I Met God in the Morning

I recently shared the existence of this poem with a friend, and can't remember who it was...so I'm posting it here for you all to see.

"I met God in the morning"

I met God in the morning

when the day was at its best,

And His Presence came like sunrise,

Like a glory in my breast.

All day long the Presence lingered,

All day long He stayed with me,

And we sailed in perfect calmness

O'er a very troubled sea.

Other ships were blown and battered,

Other ships were sore distressed,

But the winds that seemed to drive them,

Brought to me a peace and rest.

Then I thought of other mornings,

With a keen remorse of mind,

When I too had loosed the moorings,

With the presence left behind.

So, I think I know the secret,

Learned from many a troubled way:

You must seek Him in the morning

If you want Him through the day!

By Bishop Ralph Cushman

Hypnosis in the Church

I just have to say something about this topic of Christianity and hypnosis.  A family member is getting into this latest New Age thing.  I’ve read many of the articles about it and the Christian pastors who hypnotize, and I’m sorry to say I do not find any solid biblical foundation.  I don’t claim to be a scholar of Greek or Hebrew, but I can use the lexicon and concordance, so here are my humble findings.

First of all, in the defense of this latest fad, they do not promote the entertainment version of hypnosis.  Hypnotism today is being compared to ‘visions’ in the Old and New Testaments.  If we want to agree that they are the same, here are some questions I have:

1.    In the instances I read about, God came to them, they were not going into a trance to find God’s message for them.

2.    These visions were never induced by another person.

3.    The visions were to see or hear/see Godly messages, not to cure a disease, act as an anesthetic, or break sinful habits.

4.    The people were Godly people, and not heathen, Gentiles, unsaved, or whatever word you choose to use for ungodly.

5.    If you believe that deep prayer can cause a trancelike state, again, there is no outside influence taking you there.

6.    Despite the often quoted reference to Deuteronomy 18:10-11, I prefer to read how Ezekiel 13 warns against the false diviners/prophets.

When scripture speaks about soundness of mind in the NT, can that happen in a hypnotic state?  Yet ‘sound mind’ was the word used to describe those who had demons cast out of them.  Are the evangelical Christians so far off in accusing hypnosis of being of the devil since a sound mind is the opposite of demon possession?

When we’re told to love God with ‘… all our mind,’ do we have “all” our mind in a humanly induced trancelike state?  Or does someone else have part of it?  Are we to surrender any part of ourselves to a someone other than God?

On the road to Emmaus, Christ opened their ‘minds’…the same Greek was used repeatedly as understanding, reasoning, and feelings.  If God (Christ) opened their minds, won’t He do the same for us?

If we’re to have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), can we find a time He was put into a hypnotic (trancelike) state?

My last comment is found in 2 Timothy 1:7.  It’s the only time I can find this Greek word used in the New Testament, but I think it makes a good case for avoiding hypnosis.  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”   I for one won’t be turning what little mind I might possess over to anyone in the near future!

A Trip to Eau Claire

Today I spent time with a friend in Eau Claire who was showing me the behind the scenes activities of one of the best oiled non-profits I've ever seen...Hope Gospel Mission.  A faith-based organization which helps individuals go from homelessness to contributing members of society, the mission has a home for men, one for women, several businesses, and an education center.  Thanks Chris for taking time out of your busy schedule to show me all that God has allowed your ministries to accomplish.  May He continue to bless you and His work!