Jesus Calling by Sarah Young & Other Christian Devotional Books

Hello, and thanks for watching this video. We're going to be talking about devotional books. In particular, Sarah Young's book titled, Jesus Calling. So Jesus Calling is one of the most popular devotional books of all time.

I think it has sold more than 15 million copies. So here's the problem with that and devotional books in general. One potential problem is that Christians read them instead of the Bible. And devotionals, with some exceptions, most of them are very one-dimensional.

They're meant to encourage you, make you feel good. And that's not all bad, but because that's their goal, that's their aim, they only focus on certain parts of the Bible while ignoring everything else in Scripture.

And again, if a Christian is reading a devotional book, that's not necessarily bad, but because of the nature of devotionals and because some people put them ahead of the Bible or in place of the Bible, I mean, at best, you're going to be out of balance, and at worst, it might end up communicating a false view of who Christ was because it's only focusing on the good.

Now, as far as Sarah Young's book, Jesus Calling, the reason I'm doing this video is I've had some concerns about devotional books for a long time. And again, there are some good books out there, I want to be clear on that.

But Sarah Young, her book is the most popular of all. And just recently, she has passed away, so a lot of people have been talking about this. And I ran into someone recently who's actually reading this book.

So if that individual or someone else watching this video, if you like Jesus Calling or you read devotionals, don't take this as criticism. Rather, as a pastor, I know that some of these things can be sort of a stumbling block.

And I care about your spiritual well-being, so hopefully you'll at least consider what I have to say. And I'll also say this, that sometimes you can take a step in the right direction and God can even use some of these things that are not so great because someone is being drawn by the Lord.

So they read a devotional, they listen to a preacher, and maybe that preacher... For example, I think somebody could benefit from hearing a Benny Hinn sermon where he's preaching the Gospel. You know, it's not like if you've read Sarah Young's book for a month or you've listened to a Benny Hinn sermon that you've done something wrong and they're trying to make you feel guilty or that's bad.

Well, no, but God can use anything. But if you listen to Benny Hinn on an ongoing basis, that is spiritually harmful. And yeah, some of these devotionals can be harmful if they do end up taking the place of the Word of God.

The Origin of Jesus Calling and Its Connection to God Calling

So let's just focus in on Jesus Calling. Sarah Young, according to her, she says this, that she based her book on a different book titled God Calling. When her book, Jesus Calling, was originally published, she made reference to this.

This book that came out a long time ago by two female authors, God Calling, but later editions of Jesus Calling, she has removed her statements about that being her motivation. So we have to look at first, what is this book, God Calling?

That's the title. Well, it was a book written by two anonymous listeners. That's what you will find if you look into this. They don't say two anonymous authors because the women who wrote God Calling, they said we're not the authors.

Basically, they sat down, pen in hand, and they claimed that they were just listening and God gave them the words. It was a form of automatic writing. So what people are saying, and I've done some research into this, the authors or listeners for God Calling, Sarah Young's inspiration, they apparently used the occult practice of automatic writing in order to receive their messages.

The Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs, published by Christian publisher Harvest House, describes God Calling as a channeled New Age book that was spiritually dictated by a deceptive spirit pretending to be the real Jesus Christ.

Christian authors and apologists, John Weldon and John Ankerberg, explained that channeling is a form of New Age mediumship, which the Bible clearly defines as a forbidden practice according to Deuteronomy 18, 9 -12.

Sarah Young's Claim to Receive Messages from God

Now was Sarah Young aware of this? We can't say for sure, but after she received that criticism, we do know that her praise for the book God Calling, saying that was her inspiration, she scrubbed that from all of her material.

But that doesn't change the fact that Jesus Calling only exists because Sarah Young had a deep desire to hear from God outside of the Bible, just like the authors of God Calling did. So in her own words, Sarah Young said, this is a quote from Sarah Young, I began to wonder if I could receive messages during my times of communing with God.

I had been writing in prayer journals for years, but that was one-way communication. I did all the talking. I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more. So listen to what she said, I know God speaks to us through the Bible, but I wanted more.

So that's the big problem. Not only with this book, Jesus Calling, it's a problem for everyone who, instead of reading the Bible, they want to search for spiritual truth elsewhere, maybe in devotionals.

They're searching for spiritual truth elsewhere apart from God's Word, or they read the Bible as well and they conclude it's just not enough. So that's the big problem that's staring you in the face. Jesus himself said in Matthew 4, 4, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Peter also says in his second epistle, chapter one, that the Lord has given us all that we need for life in godliness. And then the apostle goes on to explain the utmost importance of scripture and how it is all the Word of God.

So the Bible is not the Word of man, it is the Word of God. Well, Jesus Calling, it's the Word of man, or it's the Word of woman. So that's the other big problem, maybe the most obvious problem of Jesus Calling.

Why Jesus Calling Raises Prophetic and Canonical Concerns

Sarah Young, in her book, she writes the words first person as if she is God. For example, this is an excerpt from her devotion for September 24th. Sarah Young writes, gradually you will become more aware of me.

My peace will permeate your words and demeanor. This is the path I have set before you. Did Jesus say that? No, Sarah Young did. But the idea is, this is supposed to be Jesus speaking first to Sarah Young, then she wrote it down, sold the book, and now it's Jesus speaking to you through Sarah Young.

So this is a problem. Sarah Young wrote this book and in it, she is speaking for God. She sets it forth as these are the words of Christ. This is the message of Christ. So the argument that her critics are making, and I'll tell you my view in a moment, but this is what the critics of Jesus Calling are saying.

They're saying, Sarah Young, if she's really hearing from Jesus, if she's really receiving this message from the true Christ, she's a prophet of God. And that would mean her words, this book, is on par with the Holy Bible.

Because if they're the words of Christ, and that's the other thing, if Jesus Calling is truly the words of Christ, the message of Christ, why wouldn't you add it to the Scripture? It can be 3 John, Jude, Revelation, Jesus Calling.

Just tack it on. No, nobody's doing that, thankfully. But it is a reasonable question. If it truly is the message of Christ, then that would make her a prophet and you should tack on her writings to the Bible.

But here's the thing, if they're not the words of Christ, which I'm just going to say they're not, there's no evidence that they are, but her critics would say if they're not the words of Christ, then she is not hearing from Jesus.

She's not hearing messages from God, but she says they're from Jesus. That would make, actually make her a false prophet. Okay, now I know a lot of people would hear that and dismiss it and say, oh, come on, you're getting a little too technical.

She isn't actually saying that her words are the real message of Christ. Well, I don't know. I mean, it seems like that's what she's saying, but I will admit I have not done enough research for myself to say one way or another.

But at best, given that what she is, that is what she is doing, at least on the surface, as a pastor, I would definitely discourage anyone from reading her book. Okay, that's a best case scenario. At worst, again, there have been some very well-respected Bible teachers who have looked into this, and they are deeply troubled by what they discovered, and some have even brought charges of heresy.

So I'm not going to bring that charge. If I'm going to make an argument like that, I feel like I have to back it up. I need to be able to back it up myself. I don't feel like I can do that at this point, but you can look into this for yourself.

There's plenty of material out there, Sarah Young, in her own words. You can read the book. Well, actually, I wouldn't recommend that, but my point is, my position is, as a pastor, I'm going to discourage anyone from reading Jesus Calling.

My advice would be, you probably know what my advice would be, yeah, read the Bible. So that's what I would tell my congregation, and that's what I'm telling you here in this video. Read the Bible for yourself.

Devotional Books as Supplements, Not Replacements, for Scripture

Now, on to devotional books in general. If you're going to read a devotional book, one I would recommend is Morning and Evening by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. That's a good devotional, but even with that, it should be a supplement to the Bible.

It should never replace the Word of God. So before I close, what about other devotionals? Another big one is Our Daily Bread. Going back to what I said at the beginning, again, I would avoid Jesus Calling for sure, but something like Our Daily Bread, I've never seen or heard anything that would raise any real concerns, but just some general advice.

Number one, devotionals, yeah, they do tend to be very one-dimensional, so you need more than that, which leads to number two. Two, at best, devotionals are supplemental to the Word of God, and number three, at worst, devotionals can actually act as competitors to the Word of God.

So in conclusion, you need to be reading the Bible for yourself. If you have a good devotional that you want to add on to that, fine, just be careful, but the Bible is the Word of God. Devotionals are the words of men.

So read the Bible for yourself. If you can get into a good Bible study, ideally where the leader of the group is doctrinally sound and you can ask him questions and get answers, and hopefully you could do that through your local church, that you're plugged into a good Bible-believing church where the pastor opens the Bible and preaches from the Bible.

Remember, there is no substitute for the Word of God. And all God's people said, Amen. Thanks for listening, and until next time, may the Lord be with you, and have a great day.