Rick Warren and Chrislam

Rick Warren's soldiers are circling the wagons for PR support against another false teacher, Jack Van Impe, according to The "Christian" Post.

Warren's response? "The stupid Chrislam lie wont die. Here are 2 true articles quoting me." And....????

First he's using his own employees to sustantiate his claim; well they have a bias and vested interest in circling the wagons b/c Warren's their boss. Considering the attempt at a slick response he repeatedly gave to Piper, and based on the plethora of evidence from Warren's own quotes over the years, quoting his own soldiers is hardly convincing. Now, I don't know if he has supported the Christlam religion. It doesn't matter. He's said enough against the Truth as well as by omission that its clear he's a liar AND a deceiver. Case in point, in his own protest to this Chrislam claim, he says:
"As an evangelist, I spend much of my time speaking to non-Christian groups. You cannot win your enemies to Christ; only your friends, so we must build bridges of friendship and love to those who believe differently so Jesus can walk across that bridge into their hearts. "

There are several problems with this:

1) According to the quran Muslims cannot take Christians or Jews as friends; they are to slaughter them.

2) Everyone outside of Christ is your enemy if you are in Christ. They hate Christ Jesus, they will hate you.

3)Friendships don't win anyone to Christ; this would be persuasion by man with a vested interest, not on the truth of Christ Jesus Himself and Scripture by the work of the Holy Spirit. Friendship is not a biblical method of evangelism. What we do see is just proclaimation of Christ. We can of course do that with friends, however that is never taught in Scripture as a method. Acts is a great example of evangelistic preaching in the public square, to anybody and everybody.

4) Telling your enemies their spiritual state and calling them to repent IS love. Loving them to Hell is NOT love. Its hating their soul. Acts 2 is a glaring contrast to what Warren calls in "building bridges". Peter goes straight to the heart of the issue by declaring Jesus Christ is the Messiah and only Savior and that his audience is to blame for His crucifixion. This is opposed to Warren's fake bridge building.

5) Jesus does not walk across any bridge that man builds; simply because there is no bridge. 2Cor. 6 states there IS no common bridge.

2Co 6:15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

See how far away the Pharisees were from Christ ---an eternity apart:

Joh 8:39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus *said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.

Joh 8:40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.

Joh 8:41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God."

Joh 8:42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

Joh 8:43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

Joh 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Joh 8:45 "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.

Joh 8:46 "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?

Joh 8:47 "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God."

6) Jesus doesn't enter our hearts; the Holy Spirit does: Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit is sent into our hearts, not Jesus:
Additionally, Warren prayed in the name of Islam prophet Isa as well as repeatedly being silent over the REAL Gospel. That's hardly proclaiming Jesus Christ!

Also, Rick signed the unity letter to the Muslims, declaring that Christians and Muslims worship the true God. We know that is not true because Islam denies Jesus Christ who is God and they deny the Trinity.

The Idol of Evolution

Evolution is an idol for which many "Christians" will divide from the Truth. This IS what heresy is by its nature is. Their loyalty is to doctrine of demons while giving mere lip service to the Lord they claim they follow. Their mutiny bears out their true condition, which is not of Christ.

As long as a "Christian" refuses to submit to the God of Genesis 1-3 and believe what HE stated and HOW He stated it (biblical doctrine), one cannot claim to be His. The King of kings will not have treachery in HIS kingdom, He will NOT have division in His churches over something so FOUNDATIONAL to the once-for-all-delivered Faith.

Tit 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

Tit 3:10 Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,

Tit 3:11 knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

Heb. 11:1-3 and Col. 1 and Heb. 1 are very clear.

2Jn 1:9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

2Jn 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;

2Jn 1:11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

Once shown the error of evolution, the Christian should repent of that sin and rejoice in the Truth that is clearly proclaimed in Scripture about the six literal days of Creation by God's word. To reject that and then inject fables and speculations is what the Gentiles do in their darkened understanding which is NOT how we learn Christ nor walk in HIM as Eph. 4 states. Such treachery is prohibited by God.

A "young earth view" (versus the Evolution's old earth view--so really we're talking about the doctrine that leads to the age of the earth, not the age itself) is the ONLY VIEW given by God. Its the only one Christians have proclaimed since God revealed how He created, the order in which He created, and how fast He created, to Man. Any other notions are to be utterly destroyed and rejected.

2Co 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

Hank Hanegraaff Seduced By New Age Evolutionist William Dembski

Gen 1:27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them....31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. 8 The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

As reported by Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis, Dr. William Dembski is research professor in philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Apparently this man hates the Genesis account of God creating everything in six literal days and that God created Man directly, in HIS image. His make-believe notions are so obvious its hard to miss his attack against God. Now he's seduced the "Bible Answer Man", Hank Hanegraaff to follow him.

Quote:

Dr. Dembski has stated in his book The End of Christianity. Here are just a couple of outlandish statements from his book:

For the theodicy I am proposing to be compatible with evolution, God must not merely introduce existing human-like beings from outside the Garden. In addition, when they enter the Garden, God must transform their consciousness so that they become rational moral agents made in God’s image . . . (The End of Christianity, p. 159)

Any evils humans experience outside the Garden before God breathes into them the breath of life would be experienced as natural evils in the same way that other animals experience them. The pain would be real, but it would not be experienced as divine justice in response to willful rebellion. Moreover, once God breathes the breath of life into them, we may assume that the first humans experienced an amnesia of their former animal life: Operating on a higher plane of consciousness once infused with the breath of life, they would transcend the lower plane of animal consciousness on which they had previously operated—though, after the Fall, they might be tempted to resort to that lower consciousness. (The End of Christianity, p. 154–155)

In this book, Dr. Dembski states that Noah’s Flood was a local event, not worldwide. (Now, some people have claimed Dr. Dembski has changed on this point, but I have seen nothing documenting this.)

End quote.

Horrific, right?

He goes on to report:

"Now, radio host Hank Hanegraaff asked Dr. Dembski to be a guest on his Bible Answer Man broadcast every Tuesday for the month of July. He is giving away free copies of Dr. Dembski’s The End of Christianity to anyone who requests it (with a donation of any amount) for the month of July as well. Dr. Dembski’s article “Old Earth Creationism and the Fall” will be featured soon in Hanegraaff’s Christian Research Journal; Hanegraaff is also giving away copies of the article. Hanegraaff endorsed the book when it was published, and he says during the radio show that he “believes in this book.” "

End quote.

I guess I'm not totally surprised---Hanegraaff has been moving away from biblical truth for a while now. What struck me about this article is that Dembski comes off as a New Ager, talking about a higher level of conscienceness.

‎"Hath God said?"

Dembski seems like a New Ager with his use of "higher plane of consciousness" and claim that man somehow has hidden memories of a former life as an animal; this seems akin to reincarnation. How in the world he came up with his nightmare of all of this nonsense is beyond me, but its NOT CHRISTIAN, its not even rational. He's lost his marbles up in that high ivory tower they call "academia". Put another way, the man studied himself away from truth. He needs to just proclaim what he already is: not a Christian.

This war is not new, but it was not considered Christian before. Consider this:

The Down Grade SECOND ARTICLE April 1887 Sword and Trowel by Robert Shindler

Dr. Joseph Priestley, the great champion of Socinianism among NonconformistsHe says:—"In my time the academy was in a state peculiarly favorable to the serious pursuit of truth, as the students were about equally divided upon every question of much importance, such as liberty, necessity, the sleep of the soul, and all the articles of theological orthodoxy and heresy; in consequence of which, all these topics were the subject of continual discussion. Our tutors, also, were of different opinions, Dr. Ashworth taking the orthodox side of every question, and Mr. Clark, the sub-tutor, that of heresy, though always with the greatest modesty. Both of our tutors being young, at least as tutors, and some of the senior students excelling more than they could pretend to do in several branches of study, they indulged us in the greatest freedoms. The general plan of our studies, which may be seen in Dr. Doddridge's published lectures, was exceedingly favorable to free enquiry, as we were referred to authors on both sides of every question. In this situation I saw reason to embrace what is generally called the heterodox side of every question."

But in too many cases sceptical daring seems to have taken the place of evangelical zeal, and the husks of theological speculations are preferred to the wholesome bread of gospel truth. With some the endeavor seems to be not how steadily and faithfully they can walk in the truth, but how far they can get from it. To them divine truth is like a lion or a tiger, and they give it "a wide berth." Our counsel is—Do not go too near the precipice; you may slip or fall over. Keep where the ground is firm; do not venture on the rotten ice.

The first step astray is a want of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the sacred Scriptures. All the while a man bows to the authority of God's Word, he will not entertain any sentiment contrary to its teaching. "To the law and to the testimony," is his appeal concerning every doctrine. He esteems that holy Book, concerning all things, to be right, and therefore he hates every false way. But let a man question, or entertain low views of the inspiration and authority of the Bible, and he is without chart to guide him, and without anchor to hold him.

But when, on the other hand, reason has been exalted above revelation, and made the exponent of revelation, all kinds of errors and mischiefs have been the result.....Human reason is exalted to a higher office, and what is not comprehensible by its grasp, is not readily received. The mind of the Socinian feels still less veneration for the Word of God; for, according to his sentiments, some parts of it are not inspired; mistakes occur in the reasoning of the apostles; not a few passages are unauthentic, and what remains is interpreted with a latitude as to the expressions and language of Scripture, which would not be tolerated in expounding the sense of any other writer." ("History of Dissenters," by Bogue and Bennet.)

They run in 'the course of this world,' follow every fashionable folly, and family and personal godliness seems in general to be lost among them. There is scarcely any appearance of life and zeal in the cause of religion, which demands and deserves the greatest.

End quote.

Tim Keller and Prayer

Psa 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Col 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Tim Keller sure is proud of himself.

Quote:

I like to use Luther's contemplative method that he outlines in his famous letter on prayer that he wrote to his barber....There are two kinds of Bible reading that I try to do. I read the psalms through every month using the Book of Common Prayer's daily office. I also read through the Bible using Robert Murray M'Cheyne's reading calendar.

Besides morning prayer (M'Cheyne, Psalms, meditation, and petition) and evening prayer (Psalms and repentance) I try as often as possible to take five minutes in the middle of the day to take a spiritual inventory, either by remembering the more spiritually radioactive ideas from my morning devotion, or by a quick look at my most besetting sins and idols. I do that to see whether so far that day I've given in to bad attitudes such as pride, coldness and hardness of heart, anxiety, and unkindness. If I see myself going wrong, the mid-day prayer can catch it. The problem with mid-day prayer is finding a time for it, since every day is different. All I need is to get alone for a few minutes, but that is often impossible, or more often than not I just forget. However, I carry a little guide to mid-day prayer in my wallet which I can take out and use.

End quote. Source.

Problems:

Luther taught a false gospel of justification and salvation by water sprinkling and the eucharist. Gal. 1:8-9 says such a man is accursed. He was blind to the Truth and promoted Romanism despite his tiff with his Mother Roman church. Between his Larger Catechism and 95 Theses, this is very clear. Therefore, use of this man is the broad road that leads to Rome.

The Book of Common Prayer is from Rome’s daughter the Anglican church. Why use what an illegitimate and dead church uses….unless you actually have common ground with them. In that case, then, one is lost. There is no life in the flesh.

I’ve noticed he’s gotten on the Piper-loves-M’Cheyen wagon. Seems that’s the latest trend. I find this troublesome.

There’s a lot of of pride and arrogance dripping from Keller as he props himself up as an example of Contemplative praying. First and foremost, Keller denies the Creation account as Genesis has dictated; he is very Emergent and worldly, and has promoted Eastern Mysticism at his church, in addition to his feminism in allowing women to teach men at church. Here’s a list of why he’s dangerous is here.

So he can pat himself on the back about how he’s found the secret to praying that is somehow on another spiritual plain (Gnostic); the fact of the matter is, the man doesn’t even hold Scripture very high, nor does he believe what it says. Scripture alone tells us to meditate on Scripture and on Christ---we don’t need all these programs and dead lost men who can’t lead us to Christ anyway, to bring us into a higher level of spirituality. That, however, is exactly what Keller seeks (his church taught “The Way Of the Monk” and Lectio Divina prayers). He is the blind leading the blind.

What Scripture says:

Eph 4:17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

Eph 4:20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Mat 6:6 "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Mat 6:7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.

Mat 6:8 "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

Mat 6:9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Mat 6:10 'Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11 'Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Mat 6:13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'

CJ Maney Steps Down From SGM...for now

As reported by The "Christian" Post:

"Mahaney has chosen to step back from his leadership position at Sovereign Grace Ministries after facing charges not of immorality or financial impropriety, but of certain character flaws such as "pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy."

"These charges (from former pastors and leaders in Sovereign Grace) are serious and they have been very grieving to read," Mahaney said in his announcement last week."

For the issues from the other side: http://sgmrefuge.com/ and also: http://www.sgmsurvivors.com/

From what I can gather, the problem with SGM is their "shepherding". I've personally experienced some similar issues with the church our family used to be members of for sixteen years. Too high of a view of the pastor/elder will lead to abuse of the role. Consider this "vicar" view from SGM. I suspect its partially from the Charismatic view of the OT prophets/roles placed into today's churches (SGM is Charismatic/Pentecostal and has historically embraced Third Wave Pentecostals into their membership), as well as the Calvinist acceptance of the validity of the RCC on some level. Its just my view, but I think that might be some of the basis for the problems, along with lack of teachability among the leadership (Reformers are notorious for thinking their leadership would never be deceived nor deceive them--ex: Piper and Warren). Also the gnostic "only certain elightened people" can really know the truth or really have wisdom, that is, only leadership can, and therefore they reject the Holy Spirit's gifting of people among them and the accountability they have to the people.

We need to be careful to test everything and all people, especially teachers/leaders against Scripture and stay loyal to Christ alone at all costs. May God grant us the grace and power to do so.

Anxiety vs. Faith

The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

~George Mueller

The Language of Evolution by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

"In case you haven’t noticed, evolution has its own special language. Science properly uses specific words, often from Latin, to clarify information to those who know the “language,” but evolution’s words often confuse, clouding the true meaning. One such term is “natural selection.” Let’s break this down, carefully examining each word, and maybe we can then discern if it clearly portrays truth.

The word “selection” is an action word, implying that someone or something is selecting from available options. These variants from which it chooses are thought to be provided by random mutations, genetic recombinations, or even non-random mutations. In evolutionary thinking, there is no overriding mind or thoughtful selector, and there certainly is no designer who can make intelligent choices. So, the selection must be made in a mindless, thoughtless fashion, with no end goal in sight. True natural selection can be only unthinking, unable to plan for the future or produce specific choices on purpose. It is impotent to influence the raw material and facilitate its (non-existent) choices."

~ Source: Morris, J. 2011. The Language of Evolution. Acts & Facts. 40 (7): 16.

All Truth Begins With Genesis

"Indeed, all truth, in every area of life, finds its beginning in the Genesis record of creation and the other events of primeval history. That is why God placed it first in the Bible. One vital goal here at ICR has always been to urge Christians—and then others—to get back to Genesis as the foundation of foundations, to be inaugurated, as God proposed, in every realm of our lives." - Acts & Facts, ICR