Definition:
(Encyclopedia):
"a label that has been used to refer to a particular subset of Christians who
are rethinking Christianity against the backdrop of Postmodernism....
Emerging Church
groups have typically contained some or all of the following elements:
-
Highly
creative approaches to worship
and spiritual reflection. This can involve everything from the use of
contemporary music and films through to liturgy or other more ancient
customs. ...
-
A
flexible approach to theology
whereby individual differences in belief and morality are accepted within
reason.
-
A more
holistic approach to the role of the church in society. This
can mean anything from greater emphasis on fellowship in the structure
of the group to a higher degree of emphasis on social action, community
building or Christian outreach.
-
A desire to
reanalyse the Bible against the
context into which it was written...."
Psalm 119:11
Peter Drucker:
"Every few hundred years in Western history there occurs a sharp transformation....
Within a few short decades, society rearranges itself -- it's worldview; its
basic values: its social and political structures; its arts; its key institutions.
Fifty years later, there is a new world. And the people born then cannot
even imagine the world in which their grandparents lived.... We are currently
living through just such a transformation. It is creating the post-capitalist
society.... " The Post Capitalist Society,
1993; page 1.
October 2009
The Process of Reimagining Christianity:
"What Pagitt is describing is a contextual theology; that is, don't
use the Bible as a means of theology or measuring rod of truth and standards
by which to live; and rather than have the Bible mold the Christian's life,
let the Christian's life mold the Bible. ...instead of just one person
preaching truth or teaching biblical doctrine, everyone can have a say
and thus come to a consensus."
See
Who defines the Kingdom of
God?
Remember how ancient
Israel sought foreign gods and rejected the true God who cared for them?
Consequently, they were exiled to Babylon, but a remnant of faithful Jews
returned after 7 decade. Today the evangelical church is trading His truth
for a liberal political agenda and interfaith "gods," and we already see
the cultural decay of a nation that is rejecting God's wisdom and protection.
The Catholic church just started the process much earlier.
X-MEN: Marked for life:
"Not unlike the society and church of our times, during Ezekiel's ministry
Judah found herself in a moral and spiritual 'melt down.' Fraud, violence,
adultery, and idolatry were running rampant amongst God's chosen people.
Idols had been set up in the Temple.... Yet in the midst of all those 'alternative
spiritualities,' and like the remnant of Elijah's day who refused to bow
their knee to Baal and kiss the idol god (1 Kings 19:18), some believers
preserved themselves to be holy unto the Lord. So the Lord instructed the
angel dressed in white to mark an "X" on the foreheads of the faithful,
a mark that would spare them from the coming divine judgment."
See
From Truth to a New Spirituality
August 2009
Carl Rogers: Father of the
Emergent Culture:
"Enormous transitions were made in the 1960s when Rogers, among others,
pioneered the advance of psychotherapeutic techniques and philosophies into
schools and society.... His use of language, his style, and his ideas have
so thoroughly permeated the culture, that it is now difficult to distinguish
them.
"
...the
typical, traditional Rogerian counseling session has no external
regulations because Self is seen as the center, the regulator,
the final criteria for behavior.... If the Self is not valued and given
consistent unconditional positive regard, then this creates anxiety....
Rogerian techniques profoundly and rapidly influenced pastoral counseling
across the entire theological spectrum....The focus shifted to 'meeting my
needs and exploring feelings. ... Feelings reigned supreme, and biblical
doctrine was the baby thrown out with the bathwater.... Christian leaders
embraced these techniques indiscriminately, without recognizing or
acknowledging the underlying foundation which denies absolutes."
See
From Truth to
a New Spirituality
The Emerging Church, Part 8:
Reinventing Clergy:
"The pastor-teacher role must be changed. Old authority structures must
be dismantled and new ones substituted. This all played out in a complicated
dialectic dance over a period of four decades. Emergent leader Phyllis Tickle
credits the small group structure for much of this change.... ...Pastors
evolved into touchy-feely advice-givers who could facilitate small groups.
It was at this point that sermons began to change shape from solid exegesis
of the Word of God to feel-good sermonettes that were loaded with pablum
and syrup. Gone was the Word of God, and its authority."
See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult
Revival
Fractals, Chaos Theory, Quantum
Spirituality, and The Shack:
"After the evening service, two more women approached me with similar stories.
One left Saddleback the previous year and the other had left a church she
had been attending for over thirty-seven years. This second woman, Jennifer,
had left because her former church was introducing a mixture of Purpose
Driven, church growth, and emerging church teachings....
"I
had described how The Shack's
author had introduced New Age concepts into his emotional novel about a
man's supposed encounter with 'God,' 'Jesus,' and the 'Holy Spirit' after
the brutal murder of his daughter. In the midst of his story, Young suddenly
introduces the foundational teaching of the New Age/New Spirituality/New
World Religion--that God is 'in' everything. The Shack's 'Jesus' told Mack--the
distraught father and main character in the novel--that God is 'in' all
things: 'God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through
all things.'" See
Deceived by a counterfeit
"Jesus"
Sweet, Spangler, and Quantum Spirituality:
"...the new semantics introduced by both New Age and Christian leaders -- what
had been called New Age Spirituality--would
now be a panentheistic
New Spirituality for a New
Era and a New Age.
Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren,
and other Christian leaders were slowly transitioning the church into New Age
teachings, but with clever new terms like
New Light leadership,
quantum spirituality,
New Spirituality and a New Worldview
that will -- for the 'good of the world' -- transition the church out of an
'Old Age'/biblical Christianity into the
emerging 'New Age' of a New Spirituality."
See
Who defines the Kingdom of God?
Postmodern Views & Churches.
Is 'The Church... the Hope of the
World'? [Bill Hybels
posed the question:]...'Do we still believe the local church is
the hope of the world?' You see, many Christians might look at that and not
realize they’ve been subjected to a
dialectic question designed
to alter their spiritual priorities and get them onboard an alternative agenda.
This is what trained facilitators do under the radar in many churches today.
But I would ask: Is that where your hope lies – in the local church?
Do you believe your church can save the world?... With one little question,
Bill Hybels took his audience’s attention and focus off of Jesus Christ – a
lost world’s only real hope – and placed it on a group of mere mortals calling
them the 'hope of the world.' Shall we give honor, glory and praise to the Bridegroom
or the bride? Will we follow the Good Shepherd or His sheep?
"Am
I suggesting that the local church is no place for Christians? Absolutely not!
They are the Christians! Or at least they are supposed to be. What I am saying
is that we need to stop putting our hope and faith in people and their self-exalting,
self-justifying, self-serving organizations and institutions, local or otherwise.
It’s time to start reading, learning, obeying and proclaiming God’s Word – all
of it – instead of snappy slogans, corny clichés, vain visions and the silly
strategies of men." See
Breaking Out of
the Box
July 2009
The Emerging
Church - Part 6: "Envisioning Emergence":
"The modern Emergent movement has adopted the idea of a common “dream”
for the future. Many leaders use the motif of
“God’s Dream” for describing this future utopian
kingdom of God on Earth that they are trying to
co-create. This is another point of convergence with the New Age
movement, which has used the term
“God’s Dream” in the same way." See
Who defines the Kingdom
of God?
Rick Warren, Leonard
Sweet, and Sweet's New Light Leaders:
"'Quantum spirituality bonds us to all creation as well .... This
entails a radical doctrine of embodiment of God in the very
substance of creation.'....While some Leonard Sweet defenders
have argued that Sweet's hybridized postmodern 'New
Light' apologetic flies right over the heads of 'old light'
"fundamentalist' types, the facts tell a much different story. What
I learned in reading
Quantum Spirituality is that Sweet is in the process of trying
to transform biblical Christianity into a quantum/postmodern/New
Light/New Age/New Spirituality. Without apology, Sweet writes that
he is part of a 'New
Light movement' and he describes those he especially admires as
'New Light leaders.'"
From Gnostic Roots to
Occult Revival
Good for Nothing Christians:
"Our churches are no longer places of respite from the world: they are
mirrors of it: the same dress; the same attitudes; the same carnality;
the same spirit; the same stubbornness; the same pride. Churches are
no longer bastions of truth: they are glorified social clubs or mere
corporations, where Christianity is never allowed to interfere with
business. Instead of being
watchmen on the wall,
our pastors are CEOs or, even worse, politicians. Popularity and personal
ambition far outweigh commitment to truth and an independent mind."
See
Don't conform to the world
June 2009
The Emerging Lie:
"Can you trust today's new evangelical leaders? ...More
interested in trends and politics than in obedience to God, they
are attempting to sway evangelical opinion using propaganda and
'divide and conquer' techniques. This is apostasy, a clear
'falling away' and it is radically changing what some people
believe."
See
Who defines
the Kingdom of God?
and
Deceptions
"Emergent" or "Emerging"?
Makes No Difference - Going in the Same Direction - Away from Truth
toward Deception:
"It was Alice Bailey... who said that the age of enlightenment (when
man finally sees that he is God) will come through the Christian church,
not around it.
"Ray
Yungen explains in his book, A Time of Departing: '...The various churches
would still have their outer trappings of Christianity and still use
much of the same lingo. If asked certain questions about traditional
Christian doctrine, the same answers would be given. But it would all
be on the outside; on the inside a contemplative [emerging] spirituality
would be drawing in those open to it."
See
Who defines the Kingdom
of God?
Stuck in a closet with Leonard
Sweet: "Rain
pelted the campus of the small Baptist university where futurist, historian
and author Leonard Sweet... was speaking at a regional pastor's conference.
... There, with only a few interruptions, we discussed pop culture....
"[RELEVANT magazine:]
You've said a bit in the past about the church needing to use the medium
of pop culture as a vehicle for the Gospel. Why is that?
"[Leonard Sweet:] Because
it's the Roman road;
it's
the road people are traveling on; it's the dominant
global culture. For
the church not to speak to pop culture, not to use images that come
from it and sounds that come from it, smells that come from it, well
... that's not being very incarnational ... In order to incarnate
Christ into the culture that is there, then we have to look to
redeem pop
culture.....
"[RM:] But the church in the last hundred years hasn't changed much.
"[LS:] And that's the reason it's been dying. It's been feeding off
fruit that's decaying and rotten; nobody wants to touch it except for
a few die-hards that
have grown used to the rancid odor."
May 2009
Early Experiential Emergents:
"'Deep sharing' in small groups
with 'emotional intimacy' characterized this movement."
See
From Gnostic Roots to
Occult Revival
The Emerging Church
- Circa 1970:
"The tasks ahead for Emergent Christianity include: --Wresting questions
of eternity away from its Greek 'timeless' bias.... --Wresting Imminence
(God in Creation) away from Pantheism (God is creation)... in
a Panentheistic approach (God is in All and All is in God).
... --Developing a new cosmology, a new universe story, based in
what the 'new' science is making known...and discovering the
Cosmic Christ within this story."
See
Who defines the Kingdom
of God?
Brian McLaren wants
end-time believing Christians "robustly" confronted:
If you are a Christian who believes that the Bible is God's inspired
Word and believe that Jesus Christ will be coming again, you are
being marginalized.... It is ironic that just
a week ago, the House of Representatives passed the HR1913
hate crimes bill,
which is supposed to deter hateful behavior toward others. Here,
McLaren... is speaking so hatefully about those who hold to biblical
beliefs....
"Tony
Campolo, in his book Speaking My Mind, says that 'rigid'
Christians who believe in the possibility of Jesus' soon return'
are 'the real problem for the whole world.'.... You see, in emerging
spirituality doubt and uncertainty are exalted, and the opposite
... certainty and faith -- are condemned."
See
Who defines the Kingdom
of God?
March 2009
Shack Author Rejects
Biblical Substitutionary Atonement:
"
When
The Shack was originally written and submitted to publishers,
it proclaimed ultimate reconciliation --'Christian' universalism
-- which is the belief that through Jesus all people go to heaven
-- Satanists, Mormons, Hindus....
January 2009
Memoirs of an Emergent
Church Victim: "The two pastoral search committee members
I spoke with assured me there would be no problem. Making certain
that a new pastoral candidate was firmly grounded in Scripture,
acutely aware of the Emergent Church, and stood squarely against
it would be at the top of the list of attributes to look for in
a new senior pastor. Hey -- they said they even had an Emergent
Church watchdog on the committee. What could go wrong?"
See
Breaking Out of the
Box
December 2008
Yahweh Yoga and the
Faithful Flow:
"I’ll bet you didn’t know that Christians can pray better standing
on their heads."
See
From Gnostic Roots
to Occult Revival
What Cizik's Resignation Means for
Creation Care:
"Conservative evangelicals who saw environmentalism as alarmism welcomed Richard
Cizik's resignation as the National Association of Evangelicals' Washington
lobbyist.... But evangelicals and scientists who had been working on 'creation
care' for several years saw it as a blow to their efforts. More than 50 evangelicals...
sent a letter to the NAE President Leith Anderson this morning, signaling their
support for Cizik's efforts....'" See
God's plan for the care of His creation
Not even the most persuasive teacher
can change the hearts of a people through welfare,
AIDS-programs, sophisticated leadership-training
or other humanitarian projects. Only the
true gospel -- made alive
by the Holy Spirit -- can bring
new life to a broken people.
October 2008
The New Look of Christian
Missions:
"Emerging spirituality is changing the way missions is being conducted.
The idea is that you can go for Jesus, but you don't have to identify
yourself as a Christian or part of the Christian church. This concept
spills over into some missionary societies too, where they teach
people from other religions they can keep their religion, just add
Jesus to the equation...."
See
God's Way versus our
ways
September 2008
New Emerging Network
From the Frying Pan into the Fire:
"To reach its objectives, Lausanne has turned to Rick Warren, who
will be at The Third
Lausanne
Congress on World Evangelization in South Africa in 2010.... To
see where Rick Warren
stands on the contemplative issue, one only needs to look as far
as Warren's list of recommended spiritual resources....
"Leighton
Ford... is also helping to bring about the goals of Lausanne. Ford
came out of the contemplative closet with his recent book, The
Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things. The
book offers a collection of quotes by and references to some of
the most prolific eastern-style meditation teachers, including....
priest Alan Jones
(Reimagining Christianity) ... [and] Steindl-Rast who suggested
that the Gospel 'gets in the way' between Christian and Buddhist
dialogue.
"Jay Gary is a link
in this emerging shift that should not be ignored. Today, he is
a member of and a speaker for the World Future Society where New
Age leader
Barbara Marx Hubbard is on the 'Global Advisory Council.' Interestingly....
Brian McLaren talks about Jay Gary in McLaren's own book, The
Secret Message of Jesus."
See
Who defines the Kingdom
of God?
September 2008
They Say the Emerging Church is
Dead The Truth Behind the Story:
"The writer of the Christianity Today article proclaims: 'It seems my informant's
prophetic word has come to pass. The emerging church is dead -- at least in
nomenclature, if not in spirit.' But nothing could be further from the truth.
And just as there has been a concerted effort by top New Age leaders over the
last decade or so to drop the term 'New Age' because of its negative exposure,
so too emerging church leaders want to drop the name of their movement, and
for the very same reason the New Agers are running from their term...."
"New
Age Sympathizer Leonard Sweet to Speak at Seventh Day Adventist Conference:
"Leonard Sweet, who promotes mysticism, christ-consciousness, and the 'New
Lights' movement that touts people like Matthew Fox, Ken Wilber, and other
mystic proponents, recently spoke at Rick Warren's Small Groups Conference.
Sweet states in his book
Quantum Spirituality
that the 'power of small groups is in their ability to develop the discipline
to get people 'in-phase' with the Christ consciousness (meaning the divinity
of man) and connected with one another (meaning interspirituality)."
See
Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan & UN
Goals - Part 1 of 3
'
August 2008
Green Like Envy: An
Ex-pagan Looks at Blue Like Jazz:
"A phenomenon in evangelical circles, Blue Like Jazz by Donald
Miller has sold over 800,000 copies and made the New York Times
bestseller list since its publication by Thomas Nelson Publishers
in 2003, and its popularity continues to grow. An icon in the burgeoning
Emergent Church movement, it attracts countless youth in contemporary
Christian culture. Seminarians nationwide are reading it avidly,
and some Christian ministries and pastors are even using it to evangelize.
Why? And what does that popularity reveal about evangelicalism today?"
See
Human Nature and
Who defines the Kingdom
of God?
The Emerging (Global)
Church.
Bridging the Gap Between
Good and Evil:
"The serpent's temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden, that we can
be like God, remains with mankind to this very day. Satan's plan is
to lessen or eliminate (he hopes) the gap between himself and God....
"'...Satan is not simply trying to draw people to the dark side of a
good versus evil conflict. Actually, he is trying to eradicate the
gap between himself and God, between good and evil, altogether.
When we understand this approach it helps us see why
Thomas Merton said everyone
is already united with God or why Jack Canfield said he felt God flowing
through all things. All means all -- nothing left out. Such reasoning
implies that God has given His glory to all of creation; since Satan
is part of creation, then he too shares in this glory, and thus is 'like
the Most High.'" See
From
Truth to a "New Spirituality"
July 2008
The Shack's Wayne Jacobsen
Resonates with Contemplative/Emerging Writers:
"William Paul Young is the official author of The Shack,
but Wayne Jacobsen is one of its editors. According to a New York
Times article, Jacobsen spent 16 months helping to rewrite the first
draft....
"The book refers to God as 'the ground of all being' that 'dwells
in, around, and through all things -- ultimately emerging as the
real' (p. 112) -- this is the ripe fruit of contemplative spirituality....
This description of God ... means that God is the essence of all
that exists.... New Age sympathizer, Sue Monk Kidd, would agree
with The Shack's definition of God -- in her book, First
Light, she says God is the graffiti on the building...."
June 2008
How "Everything Must
Change":
"I sat through session after session listening to the emergent 'gospel;'
complete with medieval chants and choruses of despair, apologies
to the Native American Indians of the St. Joseph River Valley, as
well as to 'Mother Earth' for scarring her through our mining and
oil drilling operations. The sarcasm with which traditional Scriptural
positions were discussed, coupled with repeated swipes at Christians
who were (in McLaren’s opinion) waiting to be 'snatched away,' 'evacuated,'
or 'beamed up,' brought one particular Scripture passage constantly
to my heart and mind...."
See
A Twist of Faith - Chapter 6
and
An Evangelical Manifesto for an Interfaith
World
May 2008
MacArthur interview:
The Emergent Church is a Form of Paganism:
"Paul Edwards: '...whenever people like you who are standing for
truth point out the error both in the emergent church and in the
seeker movement people will immediately run to 1 Corinthians 9
and begin screaming, 'You know Paul said, ‘I became all things
to all men,’ which means to the grunge I become as grunge, to
the Universalist I become as a Universalist.' But in 1
Corinthians 9 Paul isn’t saying that we compromise the message
and we become whatever the audience needs us to be in order to
make the gospel palatable.
"MacArthur: ... 'All he is saying is there’s a foundation in the
proclamation of the gospel with the Jew and there’s a different
starting point with the Gentile. If I’m going to evangelize a
Jew, I’m going to start with the Old Testament because that’s
the substantial basis.... Every time he evangelized Gentiles he
started with creation.... It’s not about identifying with their
lifestyle; it’s not about being able to converse about... every
R-rated movie and every Rap song..."
See
Evangelism
In the Name of Purpose
-- 'One God,” Many Paths:
"At the BWA [Baptist World Alliance]’s Centenary Congress, where
the recurrent theme was “unity, unity, unity,”13 the following statements
were made by Jimmy Carter and Rick Warren: 'One of the world’s most
prominent Baptists, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, said the
desire for oneness is a powerful force for global good. Differences
of belief -- even among Muslims, Jews and Christians -- are outweighed
by a common commitment ‘to truth…’ Carter said.'....
'“I don’t see many people interested in Christendom. But I see a
lot of people interested in God.' —Rick Warren."
April 2008
MacArthur: The Emergent Church is
a Form of Paganism: "John
MacArthur: Let me just cut to the chase on this one: [Doug]
Pagitt is a Universalist. What he was saying is real simple. He was saying
when you die your spirit goes to God and judgment means that whatever was not
right about you, whatever was bad about you, whatever was substantially lacking
about you, gets all resolved. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a Buddhist, a
Hindu or a Muslim—doesn’t matter whether you’re a Christian really; we’re all
going to end up in this wonderful, warm and fuzzy relationship with God. That’s
just classic universalism....
"He’s
not a pastor; he’s not a Christian; that’s not a church. When you call yourself
a Christian and you call yourself a pastor and you say you have a church, all
of that has to be—to be legitimate—defined biblically.... What you have here
is a form of false religion.… But the underlying bottom line of this whole emerging
movement is they don’t believe in any doctrine, they don’t believe in any theology.
They don’t want to be forced to interpret anything in scripture a certain way
and the out is, 'Well the Bible isn’t clear anyway.' In other words, we don’t
know what it means; we can’t know what it means. Brian McLaren says nobody has
ever gotten it right...."
McLaren
is wrong. The Holy Spirit reveals the true power and wonder of God's Word to
those who truly seek Him:
"'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for
those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit."
1 Corinthian 2:9-10
Jesus
said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden
these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes."
Matthew 11:25
Doug Pagitt, Rob Bell and the Seeds
of Compassion: "Doug
Pagitt, a leading spokesman for the Emergent Church, informs us about the
upcoming Seeds of The Global Family, oops, Compassion Event: The event features
The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu.... Seeds of Compassion is: An unprecedented
gathering to engage the hearts and minds of our community by highlighting the
vision, science, and programs of early social, emotional, and cognitive learning.
Anchored by the deep wisdom of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this community
– focused event will celebrate and explore the relationships, programs and tools
that nurture and empower children, families and communities to be compassionate
members of society.....
"And
what is some of this supposed 'deep wisdom' Guru Lama had for the Global Family:
Why, the 'religion' of the self—'as the Dalai Lama also said, ‘This is my simple
religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.’”
See
The Rising World Religion
March 2008
Brian McLaren to speak at World
Future Society: "Also
listed on this year's conference program is evangelical leader
Jay Gary, who has longtime associations
with the World Future Society.... Jay Gary and Brian McLaren have both been
actively eschewing
"doomsday" eschatologies....
"McLaren
writes disparagingly of biblical prophecy, using extremely incendiary language
and distortions: 'The Jesus of one reading of the Apocalypse brings us to a
grim resignation: the world will get worse and worse, and finally this jihadist
Jesus will return to use force, domination, violence, and even torture -- the
ultimate imperial tools -- to vanquish evil and bring peace." See
Ambassadors for Peace
“The Fall of the Evangelical Nation”
Endorsed by Brian McLaren:
“The author, Christine Wicker, seems to have something of a taste for the occult
and paranormal. Her previous two books are Lily Dale: The True Story of the
Town That Talks to the Dead, and Not in Kansas Anymore: A Curious Tale of How
Magic is Transforming America. Now she has taken it upon herself to announce
the demise of evangelicalism. This is how the book is being promoted by Harper
One.
"'Evangelical Christianity is dying.
The great evangelical movements of today are not a vanguard; they are a remnant,
unraveling at every edge. Conversions. Baptism. Membership... All are
down and dropping.... Wicker takes us deep inside this crumbling pillar of the
Religious Right..'
"This author
appears to be making some pretty bold statements, and it will be most interesting
to see her data...."
See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival
Hold the hellfire and
brimstone:
"A friend showed me an interesting cartoon that appeared in USA
Today bearing a caption that read: 'Study shows nearly half of U.S.
adults have switched or dropped their religions,' which included
a pensive couple standing in line at the U.S. Religious Beliefs
Cafeteria, where customers can pick and choose their favorite
doctrines and commandments from the sacred buffet. Pointing
to one of the selections, the male character in the drawing tells
the server behind the counter: 'I'll take that with a little less
hellfire and brimstone.'...
"When mama handed me a plate of food, I was expected to eat it -
all of it. If I said I didn't like something, I got an extra helping
of it. Consequently, I grew up consuming a lot of things I didn't
particularly care for, and in the process, digested some nutritious
lessons on life - most important being: What you like, isn't
necessarily what you need....
"Could that be why so many spiritually starving mega-churches today
have a fat and sassy feel to them - because members are getting
everything they want and nothing they need?"
See
God's unchanging Word
Unraveling emergent:
"Churches within the emerging community are committed to God in the way of Jesus.
...The emerging church is helping to articulate the call for Christianity to
go beyond mere belief in commands and into a life that’s in rhythm with God.
The Kingdom of God is a central
conversation in emerging communities.... And let me tell you 'Kingdom of God'
language is really big in the emerging church."
See
Who defines the Kingdom of God?
and
The true Kingdom of God
February 2008
Williams
'shocked' at Sharia row:
"The Archbishop of Canterbury is said to be overwhelmed by the 'hostility of
the response' after his call for parts of
Sharia
law to be recognised in the UK.... Among those critical of the archbishop
is... the Reverend Rod Thomas. [His statement may be a little confusing, but
it's important:] 'The moral values that we pursue are ones that we need
to know are clearly grounded, and it would be most helpful for the leader
of the Church to be able to explain to people how the values we cherish stem
from our Christian tradition.'"
Our beliefs and values do need
to be "clearly grounded" in God's Word, but even His Word is becoming increasingly
fuzzy these days. See the the next three links:
Lausanne World Pulse - Fresh
Expressions of Church in England
(Go to page 2): “A fresh expression is a form of church for our changing culture
established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any
church. First, it will come into being through principles of listening, service,
incarnational
mission
and making disciples. Second, it will have the potential to become a mature
expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church
and for its cultural context."
See the next link -- from page 3
of the same article:
Fresh Expressions of Church in England,
page 3: "Incarnational
mission is mission after the pattern and in the style of Jesus.... Nor do they
have in mind a particular set pattern of what a fresh expression will look like.
It is more like a journey that begins with listening to the context [not
to God's Word] and the wider community. It continues with loving service. As
people listen and serve, new communities where people come to faith are formed.
Only later does worship begin. The key elements are ...
incarnational mission...
and a sense of journey, growth and development.'...
"Our society
is now changing at such a rate that this kind of fresh expression of church
has moved from being highly desirable to vitally important if we are to connect
with more of our culture.... We have not, in recent years, been very good at
two key areas of theology—missiology and ecclesiology—that are vital to understanding
fresh expressions of church."
See
The Dopamine-Driven Church
January 2008
Deep Shift presenting [Brian McLaren's] Everything Must Change Tour:
"Something’s Going On. I feel it when... I read their emails or
letters, and see statements like these… • I’ve never felt like I
fit in the traditional church. • I love Jesus, but I’m not too
excited about Christianity.... • I’m not religious, and I’m not
that sure what 'spiritual' means - but I’m looking for
something, some way of life or pattern that makes sense of
things. • I used to be a pastor (or youth pastor, or church
leader, or active church attender) but something stopped
working.... We Are In Deep Shift."
See
Don't Be Deceived!
December 2007
What is "Rethinking"?
"In his... article entitled, "'Oprah
and Friends' To Teach Course on New Age Christ," former New
Age follower Warren Smith warned that a false Christ teaches a Course
in Miracles using the methods of 'mind training' and 'thought reversal.'...
"As we thumbed through
A Course in Miracles, we noticed that it physically resembles
a Bible. It is printed on fine-quality paper and is divided into
chapters and verses. There is a hefty Concordance of 1106 pages
that contains references to these 'verses.' It is very seductive,
in that it uses biblical terms and phrases repeatedly. But
intermixed throughout is pure New Age occultism....
"In the end, the Course
pupil will readily believe that 'Christ takes many forms with
different names' and agree that we are all 'co-creators'
. In fact... there is a startling doctrinal similarity between the
messages found in A Course in Miracles and the new theologies
of the Emergent/Emerging church movement.... Furthermore, the evangelical world has largely borrowed these same same psycho-spiritual
techniques of rethinking, with the same result that many
are now embracing new doctrines.... It is no wonder that Robert
Schuller can sponsor a
Rethink Conference
at his Crystal Cathedral and invite
big names from the evangelical world to attend."
See
From Gnostic Roots
to Occult Revival
November 2007
Doug Pagitt mocking
J. MacArthur
[Video]: "Listen to ‘Pastor’ Doug Pagitt in this clip as
he mocks and apologizes for Pastor John MacArthur’s Biblical
position on Yoga."
Be sure to continue
into the second part where
Pagitt shows his disdain for
Biblical Christianity during a brief conversation with the woman
behind the movie camera:
Pagitt, sounding
incredulous:
"It's just so weird,
isn't it, to hear people say stuff like that -- what he is saying?"
The woman:
"That's the
stuff right there that keeps younger people from going to church....
Everything is so black and white... are you kidding me?...
Pagitt
laughs sarcastically:
"If you want to relieve stress just go to the world of God... O
my goodness.... I apologize for him!" See also
Yoga and Mysticism
Rethinking Culture: "New Age leaders have their own plan for
building a kingdom, and they have their own 'God' and their own
'Christ.'' These New Theosophists have been working on
'rethinking' for decades, especially since Marilyn Ferguson
issued their basic thesis that 'A new world, as the
mystics have always said, is a new mind.' (The
Aquarian Conspiracy) In chapter 1 of her landmark book...
"Ferguson
included an interesting subheading entitled 'Seeing the Emergent
Culture' which claimed, 'We will construct bridges
between the old and new worlds.' Describing this process,
she explains how various projects and people will 'serve as
illustrations' as 'bits of a great mosaic, an
overwhelming new direction of human effort and the human spirit
at this point in history.'"
Evangelicals Embrace
New Future:
"This 'Continuing Consultation on Future Evangelical
Concerns'... brought in a leading New Age Theosophist,
Willis W. Harman....
It became a launching pad for bringing the New Age Movement into
the evangelical church. ... [I]n order to escape potential
persecution or rejection -- which might have happened if
evangelicals had boldly proclaimed God's prophetic future... --
these evangelical leaders chose to embrace an alternative
worldview...."
See
Transformation of
the Church
and
Mysticism & Global
Mind Change
October 2007
Rick Warren's latest
"P" - Promote Reconciliation:
"The 'P' in Rick Warren's
Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan has changed once again.
[At first, it was "Plant
churches].
It now means 'Promote reconciliation'....'Reconciliation'
is an interesting choice of words....
"
Brian
McLaren includes
a quotation in his 2006 book
The Secret Message of Jesus,
which seems to tie all of this together:
'The radical revolutionary empire
of God is here, advancing by reconciliation and peace....
It's time to change your thinking. Everything is about to change....
He describes the shed blood of Christ as achieving 'lasting reconciliation
between humanity and God,' but then goes a step further to apply
it to 'all the at-odds individuals and groups that comprise humanity.'
...'Christians with Jews and Muslims and Hindus...."
See
Biblical Oneness
September 2007
Children of the Inklings -- Emergent
“Christian” Fiction:
"In recent years, fiction aimed at Christians has exploded in the marketplace....
Saint by
Ted Dekker (Thomas Nelson, 2006), and Relentless (2006) and Fearless (2007)
by Robin Parrish (Bethany House) are three popular novels promoted by houses
considered major publishers for the Christian market. Dekker’s influence is
enormous. Recently he reached the million mark in sales.... Yet you won’t find
the Gospel or a Christian worldview in Saint or Parrish’s books; instead
their fictional worlds are drenched with dark fantasy, conflicts of supernatural
forces, and the promotion of
imagination as a conduit to special powers."
Yoga,
Mysticism & Moody Bible Institute:
"While many Christians think that yoga is ok if it is just practiced
as a physical exercise omitting the spiritual aspects, even Hindu
yoga masters say that you cannot separate the two. In one article
titled 'There is No Christian Yoga' by Hindu Yogi Baba Prem, Vedavisharada...
he states:
"'It was quite astonishing to see on the flyer 'Christian Yoga!
This Thursday night....' I could feel the wheels spinning in my
brain. 'Christian Yoga,' I thought. Now while Christians can practice
yoga, I am not aware of any Christian teachings about yoga. Yoga
is not a Judeo/Christian word! It is... certainly not a part of
protestant teachings.... It is a Hindu word, or more correctly a
Sanskrit word from the Vedic civilization. So how did we get 'Christian
Yoga'?"
See
Biblical versus pagan
meditation
August 2007
Archbishop's debate in nightclub:
"Barry Morgan accepted an invitation from Solace, the 'church in a bar, to talk
to young clubbers.... Sunday night's discussion, called 'Is Religion Bad?',
was examining religion's role and effects in the world.... The organisation
aims to use the social setting of a bar to interest young people in Christianity....
Ms Sanderson, 30, known as Sister
Wendy in the Church Army...
began her work offering spiritual support to clubbers four years ago. Before
the debate, Dr Morgan said: 'Solace offers a great alternative for those looking
to combine a fun night out with stimulating chat in a responsible atmosphere....
And I'll try not to complain too much about the loud music."
See
Breaking Out of the Box
Redemptive Analogies:
"This is the idea that God put a 'good deposit' of 'truth' in other cultures,
analogous to something in Scriptures which could be redeemed for Gospel purposes....
[I]t was first sold to the missionaries as a way to make the Gospel more relevant
in hard-to-reach cultures. A read of the early literature on the topic reveals
that the concept was quite seductive, promising a new and more effective way
of witnessing.... The underlying philosophy is, as Green articulated it, that
"all truth is God's truth."
These Scriptures show us the true
Redemption:
July 2007
Redeeming Cultures:
"...the 'cultural mandate' to 'redeem cultures' (or
whatever other terminology is used) is a re-work of the old
Social Gospel
movement of the 20th Century. The banner carriers back in that
era were the liberal mainline churches.
"The banner carriers for our time are the leaders from all stripes
and shades of Dominionism, waving various versions of 'take back
the culture' or 'redeem
the culture' causes. Learning from the past, today's neo-evangelical
leaders have maintained all the trappings of 'evangelism' so that
it appears (at least superficially) as if conversion from sin is
the focus. All of this has collectively been lumped under the new
term 'evangelization.'"
See
Redeeming culture
Awana
Embraces Contemplative Spirituality:
"While Awana's decision to include
Ken Blanchard's materials into their program is enough evidence
to show that the organization is quickly changing, we must now
report that there is something even more devastating with regard
to Awana and their slide into apostasy....
"The book
is titled, Perspectives on Children's Spiritual Formation.
A description of the book is as follows: 'In children's ministry,
models, methods, and materials abound. How do you decide what
direction you want your ministry to children to take? Perspectives
on Children's Spiritual Formation allows you to examine
the four prominent points-of-view in the church today....' The
book offers four different views on how to transform children."
See
Biblical versus
Postmodern Thinking
Deep Church:
"For some of us in the UK, the notion of ‘Deep Church,’ a phrase
coined by C.S.Lewis, is providing a mood to direct our reflections
and actions to that end. It maybe finds it conjunctive resonance
outside the UK in the ‘Deep Ecclessiology’ articulated and lived
by Brian McLaren.... Deep Church hopefully
values and affirms the many streams of what the Spirit is
doing with the church in our times."
Might this postmodern transformation be driven
by "deceiving
spirits"
rather than by the Holy Spirit?See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult
Revival
and
Who defines the Kingdom of God?
June 2007
Christian Schools Introducing
Teens to Mysticism Proponent:
"Rob Bell
(a strong proponent of mysticism, i.e., contemplative)...
is pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church and the author of Velvet
Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Christian schools and
youth groups are presenting the Nooma films to their youth,
and many of these groups are having teens read Velvet Elvis.
Because Bell promotes and teaches New Age mystical practices in
a Christian context, young people may accept these teachings as
biblical Christianity. And when trusted teachers are presenting
this material, both teens and parents alike may be caught off guard."
See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival
For Many Shall Come in My Name:
"Prior to the late l960s, occultism in America was relatively obscure and
considered an eccentric pursuit. If such ideas were discussed in public,
the person expressing them would have been considered peculiar. The l960s
changed all that.... I remember once having a conversation with an elderly
lady who had been involved with occultism all of her life. She recounted
to me how New Age thought 'hadn’t really gotten anywhere until the hippies
came along, then things really started to get off the ground.'"
See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult
Revival
and
Yuri Bezmenov [former KGB] on demoralization
Jesus Died for 'Climate Change'?
"...McLaren spoke at a homiletics festival in Tennessee (homiletics is the
art of preaching).... In McLaren's view, sermons about doctrine, sin, and
salvation through Jesus alone create factions and should be replaced with
messages about global issues. ... Brian McLaren... said many television
and radio evangelists had delivered to their listeners the kind of fear-mongering
and finger-pointing messages that promote factionalism. ...[He] proposed
that preaching should remedy, rather than incite, controversial issues.
These include poverty and climate change, and he encouraged his audience
not to shy away from such global issues. 'We can't really afford to waste
too many Sundays with so much at stake.' (Source)
"Did you
catch the part about wasting Sundays? Since when is preaching on a Biblical
passage or Christian doctrine, or proclaiming the death and resurrection
of Jesus for sinners a 'wasted Sunday'?"
See
Transforming the World by
Subverting the Church
Inner Metro Green--Investigate the Faith:
"Our hope is grounded in the sacred promise of authentic personal lives,
and beyond even that, an authentic world. Our shared love is redeemed by
Christ; it is patient and kind. Our joy is authentic, and more than
slightly contagious too! Transformation - individually and socially - is everything!"
Just what is his vision of this all-important social transformation?
May 2007
Emergent Manifesto -- Emerging
Church Comes Out of the Closet:
"This new collective spirituality leads people into a
socialistic
community where rituals, practices, and social justice become a means
of salvation, but not the salvation you think of in a personal sense of
being born-again through Jesus Christ. This is a collective salvation that
includes whole cultures and communities who follow the way of someone referred
to as Jesus."
NOT Your Grandma’s Church:
"'We’re NOT your Grandma’s church!' proclaims one website. 'We feature strobing
lights, heart-thumping music, and dangerous messages.'...
"At
a time when even church growth poster boy,
George Barna, is publishing
alarming press releases about the 'Laodicean' state of the church, perhaps
it’s a good idea to explore what ejecting Grandma from the premises of the
local church has accomplished. Is it possible that the gray heads found
in wisdom know some things that the new breed of pastor and church member
do not? That answer to that question is, yes....
"Grandma
knows that you don’t treat precious spiritual gems like marbles and play
with them. That’s why she believes music about God should be holy and reverent
and not sound like something off the pop station....
"The
worst of the spiritual blindness in our churches today is that we are looking at ruins and don’t even see it. When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?"
See
Emerging "Christianity"
&
Re-Branding Christianity
Re-Branding Christianity:
"Emergent is a marketing campaign in and of itself. It is a re-branding
campaign that is repackaging Christianity into a kaleidoscope of ever-fluctuating
mystical images while 'we're seeking to align our wills with God's will,
our dreams with God's dream.' ... McLaren’s definition of repentance, for
example, reads like the toothpaste commercial discussed in the previous
post. If the old brand of repentance no longer whitens and brightens, switch
over to the Emergent brand. It promises that new zing in life. The image
of repentance, according to McLaren, means 'rethinking everything in light
of the secret message' of
Jesus."
Church Army evangelists challenge
church to re-think the way it engages with young people:
"The book Young People and Mission gives an honest appraisal of how the
Church relates to young people through worship and mission. ... The book
also seeks to help young Christians understand other faiths and the
implications of living as Christian in a multi-faith society.... 'We believe
that mission is about seeing young people so touched by knowing God's love
that they want to see His Kingdom come in the world. That is why injustice
and poverty has a chapter alongside chapters on equipping young people to
share their faith."
See
Emerging "Christianity" -
Part 1
Church Army evangelist in radio
Mind Body Spirit Challenge:
"Hollinghurst... is also a member of the team running the Christian 'Dekhomai'
stand at the London Mind Body Spirit Festival, from which the programme
takes its name. He says, 'I've been using Bible stories on a special
deck of cards [imitating divination?]
and the offer of prayer
amongst today's spiritual seekers for a while. They both offer a powerful
way for people who often would dismiss Christianity to experience its relevance
to their lives. The opportunity to offer this on air as part of The Psychic
Show is a real chance for this to be experienced by hundreds of thousands
of listeners."
What kind of
Christian "experience" is this?
In The Name of Purpose: Sacrificing
Truth on the Altar of Unity:
"Truth becomes the sacrifice:
●
when absolutism is out,
and relativism is in;
●
when obedience is out,
and pragmatism is in;
●
when teaching is out,
and dialogue is in;
●
when thus saith the Lord
is out, and consensus of opinion is in;
●
when using Scripture to judge right and wrong is out....
Unity with tolerance at all
costs is in;
●
when the narrow way is
out, and the broad way is in."
April 2007
Church Army Evangelist
Starts Church in a Night Club:
"...there were no pews in sight, no stuffy sermon, or three-hundred year
old songs in a form of English that is barely understandable -- instead
guests sat at round tables with drinks in hand, chatting away as they listened
to music. 'Who in their right mind wants to give up their Sunday mornings
to listen to some bloke ramble on for half an hour, telling everyone what
to think, without providing any opportunity for argument or questions?'
the club church's website asks. 'We wanted to create a safe environment
[safe from Biblical teaching?] where people could meet, somewhere
they are familiar with already, where they can have fun and learn
about God,' says Wendy."
Do you wonder what they learn
about God? The next link shows some of today's church leaders who endorsed
this "fun" new Church Army:
The Emerging Church.
What Church Leaders are saying
about Mark Russell:
"I am delighted that Mark has been appointed as Chief Executive of
Church
Army, and he has my prayers and best wishes as he takes on this key
leadership role at such an important time.' Dr Rowan Williams Archbishop
of Canterbury....
"'I welcome Mark's appointment for the wealth of experience he brings to
this post and the exuberance with which I believe he will express this through
his faith into new and creative Christian mission initiatives. Grassroots
peace-making, legal study, church and political
networking
and productive youth ministry experience all suggest to me an ideal pedigree
for leadership in an organisation eager to encourage 'fresh expressions'
of church....' Rt Revd Nicholas Reade Bishop of Blackburn ...
"'I
strongly endorse and support this appointment.' Roy Crowne National Director,
Youth For Christ."
See
Biblical versus Postmodern
Thinking
March 2007
Hollywood goes to church:
"Have you noticed that a rush to relevance has become the driving agenda
in most churches today? - Not preaching repentance, faith or obedience to
God's Word - all the things that Jesus demanded of His followers - only
a never-ending quest to be relevant to the culture - something the Lord
never taught.... Unfortunately, when we bond with the enemies of Christ,
we betray Him - having first tolerated, then accepted and ultimately embraced
the unscriptural standards, ideals and agendas of those to which we have
willingly yoked ourselves."
See
Don't conform to the world
&
Creating Community
Beer and the Bible:
"St. Louis congregation focuses on 20- and 30-somethings and is anything
but traditional.... In a back room at Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood,
about 50 people gathered on a recent Wednesday night to talk rock ’n’ roll....
It was a conversation perfectly suited to the setting. Beer-stained wooden
tables and the smell of hops complemented a free-flowing, spirited debate
among hip young people in scruffy beards and T-shirts. In 2007, this is
church." See
A New Kind of Christian
They like Jesus, but not the
Church: "Dan Kimball's
new book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church, should really be called
They Like (Another) Jesus But Not the Church, the Bible, Morality,
or the Truth.... Kimball says these are 'exciting times' we live in
when Jesus is becoming more and more respected in our culture by non-churchgoing
people'. He says we should 'be out listening to what non-Christians, especially
those in their late teens to thirties, are saying and thinking about the
church and Christianity."
See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult
Revival
December 2006
Christian or "Christ
Follower": "...often
the latter term, Christ follower, is replacing the former term, Christian.
Even many Christian leaders are making the switch. But just what does it
mean? Emerging church leader, Erwin McManus says his "goal is to destroy
Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of
Jesus Christ." In McManus' book, The Barbarian Way, he talks about being
"awakened" to a "primal longing that ... waits to be unleashed within everyone
who is a follower of Jesus Christ." McManus says that the "greatest enemy
to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity [i.e., Christians]."....
See
A New Kind of Christian
October 2006
Prophetic Imagination:
[A liberal "eco-justice" review of Walter Brueggemann's The Prophetic Imagination,
which someone sent us]: "The prophetic imagination is transformative when
it allows us to believe that it is possible to live in sustainable, harmonious
relationships with all of God's creation.... As clergy and church leaders,
an essential part of what we must do is exercise our
imagination....
We don't need a blueprint with all of the details....
'If
you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't
assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless
immensity of the sea.' -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery."
Does that irrational
thinking remind you of the popular old musical, "The Music Man?" In it,
the children suddenly learned to play their band instruments through positive
thinking, not through music lessons or practice.
See
Emerging "Christianity" -
Part 1: Breaking Out of the box
September
The Truths and Misconceptions
of worship hula:
"Worship Hula is praising and worshiping God through hula dance. We combine
the hula with Christian based songs.
Q. Wasn't
Hula used to worship other Gods?
[It still is in Hawaii!]
A. The hula is nothing more than a form of dance. It is the native dance
of the Hawaiian people. Like other forms of dancing, it can be used to worship
any other god, idol, things of the world, or Our Lord God.... It is a dance
given to the Hawaiian people for the sole purpose of worshiping the Lord.....
Q. Is Worship
Hula being used in Church services? A. Yes. Worship Hula is apart of many
Church services through out the world....
Q. Is traditional
hula and worship hula the same? A. Yes and No. Yes in the fact that worship
hula uses the basic steps of traditional hula. No in the fact that worship
hula is not bound by the rules of traditional hula. It is bound by the freedom
in Christ! We dance to satisfy and give praise and worship to God."
See
Idols and unholy gods
and the next link:
The Emerging
Church.
The
Truth and Misconceptions About Hula Worship:
"Today, there are all types of styles of worship... cowboy churches have
country western style music; there's the whole 'passion' movement style
of worship; and did you know, there's an association for hula worship?!
I thought it was a little 'different' when I saw
Saddleback
offered a hula worship
some time ago; but I had no idea that this is it's own kind of 'movement'."
See
The Rising World Religion
August 2006
Reinventing Jesus Christ: The
New Gospel: "I
describe Jim Ballard’s experience because, like my own, it is a graphic
example of how so many of us were supernaturally drawn into the eastern
mystical teachings of the New Age/New Spirituality.... The Foreword to his
2002 book Mind Like Water was written by
Ken Blanchard.
"...as the co-founder of the
Lead Like Jesus organization, Blanchard was already 'working together' with
Saddleback pastor Rick Warren in implementing what the pastor was calling
God’s 'Global
P.E.A.C.E. Plan.' Blanchard was to help Rick Warren train countless
numbers of people around the world to be 'servant leaders' who would 'lead
like Jesus.' ... The obvious question suddenly became 'What Jesus are we
talking about here—the Bible’s Jesus or the New Age Jesus?'
See
Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan and
UN Goals - Part 2
and
Don't Be Deceived!
Meditation and Contemplative
Prayer: Test the Spirits:
"For most of us in the New Age, meditation was an integral part of daily
life. Because it was so relaxing and felt so good we had no idea that our
meditations were opening us up to great deception. Looking back on it now,
meditation was the major pipeline through which deceptive spirits impressed
upon us their New Age thoughts and teachings. The spiritual 'high' that
often accompanied our meditations and contemplations seemed to corroborate
our emerging New Age belief that we were all 'one' because God was 'in'
everyone and everything. In fact, in my very first meditation I experienced
a 'mysterious sense of oneness' that I perceived to be my 'divine connection'
to that oneness.” See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult
Revival
Found: God's Will - PART 2:
"Many Christians fall into the same trap as the cults and New Agers. Their
trust is placed in subjective experiences rather than the objective Truth
of Scripture. For cultural Christians, it’s not about knowing God; it’s
about experiencing God. For many believers, feelings and experiences are
what matters most.... 'Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be
able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect
will' "(Romans 12:1, 2)." See
God's will
&
Emerging "Christianity"
July 2006
American Bible Society Goes
Emergent: "The
American Bible Society,
an organization that has been around for nearly 200 years, has been respected
and trusted by millions. However... ABS' online ministry 'For
Ministry' is promoting the
emerging church [including
Brian McLaren] and contemplative
spirituality, and in no small way.... The 'For Ministry' authentic church
resource database is very extensive and links to many articles and books
that not only promote and link to contemplative and emerging but also to
New Age references such as an article called the 'Future is Now,' which
discusses futurist and New Age sympathizer
Leonard Sweet."
[This reference seem to have been deleted by
now] See
Emerging "Christianity" - Part 1: Breaking
Out of the box
Cornerstone Organizer Responds
to Slice Article:
Now about the Halloween decorations, the Day of the Dead activity, etc:
You make a good point. It's one thing to examine these things, to talk about
them, but another thing to hop right into them and put them into practice.
But let's be clear. The folks organizing the Imaginarium, including myself,
and the speakers, including Gretchen Passantino-Coburn and John Morehead,
had all come to the conclusion that you can't slap a sticker saying 'Demonic!'
on every single spooky thing or every aspect of these festivals that show
up in our culture and down in Mexico."
See
From Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival
The Play's the Thing At Pittsburgh
Church Targeting New Crowd:
"No one preaches at Hot Metal Bridge.
Plays are its liturgy. Mr. Walker, a soon-to-be ordained United Methodist
minister, leads the church with his friend Jeff Eddings, a Presbyterian
seminarian. 'Instead of coming to our church and listening to a sermon,
you can be part of the sermon,' Mr. Walker says....
"Hot Metal Bridge is part
of the emergent church movement that rejects rigid orthodoxy and strives
to use hip language and culture to draw in young Americans who stopped,
or never started, attending church. Some ministries have sprung up around
a central interest, such as yoga."
See
Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats
&
From
Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival
'Days of the Dead' at Cornerstone 'Christian'
Youth Camp: "We were greeted
by a hard rock “Christian” singer who wore a t-shirt reading, “Kill it before
it kills you,” right inside the gate. We had never seen so many teenagers
dressed in black in our lives, nor had we ever seen so many tattoos—all
at a “Christian” camp.
"We were taught that it is common among “saints” to levitate!
We learned that Gandhi was more Christian than he knew. We were told how
saints like St. Francis of Assisi experienced “miracles” from God such as
levitations, and many saints had experienced levitations—it was a common
practice among the saints."
June 2006
Pastor Chuck Smith Issues Recall
Notice on Book, Discontinues Purpose Driven Materials:
"Last week at Calvary Chapel's annual pastor's conference... Chuck Smith
announced that Calvary Chapel was rejecting various movements and practices....
This week a
notice
was placed on the Calvary Chapel Distribution website recalling Chuck Smith
Sr's book, When Storms Come (which had been tampered with). The
notice
also stated: 'The
teaching and positions of Rick
Warren have come into conflict with us at Calvary Chapel. Pastor Chuck
has directed us to discontinue this product
effective immediately.'...
"Both
Purpose Driven and the emerging church
promote contemplative spirituality...
"
See
Emergent Delusion
The next Billy Graham?
"[Rev. Rob] Bell's detractors have accused him of championing a postmodern
fad, of relativizing Scripture, of elevating form above substance. 'When
people say that the authority of Scripture or the centrality of Jesus is
in question, actually it's their social, economic and political system that
has been built in the name of Jesus that's being threatened,' Bell says....
[A way of diverting attention
from the real issue: the distortion of God's Word]
'"Zondervan also published his
first book, Velvet Elvis, which has sold more than 100,000 copies since
its release last summer. Bell recently completed the manuscript for Sex
God, an exploration of faithful sexuality, his second book with Zondervan."
See
Zondervan--Anything For a Buck
Will the Next Billy Graham be
a Mystic? "In a 2004
Christianity Today article titled Emergent Mystique, Bell (pastor of Mars
Hill of Michigan) said, 'We're rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern
religion, as a way of life.'
"
What does Bell mean by 'an Eastern
religion'? It sounds a lot like
Thomas Merton who, while he considered himself a Christian, said he
was impregnated with Sufism (Islamic mysticism). As with most emergent and
contemplative leaders, the Christianity of the Bible is not enough for them."
See
My Kingdom Come?
The Emerging Church - Part 2:
"McLaren writes, 'Many of us have grown uneasy with this understanding of
‘the fall’.... We are suspicious that it has become a kind of Western Neo-Platonic
invasive species that ravages the harmonious balance inherent in the enduring
Jewish concepts of creation as God’s world.'....
"McLaren does hold to the doctrine of
inclusivism which teaches that
while salvation has been made possible by Jesus Christ, it is not necessary
to know who Jesus is or the precise nature of what He has done."
See
From
Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival
May 2006
Da Vinci Opening the Canon of
Worms: "There may
be a reason that the false apostles and prophets are pressing for a return
to the early church model. It is the best way in which to open the doors
to Gnosticism. A recent article on Christianity Today suggests that the
movie The Da Vinci Code exemplifies a greater agenda to dismantle and destroy
the Canon of Scripture, i.e., the Bible."
See
From
Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival
April 2006
The Play's the Thing At Pittsburgh
Church Targeting New Crowd:
"No one preaches at Hot Metal Bridge. Plays are its liturgy. ... Hot Metal
Bridge is part of the emergent church movement that rejects rigid orthodoxy
and strives to use hip language and culture to draw in young Americans who
stopped, or never started, attending church. Some ministries have sprung
up around a central interest, such as yoga. One Minneapolis group attracts
drummers....
"'If the drama goes haywire,
it's unimportant,' Mr. Eddings says. 'What's important is, who do I connect
with on Sunday morning?' ...'I thought it was cool, a lot of parallels where
God tries to help us and we stop him,' says Patrick Over, the Carnegie Mellon
University student who portrays Judas. To get over his jitters, he has been
studying the script and 'kind of praying about it.' 'Maybe I screw up a
line or two,' he says. 'Hopefully God's character will come through.'"
See
The Rising World Religion
Churches reach out to hipper
flock: "Ah, Easter
morning, a time for families to dress up, go to church and watch 'The Matrix.'
Wait, that doesn't sound right. Ah, Easter Sunday, a time for reflection
as you sidle up to the coffee bar in the middle of the sanctuary. Let's
try that again. Ah, Easter....
"
Traditions
are remarkably untraditional in Metro Detroit's growing 'postmodern' churches,
which are successfully marketing themselves to young adults.... There are
movie screens and coffee shops, performance artists and Led Zeppelin, all
in facilities with names that sound more like nightclubs than houses of
worship."
See
God's
Way versus Our ways
Emerging
'Christianity' - Part 2: From Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival:
"Alan Jones' quest for a 'higher form of knowing' is simply a new
version of ancient Gnosticism and the mystical 'Jewish'
Kabbalah. Starting in the
first century, the two occult threads intermingled and formed new pathways
to secret knowledge (gnosis). Those dark, mystical paths hid for
centuries underground. Then, starting in the 12th century, Kabbalah began
to sprout mystical 'brotherhoods' and secret societies that laid foundations
for Alchemy,
Theosophy
(which would embrace Hinduism),
Freemasonry and
Rosicrucianism (these two incorporated Egyptian myths and symbols),
the teachings of
Swedenborg,
Anthroposophy
(Rudolf Steiner and
Owen Barfield),
and
Hermetic
magic."
The Emergence of Imaginary Eschatology:
"Imagine a world where everything is getting better because God is still
creating it. Imagine a world in which there is no more entropy (the principle
of heat loss that means that everything left to its own heads toward disorder).
Imagine a world where creative people are co-recreating the world with God.
This imaginary world is the world as it exists in the minds of the leaders
of the Emerging Church."
See
Breaking
Out of the box
Richard Foster and the 'Be Still'
DVD: (by
Ray Yungen)
"Merton... said he was impregnated with
Sufism (Islamic mysticism) and said
he wanted to become the best Buddhist he could be.... Foster says: 'Thomas
Merton has perhaps done more than any other twentieth-century figure to
make the life of prayer widely known and understood. His interest in contemplation
led him to investigate prayer forms in Eastern religion. Zen masters from
Asia regarded him as the preeminent authority on their kind of prayer in
the United States."
A Twist of Faith, Chapter
2
March 2006
New Theology and the New Age Movement
:
"One illustration of the
new
(Neo-orthodox) theology... is that of a shopkeeper who keeps many things
under the counter. When the old liberal comes in and asks for old fashioned
liberalism (social gospel, etc.), the new theologian reaches under the counter
and says, 'That is just what we have here.' When the evangelical Bible believing
Christian comes in, the new theologian reaches under the counter and says,
'That is just what we have here.'
"The new theology
can do this because everything is in the non rational upper story and is
mystical. To the new theologian, opposites can be true in some non-rational
mystical way. This also makes Satan little more than an idea or myth,
which is exactly how the humanist views non physical entities. Satan is
very successful in convincing people that he doesn’t really exist."
Ancient Spiritual Wisdom Principles
and Practices for Life: "DALLAS WILLARD is one of today's most
insightful spiritual teachers.... He reveals how the practice of 'spiritual
disciplines' affirms life to the fullest and is the key to self-transformation.
... He is a professor at the University of Southern California's School
of Philosophy ...
"JOHN
BURKE asks the question, 'What do a Buddhist, a biker couple, a gay rights
activist, a transient, a high-tech engineer, a Muslim, a twenty-something
single mom, a Jew, an unmarried couple living together, and an atheist all
have in common?' and then answers it, 'They are the future church in America!'
... He says the emerging church is an indigenous church, rising up out of
the surrounding community and culture to form the Body of Christ. John is
the visionary leader and founder of Gateway Community Church in Austin,
Texas... the author of 'No Perfect People Allowed: Creating A COME AS YOU
ARE Culture in the Church.'...
"TONY
JONES is a leader of, and major force within, what is called the Emerging
Church or Emergent Church. ... Now as an academic and doctoral candidate
at Princeton Theological Seminary and as National Coordinator for Emergent
US, Tony sifts through texts from intervening centuries to find those
early practices that formed Christ's followers. He says these practices
will form the 'ancient-future' of the emerging church....
"KEN LAMONT is a youth and family-life
pastor who is exploring the intersection of the modern and emergent church
movements in his teaching and ministry.... Ken received his doctorate in
Family Ministries from
Fuller Seminary."
February 2006
Darwining Down the Word: Emergent
Pastor Erwin McManus and His Evolving Idea of the Church
: “'My goal is to destroy Christianity
as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ.
Some people are upset with me because it sounds like I’m anti-Christian.
I think they might be right.' – Erwin Raphael McManus....
"
McManus has endorsed a book
promoting open theism, a theology which calls into question the sovereignty
of God, denies His omniscience, and is gaining a foothold in many 'evangelical'
seminaries today.... He refers to the pastor as 'the spiritual environmentalist'
and claims 'For a species to survive and propagate in a given ecosystem,'
there must be 'a balanced ecosystem'.... 'Every living system that is fruitful
is required to adapt to the environment in which it has been placed. Species
that thrive are species that adapt. Species that do not adapt to change
do not survive because change is an ever-present reality.'"
But the
Church is not a forest or fish. We are God's people!
See
Don't conform to the ways
of the world
Throwing Our Future Church Leaders
to the Wolves: "Emergent
leaders such as McManus, Leonard Sweet, Andy Crouch, Brian McLaren, and
others are pushing liberal theology under the guise of 'postmodern' Christianity.
The movement assails absolute truth, the inerrancy of Scripture and justification
by faith in Jesus Christ alone, and instead embraces spiritual relativism
and mysticism.... This 'New Kind of Christianity,' as McLaren calls
it, is distorting the true gospel of Jesus Christ....
"
McManus was asked what advice
he would give preachers.... He responded by saying, '...stop preaching sermons
and start telling stories.... Break though the pressure to be a great preacher
and become a great leader.' In other words, away with sound doctrine if
it’s not culturally relevant or entertaining to your audience....
"
McManus endorsed Gregory Boyd’s
book 'Is God to Blame...' Boyd argues that Almighty God suffers from self-imposed
limits on His power."
See
The Emerging Global Church
January 2006
Jewish Emergent!
"Synagogue
3000 has identified a contemporary Jewish religious phenomenon that it is
calling Jewish Emergent. This week, S3K convened for the very first time
the Working Group on Emergent Sacred Communities - visionary Jewish leaders
committed to the establishment of transformative sacred communities
unbound by conventional expectations about what a synagogue is 'supposed'
to be.... This meeting of the Working Group on Emergent Sacred Communities
also marked the first time ever that Emergent-US had met with any religious
group outside the Christian faith."
Rick Warren is pictured
in this article. He is deeply involved in this transformation.
See
The Emerging Global Church
Yoga for Christians -- A Christ-Centered
Approach to Physical and Spiritual Health:
"...there are approximately 15 million people in this country practicing
yoga, and fully 50-60 percent of them say they come from a church background.
In fact, many churches, Christian retreats, and denominational conventions
are incorporating yoga as one creative approach to cultivating a quiet,
receptive spirit and deep prayer life."
See
The Rising
World Religion
How Leadership Network created
the 'Emerging Church':
"Emergent grew out of the Young Leader Networks, which was launched in the
mid-90’s by Leadership Network, a Dallas-based foundation. Doug Pagitt,
Chris Seay, Andrew Jones, Brad Smith, and others were involved before I
was, and they did a great job of setting a tone and direction for the emergent
conversation."
See
A New Kind of Christian
&
Chart: Postmodernity
Links to earlier articles on
the Postmodern Church
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