Let’s skip—(for now)—the idea of so-called portals where aliens, angels, or demons enter/land on our planet. Also skipping the idea of relocating ourselves via teleportation. This post will focus on what’s all over the place (sadly!) in Christian material: the idea that Christians must learn how to enter a “portal” to be close to, communicate with, or experience something unique from the Lord.
The bullet points here are tip-of-the-iceberg descriptions and promotions of books/podcasts, with a response below each:
- An ad for The Healing Scriptures said: “As you meditate on these promises, they drop from your head to your heart. This is when you change from mental assent to belief. When this happens, you tap into a supernatural portal called the Kingdom of Heaven.” A similar claim said that there are “portals all the time that will open up if you just are in the realm of the Spirit.”
Response: Why would believers have to “tap into” where they already are? Colossians 1:13, 14 says, “[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” And if the Holy Spirit is everywhere (Psalm 139:7) and also inside/with me all the time (Romans 8:9-11), how could a believer not be in his realm?
- Note the subtitle of Portals: Releasing the Power and Presence of God into the Earth.
Response: Wait. It’s up to us to release the presence of God? As if we could STOP him! The Lord declares, “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:24).
- The author of Portals: Your Pathway into God’s Presence claims to have had much interaction with angels and demons as a child. And the promo mentioned “access points to God’s supernatural.”
Response: Claims of angel/demon adventures must be viewed with discernment. Some such are actually the result of occult subjection/dabbling and can include phony angels delivering messages opposed to Scripture. And as far as needing a special pathway into the Lord’s presence, look up Bible references to path or way. Ex: “I run in the path of your commands…. Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees” (Psalm 119:32, 33). “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless” (Psalm 18:30).
- “[In prayer] we enter through a portal, our mystically wired self, descending with our minds into our hearts… and commune with [the Lord] where he is…. To pray is also to go somewhere in order to commune with God.” (Mystically Wired by Ken Wilson, p. 57-59)
Response: Enter? Descend? Go? My GPS will go haywire trying to find the Lord—and myself! In Psalm 139 David praises the Lord for always knowing where David is, what he’s thinking and doing. Yes, “such knowledge is too wonderful” (v 6), but it’s still true! And “The Lord will hear when I call to him” (Psalm 4:3).
- One man trying to help us tap into the supernatural, open portals, and invoke angel encounters instructed us to “get lost in worship.” He described one of his own “get lost” experiences: As he drove down the road, he spontaneously began to pray in tongues. Then (after how long?), he suddenly found himself stopped at a parking lot, unsure of what all had happened from point A to point B.
Response: Yikes! Could this be the driver I recently dodged, who’d jumped his car across three lanes and nearly caused an accident? Regardless, I’d like to hear this man’s evidence that the Lord’s idea of worship is to black out.
- A promo for Power Portals: Awaken Your Connection to the Spirit Realm had sci-fi type teasers: “navigate the heavenly dimension” and “get caught up in the swirl.” And an ecstatic reviewer said, “[This book] was so anointed, I took it out of the package and laid it on my body.”
Response: Navigating and swirling aside… We probably don’t quite realize that trying to transfer/channel/absorb power through an object is sorcery.
- Someone declared: “When you are under a heavenly portal, answers to prayer come quicker.”
Response: Ah! If we’re honest, isn’t this our self-focused bottom line—finding a way to get whatever we want, and faster? Contrast Psalm 27:14: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” It gives me chills to recall Jesus telling the Father, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42; see also Matthew 6:10).
It’s worth reviewing those claims once more. Why? When we’re familiar with the lingo, we’ll be more likely to pause when we hear such… and be better able to keep ourselves and friends on track.
