A Course in Miracles Enlivens Christianity

Everyone who looks carefully sees a man in the cloud photo above. Some may even imagine they are seeing a man sitting yoga style. Christians might envision Jesus blessing the earth. Christians who have ears to hear, who have opened their spiritual inner hearing, could also be aware of a still small voice happily reminding them that Christianity is alive because Jesus is alive. A few might laugh and rejoice and shout "Amen!" as they suddenly are certain without doubt that Jesus is now and always enlivening Christianity.

Clearly Jesus teaches simply by being who I AM. By feeling His presence as us, His wordless teaching prepares us for and lifts us into His Kingdom. Also for those who have ears to hear, His teaching becomes a course of instruction, actual words of preparation which keep Christians and therefore Christianity vibrantly alive.

Just as Christianity would be dead without the presence of Jesus, Christianity is dead without A Course in Miracles.

To be sure, a majority of Christians may never study the unique version of His course which Jesus gave to Helen Schucman in an attempt to satisfy her secret desire to integrate her complex psychology-oriented mindset with her natural spiritual impulses. The version of His course heard inside by most people is surely far more simple. Yet Jesus provides a version for everyone.

"There is a course for every teacher of God. The form of the course varies greatly. So do the particular teaching aids involved. But the content of the course never changes. Its central theme is always, 'God's Son is guiltless, and in his innocence is his salvation.'

"This is a manual for a special curriculum, intended for teachers of a special form of the universal course. There are many thousands of other forms, all with the same outcome.

"Certain pupils have been assigned to each of God's teachers, and they will begin to look for him as soon as he has answered the Call. They were chosen for him because of the form of the universal curriculum that he will teach is best for them in view of their level of understanding." (A Course in Miracles: Manual for Teachers)

The versions being taught in Christianity may differ greatly, but without the universal course given by Jesus Christianity is dead.

Yet we know Christianity is alive, very much alive. The feeding tubes have not been removed. Even if we were to seem in a coma for years, the Holy Spirit does not cut off our nourishment.

Churches are not like governments. Churches cannot put a gun to your head to enforce non-voluntary taxation and say, "Give us your money, or else!" Churches have to offer something genuinely of value in order to appeal to people and attract voluntary monetary support. Unlike governments, whose use of force and threat of force removes the feeding tubes from every truly spiritual effort, substituting instead headaches, heartaches and death, churches grow big and influential by offering delightful spiritual nourishment.

Last year Outreach Magazine highlighted America's largest and fastest growing congregations, choosing five in particular to profile: Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas; Christ's Church of the Valley in Peoria, Ariz.; The L.A. Dream Center in Los Angeles, Calif.; Calvary Chapel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Although the Outreach article practically apologized for the existence of these churches by including tired and worn government-worshippers' terms like "societal benefits," it is clear that these huge gigachurches really offer spiritual nourishment, spiritual preparation, and a heightened spiritual experience. To quote from the article:

"From indications I have received from Catholic sources and major media leaders, the largest U.S. churches today are no longer Catholic churches. They are evangelical, Pentecostal, denominational and independent churches. Sixty of the churches on the Largest list are denominational churches while 40 are independent. Twenty-three are Baptist, 20 are non-charismatic independent churches, and 20 are charismatic independent churches."

If you were to listen to one of Pastor Joel Osteen's televised talks from the 27,000 member Lakewood Church, largest single congregation in the country, guess what you would hear. You would hear A Course in Miracles!

Dr. Don Wilson of Christ's Church of the Valley talks about the need for a personal encounter with God. He writes: "Maybe you have tried to find happiness and fulfillment through acquiring possessions or wealth, tried to escape through the use of drugs and alcohol, or tried to find peace through various religions or self-help programs. All of these will fail without knowing and accepting the life-changing message of Jesus Christ." He might as well be quoting the Course.

See if you can hear the Course of Jesus in this statement of Calvary Chapel of Ft. Lauderdale: "Calvary Chapel has been formed as a fellowship of believers in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed to His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not a denominational church, nor are we opposed to denominations as such, only to their overemphasis of the doctrinal differences that have led to the division of the body of Christ."

The revelation given by Jesus to Helen Schucman and the proliferation of megachurches and gigachurches since that time are not unrelated accidents. Jesus is alive and well, and so is His teaching. None of these modern Christian ministers will confess (nor should they confess) to teaching Helen's version, but they all desire nothing more than to teach the most useful version possible in their surroundings. And that's the way Jesus wants it.

Maybe you love the wording Jesus gave to Helen and haven't yet learned to see the enormously influential presence of Jesus in other outreaches of Christianity and in the Bible. Or maybe you are an otherwise joyfully heart and soul Christian who cannot yet surrender to the possibility that Jesus would give a version of His teaching as revelation to a Jewish psychiatrist. In either instance, Jesus asks you to open your mind and see that Christianity is Christianity. It is not the form of the teaching that matters, not the particular words used, but the presence of Jesus.

Without A Course in Miracles Christianity is dead. But joyously, Christianity is not dead. The teaching of Jesus is star-bursting forth as never before.

Whether you prefer to think "end times" or "end of time," there is no reason to exclaim anything other the words we heard Easter morning: