If you’re being called out of the new age to follow Jesus, you may initially feel confused and frightened. Christianity is grounded upon repenting and having faith in the true Jesus of the Bible (as opposed to the “ascended master” false Jesus of the new age who is a permissive universalist). Jesus was fully God and fully man during his earthly ministry. As the sinless Son of God, Jesus died for us as the perfect substitute sacrifice for the sins that we have all committed. Jesus said that if we love him, we will obey his commands (John 14:15). We are saved by our faith in Jesus, not by our good works; however, when we’re saved, we want to obey God.
Here are some guidelines to help you navigate the early days of leaving the new age to follow Jesus. You can also watch this list in a video here: https://youtu.be/lwYkqGWENHs
- Get on your knees (unless it’s not physically/medically viable) and sincerely confess your known and unknown sins to God. Apologize and pray for him to forgive you. Pray for the strength to leave behind your idols and sins, and pray for God to give you wisdom and the ability to trust and love him. Pray for Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, and give your life to him. There is no one-size-fits-all script for these prayers. It’s best to pray from your heart sincerely. If you’re like me, you’ll cry buckets of tears during this process. You may doubt whether God could possibly forgive you. Rest assured that if you’re sincere in believing in Jesus and repenting, God will forgive you. However there will probably be consequences for your sins.
- Read the Bible daily. Pray for the Holy Spirit to illuminate Scripture for you. You can download the free ESV Bible app if you don’t own a physical Bible. It’s best to have your own physical Bible in one of these translations: NKJV, ESV, or NASB which are accurate formal translations. NLT is also a respected dynamic (thought-for-thought) translation which is in simpler more modern language for those who are new to the Bible. Avoid “The Passion,” “The Message,” and “New World Bible,” which are not true Bible translations.
Reading the Bible daily will help you to know, trust, and love God. One of the reasons why people are drawn to the new age is because they don’t know or trust God, and they try to control, predict, and manipulate their own future. If your career currently involves new age practices, keep reading the Bible and praying to learn how to lean upon God and trust him through the process of unraveling from the new age.
3. Read solid Bible commentaries to help you understand the Bible. I read EnduringWord.com and GotQuestions.org when I was first reading the Bible, as they’re both helpful free sites. I also was edified by David Guzik’s commentary books. I currently read commentaries from R.C. Sproul during my morning personal Bible study. Other helpful commentary authors include Matthew Henry and Charles Spurgeon.
4. Join or watch online Bible studies with respected teachers such as Joel Beeke, Alistair Begg, Sinclair Ferguson, John MacArthur, Steven Lawson, Costi Hinn, David Guzik, Michelle Lesley, Susan Heck, and Chris Quintana. Good resources on Facebook to help you trust the Bible include Dan Wallace, Alisa Childers, Christ is the Cure (Nick Campbell) and Wesley Huff. MichelleLesley.com has a list of teachers to avoid, along with articles backing up the reasons why we should avoid them.
5. Find a solid local church. MichelleLesley.com has a search to help you find a solid church near you.
6. Join online support groups called “from new age to Christianity.” There are several groups for this topic, to offer you guidance on godly living, and ways to deal with issues related to leaving the new age. Since most of us lose our friends when we leave the new age, these groups can help with loneliness. If you’re coming out of a false church, there are also Facebook support groups to help you with recovery, and learning how to discern. I highly recommend Marcia Montenegro’s Christian Answers for the New Age website and Facebook page.
7. Throw away or burn your idols. Pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you in knowing what items to throw away or burn. These items represent your financial investment in new age deception, and you may be reluctant to throw them away. Please resist the urge to sell or donate the items, because you’d then to be passing along the sinful objects to others.
Acts 19:19 in the Bible discusses a huge bonfire in which 50,000 silver coins worth of sorcery items were burned by new Christians. Keeping new age items in your home can lead to increased spiritual warfare, and they could tempt you. So, it’s not worth it to keep them.
The items to dispose of include any new age, witchcraft, false religion, or occult book. Some people keep these books for reference, but it’s not recommended for a new Christian.
You also might be in a position where your spouse or roommate owns these items. My husband has some angel paintings and a “knights templar” statue in his office. He knows that I don’t like the items, but he says that he’s not worshipping them as idols and he is choosing to keep them. So, I just stay out of his office. My mother, who lives with us, has Christian Science books and she hangs onto some of my old books because they mentioned her in a favorable way. She also knows that I don’t approve of Christian Science and my old books, but she chooses to keep these items in our house. So, I stay away from her bookshelf. In other words, get rid of your items, and avoid the items if someone else in your home has them.
Other new age items to throw away or burn include: crystals if they were used as idols (meaning, that you saw them as having special powers apart from God); wands; pendulums; oracle-divination-tarot cards; Ouija boards; “sacred geometry” objects, clothing, or jewelry; oil blends that promised “magical” solutions (such as “abundance”); images that would distract you from Jesus and the Bible; occult ceremonial objects such as candle magic; and vision boards; and sage if you burned it like an idol.
The new age culturally appropriates items and practices from other religions, and uses them as idols, so please also throw away or burn dream catchers; statues or paintings of idols; “evil eyes;” mandalas; yoga mats; mala beads; drums used in drumming circles; and any drugs (natural or not) used for vision quests or journeying.
Please throw away or burn any of my old products – angel cards, new age books, etc. I am SO sorry that I ever wrote those materials. I pray for the day when other people will stop selling these materials (I don’t sell them, and have asked others not to).
Delete all new age apps from your phone and iPad, including new age music. Go through your social media follow and friends list, and unfollow or hide any new age accounts. Resist the urge to immediately announce that you’ve converted to Christianity. Wait a bit until you’re more grounded in God’s Word, so you can deal with the inevitable push-back. When you do talk with your friends about your Christian faith, avoid arguments. Instead, share the Gospel within the conversation and/or while praying aloud with them.
9. If you sense the presence of demons, know that this is unfortunately “normal” spiritual warfare that all Christians endure. The demons get angry and retaliate when people stop following them to follow Jesus instead. Please don’t try to cast out demons yourself, even if you say “in Jesus’ name.” The demons will outsmart you. Instead, call upon your Lord and Savior Jesus and pray for him to cast out the demons. Study the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18. Also, play audios of the Bible in your home so that you can sleep. The free ESV Bible app has an audio option that my husband and I use in our home. Pastor Jim Osman’s book, “Truth or Territory” is an excellent biblically sound handbook for dealing with spiritual warfare.
10. Reach out for help as you go through issues related to your conversion to Christianity (persecution, being shunned, loneliness, etc.), first by reading your Bible and praying for God’s help, and secondly by asking a mature Christian friend, pastor, or church elder for help.
Doreen Virtue was the top-selling new age author at the largest new age publisher, when Jesus called her out of the new age. She writes about leaving the new age in “Deceived No More,” available at: https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/deceived-no-more-book/ – the updated Chapter 9 is available at DoreenVirtue.com, and Thomas Nelson publishers is updating Chapter 9 in the book.
Doreen is not selling any of her previous new age materials; however, other people unfortunately continue to sell these books and cards against Doreen’s wishes. Please don’t buy them. If you own any of Doreen’s new age materials, she requests that you please dispose of them.
You can contact Doreen through Instagram.com/DoreenVirtue direct messages. Due to the large volume of mail that she receives, there may be a delay in her reply.