Sarah Young

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darinhouston
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by darinhouston » Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:57 pm

dwight92070 wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:23 pm
I wouldn't be surprised if Sarah Young has listened to "Jesus" so much, that if you were to meet her, she would start speaking as if she were Him! It's quite apparent that she is listening to a demon pretending to be Jesus. Obviously, she is making money hand over fist, as well as deceiving millions. Even if the book has been "neutered" by Thomas Nelson, why would anyone contribute hard-earned money to support her sham?
That's a pretty serious charge. How is it "quite apparent?" Have you read the book?

I'm not inclined to go read critiques -- people have been spinning records backwards looking for bogeymen in these circles for years. If you have independent knowledge of specific doctrinal or spiritual problems with things in the book (not just "new age sounding terms" please share those so I can double check my judgment and discernment. So far, it's quite excellent.

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darinhouston
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by darinhouston » Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:14 pm

I did a quick search -- I found Chris's article to be awful and illogical and totally obsessed with finding error. The sort of thing I used to see from folks looking for demonic messages playing records backwards in the 70s.

Here's a bit from a more "balanced" article...
Kris Bearss, who edits Ms. Young’s books for the publisher Thomas Nelson, said she had met her reclusive author several times and considered her a friend. And she defended Ms. Young against heresy charges.

“First of all, she doesn’t say that Jesus speaks to her,” Ms. Bearss said. “I feel like she’s tried to be pretty clear about that in her book introductions. In no way does she believe her own writing is sacred or that she has new revelations.”

Ms. Young’s critics just do not understand the nuances of her project, Ms. Bearss said.

“It’s one thing for a person to relay what they feel that they have learned or gained through reading Scripture and prayer, and through time with the Holy Spirit,” Ms. Bearss said. “It’s another thing for people to turn that into her saying that she is writing a new version of Scripture or that she is speaking for the Lord. That’s not the case.”
...
“I agree that revelation has ceased in the sense that the Bible is complete,” Ms. Young wrote. “However, what I am doing is devotional writing, and I do so by asking Jesus to guide my mind as I spend time with Him — to help me think His thoughts.”

Ms. Young said that before writing, she spends time in prayer to protect her mind “from distractions, distortions, and deception.” Then she prays and waits, and takes notes.

In one sense, Ms. Young is doing nothing new. Christians have a long tradition of interpreting God’s presence in people’s lives. There’s also a tradition of writing prayers that find new words for the old scriptural messages, and a more recent tradition of selling those prayers for profit.

“Devotionals are a foundational genre within the religion category, within Christian publishing,” said Lynn Garrett, who covers religion books for Publishers Weekly.

The books are typically written by women, for women, she said, although one influential classic, “My Utmost for His Highest,” published in 1924, was written by a man, Oswald Chambers. Like the “Jesus Calling” books, “My Utmost” has spun off calendars and other items.

Ms. Young’s work is unusual for using the first-person voice of Jesus, and one can see why some theologically strait-laced Christians might be perturbed. But if one reads enough in the “Jesus Calling” series, her argument that Jesus is not talking becomes more plausible.

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darinhouston
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by darinhouston » Fri Jun 04, 2021 4:31 pm

Homer wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:48 am
Hi Darin,

I know nothing of the lady, just making a general observation.
Understood -- meant that mainly for Dwight as he has made some pretty specific assertions.

commonsense
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by commonsense » Sat Jun 05, 2021 12:41 am

darinhouston wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:14 pm
The sort of thing I used to see from folks looking for demonic messages playing records backwards in the 70s.
And I remember the days when Barney, the purple dinosaur, was considered to be demonic. :o
Paidion wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:36 am
The point is that God has continued to reveal Himself to and through His people.
Exactly!!
dwight92070 wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:23 pm
It's quite apparent that she is listening to a demon pretending to be Jesus.
Why make a big fuss over Sarah Young, when shows like "Breaking Bad", and "Narcos" have become popular among the younger crowds. I think we should be more concerned about this.

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darinhouston
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by darinhouston » Sat Jun 05, 2021 9:56 am

commonsense wrote:
Sat Jun 05, 2021 12:41 am
And I remember the days when Barney, the purple dinosaur, was considered to be demonic. :o
Well......

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Jepne
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by Jepne » Tue Jun 08, 2021 8:07 pm

Dwight said - ''Sarah Young has listened to "Jesus" so much, that if you were to meet her, she would start speaking as if she were Him!''

Is that not it, though. To listen to Jesus so much that when we open our mouths, what we say represents him in all his fullness. So many books outside the Canon have changed people's thinking around and brought them to repentance, written by men and women of God who have the mind of Christ in matters outside our own experience.

There are so many beautiful quotes, songs, and teachings by people we've been taught are of the devil, and how wonderful it is to find that we do not know everything. We want to know everything, who is right and who is wrong, but love and humility are the necessary path to wisdom.
"Anything you think you know about God that you can't find in the person of Jesus, you have reason to question.” - anonymous

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backwoodsman
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by backwoodsman » Fri Jun 11, 2021 12:45 pm

darinhouston wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:14 pm
Here's a bit from a more "balanced" article...
I guess maybe you didn't quote the "balanced" parts... :)
“First of all, she doesn’t say that Jesus speaks to her,” Ms. Bearss said. “I feel like she’s tried to be pretty clear about that in her book introductions.
Actually she does explicitly say exactly that in the intro to earlier editions of the book, as documented in the pages and book linked below.
...one can see why some theologically strait-laced Christians might be perturbed.
Of course there are some like that, but many more are like me: Neither "theologically strait-laced" nor "perturbed", just alarmed that so many Christians don't take the long list of solidly Biblical objections to the book more seriously, and allow thinly-veiled passive-aggressive slams like the above to affect their judgment.

The article linked in the original post may be a little weak on a few points, but it makes (and documents) some very good points that followers of Jesus should find alarming. Just to briefly mention a few examples: If God says something is all we need, Christians shouldn't call it insufficient and go looking for "more" from other sources; Christians shouldn't take words channeled from a demon and ascribe them to Jesus; followers of the Creator of everything shouldn't be borrowing ideas and practices from His enemies. All things that seem pretty obvious, yet Jesus calling has sold over 35 million copies to date, presumably mostly to Christians.

Here's another article that makes some of the same points, and some different ones:
https://www.challies.com/articles/10-se ... s-calling/

And a blog post some may find helpful:
https://livingintheshoe.com/jesus-calli ... f-caution/

And a book, Another Jesus Calling by Warren B. Smith, that goes into a lot more depth (not necessarily recommending that you buy from Amazon; I usually use a search engine like https://www.bookfinder.com to find the best price):
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0989509338/

I was talking to a friend yesterday whose beliefs are, more or less, Unitarian Universalist with a strong eastern-mysticism slant. She's convinced that whatever she "feels" in her heart or mind is truth from God and needs no check or confirmation with any other source. As she described her beliefs, I noticed that most of what she said is very close to what the Bible teaches, but with a twist that makes it a little (or a lot) "off". It's easy to see how so many are so easily deceived and misled by this sort of thing. This is why the Bible so strongly emphasizes the need to seek discernment and wisdom from God (and only from God), and very clearly delineates appropriate boundaries for doing so. If we ignore those boundaries, even unwittingly, we do so to our own hurt.

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darinhouston
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by darinhouston » Fri Jun 11, 2021 12:52 pm

backwoodsman wrote:Christians shouldn't take words channeled from a demon and ascribe them to Jesus; followers of the Creator of everything shouldn't be borrowing ideas and practices from His enemies.
I definitely agree with that -- but, I don't see how this is channeled from a demon -- no demon would say the things I've read.
backwoodsman wrote:just alarmed that so many Christians don't take the long list of solidly Biblical objections to the book more seriously
I must be one of those -- I take the situation very serious and am seriously looking for someone to list a few solidly biblical objections to the book.
backwoodsman wrote:If God says something is all we need, Christians shouldn't call it insufficient and go looking for "more" from other sources;
Who says it's insufficient? Only that more reflection and contextual devotions are beneficial. Otherwise, should we not listen to sermons from pastors? Dramatic readings? Hymns? Theatrical productions with God or Christ as characters ?

Seriously, I'm really befuddled by this. Can you show me some examples from the book that are clearly against biblical teaching or spin it in dangerous ways? I haven't read everything you quoted, but none of the articles I saw gave any concrete examples. One suggested she shouldn't be trusted because she revised error in subsequent revisions. That seems responsible to me. We can't expect perfection. This is why we have to use discernment in what we read.

But, I haven't read a devotional that I don't occasionally "wince" at (or hear a sermon). Sola Scripture doesn't mean we don't need more than scripture -- it just means it's the only authority (as the direct teachings of Jesus and the Apostles). No one is suggesting she is an authority. I really don't see the dark side of this one. It's extremely edifying.

And, what on earth does the Unitarian Universalist perspective (clearly flawed) have to do with this (other than a straw man of the dangers of following devotionals like this)?

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darinhouston
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Re: Sarah Young

Post by darinhouston » Fri Jun 11, 2021 2:10 pm

This is the closest thing I could find suggesting she "admits to automatic writing" in her introductions.
She mimics occult practices. The way in which Young receives her revelation from Jesus smacks of the occult. “I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believe He was saying. I felt awkward the first time I tried this, but I received a message. It was short, biblical, and appropriate. It addressed topics that were current in my life: trust, fear, and closeness to God. I responded by writing in my prayer journal.” This is not a far cry from a practice known as “automatic writing” which Wikipedia describes as “an alleged psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words without consciously writing. The words are claimed to arise from a subconscious, spiritual or supernatural source.” Her inspiration was God Calling where it is even clearer that the authors allowed their minds to go blank at which point they supposedly received messages from God. This practice is very different from the giving of biblical revelation where God worked through the thoughts, personalities, and even research of the authors.
I find this to be a VERY inappropriate and unfair criticism. First, on its face alone, she is criticized because her practice is "very different" from "biblical revelation where God worked through the thoughts personalities and even research of the authors." This is EXACTLY what she claims to have done. She sat in devotional time, listening to what God told her BUT THEN considered with her thoughts how it related to her life and journaled that. Then she shared her journal in a way that the reader would experience her own devotions. Is it better to hear directly from God? Of course it is, but that's the very nature of all devotional literature -- sharing your perceptions and revelations that God shared with you for others. Apart from the manner of relating them in the first person (something even I have some reservations with, but have found actually useful as long as care is taken not to think they are the very words of Jesus) I am CERTAIN this is exactly the sort of process Oswald Chambers followed in his own.

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Re: Sarah Young

Post by dwight92070 » Thu Jun 17, 2021 11:52 pm

"Relating them in the first person" is a huge problem. She is basically telling her readers that these ARE Jesus' words. In other words, she is writing "Scripture", and the words that she "hears" should carry the same weight as the Bible itself. Yes, maybe you keep in mind that these are not actually the words of Jesus, but many don't. To portray those words as Jesus' words is deceiving many readers. She is putting forward another Jesus, who is speaking different words from what is recorded in the Bible. Even if her words are pleasant, that doesn't make them Jesus' words.

I have heard several "God" jokes, where God is speaking, etc., but everyone knows it's a joke, that God didn't actually say those things. But this is no joke. Sarah is wanting us to actually believe that these are Jesus' words. Whether she realizes it or not, she is conveying to her readers that her book is scripture. She could have easily avoided all of this uproar by simply stating that she believes that Jesus is saying such and such to her without writing her book in the first person. But then she wouldn't have sold millions of copies. The controversy is oftentimes what makes something a hot item. The same thing happened with "The Shack".

What is it about the words of Jesus in the scripture, that are not sufficient? Immature Christians LOVE FADS and are very gullible. The "Left Behind Series" was a huge fad which also made millions for the authors. "The Late Great Planet Earth", "The Prayer Of Jabez", "The Shack", "The Velvet Elvis", and now "Jesus Calling", and I'm sure I'm missing some. Just today I heard that there is a "Christian" radio show, where the man leading it calls himself Jesus Christ!! Here we go again. The body of Christ needs to stop supporting such charlatans.

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