More on Ken Blanchards book endorsements from Bud Press
Ken Blanchard Endorses Book 'Inspired' by Hindu Guru
Co-founder of Lead Like Jesus continues down New Age road
by Bud Press, Director
Christian Research Service
www.christianresearchservice.com
November 26, 2007
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I
striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men,
I would not be a bond-servant of Christ --Galatians 1:10
It was July 2005 when Blanchard admitted publicly that "...some of my endorsements and book forewords are for books written by authors who espouse concepts that are contrary to Christian teachings...I understand why these are problematic and I promise that I will exercise better discernment in the future" (complete statement on file).
The following paragraph was included with Blanchard's statement. It led many to believe in the sincerity of both Blanchard and the staff of Lead Like Jesus:
It is neither Ken's nor the staff of Lead Like Jesus desire to do anything that might cause another to stumble or that might hinder the furtherance of the gospel. We appreciate the excitement and enthusiasm with which Lead Like Jesus is being embraced all over the country. As leaders in this field, we take seriously our responsibility to offer the very best that we are and, as such, we pledge anew to honor God in everything we do.
But now, over two years later, Ken Blanchard has not kept his promise. He continues down the broad New Age road. He is hindering the furtherance of the gospel, and is causing the unwary to stumble along the way.
Leading or worshipping?
The overall theme at Lead Like Jesus (and The Ken Blanchard Companies ), is Leadership-Leadership-Leadership. In the Introduction of the book, Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Role Model of All Time, Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges "...want you to come to trust Jesus as your leadership role model" (2005, p. XII). The "Values" that Lead Like Jesus proclaims on its website states,
Glorify God in all we do
Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time
Build relationships based on trust and respect
Biblically-sound content and teaching
Practice wise stewardship of time, talent, treasure, and influence
But how is it possible for Lead Like Jesus to glorify God, build trusted and respected relationships, maintain Biblically-sound principles, and demonstrate true Christian leadership when Ken Blanchard continues his involvement with New Agers, New Age teachings, New Age organizations, and pagan practices that deny Jesus Christ and the authority of His word?
It isn't possible. Just as one cannot serve God and wealth, one cannot serve paganism and God at the same time (Luke 16:13). One cannot have it both ways.
There is no greater example than Jesus Christ. However, there is a big difference between leading like Jesus and worshipping Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is a big difference between talking about Jesus and sharing Him from the heart. There is a big difference between simply quoting verses from the Bible and trusting in God's word as the ultimate and final authority in all matters of the Christian faith.
And, there is a big difference between one who claims to be a Christian and one who has surrendered his or her life to Jesus Christ.
To those who truly love Jesus, nothing within God's vast creation takes authority or precedence over Him. He must increase, but I must decrease, wrote the Apostle John. He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all (John 3:30-31).
Indeed, there is a big difference in "Leading Like Jesus" and loving Him with all of your heart. It is not about "me" or "us" or "him" or "her," it is about the One Who said, You are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me (Isaiah 43:10-11).
Touched by the New Age
Ken Blanchard has established an incredible tract-record of involvement in the New Age Movement. He isn't shy about publicly promoting his participation in New Age practices.
According Darryl Aiken-Afam, "Meridian TouchTM is "the art of letting go" and is "a form of 'Japanese Yoga' that has 'no form'." The exercises, Aiken-Afam, maintains,
...are based on the 5 elements of traditional Japanese medicine; Metal, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wood. Each element has its own exercises designed to stretch the meridians of the body creating and allowing better Ki flow. Meridians are the lines or rivers of energy that run throughout the body. On these Meridians are located the acupuncture/acupressure/shiatsu points used by therapists to treat people for many various reasons. Ki (or Chi in Chinese) energy, is the life-force energy said to flow in everyone and everything in the universe. It is the condition of this Ki that determines one's health, mental well-being, flexibility, emotional make up etc. [ http://www.meridiantouch.com/about.html ]
On the same page, Aiken-Afam also maintains that "The effects of Meridian TouchTM are truly universal as they are based on the philosophy of the universal energy that creates all things, better known as the Tao (Pronounced Dao)."
Among other things, Meridian TouchTM offers Corporate Yoga for businessmen and women during lunch-breaks or after work, along with a "tax write" for businesses ( http://www.meridiantouch.com/corporate.html ).
It is disturbing to note that when Ken Blanchard became a student of Meridian TouchTM he first expressed doubt, then "great enthusiasm" for a New Age practice that taps into the so-called "life-force energy said to flow in everyone and everything in the universe":
When Darryl first demonstrated Meridian TouchTM exercises, I didn't believe they could be effective in relaxing and stretching a stiff body like mine--WRONG! Since then, I've found Meridian Touch to accomplish all of which it claims, and more. Meridian Touch helps relax my body in ways I've never known.
It makes me more flexible, the exercises are comfortable, and mentally, Meridian Touch keeps me centered, focused and primed to meet the day with a better outlook. I love the idea of allowing my body to 'melt' into a position instead of resisting and fighting a stretch. It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Meridian Touch exercises to everyone.
["Student Testimonials," http://www.meridiantouch.com/testimonials.html, emp. theirs]
Equally disturbing is the fact that Ken Blanchard is still a member of the New Age Hoffman Institute
( http://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/ ), and an active member of the Hoffman Advisory Council
( http://tinyurl.com/3683o4 ). And, "The Ken Blanchard Companies," is still listed as one of the Attendees of the Heartland Circle's Thought Leader Gatherings ( http://tinyurl.com/3a25hx ).
A site-search on the Ken Blanchard Companies website resulted in hundreds of references to Thought Leadership, many of which pertain to training and workshops
( http://www.kenblanchard.com/thoughtleadership/ ).
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. As the following will demonstrate, Ken Blanchard's involvement in the New Age is much deeper and more complex than previously reported on Christian Research Service .
Addicted to New Age energy
Jon Gordon is a New Ager, who openly promotes Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, meditation, and more on his website
( http://tinyurl.com/24tx3j ). On page 8 of his article, "The Energy Addict's 7 Day Plan For Raising Healthy & Positive Kids," Gordon even promotes Yoga for children:
Yoga-cise
Children’s yoga is becoming very popular and it is great to teach them at a young age. Many of the yoga postures are named after animals and this makes yoga fun for children. You can either buy a children’s yoga video or look for a children’s yoga class in your city or town
( http://www.jongordon.com/documents/7DayHealthyandPositivekidsplan.pdf, emp. theirs).
Gordon wrote the books Energy Addict: 101 Mental, Physical, & Spiritual Ways to Energize Your Life (September 2004), and The 10-Minute Energy Solution (December 2005), both of which were endorsed by Ken Blanchard (http://www.jongordon.com/books.html ).
And in Blanchard's latest endorsement of a Jon Gordon book, he leads the reader to get onboard "the right bus;" a bus fueled by New Age "positive energy":
If you want to fuel your family, your career, your team, and your organization with spirit, read this book. Jon’s energy and advice will leap off the page and help you cultivate positive energy in everything you do—and you will make the world a better place for your having been here. Thanks, Jon, for pumping us up and making sure we get on the right bus. [The Energy Bus, January 2007, http://www.jongordon.com/theenergybusbook.html ]
In the Expanded 2nd Edition of his book, A Time of Departing, Christian author and apologist Ray Yungen has this to say about one of Jon Gordon's books and his spirituality:
...in early 2006, a book hit the market called, The 10-Minute Energy Solution by Jon Gordon. The book is filled with suggestions on how to improve energy levels through meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, and other such techniques. Throughout the book, Gordon quotes favorably from the Dalai Lama, meditator Daniel Goleman, Thich Nhat Hanh, New Agers Marilyn Ferguson and Wayne Dyer, and from A Course in Miracles. Gordon promotes panentheism (God in all) by saying things such as: "You came from this source [speaking of God] and you are this source." [Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2006, pp. 164-165]
Gordon's panentheism is further illustrated in his August 1, 2005 The Energy Addict newsletter, where he attempts to reduce the Biblical Creator and Sustainer of the universe to a mere "source and force" or "whatever":
The way I see it, God, the universe, intention, or whatever you wish to call the source and force from which everything emanates and gives everything life is really big and has a lot of energy-perhaps an infinite amount of energy. This energy makes the world go around. It moves our legs, lights up the stars and fuels every living creature on earth. With so much energy in the universe I often wonder why as energy beings many of us expect so little of ourselves and the world around us. As an Energy Addict we must tap our share of infinity. There is so much energy in the universe even if we tap a big share, there will still be plenty of energy for everyone else.
New Agers have a difficult time defining just what and who their gods are. Neale Donald Walsch calls it a "Source." Star Wars calls it a "force." And, when in doubt, a teeny-bopperish "whatever" covers all bases. Yet, the God of the Bible is exclusive to all man-made gods, and can be known personally:
Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39).
You are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it? (Isaiah 43:10-13).
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).
How terrible it is for someone to live their entire life believing in a "god" that never existed in the first place.
Disciples of deception
Jim Ballard is the author of the Little Wave and Old Swell: A Fable of Life and Its Passing (2007). The book measures about 5 1/4" x 7 1/4" and resembles a book one would find in the child section of a local library. Each page contains short paragraphs and may be easily read in 10-15 minutes.
From a spiritual standpoint, there is more to the book than meets the eye.
On the front cover, the book is "Inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda," deceased Hindu guru and founder of Self Realization Fellowship (or SRF), and is "Lovingly dedicated to the matchless one whose precepts have given birth to this little story" (p. v).
On the inside front cover, Ballard explains the theme of the book, and includes two questions that the book, according to Ballard, may serve to answer:
Little Wave and Old Swell recounts a journey across the sea made by impetuous Little Wave and his sage teacher, Old Swell. Their allegorical adventure points young and old readers toward the enduring questions: What is the nature of life? What happens when I die? [emp. theirs]
Towards the very end of the book, under a picture of Paramahansa Yogananda, Ballard explains that Yogananda arrived in America in 1920, and that prior to his death in 1952 he became a prolific writer and lecturer, and founded Self-Realization Fellowship, "...an organization dedicated to disseminating his scientific techniques of yoga meditation."
Jim Ballard is a disciple of Yogananda, and is a "featured devotee artist" on the SRF Devotee website, of which "...provides communication and support for devotees and friends of SRF" (http://www.srfdevotee.com/ ).
According to the SRF Devotee website, Ballard's Little Wave and Old Swell is a "spiritual fable" which is "based on Paramahansa Yogananda's frequently-used metaphor of human life as a wave on the Ocean of God." Furthermore,
Among other themes, the story illustrates the guru-disciple relationship; dangers of competition, excitement, and negative friendships; meditation on the Om; the nature of delusion, and dealing with life's ending [Devotee Authors, http://www.srfdevotee.com/business/buswrite.html ].
The SRF Devotee website, which claims no formal affiliation with Self Realization Fellowship, contains a biography on Jim Ballard, which includes "Books Co-Authored/Ghost-written with Ken Blanchard" and leadership "Training Program Design" for Ken Blanchard ( http://www.srfdevotee.com/featured/spotlite.html ):
Leadership Training for Supervisors (LTS) Program for Blanchard Training (awarded ASTD's Best Training Tool of 1995)
Designed following training programs for Blanchard Training, still used worldwide: LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR MANAGERS, MANAGING THE JOURNEY, EVERYONE'S A COACH, CHANGECRAFT, QUALITY SERVICE and HIGH PERFORMING PARENTS [emp. theirs]
According to a brief bio on the Small Business Advocate website, Jim Ballard is,
"...a management consultant, leadership trainer, motivational speaker, and consulting partner with the Ken Blanchard Companies, and author of What’s the Rush? He founded Maudala Press, a direct-mail educational publishing firm, and wrote a series of children’s books and books for teachers on humanistic education. After meeting Ken Blanchard at the University of Massachusetts, he began designing training materials for Blanchard Training and Development. He has helped create a number of widely-used Blanchard Training and Development models including Managing the Journey, Leadership Training for Supervisors, Quality-Driven Leadership, and Everyone’s a Coach." [ http://tinyurl.com/2kgmy8 ]
On his website specifically designed for Little Wave and Old Swell, Ballard's "Story of the Little Wave Book Project" leaves no doubt as to who his devotion is directed:
"In 1979 I was unaccountably led to the feet of the great spiritual master, Paramahansa Yogananda. (The series of miraculous events that move me to facetiously use the word 'unaccountably' are too numerous to include here.) Over the years of studying the Master's prolific teachings...I would again and again encounter his metaphor of human life as a wave on the Ocean of God. As the years went by, the image kept coming up, repeating itself to me in an insistent manner. I began to think about writing a story to illustrate it. [ http://littlewave.org/about.htm ]
Again, Ken Blanchard is the Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies. He, like Jim Ballard, knows who Paramahansa Yogananda is. In the Foreword of Franz Metcalf's 2001 book, What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas, Blanchard states that,
As a follower of Jesus, I believe He is the truth and the way. So I look for my inspiration from Him as documented in the Bible. And yet, in our company we have people of all faiths as well as people who center their faith in the goodness of human beings. The Golden Rule is their mantra. As a result, many of our people would delete my morning messages if they thought I was only coming from a Christian perspective. So I look for inspirational messages from a variety of sources besides Jesus. Our folks get to hear words of wisdom from great prophets and spiritual leaders like Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Mahatma Gandhi, Yogananda, and the Dalai Lama, as well as inspirational lay leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Dag Hammarskjöld...
Through this book, Buddha's insights and words help us create a kinder and gentler workplace. Jesus would approve...and so would Moses, Mohammed, and other great prophets and spiritual leaders. And so do I. This is wisdom for the whole world.
Buddha points to the path and invites us to begin our journey to enlightenment. I point to this little jewel of a book and invite you to begin (or continue) your journey to enlightened work. [ http://tinyurl.com/2mefa6, emp. added]
Blanchard's statements are intertwined with truth and falsehood. People who "center their faith in the goodness of human beings" contradict God's holy word. While sin separates people from a relationship with God, Jesus Christ provides people with eternal life in heaven, but only after they are born
again:
Romans 3:10: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 5:8-9: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Titus 3:5-7: He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
1 Corinthians 15: 1-4: Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...
Luke 5:32: I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
Luke 13:3: I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
John 3:3: Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Buddha (founder of Buddhism), Mohammed (founder of Islam), Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu spiritual leader), Paramahansa Yogananda (Hindu guru yogi), and "His Holiness" Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist monk), were and are responsible for deceiving untold numbers of precious souls for whom Jesus Christ suffered and died for on the cross. Ken Blanchard's reverence for and tribute to these so-called "great prophets and spiritual leaders" downplays Jesus Christ and His authority, and must be rejected.
Again, Jim Ballard's Little Wave and Old Swell is "Inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda" and "Lovingly dedicated to the matchless one whose precepts have given birth to this little story." Remember that in the Foreword of What Would Buddha Do at Work (above), Ken Blanchard included Paramahansa Yogananda's "words of wisdom" along with others he claims as "great prophets and spiritual leaders."
And in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell, Blanchard demonstrates how well he knows Paramahansa Yogananda:
"Over the more than thirty years of our friendship, Jim Ballard and I have been inspired and enriched by sharing insights from our separate spiritual journeys. While I have been drawn to the feet of the Master of Galilee, Jim has followed the meditation path taught by Paramahansa Yogananda, the great Indian teacher. In more than one of the books we have coauthored, Jim has tapped the writings of his guru. Now, in a simple folktale-type allegory, he uses Yogananda's metaphor of human life as a wave that rises and falls on the Ocean of God as a means of addressing the most basic questions all of us ask. [p. viii]
But Blanchard's most disturbing statements in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell opens a floodgate of deception for unwary Christians, and serves to cause further distancing between Yogananda devotees and Jesus Christ:
"Some people might ask why a follower of Jesus is writing the foreword for a book inspired by an Indian guru. The fact is, Yogananda loved Jesus, and Jesus would have loved Yogananda. Every year, the Self-Realization Fellowship headquarters in Los Angeles--as well as all its temples and meditation groups throughout the world--hold a full-day Christmas event. It is a time of reverent reflection, with periodic interruptions to listen to taped messages of Yogananda's love for Jesus and his teachings. The way I see it, love is love. [pp. viii-ix]
And on the homepage of Jim Ballard's website, Blanchard encourages the reader to, "Enjoy this story. Read it many times. Let it speak to your heart and reintroduce you to the wonder that breathes from everything in the world" ( http://www.littlewave.org/index.htm ).
At this point, it is imperative that Christians fully understand the difference between the real Jesus and the counterfeit. The Apostle Paul, under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warned the churches in Galatia and Corinth about the counterfeit Jesus, counterfeit gospel, and counterfeit spirit, all of which are darkened and overshadowed by Satan and his demons, all of which have played a sinister part in leading untold numbers of precious souls into hell.
Study Galatians chapter 1 and 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Study both the Old and New Testaments and become an expert on the real Jesus, and God will bless you with the ability to discern the real Jesus from the counterfeit.
The Apostle Paul knew the real Jesus. While his witness for Jesus was fraught with times of danger, suffering, and imprisonment, he stood courageously for the Lord, and loved God's perfect words over-and-above the imperfect words of man. Indeed, when Paul was weak, he was strong.
The Apostle Peter knew the difference between the real Jesus and the counterfeit, and warned of the false prophets and false teachers who arose among the people and the believers' of his day:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you,who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Cautiously and methodically, false teachers tactfully condition the believer with elaborate, but false words. As the conditioning process takes effect, the mind of the believer becomes clouded and confused, resulting in a shipwrecked faith (1 Timothy 1:18-19) or worst, a total denial of Jesus Christ. The conditioning process is deception within deception, and sets the stage for deeper, darker deception, and it paves the way for the non-Christian to walk headfirst into John 3:18-19:
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves (Matthew 23:15).
The 'Jesus' of Paramahansa Yogananda
Jesus loved Yogananda, but did Yogananda love Jesus and His teachings as Ken Blanchard maintains? The following Yogananda quotes (limited to one), answers the question:
Jesus Christ: "Christ has been much misinterpreted by the world. Even the most elementary principles of his teachings have been desecrated, and their esoteric depths have been forgotten...How to salvage the immortal teachings from the hands of ignorance? We must know Jesus as an Oriental Christ, a supreme yogi who manifested full mastery of the universal science of God-union, and thus could speak and act as a savior with the voice and authority of God. He has been Westernized too much." [ http://tinyurl.com/2mzlhl ]
The return of Jesus Christ: "'In titling this work The Second Coming of Christ, I am not referring to a literal return of Jesus to earth....A thousand Christs sent to earth would not redeem its people unless they themselves become Christlike by purifying and expanding their individual consciousness to receive therein the second coming of the Christ Consciousness, as was manifested in Jesus.... Contact with this Consciousness, experienced in the ever new joy of meditation, will be the real second coming of Christ--and it will take place right in the devotee's own consciousness'" ( http://tinyurl.com/3xetwn, italics in original).
Salvation: "Worshipping Jesus is not truly meaningful until one can expand his consciousness to receive within himself the Christ Consciousness. That is the second coming of Christ. Unless you do your part, a thousand Christs come on earth would not be able to save you. You have to work for your own salvation. Then Christ can help you" (Man's Eternal Quest, 1988, pp. 292-293).
God: "Everything is God. The very room and universe are floating like a motion picture on the screen of my consciousness. When you look back at the booth, you see only the beam of light that is projecting the pictures on the screen. That this creation is naught but a motion picture, created out of God’s light, seems incredible; but it is true" (Ibid., p. 453).
Sin: "He [God] sees your good and evil thoughts and actions but they do not matter to him. You are His child just the same" (Ibid., p. 480).
The Trinity: "When Spirit manifests creation, It becomes the Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Ghost, or Sat, Tat, Aum. The Father (Sat) is God as the Creator existing beyond creation. The Son (Tat) is God’s omnipresent intelligence existing in creation. The Holy Ghost (Aum) is the vibratory power of God that objectifies or becomes creation" (Ibid., p. 482, emp. theirs).
Death and hell: in this description of the book, One Life Versus Reincarnation, Paramahansa Yogananda "explains that each soul is given innumerable opportunities for salvation in the grand progression of spiritual evolution through many lives: Eternal hades is impossible!" he assures us. Nevertheless, he counsels, it is in our highest interest to make the effort in this present incarnation to attune our free will and actions with the eternal laws of divine happiness. Why wait, when the infinite joy and fulfillment of God-consciousness can be ours in this lifetime?" ( http://tinyurl.com/2upua4 ).
Holy Spirit: "In deepest meditation, as practiced by those who are advanced in the technique of Kriya Yoga, the devotee experiences not only expansion in the Aum vibration 'Voice from Heaven,' but finds himself able also to follow the microcosmic light of Spirit in the 'straight way' of the spine into the light of the spiritual eye 'dove descending from heaven" ( http://tinyurl.com/2sap9r ).
If Yogananda truly loved Jesus, why did he mislead (and continue to mislead through his writings), untold numbers of people? If Yogananda truly loved Jesus, why didn't he accept the fact he was a sinner, repent, renounce his pagan practices, and become a born again Christian?
Yogananda twisted and distorted God's holy word--to his own destruction. His "Jesus" had not the ability or power to save and redeem mankind from eternal damnation and separation from God.
Now, who should be believed? Yogananda and Ken Blanchard, or the real Jesus and the Bible?
When words return to haunt
Whether spoken or written, words are important. Unless care is taken, words will return to haunt the author or speaker. From their 2005 book, Lead Like Jesus, here are words that have returned to haunt Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges:
Page 82: "If you are to lead like Jesus, you must worship God only, depend on God completely, exalt God as your only audience, authority, and judge, and be aware that God is watching you."
Page 107: "The leader's personal purpose must guide and align the efforts of those who are to follow, or their whole relationship is built on a false foundation. Hidden motives and hidden agendas will sabotage trust--the key ingredient in any leader-follower relationship."
Page 181: "We all need trusted truth-tellers, preferably those not directly impacted by what we do, who can help us keep on course. If you can't name any active truth-tellers in your life, or if you have avoided or undervalued the ones you have, it's time to make a change."
Page 209: "One of the problems we see in the lives of leaders today is that they love to tell everyone else how they should serve and act, yet when it comes to their lives, they do not practice what they are preaching. Or as we like to say, they 'stumble the mumble.' Too often there is a real disconnect between what the leader says and what the leader does.
"We believe that the next great movement in Christianity will be demonstration. If we want people to be interested in our faith in the future, we as Christians must practice what we preach. In other words, people need to not only hear Christian leaders talking about the message of Christ, but they need to see us living out this message in the way we lead and serve others."
Page 225: "When You Need to Take Accountability for a Mistake and Repent If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:9 NKJV)." [emp. in original]
Ken Blanchard: New Ager
Do the teachings of Jesus Christ make room for warm and fuzzy "inspirational messages" from pagans, false prophets, false teachers, and demonically inspired doctrines? NO! The teachings of Buddha, Mohammed, Dali Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, and Paramahansa Yogananda deny the Christian God and the truth of His word.
In Matthew 7:15-21, Jesus warns the believer to Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
One cannot be a practicing Christian and practicing New Ager at the same time. One cannot fellowship with Jesus Christ and fellowship with occultic, New Age paganism at the same time. One cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:21).
Ken Blanchard is a false brethren (Galatians 2:4-5), and a wolf in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:28-29). While he honors Jesus Christ with his lips, at the same time he honors New Age organizations, New Age authors and books, New Age practices, and the pagan gods and demonic doctrines the New Age promotes (Matthew 15:7-9).
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
Christians need to take a serious look at Ken Blanchard's spirituality. On the outside, Blanchard professes a belief in Jesus Christ. But on the inside, he is a New Ager, and his New Age-ism has the capability of reaching tens of thousands, if not millions, worldwide.
The real Jesus Christ of the Bible is God Himself in human form, second Person of the Trinity. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, was buried, arose bodily from the grave, ascended into heaven, and will return. This is not a simple game where people win or lose and live to play again. Pointing people to those who spew doctrines of demons and cause people to stumble and endanger their spiritual welfare is beyond words; it is sin. This is serious business, and Jesus takes it seriously:
Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:7)
And watchmen on the walls need to cowboy-up and expose those who claim to be Christian, but who are, in reality, New Age wolves clothed as Christians.
Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life (Ezekiel 33:7-9).
Special thanks to Steve Muse, Mike Oppenheimer, Chris Lawson, and Deborah Dombrowski for their valuable assistance in the writing of this article.
Related articles and recommended reading:
-- Letter to Ken Blanchard: With Love and Concern
-- Ken Blanchard returns to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church
-- http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/researchtopics.htm#B
-- http://www.christianresearchservice.com/LeadingLikeJesus.htm
A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen
Faith Undone by Roger Oakland
Yoga and The Body of Christ by Dave Hunt
Co-founder of Lead Like Jesus continues down New Age road
by Bud Press, Director
Christian Research Service
www.christianresearchservice.com
November 26, 2007
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I
striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men,
I would not be a bond-servant of Christ --Galatians 1:10
It was July 2005 when Blanchard admitted publicly that "...some of my endorsements and book forewords are for books written by authors who espouse concepts that are contrary to Christian teachings...I understand why these are problematic and I promise that I will exercise better discernment in the future" (complete statement on file).
The following paragraph was included with Blanchard's statement. It led many to believe in the sincerity of both Blanchard and the staff of Lead Like Jesus:
It is neither Ken's nor the staff of Lead Like Jesus desire to do anything that might cause another to stumble or that might hinder the furtherance of the gospel. We appreciate the excitement and enthusiasm with which Lead Like Jesus is being embraced all over the country. As leaders in this field, we take seriously our responsibility to offer the very best that we are and, as such, we pledge anew to honor God in everything we do.
But now, over two years later, Ken Blanchard has not kept his promise. He continues down the broad New Age road. He is hindering the furtherance of the gospel, and is causing the unwary to stumble along the way.
Leading or worshipping?
The overall theme at Lead Like Jesus (and The Ken Blanchard Companies ), is Leadership-Leadership-Leadership. In the Introduction of the book, Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Role Model of All Time, Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges "...want you to come to trust Jesus as your leadership role model" (2005, p. XII). The "Values" that Lead Like Jesus proclaims on its website states,
Glorify God in all we do
Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time
Build relationships based on trust and respect
Biblically-sound content and teaching
Practice wise stewardship of time, talent, treasure, and influence
But how is it possible for Lead Like Jesus to glorify God, build trusted and respected relationships, maintain Biblically-sound principles, and demonstrate true Christian leadership when Ken Blanchard continues his involvement with New Agers, New Age teachings, New Age organizations, and pagan practices that deny Jesus Christ and the authority of His word?
It isn't possible. Just as one cannot serve God and wealth, one cannot serve paganism and God at the same time (Luke 16:13). One cannot have it both ways.
There is no greater example than Jesus Christ. However, there is a big difference between leading like Jesus and worshipping Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is a big difference between talking about Jesus and sharing Him from the heart. There is a big difference between simply quoting verses from the Bible and trusting in God's word as the ultimate and final authority in all matters of the Christian faith.
And, there is a big difference between one who claims to be a Christian and one who has surrendered his or her life to Jesus Christ.
To those who truly love Jesus, nothing within God's vast creation takes authority or precedence over Him. He must increase, but I must decrease, wrote the Apostle John. He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all (John 3:30-31).
Indeed, there is a big difference in "Leading Like Jesus" and loving Him with all of your heart. It is not about "me" or "us" or "him" or "her," it is about the One Who said, You are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me (Isaiah 43:10-11).
Touched by the New Age
Ken Blanchard has established an incredible tract-record of involvement in the New Age Movement. He isn't shy about publicly promoting his participation in New Age practices.
According Darryl Aiken-Afam, "Meridian TouchTM is "the art of letting go" and is "a form of 'Japanese Yoga' that has 'no form'." The exercises, Aiken-Afam, maintains,
...are based on the 5 elements of traditional Japanese medicine; Metal, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wood. Each element has its own exercises designed to stretch the meridians of the body creating and allowing better Ki flow. Meridians are the lines or rivers of energy that run throughout the body. On these Meridians are located the acupuncture/acupressure/shiatsu points used by therapists to treat people for many various reasons. Ki (or Chi in Chinese) energy, is the life-force energy said to flow in everyone and everything in the universe. It is the condition of this Ki that determines one's health, mental well-being, flexibility, emotional make up etc. [ http://www.meridiantouch.com/about.html ]
On the same page, Aiken-Afam also maintains that "The effects of Meridian TouchTM are truly universal as they are based on the philosophy of the universal energy that creates all things, better known as the Tao (Pronounced Dao)."
Among other things, Meridian TouchTM offers Corporate Yoga for businessmen and women during lunch-breaks or after work, along with a "tax write" for businesses ( http://www.meridiantouch.com/corporate.html ).
It is disturbing to note that when Ken Blanchard became a student of Meridian TouchTM he first expressed doubt, then "great enthusiasm" for a New Age practice that taps into the so-called "life-force energy said to flow in everyone and everything in the universe":
When Darryl first demonstrated Meridian TouchTM exercises, I didn't believe they could be effective in relaxing and stretching a stiff body like mine--WRONG! Since then, I've found Meridian Touch to accomplish all of which it claims, and more. Meridian Touch helps relax my body in ways I've never known.
It makes me more flexible, the exercises are comfortable, and mentally, Meridian Touch keeps me centered, focused and primed to meet the day with a better outlook. I love the idea of allowing my body to 'melt' into a position instead of resisting and fighting a stretch. It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Meridian Touch exercises to everyone.
["Student Testimonials," http://www.meridiantouch.com/testimonials.html, emp. theirs]
Equally disturbing is the fact that Ken Blanchard is still a member of the New Age Hoffman Institute
( http://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/ ), and an active member of the Hoffman Advisory Council
( http://tinyurl.com/3683o4 ). And, "The Ken Blanchard Companies," is still listed as one of the Attendees of the Heartland Circle's Thought Leader Gatherings ( http://tinyurl.com/3a25hx ).
A site-search on the Ken Blanchard Companies website resulted in hundreds of references to Thought Leadership, many of which pertain to training and workshops
( http://www.kenblanchard.com/thoughtleadership/ ).
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. As the following will demonstrate, Ken Blanchard's involvement in the New Age is much deeper and more complex than previously reported on Christian Research Service .
Addicted to New Age energy
Jon Gordon is a New Ager, who openly promotes Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, meditation, and more on his website
( http://tinyurl.com/24tx3j ). On page 8 of his article, "The Energy Addict's 7 Day Plan For Raising Healthy & Positive Kids," Gordon even promotes Yoga for children:
Yoga-cise
Children’s yoga is becoming very popular and it is great to teach them at a young age. Many of the yoga postures are named after animals and this makes yoga fun for children. You can either buy a children’s yoga video or look for a children’s yoga class in your city or town
( http://www.jongordon.com/documents/7DayHealthyandPositivekidsplan.pdf, emp. theirs).
Gordon wrote the books Energy Addict: 101 Mental, Physical, & Spiritual Ways to Energize Your Life (September 2004), and The 10-Minute Energy Solution (December 2005), both of which were endorsed by Ken Blanchard (http://www.jongordon.com/books.html ).
And in Blanchard's latest endorsement of a Jon Gordon book, he leads the reader to get onboard "the right bus;" a bus fueled by New Age "positive energy":
If you want to fuel your family, your career, your team, and your organization with spirit, read this book. Jon’s energy and advice will leap off the page and help you cultivate positive energy in everything you do—and you will make the world a better place for your having been here. Thanks, Jon, for pumping us up and making sure we get on the right bus. [The Energy Bus, January 2007, http://www.jongordon.com/theenergybusbook.html ]
In the Expanded 2nd Edition of his book, A Time of Departing, Christian author and apologist Ray Yungen has this to say about one of Jon Gordon's books and his spirituality:
...in early 2006, a book hit the market called, The 10-Minute Energy Solution by Jon Gordon. The book is filled with suggestions on how to improve energy levels through meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, and other such techniques. Throughout the book, Gordon quotes favorably from the Dalai Lama, meditator Daniel Goleman, Thich Nhat Hanh, New Agers Marilyn Ferguson and Wayne Dyer, and from A Course in Miracles. Gordon promotes panentheism (God in all) by saying things such as: "You came from this source [speaking of God] and you are this source." [Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2006, pp. 164-165]
Gordon's panentheism is further illustrated in his August 1, 2005 The Energy Addict newsletter, where he attempts to reduce the Biblical Creator and Sustainer of the universe to a mere "source and force" or "whatever":
The way I see it, God, the universe, intention, or whatever you wish to call the source and force from which everything emanates and gives everything life is really big and has a lot of energy-perhaps an infinite amount of energy. This energy makes the world go around. It moves our legs, lights up the stars and fuels every living creature on earth. With so much energy in the universe I often wonder why as energy beings many of us expect so little of ourselves and the world around us. As an Energy Addict we must tap our share of infinity. There is so much energy in the universe even if we tap a big share, there will still be plenty of energy for everyone else.
New Agers have a difficult time defining just what and who their gods are. Neale Donald Walsch calls it a "Source." Star Wars calls it a "force." And, when in doubt, a teeny-bopperish "whatever" covers all bases. Yet, the God of the Bible is exclusive to all man-made gods, and can be known personally:
Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39).
You are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it? (Isaiah 43:10-13).
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).
How terrible it is for someone to live their entire life believing in a "god" that never existed in the first place.
Disciples of deception
Jim Ballard is the author of the Little Wave and Old Swell: A Fable of Life and Its Passing (2007). The book measures about 5 1/4" x 7 1/4" and resembles a book one would find in the child section of a local library. Each page contains short paragraphs and may be easily read in 10-15 minutes.
From a spiritual standpoint, there is more to the book than meets the eye.
On the front cover, the book is "Inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda," deceased Hindu guru and founder of Self Realization Fellowship (or SRF), and is "Lovingly dedicated to the matchless one whose precepts have given birth to this little story" (p. v).
On the inside front cover, Ballard explains the theme of the book, and includes two questions that the book, according to Ballard, may serve to answer:
Little Wave and Old Swell recounts a journey across the sea made by impetuous Little Wave and his sage teacher, Old Swell. Their allegorical adventure points young and old readers toward the enduring questions: What is the nature of life? What happens when I die? [emp. theirs]
Towards the very end of the book, under a picture of Paramahansa Yogananda, Ballard explains that Yogananda arrived in America in 1920, and that prior to his death in 1952 he became a prolific writer and lecturer, and founded Self-Realization Fellowship, "...an organization dedicated to disseminating his scientific techniques of yoga meditation."
Jim Ballard is a disciple of Yogananda, and is a "featured devotee artist" on the SRF Devotee website, of which "...provides communication and support for devotees and friends of SRF" (http://www.srfdevotee.com/ ).
According to the SRF Devotee website, Ballard's Little Wave and Old Swell is a "spiritual fable" which is "based on Paramahansa Yogananda's frequently-used metaphor of human life as a wave on the Ocean of God." Furthermore,
Among other themes, the story illustrates the guru-disciple relationship; dangers of competition, excitement, and negative friendships; meditation on the Om; the nature of delusion, and dealing with life's ending [Devotee Authors, http://www.srfdevotee.com/business/buswrite.html ].
The SRF Devotee website, which claims no formal affiliation with Self Realization Fellowship, contains a biography on Jim Ballard, which includes "Books Co-Authored/Ghost-written with Ken Blanchard" and leadership "Training Program Design" for Ken Blanchard ( http://www.srfdevotee.com/featured/spotlite.html ):
Leadership Training for Supervisors (LTS) Program for Blanchard Training (awarded ASTD's Best Training Tool of 1995)
Designed following training programs for Blanchard Training, still used worldwide: LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR MANAGERS, MANAGING THE JOURNEY, EVERYONE'S A COACH, CHANGECRAFT, QUALITY SERVICE and HIGH PERFORMING PARENTS [emp. theirs]
According to a brief bio on the Small Business Advocate website, Jim Ballard is,
"...a management consultant, leadership trainer, motivational speaker, and consulting partner with the Ken Blanchard Companies, and author of What’s the Rush? He founded Maudala Press, a direct-mail educational publishing firm, and wrote a series of children’s books and books for teachers on humanistic education. After meeting Ken Blanchard at the University of Massachusetts, he began designing training materials for Blanchard Training and Development. He has helped create a number of widely-used Blanchard Training and Development models including Managing the Journey, Leadership Training for Supervisors, Quality-Driven Leadership, and Everyone’s a Coach." [ http://tinyurl.com/2kgmy8 ]
On his website specifically designed for Little Wave and Old Swell, Ballard's "Story of the Little Wave Book Project" leaves no doubt as to who his devotion is directed:
"In 1979 I was unaccountably led to the feet of the great spiritual master, Paramahansa Yogananda. (The series of miraculous events that move me to facetiously use the word 'unaccountably' are too numerous to include here.) Over the years of studying the Master's prolific teachings...I would again and again encounter his metaphor of human life as a wave on the Ocean of God. As the years went by, the image kept coming up, repeating itself to me in an insistent manner. I began to think about writing a story to illustrate it. [ http://littlewave.org/about.htm ]
Again, Ken Blanchard is the Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies. He, like Jim Ballard, knows who Paramahansa Yogananda is. In the Foreword of Franz Metcalf's 2001 book, What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas, Blanchard states that,
As a follower of Jesus, I believe He is the truth and the way. So I look for my inspiration from Him as documented in the Bible. And yet, in our company we have people of all faiths as well as people who center their faith in the goodness of human beings. The Golden Rule is their mantra. As a result, many of our people would delete my morning messages if they thought I was only coming from a Christian perspective. So I look for inspirational messages from a variety of sources besides Jesus. Our folks get to hear words of wisdom from great prophets and spiritual leaders like Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Mahatma Gandhi, Yogananda, and the Dalai Lama, as well as inspirational lay leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Dag Hammarskjöld...
Through this book, Buddha's insights and words help us create a kinder and gentler workplace. Jesus would approve...and so would Moses, Mohammed, and other great prophets and spiritual leaders. And so do I. This is wisdom for the whole world.
Buddha points to the path and invites us to begin our journey to enlightenment. I point to this little jewel of a book and invite you to begin (or continue) your journey to enlightened work. [ http://tinyurl.com/2mefa6, emp. added]
Blanchard's statements are intertwined with truth and falsehood. People who "center their faith in the goodness of human beings" contradict God's holy word. While sin separates people from a relationship with God, Jesus Christ provides people with eternal life in heaven, but only after they are born
again:
Romans 3:10: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.
Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 5:8-9: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Titus 3:5-7: He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
1 Corinthians 15: 1-4: Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...
Luke 5:32: I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
Luke 13:3: I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
John 3:3: Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Buddha (founder of Buddhism), Mohammed (founder of Islam), Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu spiritual leader), Paramahansa Yogananda (Hindu guru yogi), and "His Holiness" Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist monk), were and are responsible for deceiving untold numbers of precious souls for whom Jesus Christ suffered and died for on the cross. Ken Blanchard's reverence for and tribute to these so-called "great prophets and spiritual leaders" downplays Jesus Christ and His authority, and must be rejected.
Again, Jim Ballard's Little Wave and Old Swell is "Inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda" and "Lovingly dedicated to the matchless one whose precepts have given birth to this little story." Remember that in the Foreword of What Would Buddha Do at Work (above), Ken Blanchard included Paramahansa Yogananda's "words of wisdom" along with others he claims as "great prophets and spiritual leaders."
And in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell, Blanchard demonstrates how well he knows Paramahansa Yogananda:
"Over the more than thirty years of our friendship, Jim Ballard and I have been inspired and enriched by sharing insights from our separate spiritual journeys. While I have been drawn to the feet of the Master of Galilee, Jim has followed the meditation path taught by Paramahansa Yogananda, the great Indian teacher. In more than one of the books we have coauthored, Jim has tapped the writings of his guru. Now, in a simple folktale-type allegory, he uses Yogananda's metaphor of human life as a wave that rises and falls on the Ocean of God as a means of addressing the most basic questions all of us ask. [p. viii]
But Blanchard's most disturbing statements in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell opens a floodgate of deception for unwary Christians, and serves to cause further distancing between Yogananda devotees and Jesus Christ:
"Some people might ask why a follower of Jesus is writing the foreword for a book inspired by an Indian guru. The fact is, Yogananda loved Jesus, and Jesus would have loved Yogananda. Every year, the Self-Realization Fellowship headquarters in Los Angeles--as well as all its temples and meditation groups throughout the world--hold a full-day Christmas event. It is a time of reverent reflection, with periodic interruptions to listen to taped messages of Yogananda's love for Jesus and his teachings. The way I see it, love is love. [pp. viii-ix]
And on the homepage of Jim Ballard's website, Blanchard encourages the reader to, "Enjoy this story. Read it many times. Let it speak to your heart and reintroduce you to the wonder that breathes from everything in the world" ( http://www.littlewave.org/index.htm ).
At this point, it is imperative that Christians fully understand the difference between the real Jesus and the counterfeit. The Apostle Paul, under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warned the churches in Galatia and Corinth about the counterfeit Jesus, counterfeit gospel, and counterfeit spirit, all of which are darkened and overshadowed by Satan and his demons, all of which have played a sinister part in leading untold numbers of precious souls into hell.
Study Galatians chapter 1 and 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Study both the Old and New Testaments and become an expert on the real Jesus, and God will bless you with the ability to discern the real Jesus from the counterfeit.
The Apostle Paul knew the real Jesus. While his witness for Jesus was fraught with times of danger, suffering, and imprisonment, he stood courageously for the Lord, and loved God's perfect words over-and-above the imperfect words of man. Indeed, when Paul was weak, he was strong.
The Apostle Peter knew the difference between the real Jesus and the counterfeit, and warned of the false prophets and false teachers who arose among the people and the believers' of his day:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you,who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep (2 Peter 2:1-3).
Cautiously and methodically, false teachers tactfully condition the believer with elaborate, but false words. As the conditioning process takes effect, the mind of the believer becomes clouded and confused, resulting in a shipwrecked faith (1 Timothy 1:18-19) or worst, a total denial of Jesus Christ. The conditioning process is deception within deception, and sets the stage for deeper, darker deception, and it paves the way for the non-Christian to walk headfirst into John 3:18-19:
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves (Matthew 23:15).
The 'Jesus' of Paramahansa Yogananda
Jesus loved Yogananda, but did Yogananda love Jesus and His teachings as Ken Blanchard maintains? The following Yogananda quotes (limited to one), answers the question:
Jesus Christ: "Christ has been much misinterpreted by the world. Even the most elementary principles of his teachings have been desecrated, and their esoteric depths have been forgotten...How to salvage the immortal teachings from the hands of ignorance? We must know Jesus as an Oriental Christ, a supreme yogi who manifested full mastery of the universal science of God-union, and thus could speak and act as a savior with the voice and authority of God. He has been Westernized too much." [ http://tinyurl.com/2mzlhl ]
The return of Jesus Christ: "'In titling this work The Second Coming of Christ, I am not referring to a literal return of Jesus to earth....A thousand Christs sent to earth would not redeem its people unless they themselves become Christlike by purifying and expanding their individual consciousness to receive therein the second coming of the Christ Consciousness, as was manifested in Jesus.... Contact with this Consciousness, experienced in the ever new joy of meditation, will be the real second coming of Christ--and it will take place right in the devotee's own consciousness'" ( http://tinyurl.com/3xetwn, italics in original).
Salvation: "Worshipping Jesus is not truly meaningful until one can expand his consciousness to receive within himself the Christ Consciousness. That is the second coming of Christ. Unless you do your part, a thousand Christs come on earth would not be able to save you. You have to work for your own salvation. Then Christ can help you" (Man's Eternal Quest, 1988, pp. 292-293).
God: "Everything is God. The very room and universe are floating like a motion picture on the screen of my consciousness. When you look back at the booth, you see only the beam of light that is projecting the pictures on the screen. That this creation is naught but a motion picture, created out of God’s light, seems incredible; but it is true" (Ibid., p. 453).
Sin: "He [God] sees your good and evil thoughts and actions but they do not matter to him. You are His child just the same" (Ibid., p. 480).
The Trinity: "When Spirit manifests creation, It becomes the Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Ghost, or Sat, Tat, Aum. The Father (Sat) is God as the Creator existing beyond creation. The Son (Tat) is God’s omnipresent intelligence existing in creation. The Holy Ghost (Aum) is the vibratory power of God that objectifies or becomes creation" (Ibid., p. 482, emp. theirs).
Death and hell: in this description of the book, One Life Versus Reincarnation, Paramahansa Yogananda "explains that each soul is given innumerable opportunities for salvation in the grand progression of spiritual evolution through many lives: Eternal hades is impossible!" he assures us. Nevertheless, he counsels, it is in our highest interest to make the effort in this present incarnation to attune our free will and actions with the eternal laws of divine happiness. Why wait, when the infinite joy and fulfillment of God-consciousness can be ours in this lifetime?" ( http://tinyurl.com/2upua4 ).
Holy Spirit: "In deepest meditation, as practiced by those who are advanced in the technique of Kriya Yoga, the devotee experiences not only expansion in the Aum vibration 'Voice from Heaven,' but finds himself able also to follow the microcosmic light of Spirit in the 'straight way' of the spine into the light of the spiritual eye 'dove descending from heaven" ( http://tinyurl.com/2sap9r ).
If Yogananda truly loved Jesus, why did he mislead (and continue to mislead through his writings), untold numbers of people? If Yogananda truly loved Jesus, why didn't he accept the fact he was a sinner, repent, renounce his pagan practices, and become a born again Christian?
Yogananda twisted and distorted God's holy word--to his own destruction. His "Jesus" had not the ability or power to save and redeem mankind from eternal damnation and separation from God.
Now, who should be believed? Yogananda and Ken Blanchard, or the real Jesus and the Bible?
When words return to haunt
Whether spoken or written, words are important. Unless care is taken, words will return to haunt the author or speaker. From their 2005 book, Lead Like Jesus, here are words that have returned to haunt Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges:
Page 82: "If you are to lead like Jesus, you must worship God only, depend on God completely, exalt God as your only audience, authority, and judge, and be aware that God is watching you."
Page 107: "The leader's personal purpose must guide and align the efforts of those who are to follow, or their whole relationship is built on a false foundation. Hidden motives and hidden agendas will sabotage trust--the key ingredient in any leader-follower relationship."
Page 181: "We all need trusted truth-tellers, preferably those not directly impacted by what we do, who can help us keep on course. If you can't name any active truth-tellers in your life, or if you have avoided or undervalued the ones you have, it's time to make a change."
Page 209: "One of the problems we see in the lives of leaders today is that they love to tell everyone else how they should serve and act, yet when it comes to their lives, they do not practice what they are preaching. Or as we like to say, they 'stumble the mumble.' Too often there is a real disconnect between what the leader says and what the leader does.
"We believe that the next great movement in Christianity will be demonstration. If we want people to be interested in our faith in the future, we as Christians must practice what we preach. In other words, people need to not only hear Christian leaders talking about the message of Christ, but they need to see us living out this message in the way we lead and serve others."
Page 225: "When You Need to Take Accountability for a Mistake and Repent If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:9 NKJV)." [emp. in original]
Ken Blanchard: New Ager
Do the teachings of Jesus Christ make room for warm and fuzzy "inspirational messages" from pagans, false prophets, false teachers, and demonically inspired doctrines? NO! The teachings of Buddha, Mohammed, Dali Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, and Paramahansa Yogananda deny the Christian God and the truth of His word.
In Matthew 7:15-21, Jesus warns the believer to Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
One cannot be a practicing Christian and practicing New Ager at the same time. One cannot fellowship with Jesus Christ and fellowship with occultic, New Age paganism at the same time. One cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:21).
Ken Blanchard is a false brethren (Galatians 2:4-5), and a wolf in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:28-29). While he honors Jesus Christ with his lips, at the same time he honors New Age organizations, New Age authors and books, New Age practices, and the pagan gods and demonic doctrines the New Age promotes (Matthew 15:7-9).
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
Christians need to take a serious look at Ken Blanchard's spirituality. On the outside, Blanchard professes a belief in Jesus Christ. But on the inside, he is a New Ager, and his New Age-ism has the capability of reaching tens of thousands, if not millions, worldwide.
The real Jesus Christ of the Bible is God Himself in human form, second Person of the Trinity. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, was buried, arose bodily from the grave, ascended into heaven, and will return. This is not a simple game where people win or lose and live to play again. Pointing people to those who spew doctrines of demons and cause people to stumble and endanger their spiritual welfare is beyond words; it is sin. This is serious business, and Jesus takes it seriously:
Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:7)
And watchmen on the walls need to cowboy-up and expose those who claim to be Christian, but who are, in reality, New Age wolves clothed as Christians.
Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life (Ezekiel 33:7-9).
Special thanks to Steve Muse, Mike Oppenheimer, Chris Lawson, and Deborah Dombrowski for their valuable assistance in the writing of this article.
Related articles and recommended reading:
-- Letter to Ken Blanchard: With Love and Concern
-- Ken Blanchard returns to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church
-- http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/researchtopics.htm#B
-- http://www.christianresearchservice.com/LeadingLikeJesus.htm
A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen
Faith Undone by Roger Oakland
Yoga and The Body of Christ by Dave Hunt
posted by Tim Wirth | 12:04 PM
2 Comments:
Someone should tell Blanchard that the REVEREND Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor, not a "lay leader". What a moronic statement (the whole rationalization by him; not just that one erroneous comment.)
Speaking of dangerous deceptions, there is none as brutally deceptive than the current assault going on against the one man/ one woman marriage issue.
Please see the video at the link. I guarantee that it will open your eyes!
I would like to invite readers at this blog to please watch the message at the following link. I also hope that you will be motivated to share your comments!
Marriage: The Image of God
Go to the site and click on the arrow on the right of that particular message.
When you view this video, you will see what the illicit sexual battles being faced by the church today are really all about. The fact is, it is not really only a physical battle, but more importantly, an ultimate type of spiritual battle that is transpiring.
Sincerely,
Christine W.
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