaction to the over-reaction to Madonna's half-time show at the 2012 Super Bowl. Some of the stuff I read went overboard trying to link in all kinds of evil stuff due to her costume, which I'm sure she wore just because she's a diva and wanted to outdo anyone else who's done a half-time show. She probably copied some of it from previous designs and wanted to look outrageous, but that does not mean we should take it seriously. ~Marcia Montenegro

Symbols are sometimes viewed by Christians as evil in and of themselves, but a symbol is just that – a symbol. A symbol represents something and cannot in itself be evil. Also, it is often the case that an occult meaning is read into an innocent design. Without proper context or further information, it is wise not to declare symbols as representative of anything evil or occultic.

Rather, Christians should be prudent and controlled in their approach to symbols; such a posture is more in keeping with a Christlike character than are alarm or panic. The following points on symbols may be helpful.

Symbols fluctuate in their use and meaning

The meaning of symbols depends on the culture and time in which they exist, and on the meaning ascribed to them by the group using the symbol. The backgrounds of many symbols are murky and disputed, and often the use of a symbol changes or crosses over from one culture or belief to another.

For example, the pentagram or pentacle, which is widely used by witches/Wiccans today once represented the five wounds of Christ.

The swastika of Nazism comes from many ancient cultures, including Hindu beliefs, and stood for various things—the motion of the sun through the sky, the four directions, the sun’s rays, and so on. No one is sure of its true origins.

Animals have been used as symbols in many ways. The phoenix, stag, and unicorn have all been used as symbols in the occult practice of alchemy, and also became Christian symbols. It is impossible to say, for example, that the unicorn or the phoenix always symbolizes the same thing. Symbols must be taken in context of time, culture, and use.

There is disagreement on the occultic nature of some symbols as well as their meaning

For example, the ankh was depicted in Egypt with gods and goddesses and was thought to represent immortal life and the union of male and female. Today it is used by those in the New Age and Witchcraft and in the vampire subculture. Its original meaning may not be known, and even now it might have different meanings depending on the beliefs of those who use it.

Religious symbols can be used by any culture and are sometimes misinterpreted by those cultures

The yin-yang black and white symbol comes from the Chinese religion of Taoism and signifies the Taoist views on the two opposing but complementary forces of the universe, from which everything is composed. But this symbol is often misused in the Western culture to represent balance or harmony.

The original meaning of any symbol may or may not be retained. Therefore, it is wise to be careful with any symbol and not assume anything without first looking at the history, cultural context, and present use of that symbol.

Symbols are used by some in pop culture in order to be provocative

Many performers wear jewelry with certain symbols or singers may place symbols on their album covers. Sometimes this reflects their true beliefs. But many times, they do this is to be provocative, merely indicating a rebellious attitude toward society, which is typical of many artists and performers. Before we label any of these people, more information is needed about their beliefs and philosophy. It is better to investigate than to over-react without substantiation.

Performers will often use symbols or costume that do not necessarily indicate their true beliefs, but are merely expressing a grandiose and flamboyant persona.

A symbol by itself is merely a symbol

What matters is what it signifies and how it is being interpreted in the present culture. A five-pointed star, a pentacle, is merely a geometric shape and is not inherently evil or dangerous. It is one of many geometric shapes created by God. This shape is also used for stars or snowflakes as Christmas decor or even a sheriff’s badge. When it is a snowflake or star or sheriff’s badge, however, it is clearly different from the pentacles worn as jewelry by a Wiccan.

Since most symbols originated in the pagan world, then most symbols will have a history of pagan associations. There are a limited number of possible shapes and geometric figures; therefore, many times innocent logos or designs are unfairly linked with occult or pagan systems or beliefs.

Being wise about symbols

In no way am I saying that symbols are meaningless or that it’s okay for a Christian to wear an identifiable non-Christian symbol like a pentagram or Yin-Yang emblem. On the other hand, let us keep our heads and not misinterpret certain shapes or designs.

What is more significant is how and where a symbol is being used, and if it has a meaning in the present time and culture. Unless it is widely recognized, a symbol does not have much meaning. And if it is a symbol being used now by occult or non-Christian groups, then we need to focus on the message or content of beliefs represented by the symbol.

Additional Resources

Myths about Christmas and Easter: A Critique of Alexander Hislop (Marcia Montenegro)

Sola Sisters Facebook discussion re: symbols - Sept 30, 2013

Sola Sisters Facebook discussion re: symbols, freemasonry - Oct 4, 2013

Sola Sisters Facebook discussion re: symbols,conspiracy theories - Dec 2, 2013

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Is Catholicism just another Christian denomination? Yes, according to bestselling Bible study teacher Beth Moore [UPDATED]

Posted by Christine Pack (originally published January 3, 2012)

Additional Resources

The Be Still DVD: An Ode To Silence (Marcia Montenegro, Christian Answers For The New Age)

Theology … More or Less With Beth (Sarah Flashing)

Beth Moore's Dangerous Bible Twisting (Fighting For the Faith)

Beth Moore Recommends "Jesus Calling" Book Claiming Direct Divine Revelation (Apprising)

Pastor Ken Silva and Beth Moore Discuss Her Vision Affirming the Roman Catholic Church as Just Another Christian Denomination (Apprising)

Concerns About Beth Moore (CARM)

A List of False Teachings In The Catholic Church (CARM)

Damaging Doctrine: "If you can't hear God speak, it must be your fault." (Stand Up For The Truth)

Preparing for Eternity (former Roman Catholic Mike Gendron)

Proclaiming The Gospel (former Roman Catholic Mike Gendron)

Testimony of former Roman Catholic Priest Richard Bennett (Berean Beacon)

Berean Beacon (former Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett)

A Chart With Christian/Catholic Views Side-By-Side (Richard Bennett, Berean Beacon,)

Mother Teresa, A Lost Soul (Berean Beacon)

Catholics, Physical Suffering and Doctrines of Demons (Sola Sisters)

Why the Reformation Was Important (Sola Sisters)

Redeemer's Tim Keller Recommends Ignatius of Loyola? (Sola Sisters)

After The Darkness, Light (Post Tenebras Lux) (Sola Sisters)

On The "Faith" of Mother Teresa: John Ortberg Strikes Out (Sola Sisters)

Mother Teresa in Her Own Words (Sola Sisters)

The Myth of Mother Teresa (Challies)

Biblically Explaining The Heresy of Catholicism (Dr. John MacArthur, GTY)

Far From Rome Near To God (Amazon)

Mother Teresa's Crisis of Faith (Time Magazine)

Mother Teresa Did Not Feel Christ's Presence for Last Half of Her Life, Letters Reveal (Fox News)

BBC Reports About Exorcism Performed on Mother Teresa (BBC Archives)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

ABOUT US

Posted by Christine Pack

For those unfamiliar with how we post, and who's who, here's a quick thumbnail sketch:

▸ Cathy Mathews and I (Christine Pack) are real-life sisters. We both write articles here and also post on the Sola Sisters Facebook wall.

▸ Marcia Montenegro is not our real-life (blood) sister, but is our sister-in-Christ. Marcia is seminary trained, and graciously helps moderate on the Facebook wall, but also has her own ministry website (Christian Answers For The New Age) and her own Facebook ministry site (Christian Answers For The New Age-Facebook). We occasionally post and link Marcia's articles here on the Sola Sisters website and on the Sola Sisters Facebook wall because all three of us have similar backgrounds, and are in alignment as far as our concerns about New Age teachings coming into the church today.

* * * * * * * * * *

As noted above, Christine Pack and Cathy Mathews are sisters in Christ as well as sisters in real life, and were both saved out of New Age Spirituality. We (Christine and Cathy) created the Sola Sisters website as the natural extension of long telephone conversations we were having years ago about "Christianized" New Age teachings that we were both seeing coming into the church, Cathy in her church in Arkansas, and Christine in her church in Georgia. These practices had been cleverly repackaged with Christian terminology, rendering them all the more deceptive and dangerous.

Our purpose in writing articles was, and is, to sound a warning to today's church, and to encourage and equip others who might be having a similar experience in their own churches. Christians must remember that God has called his people to be set apart unto him, to be in the world, but not of the world. The act of syncretizing worship of the LORD with pagan practices is something that the LORD calls "detestable."

"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it." (Deut. 12:29-32, our emphasis)

The New Age is a movement that, on the whole, tends to follow along with whatever new trend comes along. Once we were saved, we recognized this foolish chasing after of trends for the worldly wisdom that it was:

"Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" (1 Corinthians 1:20)

"Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become 'fools' so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness'."(1 Corinthians 3:18-19)

As believers, God was now the Rock upon which we stood so that we would not be shaken by every wind of doctrine to blow, and God was our standard for Truth in all things, not the fickle ideas of the world which change from day to day, and culture to culture. God is Truth, and He has given us revelation of Himself through (1) the person and work of Jesus Christ, God's only Son, who made atonement for sinners; and (2) the Bible, against which all teachings must be tested.

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ." (Colossians 2:8)

The Bible also commended the Bereans for searching the Scriptures to see if what was being taught to them lined up with God's word already given to them:

"Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." (Acts 17:11)

As we noted above, the trend that is the most concerning to us is the practice of combining New Age philosophies and teachings with Scripture. Some examples of this would be:

(1) Mysticism that comes into the church disguised as prayer/meditation. While Christians are often exhorted by Scripture to meditate upon God's word, it should be understood that Christian meditation is meditation in which the mind is fully engaged. This type of meditation stands in stark contrast to the New Age form of meditation, in which a light trance state is entered into for the purpose of connecting to "God." However, with the addition of scripture and/or Christian terminology, this New Age meditation practice is often deceptively marketed as "contemplative prayer," "breath prayers" or "Jesus prayers" (this latter practice is extremely deceptive in that it utilizes the name of our Savior as a mere device, a mantra, for corralling the mind and entering into a light trance state). But the addition of Scripture does not somehow magically sanctify this New Age practice which is, at its essence, a New Age spiritual practice, and is forbidden to born again believers (please note the Deuteronomy passage referenced above).

(2) Yoga that is often marketed today to Christians as either (a) having purely physical benefits, or (b) being a spiritual practice that, although Hindu in origin, can be "done unto the Lord." We have written and linked to a number of articles which explain how neither of these things are true.

Out of our concern, we began writing articles. These articles eventually turned into the Sola Sisters website, and we eventually added the Sola Sisters-Facebook discussion forum, which is where we discuss our articles and also take questions from readers and discuss other trends in the church in a more informal way.

We have a deep love for the Word of God, and now as born again believers, we stand firmly upon the Rock of Christ instead of standing on the shifting ground of whatever new teaching-fad-class-book-technique-discipline-etc. to come along (as was always the case in the New Age, and sadly now is often the case in the church).

We have named our Sola Sisters site after the rallying cry of the Reformation:

・Sola Fide (by faith alone)
・Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone)
・Sola Gratia (by grace alone)
・Solo Christo (through Christ alone)
・Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory)

We host ongoing discussions about our articles (and other current issues) on our Facebook page because we think it is important for Christians to not only study God's word, and pray, and be in fellowship for personal growth and edification, but to also know how to answer to the heresies of the day. And we find that these kinds of apologetics forums (like ours here, and others) are helpful in terms of putting us as Christians through our paces so that when these heresies show up amongst our loved ones and friends and fellow church members, we can biblically refute them.

The Sola Sisters ministry is not about keeping lists of who's okay and who's not, based on this or that endorsement or conference or casual association. After all, such a list would be constantly changing, a moving target, as it were. Even though we do occasionally single out specific books containing false doctrine, we are more interested in teaching women to grow in learning general discernment principles, and understanding how to apply them so that they can evaluate each teaching, sermon, book, etc. based on its own merit and how it lines up (or doesn't) with God's word. That is far better than list-keeping. We don't want women to be at the mercy of the keeper of the list.....we all need to know how to look at a person's ministry or Facebook wall or website or writings or Bible studies or whatever, and decide if they are biblical or not. The book of James exhorts believers to pray for wisdom, and our desire is that all women wishing to grow in discernment will take that exhortation to heart, pray for wisdom, and dig in to the task of discernment with great joy, because as we grow in truth, our walks WILL become steadier and steadier, and our joy in the Lord will only increase.

In closing, we want to state that we are both aware that there are a number of online discernment ministries who appear to feel that the freedom afforded by the anonymity of the internet gives license to be sharp and unguarded in their commentary. Knowing this, we make every attempt to speak truth in love, and to be "wise as serpents but gentle as doves," (Matthew 10:16) as Scripture exhorts all Christians to do. We are quite sure that we do this imperfectly, and while it is a delicate balance that we hope to strike, please know that it is our desire to be as kind as possible in this endeavor, through the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit. We also have the oversight of a pastor, who reads every article and every Facebook post.

May God be glorified and our walks be steadied as we all sharpen each other ✟ ♥

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Contributing writer Marcia Montenegro is a former professional astrologer, now a Christian writer, researcher and public speaker. Before becoming an astrologer, Marcia was involved with various New Age, occult, and Eastern beliefs and practices, including Inner Light Consciousness, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Hindu teachings and meditation, and psychic development classes. During these years, she also participated in past life regression, numerology, Tarot cards, spirit contact, seances, astral travel, and received a spirit guide through a guided visualization.

Since becoming a Christian, Marcia has been on many radio shows, including "Unshackled!," Bill Bright's "WorldChangers," "Janet Parshall's America," the "Dawson McAllister Live" show for teenagers, the Echo Zoe program, and the Janet Mefferd Show. She has also been on Christian television, including having her testimony dramatized on Dr. D. James Kennedy's show. She has led workshops and spoken at conferences, churches and retreats, and written for Christian publications (including Rose Publications). Marcia is the author of SpellBound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today's Kids (Cook, 2006).

Marcia is a full-time missionary with Fellowship International Mission, an independent mission board based in Allentown, PA, and does her ministry with the support of her church, as well as through donations from fellow Christians. Marcia's website is CANA/Christian Answers for the New Age, and is an informational and outreach ministry. Marcia has a Masters in Religion from Southern Evangelical Seminary, Charlotte, NC.