Nonfactual Mishmash Christian Conspiracy Theories

Isn't it strange how different people of the same faith can pray or practice certain rituals? There are many Christians who are disgusted by the "lukewarm" services that are being held at some of our churches who worship the same God we do. Baptists love to sing and dance and rejoice in the Lord's presence. Some people speak in tongues, while other Christians feel that it's "demonic". In the Bible it lists that some people will have these gifts. So why debate this?

In the Bible, there are quite a few references.

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 - If any man speak in an [unknown] tongue, [let it be] by two, or at the most [by] three, and [that] by course; and let one interpret.

1 Corinthians 14:23 - If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in [those that are] unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?

1 Corinthians 14:2 - For he that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth [him]; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

Mark 16:17 - And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.

Acts 2:4 - And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-47 - And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

This is not a "demonic act" or practice. It's the language between you and the Holy Spirit, where only you two are able to speak and understand, and perhaps, one can interpret if this was being done in a church. But many Christians seem to fear this kind of "magic" and call it "witchcraft" or "paganism". It's not. And I'm not sure why Christians debate this in the first place.

I've always been a believer with great faith. When I first wrote my book, I told the story about the first time I even saw God Himself -- perhaps more or less "felt" His presence, where it threw me down onto my knees crying hysterically. It was the most beautiful feeling I have ever felt in my life. Something happened after that. I changed. In fact, my whole path in life changed.

And as of late, I feel that shift again. I even want to say it was after my surgery last year, back in November when I felt that familiar shift. I had a very serious operation that left me in the hospital for a while. With the complications that were inflicted upon me, I remember being fed into one of those large cat scans while in the hospital for testing. When they gave me the contrast (a substance to view my internal organs better), I started convulsing and my heart spun out of control. They held me onto the small bed that fed me into the machine. I was shaking and I said to the radiologist (who happens to be a family friend), "I'm gonna die, wow...!'  She screamed, "Not on my clock you're not," and hugged me in order to keep me still while a crew shuffled me off into intensive care unit to monitor my heart for the evening. But while I said, "I'm gonna die, wow," -- over to my left, I saw Jesus standing there, almost as if He was waiting for me.  I wasn't on any pain medication or anything. It was Him, and I thought, "Wow, I'm going to die right now..." Call it my brain chemistry going haywire, or call it divine intervention, but something happened that night. Something changed me.  In fact, my mother went through the same thing around my age when she had the same kind of surgery done to her.

It's strange, how things that used to bother me now no longer taunt me like it used to. I keep my mouth shut in most cases, but overall, I usually don't need to because I already understand the situation better. If it was 'me' last year, I would've blew the entire situation out of proportion. I thought too much -- I assumed too much -- and in most cases, all the thoughts and assumptions were way off. I learned many things while convalescing at home. Someone told me, "What other people think of you is none of your business." Meaning, it doesn't matter what somebody thinks of you, or what you "should" be doing or "should not" be doing. The word "should", in fact, is the biggest misconception we can ever believe.

This is my singing bowl outside on my deck at home. 

As I began to delve deeper into my faith and communion with God, I have learned different ways to meditate, which brings me into a closer relationship with Him. Just recently, I bought a Tibetan singing bowl for meditation. I find that the binaural sound of the bowl helps to relieve anxiety attacks and helps with sleep. And if you know me well enough, you know how much trouble I have sleeping. I was having myoclonic seizures at night before I tried to fall asleep due to anxiety. This singing bowl helped reduce them, to almost eliminating them. I pray and seal my meditation time in Jesus' name. I always ask for a hedge of protection. You can never go wrong when you do that.

Last week, my wife came home with a book she had purchased online called, Power Prayers with the subtitle of, Warfare that Works, written by Sheila Zilinksy and Carla Butaud. I have never heard of these two women before in my life. So I opened it up and they have sections like, bedtime prayers, prayers for healing as well as prayers regarding conflicts. As I flipped through the pages and read more of their prayers, some of them felt strange to me. Ones that were called, "Prayer Against the Spirit of the Bride of Satan", "Prayer Against the Curse of the Bastard", "Prayer Concerning Our Air, Water and Food Supply", "Prayer Concerning Weapon Systems" and "Prayer Against the Spirit of Kundalini".

Who?

First of all, my initial impression while reading these titles were more on the lines of suspecting these two authors were one of those conspiracy theory tinfoil hat wearing kinda girls. I mean, they DO have great faith in God, but the overall theme seems to hold a lot of fear and paranoia.

But first, let me address the one thing that baffled me.

Kundalini got me. I didn't know what this spirit was or where it stemmed from. 

Here's what it reads: "Awakening the Kundalini is the expression used by mystics, Hindu gurus, and New Agers for practice of focusing on a "serpent spirit" energy in the form of a coiled snake located at the base of the spine. Through meditation and physical body positioning, the aim is to "raise the Kundalini" through spiritual waypoints ---called Chakras --- located along the spine. The goal is to elevate the Kundalini spirit to the "Crown Chakra", which is located at the top of the head and is the source of originator of presence of the third eye, which the kingdom of darkness depicts in the center of the forehead that opens one to receiving demonic vision, etc. These practices are often linked with yoga, eastern meditation, and mysticism. Yoga positions, chanting, visualization, and self-hypnotic routines can be one way to receive this demonic Kundalini spirit. Also people that are involved in any form of martial arts can receive this spirit as well."

It then lists every single Yoga pose which you have to repent for.

So, since I had a few questions, I emailed Sheila, the author directly. I asked in a very respectful email about what she thought about the singing bowls being used in our churches today, as well as practicing meditation to gain closeness with God.

Sheila Zilinsky

She responded.

"Tibetan practices are dangerous and inviting demons to operate in your life. This is pure idolatry and witchcraft. Do what you want with that info-- but I assure you meditation and bowl practice is PURE eastern mysticism and I have studied this out very intensely. If you're actively engaged in this kind of demonic activity, then I see no room for these prayers to work in your life.
Regards,
Sheila "

I completely understand when somebody has great faith in a particular faith and practice, but to tell me my prayers won't work is like playing God in a way. She also dabbles with really whacked out conspiracy theories, pointing prayers out to chemtrails that are feeding our crops GMOs as well as HAARP dictating our weather system. Whether or not these claims are true or false, this is not listed in the Bible anywhere. Also to note, none of her claims regarding Yoga or even all the demons she has listed in the book are referenced in the Bible. This is all generated due to great fear and paranoia. It's not rooted in faith so much as it is in great fear. And fear is not of God. So I do not believe these two women are speaking from a godly viewpoint, nor understand that we are not of this world. That's what it says in the Bible. We are not to concern ourselves and involve ourselves so intently on political matters. This is all out of control and God has already overcome the world, as it is written.

So my advice would be to pass up this small book of prayers that's listed for $30.00. I'm wondering why my wife got it in the first place. I also want to make a note about Sheila Zilinsky. She was banned from Facebook because she was writing some pretty nasty racist and Islamphobic comments onto her site. She is also an antigay conservative who thinks we're all going to perish in hell.

We decided to write some realistic reviews on Amazon among all of the fake ones. But something hit me late last night. God pointed out that it was useless to do this and that one day, she will come to grips with her faith as well as her paranoia. She has websites and videos out that are so over-the-top with conspiracy theories that it's really difficult to address anything with her. Her Twitter account alone is vile. She attacks people, calls them names and challenges them to debate her. She's a very angry individual. So instead of leaving my 1 star review on her account, I deleted it and just prayed for her.

And that's what we have to do when we come face to face with someone who is of the same faith, but has a whole different view on how we should practice. PRAY on it. Don't lash out, because the other person feels that what they are doing is OK. And in Romans, it clearly states that we should not judge those who think, eat or live differently.

Paul addresses the question directly in the book of Romans: One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. (Romans 14:5-6)

So let people practice how they need to practice. Let them worship God the way they want to worship. If it feels bad for you, then don't do it. But don't shove a bunch of controversial nonfactual mishmash down other people's throats. And of course, it's always our choice to research our authors before buying their books, (which I wish my wife had done). Lesson learned.

For more of Deb's articles, please visit: www.debrapasquella.com or join her on Facebook and Twitter. Check out her cooking blog for some of her famous recipes!