Occult spirits in the church?

A mature believer writes of his exposure to 'bizarre behaviour' in the church; and of leaders who ignored the warnings and silenced the expressed concerns.
 


The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders (2 Thess 2:9)

But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. (1 John 2:27)

My Experience of Kundalini Manifestations

A personal testimony by DN (see Footnotes)

KundaliniI was first exposed to what I now know of as Kundalini 'Kriyas' or Kundalini 'awakening' in 2005 and 2006. We were attending an independent church and we experienced bizarre manifestations during visits from a team from Redding, California and 'Glory in the City' meetings.

The team from Redding formed a 'fire tunnel' and asked the congregation to walk down the tunnel. As I exited the tunnel one of the team started using strange hand movements over me, like wafting, and hissed at me.

During 'Glory in the City' when the speaker prayed for "more; more" or "fire; fire" over people many of them fell flat out and began to laugh, cry, shake, writhe around, make animal noises, jerk involuntarily, become rigid or limp etc.
Bizarre behaviour continued as customary practice throughout 2007 and was augmented in July 2008 when most of the congregation was subjected to Lakeland 'impartations' (aka 'shaktipat').

Although I was prompted to examine the phenomenon, and could find no Biblical precedent, it took four years for me to 'join up all the dots'. Firstly I came across Phillip St Romain's book on 'Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality' but I linked Kundalini with mystic altered states of (alpha) consciousness and contemplative prayer and not the manifestations that were occurring in church.

"Failure to test supernatural experiences is a failure to follow the mandates of Scripture."

Derek Prince: Protection from deception.

As the Lord led I repeatedly warned the pastor of the dangers of false doctrine (mostly mystic spirituality) and of providing a foothold for the 'world of spirits'. He did not heed my warnings and I was eventually served with a 'gagging order' which made my calling and ministry untenable, and we left the church in Oct 2009.
 
Ironically in Nov 2009 I wrote to a pastor expressing concerns that Kundalini was not just a New Age phenomenon but it was infiltrating the evangelical church and I referred him to St Romain's book.
 
Kundalini1It was not until 2010 after I had read about 'mixing spirits' in 'Protection from Deception' by Derek Prince and 'Kundalini Warning' by Andrew Strom that the penny dropped.

Shortly after reading both books, as we left home to visit a church, the Lord told me to 'test the spirits' (in the church we were visiting). We arrived late and missed the worship but the teaching was 'sound' and edifying.

At the end of the teaching we moved into 'ministry' which, by contrast, was 'soulish' (psuchikos) and 'hyped-up'. I was immediately reminded to "test the spirits". We never went forward for 'ministry' and after a few minutes most of the congregation were flat out and demonstrating Kundalini Kriyas.
 
"A Hindu Guru would describe the..Toronto 'Blessing' as a 'Kundalini Awakening'."
Andrew Strom: True and False Revival
It was evident in both our old church and in the church we visited that there was a 'mixing of spirits' and they had given a foothold to Kundalini.

The occult spirit of Kundalini (aka Serpent Power) has been given a foothold right across the evangelical church, from Calvinistic and Reformed through Emerging and Purpose-Driven to Charismatic. It has occurred through 'impartation' and 'contemplative prayer'.

I repented and renounced this occult spirit and if you have had any contact you should do the same.
 

Ed footnotes:
The author of this article has made himself known to the editor, and has provided personal background information in support of his writing.

An earlier article entitled 'Kundalini spirits in the church?' gives further information on the phenomenon and is based on a writing from the above-mentioned author Andrew Strom. Appended to the article (published 31/07/10) are many responses from site visitors, including a recent and unrelated post by 'Jamie' which bears out the validity of these concerns:

"Thank you for this eye opening revelation from the one true God! I have been seeing things like this at local churches here in Northern California in the past few years. One church hear [sic] locally often has bethal come to visit and brings its so called prophets. When my husband and I saw this we knew their teachings where not biblical but we didn't understand what was going on. Ppl [people? Ed.] dancing around like tribal Indians, beating drums, shaking, and acting high. Now i can look back and see and warn others! I'm a tongues talking Christian too, hungry for real revival, not the counterfeit!!!"

See also general article 'Truth, Error and Deception' for the particular dangers when error is inserted alongside (some) truth.

DN: a personal testimony, 19/06/2013