St. Nick or Santa? Harmless Tale or Witchcraft in Disguise?

St. Nick or Santa? 
Jolly Man with a Harmless Tale or Witchcraft in Disguise?

This is really for hard core Christians... to delve deep into the things of God. I realize the new believer, those weak in their faith, or those who don't quite get "God" yet, may not understand the damage being done in the name of Jolly Old Saint Nick... But I hope I present a case that anyone can grasp regardless of spiritual maturity or belief... And belief is where we shall start!!

Question: Would you ask your child to believe in Buddah or Allah or Reincarnation if you thought it would bring your children joy and happiness?

What if you thought a belief in these gods would bring happiness and joy until they were "old enough to know better?"
It might not be harmful, right? YOU know that they aren't real, but what's the harm in your child believing in false gods and religions if it brings happiness and giving, right?
WRONG... and you know it... I don't know of any Christian parent who would ever tell their child to believe and pray to Allah or Buddah or that they came back again in another life. This would be witchcraft, practicing medicine, MAGIC...

You wouldn't take your child to a Hindu temple and have them pray to the god Shiva... you might take them and tell them other people believe in other

gods but you would be sure to tell them those gods are false gods and Jehovah/Jesus is real.

What's UP with Santa? 
-How does he fit down a chimney if he's so big?
-What about chimney fires?
-What if you don't have a chimney?
-How does he get around the world in one night?
-Are the kids kids from rich families in America really better than the kids in third world countries or poor children? uh..yeah... about that one...

Kids are smart... and like the girl in the video at the top of this blog, she was able to pick out the lies as a kid when her peers were not...

Isn't a White Lie OKAY? 
Well, I think you're going to have to go to God on that one. But the basic answer is: there is no "white lie"... We teach children "oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive"... In order to convince kids there is a Santa.. you've got to establish a plethora of lies; just break down that barrier and say "yup, gonna lie, gonna lie to protect each previous lie and I'm going to lie for years..." Ouch!!

Now, I know some Christian parents RELUCTANTLY  don't tell their kids about Santa because they don't want to lie to their kids but it's a struggle.. I want to help you with the struggle... There's more to Santa than lying...

SANTA IS MAGIC!!! 

To explain to children a man who lives in the North Pole with lots of elves... who as the song goes:

"he sees you when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.." 

We have to make up more lies...stories... and show how Santa does things: Magic... magic dust, magic reindeer, magic keys to get into houses (by the way, those poor kids around the world... what lie is there to explain why they don't get ninja turtles or the latest xbox? 

"FAITH comes by HEARING and HEARING by the WORD OF GOD..." Romans 10:17

Every child is born with the seed of the knowledge of God on their hearts and it takes a lie, from the pit of hell, to undo that knowledge... and yet that knowledge needs to be cultivated!!

Deuteronomy 6:6-9Amplified Bible (AMP)

6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be [written] on your heart and mind. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your [a]children [impressing God’s precepts on their minds and penetrating their hearts with His truths] and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 8 And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand (forearm), and they shall be used as [b]bands (frontals, frontlets) on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the [c]doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Proverbs 22:6

6 
Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents],
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Children are to be taught the Word of God and those seeds God plants in every person at birth need to be cultivated and nourished...

But what of Santa? 

Those seeds do not come from God. Children are not born with a knowledge of Santa. Actually, like a parasite or infection, their minds cannot wrap around this fictional tale told as truth... their little moldable minds have to be brainwashed into believing something their little spirits tell them is not true... they have to hear stories over and over... 

The devil comes as an angel of light 

Magic is magic, sorcery is sorcery... there are no "good witches..." Exodus 22:18 is pretty bold as sorcery was so evil in the Israelite camp that he told Moses “You shall not allow a woman who practices sorcery to live.
I woke up the other day and I just could not get this Santa thing out of my head. Something in me kept saying "It's witchcraft.. It's sorcery..."

And then, as I opened my Bible for the day, the first scripture I read was Deuteronomy 18: 9-14
9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead]. 12 For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the Lord; and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless (complete, perfect) before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations which you shall dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners and fortune-tellers, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.

The seed of Santa is a seed of a lie... it is designed by the father of lies...John 8:44... 

Prayers sent up to Santa would be sent up to God...those Santa lies, the white lies, the magic should be prayers sent up to God, cultivated by a real belief in God!! 

2 Chronicles 2 :14]Asa did what was good and right in the sight of the Lord his God. 3 He removed the foreign altars and high places and tore down the [pagan] pillars (obelisks, memorial stones), and cut to pieces the Asherim [the symbols of the goddess Asherah]. 

America... God says TEAR DOWN THE HIGH PLACES!! 

Deuteronomy 4:28-30New International Version (NIV)

28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.

SANTA IS NOT REAL... He is just like the wooden gods the Israelites were told NOT to keep, NOT to worship, NOT to believe in... 

What is the first commandment? 

Bottom line... SANTA IS A god... (little g...)

god definition: a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity.
Santa:super human... no explanation needed for chimney hopping exploits 
Has power over nature or human fortunes:
"he sees you when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake.." 

He's SUPER HUMAN! HE POSSES SUPER STRENGTH, HE LIVES FOREVER, HE POSSESSES MANY MAGICAL ABILITIES, HE KNOWS ALL, SEES ALL... 

It's one thing to make believe, fairly tales, but to believe? That is faith, that is religion... 

And by the way, ever noticed the name Santa is Satan? Just thought I'd throw that out there! 

Everyone wonders why our country and the world even, are in such a moral decay? 

We exalt lies, promote the belief and practice of magic and witchcraft, put spells on children and have these high places set up all over... 

The children of Israel were always being chided for setting up high places... these were places to worship other gods.. now, they followed the other commandments, kept the feasts, followed the law, sacrificed, brought forth tithes... but that wasn't enough.. they needed more.. they needed entertainment... 

But Doesn't Santa Bring So Much Good? 

I ask you, what good is Santa in a third world country? While the "spirit" of Christmas does get people to give more, and that is great... I would say it's not Santa but JESUS!! 

Santa makes kids ungrateful and greedy..

What is Prayer? 

A prayer to Santa is about asking him for what we want... James 4:3 And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure.

but prayer to God is asking Him what he wants and then asking him for those things...

These letters SEEM cute, but they are prayers, prayers to a fake god... teaching our children to believe in Santa or allowing them to believe in this false deity is a religion...

the real st. nick?

There are many stories about the real man, some of which may be true, as in he gave a poor man money for dowries for his three daughters or that Jesus and Mary appeared by his side in a religious debate.. Either way, people still pray to him and seek his help. But, even as a Christian, he cannot. Only God can answer prayers.

CORPORATIONS NEEDS YOU TO BELIEVE IN SANTA!

There is no war on Christmas... corporations, the life blood of American capitalism lives and breathes through Christmas and the belief in Santa Claus keeps their businesses in the black. There is a reason it's called Black Friday... most businesses

coke NEEDS SANTA!

make or break it on Christmas gifts... Movies, TV shows... are all run by advertising and JCPenny, Kohl's, car dealers... they promote Santa because he promotes SPENDING!

Believe, so you will buy our stuff!! The whole Santa thing is designed to keep the cogs of debt running, corporate greed, even Monsanto, taxes, everything runs on this idea that Americans will spend billions of dollars at the end of the year for various reasons- but Santa is at the top of that list!! Santa keeps jobs, Santa keeps the tax rolls pulling in... 

We don't need God anymore... We have pesticides, fungicide, fertilizers, oil guzzling farm machinery... We don't need God to bless our fields or bring us rain... there's an "app" for everything now...

I leave you with a story from the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims and Native Americans had planted their crops but a drought threatened to wipe it all out. They all desperately needed rain as the Pilgrims were still low on stores and one harvest could mean the difference between full bellies and starvation. The Native Americans called upon their god and did rain dances, but to no avail. The Pilgrims said "we will fast and pray and call upon our God..." Shortly after a light rain fell for 2 weeks, perfectly watering the crops. Many Native Americans came to believe in Jesus as a result of the Pilgrim's prayer, belief, and reliance upon God... 

We don't need to get before God anymore like this... we have Santa, oil, cars, and plastic... And yet... 

Yoga: Satan comes as an Angel of light disguised as a "Christian"

dis·guise

disˈgīz/

verb

past tense: disguised; past participle: disguised

1. 1.

   give (someone or oneself) a different appearance in order to conceal one's identity.

   "he disguised himself as a girl"

   synonyms:

   dress up as, pretend to be, pass oneself off as, impersonate, pose as

Can or Should Christians Practice Yoga? 

 Now, I'm not here to bash Hindus. I actually have had a wonderful friendship with one and deep discussions about God and morality with him. But for Christians, and anyone else who takes yoga, it's important to know the meaning of the moves and chants- you are being a Hindu when you do them. If that is what you choose- okay, but the god of Yoga is not the God of the Bible. Christians need to know this- when you enter a room full of non-Christians -or young or weak Christians- opening themselves up to their 'inner god self'- they are opening a door to let the demonic realm in- A Christian may say prayers during this time- but, in essence, you are surrounded by the spiritual forces of "the other team." 

This photo was taken from a website "world religions for kids" ergo, at least schools teach that Yoga is a religion

Yoga is bound up in Eastern religious metaphysics and is not an innocent form of relaxing the body and the mind. The goal of yoga is the same as that of Hinduism, which is realizing that one is Brahman, the underlying impersonal God of the Universe in Hinduism. According to Psychic Forces and Occult Shock (Wilson and Weldon): "The physical exercises of yoga are designed to prepare the body for the psychospiritual change vital to inculcating this idea (the realization that one is Brahman) into the consciousness and being of the person. Hence talk of separating yoga practice from theory is meaningless. From a Christian perspective, whether the two can safely be divided is doubtful. 'I do yoga, but Hinduism isn't involved,' is an incorrect statement."

Now, most Christians will tell you that they "just do the exercises," or that the yoga they do is mostly exercise but not spiritual. But is it possible to divide the exercise from it's spiritual origins? Let's take a deeper look at what yoga- even the exercise parts of yoga- really is. This gets really deep and kinda hard to understand, but that's the point. Would a Christian really want to do something unless they were 100% sure it was not of the occult?

This is Shiva-The Destroyer

This is Shiva, the lord of Yoga... every form, even supposed "exercise only yoga. Shiva is the god of yoga- Below is a link to yoga's explanation of their god with some excerpts here:

http://www.vedanet.com/2012/06/shiva-the-supreme-lord-of-yoga/

1."Probably, the simplest and most common explication of Shiva, which one finds in the traditional literature, is that there is a trinity of divine forces governing the process of time in the universe with Brahma as the Creator, Vishnu as the Sustainer, and Shiva as the Destroyer."

 2.We live in a magical and mysterious universe pervaded by an unseen intelligence and subtle energies, which reach far beyond the merely human concerns that dominate our minds today. 

Did you read that- Shiva is the lord of yoga and he is known as the Destroyer. Does that sound really awesome to true Christian believers? I didn't think so. What do you think of when you hear the word "destruction?" Those are the forces you are bowing down to- or stretching to. 
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. "John 10:10

Magic? Christians need to steer far far away from anything that has "magical" components. 
Deuteronomy 18:14 (NAS) "For those nations, which you will dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so."

Now here's where it gets kinda mumbo jumbo-y, but that is just the point. All that "controlled breathing"- all the "stillness" and "balance" and "peace"- the foundations of even the "exercise only" yoga- it all originates in the bowels of Hell, don't take my word for it, read the yoga handbook for yourself: But hold your breath...ha, just kidding...no, really, to go forward in yoga you've got to hold your breath...

"Yoga as a sadhana or spiritual practice rests upon cultivating the Shiva consciousness of the highest awareness and bliss. This reality of Shiva is the power of silence, stillness, and non-doing, not the ordinary power of self-assertion and aggression. It works through inaction, peace and balance, in which one is centered in one’s own being and grasps the entire universe as a manifestation of one’s own thoughts. This power of Shiva is not the outer force that displays itself for personal gain, nor the outer effort to control that makes a show of itself to gain adulation. It is the spiritual force that turns things around, draws things within, and takes them back to their source, in which a deep unity remains. Shiva symbolizes this balancing and calming effect of all Yoga practices.

Okay- so, it's pretty clear that a person might think  they can take the spiritual side away from yoga, but yoga gurus, the guys who started it- say that you can't. Soo.... Let's move on to that innocent, silent "OM"- no big deal, right? Just a little silly humming?? Well, what does the yoga handbook say about your "OMMing..." 
Shiva is the lord of cosmic sound or the cosmic music, particularly the great mantra OM from which all the Vedas and all mantras are said to derive, and the entire universe generated. The Sanskrit alphabet is said to arise from the beating of Shiva’s drum, whose resonance pervades all space. He has other important bija mantras of Hum and Haum or Haum Joom Sah. Hum represents the cosmic fire or Agni. Haum represents the Cosmic Prana, two important aspects of Shiva energy. Haum Joom Sah reflects the speed and power of his energy moving into us and taking us beyond from the standpoint of this Cosmic Prana.

Okay, so most this doesn't make a lot of sense, but in layman's terms... a god named Shiva, who is known as the Destroyer- he invented all those yoga chants- hey, he is said to invent the entire yoga derived alphabet. All the chants summon up forces...and they are not Christian or from the God of the Bible.

Okay, so this isn't going to make a lot of sense if you don't do yoga, or even if you do, but you need to understand the meanings and stories behind the poses, behind the chants. It is all based on Hindu's gods, and Hindus are quite proud of this. It's Americans who like the "cool" parts of yoga that keep trying to cut away the spiritual aspects from the physical. Which, is physically and spiritually impossible.

Here is an example of a chant. Notice the worship here:
Perhaps most notable for dealing with all of life’s difficulties and dangers is Shiva’s aspect as Tryambakam, the Three-Eyed One orMrityunjaya, the one who takes us beyond death, as the rishi Vasishta lauds in the Rig Veda.

Tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushtivardhanam; urvarukam iva bandhanat, mriyor mukshiya mamritat.

We worship the three eyed one, who is fragrant and increases nourishment. As a gourd from its stalk, may he release us from death but not from immortality. (By the way, this is exactly what Jesus does!!) The worship of Shiva pervades the Yoga tradition from the most ancient to modern times. The Nath Yogis who gave us Tantric Yoga, Hatha Yoga and Siddha Yoga, were followers of Lord Shiva who is Adi Nath or the original Nath guru. This includes the great teachers Goraknath and Matsyendranath, who still have wide followings in India today.

As Christians, we know that our Lord, Jesus Christ- He has truly done for us what the Hindus believe Shiva has done for them- but our Lord and Savior GAVE HIS LIFE SO WE MIGHT OVERCOME DEATH! We will still pass away one day but never die. This is our religion- the Hindus are worshipping their god through yoga just as we worship the ONE true God. 

1 Peter 2:24 "He himself bore our sins" in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; "by his wounds you have been healed."

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent which is our earthly home is destroyed (dissolved), we have from God a building, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. vs 15 15 And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake. vs 17  Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

Now, let us continue with the yoga handbook here. You see, as Christians we know that God trancends all. In this Yoga and Christianity are very similar. One is the truth, the other is a lie. I don't wish to harm or put down Hindus but we serve the One True God. 

Return to Shiva

Our return to this original clear light of reality, which is Shiva, is the essence not only of yogic spirituality, but also of all true science, art, philosophy and psychology.
You may wish to only "exercise" but those stretches originated in a religious form that leads to higher and higher states of "awareness." If you travel to India, you will see the god of yoga EVERYWHERE. Yoga is a religion. Just like if you were to visit a church with a cross on top, you would know that that is a Christian church. Hindus believe their god, Shiva, is the lord of all yoga. Separating yoga from it's spiritual aspects is like separating a Christian church with a cross on it from Christ, (which, sadly, some try to do).

To achieve this higher state of awareness, we can practice Shiva Yoga or the Yoga of Shiva, of which there are many varieties in many Shaivite traditions. Shiva is the great deity of the Himalayas with many forms from Amarnath in Kashmir, to Kedarnath near the origin of the Ganga, to Pashupati Nath in Nepal, and Mount Kailas in Tibet. His great city is Kashi (Varanasi), but also has Uttar Kashi in the Himalayas. There are many famous Shiva Jyotirlingas or lingas of light, mainly in Central India, like Omkareshvara, and a number of Shiva sites in the South like Tiruvannamali, the fire linga of Lord Shiva, where Ramana Maharshi, regarded by many as a modern incarnation of Lord Shiva, has his ashram located. This worship of Shiva has gone global as in the example of the Kauai Hindu temple in Hawaii of the Hinduism Today magazine and its powerful crystal Shiva linga

In Psychic Forces and Occult Shock Wilson and Weldon state, "Yoga is really pure occultism, as any number of yoga and occult texts prove (R.S Mishra's Yoga Sutras and Fundamentals of Yoga , J. Brennan's Astral Doorways and H. Chaudhuri's Philosophy of Meditation are footnoted). Occult abilities are very common from yoga practice, and the numerous dangers of occultism are evident from many studies (K. Koch's Christian Counseling and Occultism is footnoted). 

The yoga scholar and Sanskrit authority, Mishra, states: 'In conclusion, it may be said that behind every psychic investigation, behind mysticism, occultism, etc., knowingly or unknowingly, the yoga system is present. (Mishra, op.cit.)'"

 Kurt Koch in his various excellent books correlates delving with the occult with subsequent experiences of anxiety and depression sometimes resulting in suicide.

The Bible informs us that God created Adam of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). Man is a created, separate being. Man can have a relationship with the Living God by accepting His Son, God's physical incarnation, Jesus Christ. The Bible does not teach that through yoga man can attain progressive higher levels of consciousness so that man will realize he is one with God and merge with Brahman as Hinduism teaches or that man's personality can be extinguished as a flame is extinguished as Buddhism teaches. The Bible does not mention or recognize yoga or any system where man can become one with God.


Below are some comments from my facebook post on yoga. I really like how many Christians are thinking this thing through. Knowledge is power. Jesus will always speak the truth and the truth will set us free. One thing we shouldn't do is ignore the facts when they are right in front of us just because we enjoy something doesn't mean it's right to do or pleasing to the Lord. Worse yet, many people have gotten caught up in the very real demonic world that is opened up when you mess with any part of the occult. God Bless ya'll and I hope this helps some.

Jason: I do yoga. It's very good for your health. Ive never heard any chants though?
Me:I know you are into all natural ways of healing/living and that is great! For my part, so am I but as a Bible believing Christian I steer clear of anything connected to occultic practices. I really had no inclination to study up on yoga but the Lord put it really heavy on my heart and a couple days ago spoke to me and said "yoga is a spiritual path that is not of Me." I've been doing some research lately and found the physical poses are themselves worshipful to the gods of Hindu. I just put this stuff out there and if it speaks to someone great!!! I also don't have anything to do with Halloween either and while St. Nick was a real person, I cannot condone when parents lie to their kids that he is coming to their homes. There are many things with cultic natures and yoga just so happens to be king of cults here in America right now. 
Jason:i do agree with most of what you say here, especially that many people do take it to far (yoga) and use it as though it were a religion (if that makes sense - basically putting such importance to it that it becomes worship)

Amy C: I have to agree. Last year, i've found the yoga as exercise was super beneficial. It helped me get my body strengthened after a time when I was going through a lot of back pain. But I did encounter with the spirit behind yoga and I would agree, it can seem safe, but the Spirit of God is against all other spirits. It's hard to explain it, but I've encountered the Ganesh/Shiva spirit a few different times. And it is a very antagonistic towards the Spirit of God. Once it was in the home of a practicing hindu family (landlords to my MIL's basement suite). We ate dinner with them. That night I felt a dark spirit was trying to enter my MIL apartment. I began to pray and felt we had angered their gods by "stepping on their stronghold." A second time is after my cousin's hindu wedding. Hard to explain, but again darkness and confusion filled our families cabin last summer after the wedding was over. Both my friend visiting our cabin with me felt this darkness/confusion. Then the last time I ever had a yoga class was when my instructor came in wearing Ganesh on her clothing, yoga matt and water bottle. It's weird she was so aggressive with me. I've never had an instructor keep badgering me about form before. And then all of a sudden she locked eyes with me and I realized it was the spirit behind her antagonizing me. I knew it was because of my faith. — That was last time I'll do a yoga class. Now I have rented a few Yoga dvds to practice in my own home. otherwise if I want a good stretching/strength class I just go to Pilates classes. Anyways, that's my story. we have to be careful to not be desensitized to the spiritual life around us.

Amy O: There is a Christian yoga movement as much of it focuses on stretching. It is called Holy Yoga.

Me:Thanks so much for sharing Amy Crissman!!! What a powerful testimony!  You have always been in tune with the spirit realm. Praise God you are able to recognize these spiritual attacks and combat them for you and your family. When I read your story I got goosebumps! I have only had a couple run ins with leaders who told me to open up myself spiritually and clear my mind. Once in school and the other time when I was taking Taekwondo. I am so grateful for having a Christian mom who told us NOT to let our minds go blank when the leader told us to, but to pray. In fact, having known Jesus since a small child, I could sense that this was not a Godly thing but rather a Satanic thing- it was described as a yoga-esk exercise and that we would not be able to advance in class without this spiritual exercise. There are alternatives to yoga if someone feels they need it- one is called Praisemoves and another is called Holy Fit. Both call themselves alternatives to yoga but not Christian Yoga because they say it's impossible to separate yoga from Hindu. It is so important for people to know the principalities and rulers in different areas- such as Hinduism. When a yoga center moves into a neighborhood so do the demonic forces invited in by this spiritual practice just like when a truly Spirit filled church moves into a neighborhood so does the Spirit of God!!  http://praisemoves.com/
Thanks for sharing Amy O
Mom:Someone told me, who is not a devoted Christian, that they went to a yoga class and was so freaked out by it they'll never go back. This person does any kind of exercise. This person is devoted to exercising.

Jason:Just to clear things up. I've never been to a yoga class. I just know some yoga stretches which help to stretch tendons and muscles and align the back. Maybe that is the difference. I'm probably doing them wrong anyway lol

Amy C: Jason I also don't think using the poses are worship. Jesus says we worship in spirit and in truth. If someone attends a yoga class it isn't sin, just as if someone attends church doesn't make them born again. I do think it is good to be aware of spiritual influences. The encounter I had actually showed me how people's behaviors are influence either by God's kingdom or the devil's. I have no conviction on using the poses. My conscious is clear. But the pursuit of yoga and the idea that being spiritual in any form is good enough is a lie. I think the Hindu spirituality interests a lot of people cause it sounds cool and tolerant of many types of faith. Jesus is the only way.

Me:Ha,Jason,having read your last comment in light of your first one I had to laugh,"no chanting though"...most people don't look up yoga poses and then try to simulate yoga chants. The thought just was humorous to me.  Also, having been in gymnastics and tons of sports as well as having back problems, I've stretched unknowingly in yoga like poses- I wouldn't go looking for them to repeat personally but the body can only move in so many ways and exercise in and of itself is not evil. God is very gracious to those who really want to do the right thing. If and when we find out something is wrong or "food sacrificed to idols," then it's important to re-examine our actions. He is so great to help us make things right!

Elizabeth:Interesting discussion. I am Amy Crissman's MIL..I appreciate the prayers ofPhil & Amy, binding the spirits and praying protection..they worked. I lived there for another 14 months and while I had challenges, as we all do, I also grew much in my relationship with the Lord and had ...many opportunities to pray over that family. We live in the world but need not be prisoners to the spiritual darkness that is still present here. As believer's we can expect to overcome every spiritual influence that is not of the Holy Spirit. See Psalm 91.

Me:Thanks for sharing Elizabeth! The enemy has no power over real Christians who are sensitive to the Holy Spirit. We don't need to be afraid of the occult or any other evil practices but we do need to be aware of the spiritual world around us!