Mount Shasta (Day 3, part two)

24 October 2010 (4:00 p.m.)

I parked just off Mount Shasta Blvd and thanked the Lord for His deliverance. Then I walked around the city centre, struggling to make sense of how a town of 3500 people could support the concentration of pagan trinket shops I was encountering. On one block alone I counted about three mystic/new age-themed businesses out of the seven or eight storefronts that comprised it. Spiritually speaking--and what isn't spiritual?--I was in enemy territory. The Lord directed me to a used book store that had no external signs of neo-paganism, and I thought it might be useful to find a book that described the sort of culture (i.e. bondage) that had gripped Mount Shasta. I figured it would centre on the mountain as the object of worship, but there was no doubt in my mind that demons had overrun the city and created a bunch of myths concerning its significance. This was a very old tactic (cf. Acts 17:16-31).

I strolled through the book store while the owner assisted an older gentlemen, browsing the Religious section to see if there were any bargains I couldn't pass up. There were not. When the owner had finished assisting the gentleman, I asked her if she had any books on Mount Shasta. She responded with a question, wondering if I was more interested in history proper or the folkloric heritage of the town. She then probed to see if I knew anything about the spiritualism of Mount Shasta, much of which centred on the mountain, and proceeded to tell me of the Lemurians, a race of people contemporary to the Atlanteans, who once inhabited the land that was submerged when parts of an eastern continent collided with the west coast to form North America. Evidently, it was believed that the Lemurians (and several other races, for that matter), had taken up residence in the mountain when their civilization was destroyed. Like the Atlanteans, they were fabled to possess incredible technology--such as might enable them, for instance, to bunker up inside a mountain. (Ahem.)

As twisted as all this stuff was, it wasn't the legendary that concerned me most. She went on to talk about a certain doctor who had allegedly used some spiritual currents he was able to channel for the purpose of healing thousands of people. There were testimonies of those who had been cured of tumors, arthritis, and so on. As you might imagine, none of the above were credited to Jesus. I guess a bit of a Bible lesson is in order at this point.

First, genuine Christians will readily confess that Jesus performed miracles. In other words, supernatural healings are possible. There is no sense in placing any faith in Christ unless you believe He rose from the dead (1 Cor 15:13-19), and He who has been raised from the dead is the One who testifies to God's power by His deeds (including miracles) and words (John 10:38; 14:11). So why should we not just syncretize all these healings and conclude that, by virtue of the fact that some charismatic who didn't perform these healings in the name of Christ, miracles pool from a homogeneous source from which Christ comes but that Christ is not the only way? Stated otherwise, are Christians being pedantic in asserting that eternal life comes only through Christ? No. Let's examine what the Bible says about these other "gifted" individuals.

First, we see miracles performed by people who don't serve the Lord. In some cases, they are miracles the Lord gives His servants to perform, such as when Moses and Aaron petition Pharaoh to release Israel (Exod 7:8-23). In other cases, such as when Saul consults a spiritist, we see that black arts such as seances are indeed possible (1 Sam 27:1-14) and that wielding these powers produces disastrous effects (1 Sam 27:15-19). Paul and Barnabas, led by the Holy Spirit, rebuke a magician's abilities who has been frustrating their ministry (Acts 13:6-12). In other words, this stuff works. It is not a solution or a genuine cure for anything, but demonic powers, who have influence over the world, will manifest in a way that leads people away from God. God, in turn, allows it sometimes: If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, "Let us follow other gods" (gods you have not known) "and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way the LORD your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deut 13:1-5)

But all these counterfeit miracles lead ultimately to death: "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect--if that were possible" (Matt 24:24; cf. Mark 13:22; Rev 22:15). And as Jesus so plainly states, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" (Matt 7:21-23).

What this all amounts to is this: it is not incredible that these testimonies are true, nor is it surprising that such powerful signs compel people to faith in empty things. But unlike the Lemurian or Yaktavian myths, which are beyond fantastical, it is possible to put a face on someone who has been healed by the power of someone who has not been serving the Lord. And an eternity of damnation is not worth some temporary comfort. Hence, these healings are extremely dangerous because they possess the potentiality to cost a person his or her soul.

So I found it rather interesting that this woman, who by her own testimony seldom speaks of these things, mentioned that she felt compelled to share them with me (but God grants His servants favour with nonbelievers sometimes). I told her that she could tell me anything because I was impossible to spook, adding that I was only in Mount Shasta because Jesus sent me there. She then responded that this illustrious doctor fellow had testified about how much he loved "the Christian God" but that he never would have wanted to be exclusively associated with Him. And herein is the deception! There are no other gods and no other powers, just keen deceptions. And if some of the elect will pursue such demonic forces, indulging what their itching ears want to hear (2 Tim 4:3-5), then there is little hope for the people of Mount Shasta who don't know the Lord. Except, of course, for the Lord Himself.

Knowing that I could do nothing about this but pray, I chose to do that. I decided to fast and walk throughout the town, praying that God would bind all demonic forces that had overtaken it. I prayed that no one would ever experience any kind of relief in this region unless it was in the name of Jesus Christ and for His glory and that all such cases (and that they would be numerous) would lead to the faith that brings salvation.

I purchased a book about these mythologies, not that it was a valuable way to spend my money but I wanted to be able to pray specifically against certain things. I knew the Lord would hear me in my weakness, yet I wanted Him to hear precisely what He had sent me to ask Him to do for the people of Mount Shasta, that they would be released from very particular kinds of bondage.

And I started to realize that, as a precursor to my own service in this way, He had been doing the same for me. I had been very sheltered as a child. When my sister and I were given bicycles, we were restricted to our property, never allowed to adventure. Dead faith takes no risks. And though I don't think it was intentional or deliberate, I had been imparted with a fear of everything that was uncertain, invoking God to spend Himself on breaking me (especially over the preceding ten months) so that I wouldn't be inhibited by everything I had assumed was normal. And here I was, having driven to Mount Shasta with no travel insurance, no real idea where I was in the world, and I was at my most vulnerable. And I was a pleasing aroma to God because I had placed myself in a situation where I could do nothing but depend on Him.

I found a motel room and busied myself reading about the things I would need to pray against the following day. It was hard to concentrate because I had missed several meals en route to Mount Shasta (and, if I'm honest, the days leading up to my departure). I hadn't exactly prepared for a fast. But here I was in a position of weakness and I believed that, whether I lived to see the crop it would bear, God would hear my prayers. To my shame, I had espoused these ideas about some big mountain experience, about camping at the base of Mount Shasta and having God peel back the heavens and answer all the questions I had for Him. It turned out, as it had been with the man on his rooftop, that He wanted me to pray for the lost. And it was a simple (and beautiful!) motive He had. So my dream was dying, giving way to an even better one.

An excerpt from my journal that day: "Now to Him who does not give His glory to another be praise and honour and might and dominion forever and ever--He in whom I trust even now--especially now ... Amen." (Yeah, I guess I've been reading a lot of Paul lately.)

Jeremiah 13:16: "Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom."