THE SECRET A Necessary Critique Dr Jobe Martin

THE SECRET A Necessary Critique Dr. Jobe Martin Biblical Discipleship Ministries www. evolutionofacreationist. com www. biblicaldiscipleship. org

• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, 2006 • (Atria Books: 1230 Avenue of the Americas NY, NY 10020/Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. 20827 N. W. Cornell Road Suite 500, Hillsboro, OR 97124 -9808) www. beyondword. com. Rhonda Byrne’s little book The Secret is an unprecedented international success. The Big Question is: Why?

PROVERBS 14: 12 • There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

• “Something remarkable is underway. It is moving with almost dizzying speed, but it has no name and eludes description. ” Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy, p. 18

It’s all about YOU!!!!

The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there, for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who You Really Are. You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life. And now you know The Secret. May the joy be with you! The Secret, p. 183

• We’re really now moving into a new era. It’s the era where the last frontier is not space, as “Star Trek” would say, but it’s going to be Mind. Dr. Fred Alan Wolf, The Secret, p. 181

• Why would a little 199 page book achieve international attention and skyrocketing success within a few weeks of its entrance on the scene of books in print?

• What does The Secret say and teach that generates so much excitement and vigorous approval among its readers?

Even Oprah Winfrey has helped to spread the secret. Oprah’s first program on The Secret received such a huge response that eight days later she aired an unprecedented follow-up show called “One Week Later: The Huge reaction to The Secret. ” The book and DVD have also been featured on a variety of network talk shows, including CNN’s Larry King Live and The Ellen De. Generes Show. James K. Walker and Bob Waldrep, The Truth Behind The Secret (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2007), p. 10

Many centuries ago the following words were written:

EZEKIEL 28: 3 -5 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches….

We often get distracted with this thing called our body and our physical being. That just holds your spirit. And your spirit is so big it fills a room. You are eternal life. You are God manifested in human form, made to perfection. Lisa Nichols, The Secret, p. 164 (emphasis mine) 2006

APRIL, 1984

Susan Taylor, Editor in Chief, Essence, April 1984 • “Get quiet, and ask the power within for ways to change stressful conditions in your life. Then listen to your inner intelligence…. With this inner power we are also masters of ourselves. • You are a child of the universe, part of a divine process. The degree to which you accept your divinity determines how much It can work for you. Get busy practicing the Presence within. Be still and know that you are God. (emphasis hers)

PSALM 46: 10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

But Rhonda Byrne writes: You are God in a physical body. You are Spirit in the flesh. You are Eternal Life expressing itself as You are a cosmic being. You are all power. You are all wisdom. You are all intelligence. You are the creator, and you are creating the creation of You on this planet. The Secret, p. 164. (emphasis mine)

Twenty-two years after Essence, The Secret is teaching the same occult deceptions. And much of this is sounding more and more like the faddish “Emerging and Emergent Church. ” (more on the Emergent Church later), also go to www. lighthousetrails. com.

Rhonda Byrne says (The Secret, p. 173): “You must focus on the presence inside of You. Take a moment and sit still. Focus on feeling the life presence inside you. As you focus on the presence within, it will begin to reveal itself to You. It is a feeling of pure love, and bliss, and it is perfection. That presence is the perfection of You. That presence is the real You. (emphasis hers)

Susan Taylor, Editor in Chief, Essence, April 1984: • “Get quiet, and ask the power within for ways to change stressful conditions in your life. Then listen to your inner intelligence…. With this inner power we are also masters of ourselves. • You are a child of the universe, part of a divine process. The degree to which you accept your divinity determines how much It can work for you. Get busy practicing the Presence within. Be still and know that you are God. (emphasis hers) • Also sounds like Helena Blavatsky, Alice Bailey (Djwhul Khul, Morya), Sri Chinmoy, Annie Besant, Meister Ekhart, Donald Keyes, Maurice Strong, etc.

What Does God Himself say? Isaiah. 43: 10 f “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He: before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no Savior. ”

“Divine Mind is the one and only reality. ” Charles Fillmore, The Secret, p. 161

• All that exists is the One Universal Mind, and there is nowhere that the One Mind is not. It exists in everything. The One Mind is all intelligence, all wisdom, and all perfection, and it is everything and everywhere at the same time. If everything is the One Universal mind, and the whole of it exists everywhere, then it is all in You. The Secret, p. 160.

Colossians 1: 25 -27 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14: 12 -15

“So your purpose is what you say it is. Your mission is the mission you give yourself. Your life will be what you create it as, and no one will stand in judgment of it, now or ever. ” The Secret, p. 177

HEBREWS 9: 26 b-28 But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

JOHN 8: 44 -47 Jesus said, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

ARE YOU DECEIVED? There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14: 12

II CORINTHIANS 11: 13 -15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

WHAT IS THE HUMAN “ROOT” OF THE SECRET? In the early pages of The Secret Rhonda Byrne acknowledges several people who were inspirational to her understanding and writing of The Secret.

FOR THEIR INSPIRATIONAL TEACHINGS: “…Jerry and Esther Hicks and the teachings of Abraham, …” The Secret, p. xv

Esther Hicks and Abraham • It appears that Esther Hicks is a medium or transchanneller for an entity (demon) named Abraham. She is the amanuensis (secretary) for Abe. • “According to Hicks, Abraham is an entity, or more accurately, a collection of several nonphysical entities who have been in contact with her for over two decades. ” The Truth Behind the Secret, p. 28

• “Whereas Rhonda Byrne discovered the secret in 2004, Esther and her husband Jerry have been teaching the Law of Attraction for over 20 years. They currently travel the country in a $1. 4 million luxury tour bus conducting Law of Attraction workshops in hotel ballrooms and charge $195 for each ticket. ” TTBTS, p. 28

The secret can be summarized in this simple phrase: “Thoughts become things. ” Whether positive or negative, good or bad, whatever a person thinks about, concentrates on, or visualizes will eventually become reality. The Truth Behind the Secret (TTBTS), p. 16

• “Thoughts become things” is a simple way of describing “The Law of Attraction. ” • If you think bad thoughts, bad things will come. • If you think good thoughts, good things will come. • This is nothing new! Positive Mental Attitude was taught by Andrew Carnegie to Napoleon Hill to Earl Nightingale and Robert Schuller (Possibility Thinking, create your own reality). • The idea is: “Whatever the mind can conceive, man can achieve. ” • [for more info here go to www. bereancall. org]

“Whatever the mind can conceive, man can achieve. ” Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ” John 15: 5 The Holy Bible : King James Version. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc. , 1995, S.

2 Corinthians 3: 5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God. ”

“Esteem Yourself, Take Control of Your Life, Become a God!” • “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. ” Jeremiah 10: 23 • “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. Jeremiah 17: 5

• There is a very important reason why humans are not and cannot be little gods as The Secret teaches. • The Secret teaches a wrong view of man. • Satan wants us to think that we are good and we are gods. If we are gods we are not sinners. If we are not sinners we do not need a Savior. • If we do not realize our sinfulness and need for a Savior we are on the fast track to an eternity separated from the one true God in Hell.

Demonic Literature Teaches: “Every Day in Every Way You are Getting Better and Better!!” Jesus said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; All these evil things come from within and defile the man. Mark 7: 20 -23

• So the Lord Jesus, The Creator (see John 1; Colossians 1; Hebrews 1), disagrees with Rhonda Byrne’s idea that man is good, man is a god. • The Creator says that man is evil from the inside out. Out of the heart proceeds the evil!

But the ancient writing of Ezekiel continues:

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 28: 6 -10

Ezekiel 28: 14 -19 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

• Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. Ezekiel 28: 14 -19

RHONDA BYRNE QUOTES MICHAEL BERNARD BECKWITH: • “And you can break yourself free from your hereditary patterns, cultural codes, social beliefs, and prove once and for all that the power within you is greater than the power within the world. ” The Secret, p. 167

1 JOHN 4: 4 -6 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he (Lord Jesus via His Holy Spirit) that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

When asked if he and his followers are Christian, Beckwith says: No, and yes…. No, if by Christian you mean the acceptance of Jesus as the only savior and Christianity as the only path to God and eternal salvation. Yes, in the sense that New thought. Ancient Wisdom history includes the Gnostic teachings of the earliest Christian mystical sects, as well as the founders of the uniquely American New Thought Movement including Emmanuel Swedenborg, Ernest Holmes, Howard Thurman, and trancendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson….

To learn more about “New Thought, ” “Ancient Wisdom, ” Gnostic thought and “New Age Thinking” please go to www. biblicaldiscipleship. org and read this writer’s Master’s Thesis: A Theological Analysis of the New Age Movement. There is nothing new in the teachings of The Secret.

HOW DOES THE BIBLE DESCRIBE A CHRISTIAN? And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5: 11 -13

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Romans 10: 9 -11

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. Hebrews 9: 22

JOHN 1: 29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

1 PETER 1: 18 -21 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

REVELATION 5: 12 -13 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

ROMANS 5: 7 -10 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

THE SECRET SAYS: • [W]ouldn’t it be a good idea to begin to use the two most powerful words, I AM, to your advantage? How about, “I AM receiving every good thing. I AM happy. I AM abundant. I AM healthy. I AM love. I AM always on time. I AM eternal youth. I AM filled with energy every single day. ” (I AM in capitals in original) Rhonda Byrne, p. 168

• There is only one I AM and He is the God of the Bible! He is the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. • I AM introduces Himself in Genesis 1: 1 in the plural (God is “Elohim”, a Hebrew plural noun) and in the singular (the verb created is a 3 rd person singular verb in the Hebrew text). • “In the beginning God created…. ”

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Exodus 3: 13 -15

I AM is Lord Jesus “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved [delivered]. ” New Testament Romans 10: 13 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered [saved] Old Testament Joel 2: 32. LORD is Jehovah is Yahweh is LORD JESUS. Call on the name of Jesus to be saved! (OT+NT)

HEBREWS I: 8 But unto the Son he saith (The Heavenly Father, God the Father, says to God the Son, Jesus), Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:

MATTHEW 4: 6 -7 And [Lucifer, Satan, the devil] saith unto him [Lord Jesus], If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

• According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Christ is Messiah God, He is Jehovah God. • Lord Jesus is Creator of all. This gives Him and Him alone the right and the authority to be the Savior (Redeemer) of all! • It was the blood of Jesus, the Creator, that was shed for the remission (forgiveness) of the sins of His creation, the race of Adam.

JOHN 10: 33 “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. ” MATTHEW 1: 23 “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. ” The Jews attempted to stone Jesus because He was God in the flesh and they knew it. (see 1 Corinthians 15: 1 -22).

• With all respect to Rhonda Byrne, we are not God, nor are we “gods”, nor are we I AM. • God is God. He is the Great I AM and there is no other.

JEREMIAH 10: 10 -12 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.

REVELATION 22: 3 -5 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

ROMANS 10: 12 -13 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek [gentile]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Jesus Christ of the Bible is Lord!