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UPDATE: It is sad to think that a reputable Christian publisher like Thomas Nelson which first published Jesus Calling could be so influenced by ghuge sales that they don't have the integrity to sapologize for what they have foiseted on the publish and on gullile halftaught Christains.
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d to read but I got the impression that maybe the Lord wanted me to read it so that's what I'm doing, listening to it of course. I knew from an encounter with it a few years ago that it's a deception and tried to pass that information on to some women in a Bible study who were reading it, but they weren't receptive o I sdropped out of the bible study an that ended that. I'm not sure how it came up again recently, it just enetrered my mind for some reason and I had this impression that God was asking me to read it.
This is the new version, updated and revised, and I don't know how difernt it mis from the earlier version. It's arranged as a daily devotional going day by day through the year, and the first few entries hit me as so loaded with scripture that I know to be true I wondered why I was being asked to read it if I was. I listened through the middle of February ahnd then started over and then problems started catching my attention. I do believe I should spend some gtime in a blog pot spelling out some of these problems but as usual it's hard work for me just to sit here and try to write something and I'm going to have to do it in installments. So I'll aim to come back to this later.Meanwhile I'd just point people to Warren B. Smith who has a book out exposing Jesus Calling as a New Age channeled work, sort of along the lines of A Course in Miracles, in which he was involved for years before he became a Christian. He is very knowledgeable about how New Age concepts have been working their way into the church over the las few decades and I recommentd getting his book or just finding the talks he has given on the subject that you can find on You Tube.
I'm not knowledgeable about the New Age so the problems I'm seeing are of a different sort, and I hope to get bakc to this soonlj.
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There is to my mind one simple fact that lone proves this bookpromotes a false Jeusus: He spoke to the world only in scripture, the book of revelation being His last communications for the world. For the following two thousand years, not a word from Him, yet now somewhow, nearing the return of Jesus, people in huge bumnbers believe that He suddenly decided to speak to us all again through an unknown woman? There are plenty of other reasons to rjeect this book but it seems to me that this on fact alone should be enough.
Unlike many, I do think Jeusus may communicate with us individually from time to time although I must admit that it is far from easy to know for sure if the communication is coming from him or not so it's always the best policy to hold such experiences loosely . And
THere are reliable communications, however, when they come through scripture in answer to prayer. I've exerienced both tkinds. It is hard not to take them all seriously but I know scripture is to be trusted and the others should be kept in a light grip. I sometimemes feel God is calling me to writing something on my blog for instancesuch as about Jesus Calling. At the moment I'm not seeing much of a good reason o write about it, maybe a short post but not the more thorough study I tought I should do.
I think this now because I just found a solid discussion on You Tube of all the ways this book has been criticized and discussed by many of the best Christian teachers, which is a big releive. It would have to be so but I hadn't run acorross such discussions myself foso for all I knoiew it was being overlooked since I'd only become aware ifof it myself through the bible study that first got me checking it out. If you put "Jesus Calling Updated and expanded crituqe in the search line at you tube you may get the discussion I'm taling about. I can't see well enough to copy out the URL.
Just to mention a few things that began to bother me as I began again to go through the book, I have the impresion that it focuses strangely intensely on trusting in this Jesus. The exhortation to trust him occurrs in just about every daily reading. Also the idea that hi s great reward his his peace, saying even at one point that this is his very costly precious ift to us which he paid for on the cross. Well, if you understand his people to be peace with God through the forgiveness of our sincns I guess you could make a case for gthe peopeace as that important, butg it's a very strange way to put it when Jeuss great gift to us was the forgiveness of our sins themselves and the salvation from eternal punishment to eternal life when we believe and repent.
I also ghve the pipression that the messages are so abstract and general that they are purposely designed to proved a soty of rorschach for the reader to fill them in with his owr her own personal epxerience, and since it seems that many of the readers of this book are not born again Chrsitains and don't know the Bible this is likely to be quite a collection of worlsly dly and flesly preoccupations where the true Jesus would instead be tachijng us to grow in righteousness and spiritual discernment.
When Jesus was aske by His disciples to thell them when He was gonig to return, when the world was going to end. the first thing He said was Take heed that no man deceive you, for many will come in My name and will deceieve many. Well, this Jesus Calling is certainly one of those deceievers comin in His name to deceive and succeeding at it to a very distressing degree. I understand that A Courese in Miracles also promotes a Jesus aos I suppose that one is another coming in His name top deceive. Surely this is all evidence of how close we are to His return
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