It's true.  Madonna is now reading the Bible.  Well, at least she is reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, sort of. 

    Recently, as I was reading the news, I saw an article titled, "Madonna raising Malawi."  Malawi is a little country in the heart of Africa.  It is reported to be the poorest country in the world that is not war-torn.  It is here that Madonna has been in the news recently attempting to adopt a beautiful four year old girl named Mercy.  The adoption was originally rejected by the authorities, but just recently, it was just finished.  The child was flown from Malawi into London.  What was the first thing this new Mom and Daughter did.  They had a family outing of course.  They went to the London Kabbalah centre.

    The Kabbalah centre, are you familiar with Kabbalah.  This is the new mystic religion that Madonna attributes to her new perspective on life.  It is this new perspective that has inspired her to raise millions to help Malawi.  The things that she is doing is going to help many people in Malawi.  Mercy, Madonna's newly adopted little girl, will no longer be raised in the Christian faith as she was in Malawi, but she will now be raised in Kabbalah.

    Kabbalah is a mystic religion that has some foundation in the Judeo traditions.  It is the idea that God is un-knowable, impersonal, but God has left secret messages hidden in the Torah that can be found by using codes.  You may have heard some things related to Kaballah and the Bible code.  Codes are formed in so many different ways.  For example, one code may take every 70th letter of the Torah and from this create words and 'messages' from God.  Many so called prophecies have come forth out of the teachings of Kabbalah.

    The problem with Kabbalah is that it teaches that God is above existence and has no attributes, but is simply a force that all should attempt to return to.  God is not a personal God, but a hidden God.  It is believed that all humans are good, but there is darkness within them that is characterized by imperfection.  So it is the belief of Kabbalah that perfection is the path to God.  But you have to develop this perfection before you can find God because He is hidden.  The thought of required perfection to gain access to God might seem overwhelming until you consider the next precept of Kabbalah: Perfection is found in happiness achieved through good deeds.  If you have found enough joy in doing good deeds, then you earn the possibility of encountering God.  You must sit in silent contemplation attempting to forget everything of this world and if you are successful, you might reach a state of complete bliss and you will see God.  This is the hope of Kabbalah.  Yet, how hopeless!

    Some leaders of this type of mysticism claim to have reached this state of euphoria once a year.

    I am amazed at how the Devil can use the first five books of the Bible that clearly reveal to us a 'personal' God who knows our name and comes to us when we are yet so far from perfection.  He loves us, cares for us, and heals us.  The Torah teaches us that God spoke with Adam and Eve and made a covenant with Abraham saying, "I will be your God and you will be my people."  Time and again, the Torah reveals a God who does not hide Himself, but reveals Himself on a personal level, not some generic spiritual, mystical level.  Kabbalah uses these words of personal revelation to decode secret messages from this mystical God. These messages do not reveal God as a loving Savior, but as a prize to be captured.  How sad it is to reduce God to a trophy to be placed on shelf of our soul!

    It could be said that Madonna has conquered the culture of our society and now she seeks to hunt down this elusive God through good deeds and emptying contemplation.  She is searching for a God that can bring a moment of bliss once or twice a year if she really concentrates well.  How wonderful would it be to introduce her to Jesus Christ who runs to the broken-hearted; who sings over His children like a Loving Father; who calls out our name when we have no strength to call on Him.  She is reading the book, but she is blind to the Author.