Contact: Mary Kuper, 619-972-2221, marykuper7@yahoo.com

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 27 /Christian Newswire/ -- Did self-proclaimed personal-success strategist James Arthur Ray reveal a flaw in his teachings on the principles of the The Secret (Rhonda Byrne, Atria Books, 2006) during his "spiritual warrior" spiritual cleansing ceremony at a new-age sweat lodge in Sedona this month where three attendees died, another in critical care, and 19 hospitalized?

"Yes." says San Diego megachurch pastor and best-selling author Dr. Jim Garlow, author of The Secret Revealed; Heaven and the Afterlife; and New York Times bestseller Cracking DiVinci's Code.

"Byrne's The Secret prominently features the teachings of James Arthur Ray, even including him in the 'Biographies' section at the end of the book. Many people do not realize how truly bizarre the central theme of The Secret really is," said Garlow. "They mistakenly think it is just another self-help, positive mental attitude book. It is not!"

"Byrne claims that people can project their thoughts into the universe like some sort of a radio transmitter." Garlow said "Then the universe is bound, according to The Secret, to give them things based on those thoughts. Succinctly said, this is totally bogus."

Garlow further stated: "Byrne -- and others who teach such things -- might be sincere, but they are sincerely wrong. The tragedy is not merely that people died, as horrible as that is. What is more preposterous is that there are still people willing to defend the rampant flaws of the message of The Secret. There will be many more casualties -- emotional, financial and otherwise -- of this dangerous and highly flawed system of thought."

James Arthur Ray uses the principles of the "Law of Attraction" found in The Secret during his wealth-building seminars and ceremonies for achieving personal success, claiming that "the Universe" is saying, "Your wish is my command."

Was "the Secret" applied during the spiritual cleansing ceremony within the destructive confines of the new-age sweat lodge where three people perished? If so, it surely did not work.

Garlow, who is heard on 770 radio outlets daily in the one-minute commentary "The Garlow Perspective," coauthored with Rick Marschall an exposé of Rhonda Byrne's The Secret. Entitled The Secret Revealed it was published by FaithWords, a division of Hachette Book Group, the second-largest publisher in the world.

Garlow, who has granted more than 700 interviews on many historical, theological, and political topics, is available for an interview regarding this highly visible national story by contacting Mary Kuper at (619) 972-2221 cell marykuper7@yahoo.com or Tracy Burger (619) 660 5000 x5404 TBurger@SkylineChurch.org.