Greetings!
INVESTIGATING AN ILLUSION
By Dr. Stephen Phinney
Have you tried to investigate an illusion?
An illusion by proper definition is
an instance of a wrong or misinterpreted perception of sensory experience.
Years ago I had a counselee that was a professional illusionist. He faked everything from his marriage to disappearing a semi-truck in a Los Vegas show. He was considered
one of the best
in his field
. After the counseling process was complete, and leading him to Christ, I asked the BIG question.
How do you do it?
To my surprise, he invited me into the world of magicians. In fact, after teaching me the
tricks of his trade,
I participated in one of his great illusions – he “caused me” to disappear and reappear in front of three separate audiences. The training paid off. We sent an inquisitive audience into absolute amazement.
What’s their secret?
One of the first things he taught me was Magicians create illusions by taking advantage of how humans perceive stimuli and process the information you give them. In their profession, it’s called
neuroscience. In fact, many historians believe Magicians were the first to engage in neuroscience. You most likely have heard the phrase
the hand is quicker than the eye.
That is not an illusion! It is the point of entry to an illusion. Their secret? They harness the foibles of the human brain. Foibles are weaknesses or eccentricity in someone’s character. A professionally trained illusionist knows it is NOT a
sleight of hand
but rather a
sleight of mind.
Taking advantage of perception over that of sight sensory. An illusionist doesn’t limit themselves to one method at a time, and often, play multiple techniques off one another. They use the most common human dependence (sight sensory) as the contrast to make objects appear to disappear. This method is called
diverting the attention to neurological blindness.
Since an illusionist is a masterful manipulator
of attention, they can easily direct an audience to look away to a location where the trick is not occurring. At the moment this is accomplished, the
smoke and mirrors
come into play – the crafted technique to perform the illusion. This is where we see the real genius at work. The illusion itself is a collection of mastery skills, not magic. To summarize this for you, a professional illusionist has mastered one simple fact in science. When the brain focuses attention on one thing, the brain is required by our Creator to shut out other information. Scientifically speaking, neuron activity by stimulus will inhibit its “neighbors,” preventing them from sending signals related to other stimuli; this “phenomenon” is called
lateral inhibition
. Yes, this is real science. This is the portal for all illusionist to perform their “phenomenon of exploitation.”
Now you see it, now you don’t
.
Since my training, I have performed hundreds of illusions and I might add, few have failed. I use this “science” to teach listeners/observers how Satan makes use of the weaknesses in God’s created beings – after the fall. He is able to divert the attention of an entire culture (audience) to
neurological blindness
. This is why he is referenced by our Biblical writers as the
master deceiver,
magician
.
What does all this have to do the Post-Truth church?
Everything actually!
Since the average Christ-follower perpetuates
seeing is believing,
our enemy, Satan, is easily able to shift the focal-point onto the issues surrounding Christianity versus authentic Christianity itself. In science, it is called
joint attention.
As with magicians, he can use joint attention to his advantage by looking up from his real deception to meet a spectator’s expectation. It is the oldest methodology of deception know to man and beast.
Another
trick of the trade
I was taught was the use of humor. In science, it is proven that
humor suppresses attention/core beliefs
. Satan has used this madness to accomplish most of his deceptions.
Have you wondered why “Christians” are known for paying good money to watch evil movies, play demonic video games, listen to off-colored comedians, laugh at pain (slap-stick humor) or worst yet, shift their faith to social justice issues?
Accepted humor causes accepted values
and accepted values are what forms a worldview. Satan cannot develop the post-truth church of his end times (church of Laodicea) without shifting the masses from absolute Truth to relative values about Truth. If any being knows the seriousness of the following passage, it is Satan.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth
. (Revelation 3:15-16)
It is of no surprise that these verses are classified as
the most ignored verses in the Bible
. This is evidence that the great magician has accomplished his greatest illusion. This single passage ear-marks one of the most grievous acts Jesus is required to do by His Father. Satan knows this! Let’s piece this down:
The illusion?
To disappear the authentic Church of absolute Truth. As you should know, he will never be able to disappear/remove the real Church of absolute Truth. What we can disclose is, his ability to shift the minds of these “believers” from absolute Truth to relative (illusion) values.
The object on the magician’s table is the authentic Church. While having a firm grasp on the authentic Church in his right hand, he manipulates his observers to look at the object in his left hand – social justice issues and/or issues surrounding absolute Truth. While fully knowing that the values of absolute Truth will cause
neurological blindness
to the object in his right hand, his illusion remains in play. This illusion gives him time to remove the real Church from plain sight. Once the illusion is successfully concluded, he places what he had in his left hand on the table as the primary focal point, which requires Jesus to spit them out of His mouth.
Can you think of a better illusion for Satan to perform?
Our present-day Social Gospel is what Satan has in his left hand. The fabric of the Social Gospel is made up of the values and “talking points” OF absolute Truth. Since most “believers” are interested in flaunting their opinions about their self-perceptions of “truth,” the masses will find it more acceptable to have their ears tickled by the magician.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
(2 Timothy 4:3-4)
My paraphrase:
For the time will come when they will not endure absolute doctrines, but after their own lustful opinions they store up for themselves magicians, needing to have their ears tickled, they shall turn away from the authentic Church, and shall be turned to the illusions in the left hand of the magician.*
*The difference between dark magic and illusions is, illusionist that practice dark magic invite a demonic force into the act – Satan uses both. This is why we should never make it a practice to be entertained by an illusionist.
Until next time...
Stephen Phinney
