Brian McLaren To Celebrate Ramadan With Muslims

From Apprising Ministries:

...At his website Brian McLaren, unquestionably a leader in the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church—morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC)—tells us in Ramadan 2009: Part 1 What’s going on?:

Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of fasting for spiritual renewal and purification. It commemorates the month during which Muslims believe Mohammed received the Quran through divine revelation, and it calls Muslims to self-control, sacrificial generosity and solidarity with the poor, diligent reading of the Quran, and intensified prayer.

This year, I, along with a few Christian friends (and perhaps others currently unknown to us will want to join in) will be joining Muslim friends in the fast which begins August 21. We are not doing so in order to become Muslims: we are deeply committed Christians. But as Christians, we want to come close to our Muslim neighbors and to share this important part of life with them… (Online source)

End quote.

1. Mclaren is not a Christian.
2. Muslims have no common ground with Christians (see verse below).
3. Mclaren has learned well from Schuller and Ricky Warren, who find common ground with the Jesus-hating, Scripture-rejecting Muslims.
4. Mclaren is an idiot. He'd never survive living under true Islam.
5. Mclaren is not a Christian.
6. What he is saying and doing violates Scripture for TRUE Christians: 2Cor. 6:14-15:Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
7. Mclaren is not a Christian.

Brian McLaren Rewrites Hymns Because They Don't Fit His Liberal Agenda

"So much about the original hymn is disturbing to me," the "emergent" church leader tells Baptist News Global, citing the example of the 19th century English hymn. "For example, it speaks ambiguously of 'the foe' — which could (in the minds of some) refer to our neighbors outside the Church. It would be very different if it identified "the foe" as, for example, corporate greed, racism, domestic violence, apathy or pride. But the ambiguity leaves room for trouble, I think. The hymn models Christian mission on warfare 'against flesh and blood' — the very opposite of what Jesus and Paul taught …."

McLaren, who is part of a group of songwriters, "Convergence Music Project," has rewritten "Onward, Christian Soldiers," as it reflects a pro-war theology, according to him.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pastor-brian-mclaren-rewrites-pro-war-church-hymns-as-republicans-talk-carpet-bombing-in-debates-158216/#lHAtLdfyvkGDyuGS.99

As the "Christian" Post reported:

"So much about the original hymn is disturbing to me," the "emergent" church leader tells Baptist News Global, citing the example of the 19th century English hymn. "For example, it speaks ambiguously of 'the foe' — which could (in the minds of some) refer to our neighbors outside the Church. It would be very different if it identified "the foe" as, for example, corporate greed, racism, domestic violence, apathy or pride. But the ambiguity leaves room for trouble, I think. The hymn models Christian mission on warfare 'against flesh and blood' — the very opposite of what Jesus and Paul taught …."

McLaren, who is part of a group of songwriters, "Convergence Music Project," has rewritten "Onward, Christian Soldiers," as it reflects a pro-war theology, according to him.

~End quote.

The arrogant and prideful false teacher is clueless about the real foe to Christians. Thou art the man, McLaren. You. You're a devil who attacks biblical Christianity constantly. You mention pride as a foe and you are a glaring example.  Your battles are only of the flesh. The only racists are liberals like yourself who think in terms of skin color and dare to presume Christians are racist (which is slanderous). His Marxism is nothing but worldliness.

McLaren ignores all the passages about "fighting the good fight of the faith", the "armor of God", and being soldiers in this spiritual battle. Instead McLaren's eyes are ONLY for that of the flesh because he is unregenerate.

Examples of "warfare" language in the New Testament:

Php_2:25  But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; 

2Ti_2:3  Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 

2Ti_2:4  No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 

Phm_1:2  and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: 

1Ti_1:18  This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 

1Ti_6:12  Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 

2Ti_4:7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 

2Co_10:4  for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 

Jud 1:3  Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Additionally, CP reported in the same article:

Referring to "I'll Fly Away," he continues, "I love the traditional tune, and of course there's nothing wrong with singing about looking forward to going to be with Jesus beyond this life." However, he adds, many songs say this world is not my home "right when this world, our home, is in great peril from human abuse." This, he says, led him to write a song called "I'll Get Involved" to the old tune, which urges people "not to evacuate but to engage and transform."

~article

Again, a liar if there ever was one, but so fitting for most of today's "Christians" who love humanism's Socialism.

1Pe 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

Col 3:1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Col 3:2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Col 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household,

Eph 2:20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,

Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa To Host Emergent Mike Erre At "Movement 2009" Conference

**UPDATE**

More on RockHarbor being emergent here.

****

Excerpts from Lighthouse Trails special report on Mike Erre, author of "Death by Church" and emergent pastor:

In light of an event (Movement 2009) scheduled to take place on May 29th at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, the Calvary Chapel mother church, with RockHarbor pastor, Mike Erre (and a similar event (Pure Worship) that took place earlier this month), Lighthouse Trails is posting this special report....

Death by Church has a point to make--that God is saving "all of creation" (eg. p. 100) and that the "church" is not the substance of the kingdom of God (i.e., the whole of creation and all of humanity is). In fact, Erre says, the church is not the kingdom of God at all - it only points to the kingdom of God, which incorporates all of creation and, if the church does all the right things it can have the privilege of being part of that kingdom too. Erre seeks to prove his point but not just by turning to Scripture - he turns to prominent figures in the emerging/emergent church (those such as Brian McLaren and Dan Kimball), the contemplative mystical prayer movement (those such as Dallas Willard and panentheist Richard Rohr-a favorite of Erre's), and New Age sympathizers (those such as Marcus Borg, who believes Jesus did not see himself as the Son of God (see FMSN, p. 124), and Gregory Boyd, author of the not-yet published work, The Cosmic Dance). Couple Erre's frequent use of emerging/contemplative/New Age sympathizing authors with his kingdom-now theology wrapped in universalist/panentheistic overtones, and Death by Church actually takes on a pseudo-name, Death by Deception.

End quote.

If that is not enough, the report is filled with direct quotes from Erre's book, including six direct quotes in that book referring to Erre's universalism.

Lighthouse continues:

Death by Church lays out a perfect example of what Lighthouse Trails calls "the new missiology." In essence, Erre tells believers that "we don't take Christ to a region or people group, but we instead show up and pay attention to the work that Jesus is already doing. We have to move away from the current mind-set about church, ministry, and mission." (p. 136). In other words, we don't have to tell people about Jesus because Jesus is already there among them (before they hear the Gospel and believe; i.e, they can keep their same religion and still be connected to God).

As if the kingdom-now theology, replacement theology, universalistic message, and new missiology were not enough, Erre presents to the reader a case for panentheism (God in all things).

In Death by Church, in Erre's presentation of panentheism, Erre quotes Madeleine L'Engle: "There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the Incarnation" (p. 159). What she is saying here is that God (the sacred) can be found in everything (the secular). In that line of thinking, Erre himself says that his new kingdom "dismantles the sacred/secular distinction" and "all things are given over to God--including those things formerly thought to be secular or unspiritual" He adds: "Confessional worship ... seeks to see everything as having been made to reflect the glory of God. ... we reawaken to the possibilities of redemption in all areas of life" (pp. 158). This is the same theology as Sue Monk Kidd (see ATOD, p. 134). This concept reflects classic panentheism--God is in all things. Keep in mind, that there is a continuity of the theme that God is in everything with many of the figures that Erre turns to in his book. Richard Rohr, Marcus Borg, Brian McLaren, and John Dominic Crossan are four who hold to this view and are referenced in Death by Church.

End quote.

These things obviously are a direct attack on Scripture. God Himself denotes what is of the Spirit and what is of the flesh--He will not call evil "good" nor things of the flesh as "of the Spirit":

Gal 5:17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Gal 5:20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
Gal 5:21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Also, universalism denies the very words of Jesus Christ (and the Gal. 5 passage above):

Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Mat 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

2Pe 3:5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

Erre follows his father of old--he attacks God's Word by practicing "Has God said?" Erre will be teaching at a conference hosted by Calvary Chapel. While Erre clearly is emergent, CC claims to be against the ECM. The fact that Chuck Smith's son, Chuck Jr. is also Emergent, has led to the compromise that Calvary Chapel is experiencing, even if its a slow decline. Its a decline all the same.

Brian McLaren, Emergents, and Jesus

Ken Silva's latest on Brian McLaren: --he just might turn away some of his Emergent fans. However, the way I see it, Evangelical mentality is to find truth in everything, so there's no need to totally jettison a false teacher. No, rather they will take the "good" from anyone and anything, ignore the bad, and consider themselves spiritual and fair and balanced, and most of all, loving and tolerant.

Scripture of course, teaches just the opposite. Matthew 7 tells us to reject false teachers. Here are some thoughts from John MacArthur's latest book, “The Jesus You Can’t Ignore” p. 206-208:

Excerpt Quotes:

1Th 5:21 “but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.”

John7:24 “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

We are also called to be soldiers for the cause of truth. The spiritual conflict between the forces
of darkness and the truth of God is, after all, WAR.

That means, among other things, we have some fighting to do. As we have seen throughout this
book, the popular notion that conflict is always to be avoided is simply wrong. There are timeswhen we MUST be confrontive rather than collegial. Tit 1:10 For there are many who areinsubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. 11 Theymust be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain whatthey ought not to teach. “

If you wince at that or think there’s no way such an aggressive attitude could possibly be a sanctified response to doctrinal error in a postmodern culture, you need to review and rethink what the entire NT says about false teachers and how Christians should respond to them—especially from Jesus’ point of view.

In His final recorded messages to the church, given to the apostle John in a vision of several decades after Christ’s ascension into heaven, we see that the silencing of false teachers was still one of our Lord’s primary concerns, even from His throne in heaven. He addressed seven churches….Only two of the churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia, were commended for their faithfulness without any qualification or hint of rebuke. Both of them had remained true to Christ despite the influence of “those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan”(Rev. 2:9). All five other churches received various measures of rebuke, based on how corrupt, unfaithful, or spiritually lethargic they were.

A prominent theme in practically all Jesus’ messages to those seven churches is the issue of how they responded to false teachers and rank heretics in their midst.

It is clear from those letters to the churches in Revelation that battling heresy is a duty Christ expects every Christian to be devoted to. Whether we like it or not, our very existence in this world involves spiritual warfare—it is not a party or a picnic. If Christ Himself devoted so much of His time and energy during His earthly ministry to the task of confronting and refuting false teachers, surely that must be high on our agenda as well. His style of ministry ought to be the model for ours, and His zeal against false religion ought to fill our hearts and minds as well.

End quote.

Scot McKnight At Rick Warren's Church

Latest from Lighthouse Trails Research on Warren's Apologetic Weekend which offered Greg Koukl, Scot McKnight, and Philip Yancy. Here's the part on McKnight:

Quote:

In McKnight’s books Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (with an endorsement by Brian McLaren on the front cover and McLaren references within) and in his book A Community Called Atonement, McKnight doesn’t necessarily reject penal substitutionary atonement (as does McLaren) but says there are many ways of viewing atonement, likening it to golf clubs–using different ones for different purposes (Prologue). Worth noting, McKnight’s Atonement book was published by the emerging publishing partnership of Abingdon Press and Emergent Village. McKnight is seen by the emerging church as someone who represents it. And McKnight’s website and his books confirm this with numerous favorable references on these issues. In his book Jesus Creed, he recommends a variety of books by contemplative advocates including Gary Thomas’ book, Sacred Pathways, where he instructs readers to repeat a word for twenty minutes (which is mantric like meditation) and several other authors of whom we have already mentioned in this article. One of the books McKnight recommends is Eternal Wisdom from the Desert: Writings from the Desert Fathers. St. Anthony is one of the desert fathers featured in that book. Contemplative teacher, Willigis Jager disclosed the following:

Christian literature makes reference to many episodes that parallel the
experiences of those going a yogic way. Saint Anthony, one of the first desert
mystics, frequently encountered strange and sometimes terrifying psychophysical
forces while at prayer. (Jager, Contemplation: A Christian Path, p. 72)

What is being described here is the Kundalini experience that can happen during mantric-like episodes. While McKnight does not come right out in his books and recommend practicing this, he recommends those who do. What we consider McKnight to be is a “bridger,” someone who claims orthodoxy but is actually being used as a bridge between orthodoxy and a dangerous mystical practice.

End quote.

LHRT noted in 2007:

"In emerging church leader, Scot McKnight's book, "The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus", McKnight says that Protestant Christians are the only Christians who do not honor Mary. He recommends that Protestant churches all practice an "Honor Mary Day" (p. 144), saying she "leads us to a Jesus who brings redemption ... To listen to Mary is to hear the message of Jesus' death and resurrection as a mega-event whereby God established a new kind of power, a new kind of family, and a new kind of kingdom" (p. 145).
McKnight describes this great event as a time when the world will come together and worship Mary."

This is the same group that JP Moreland and Koukl have been involved with (yes, its a small world). Patton, head of Credo and host of "Converse With Scholars" who is a neo-Calvinist, has promoted a lot of liberalism, Emergent church junk, Eastern Orthodoxy, and denies the inerrancy of Scripture and doubts the Six Literal Days of Creation as Genesis teaches.

List of past guests on CWS here.

"The Shack" Artist Regrets Promoting the Book

                                                                         photo source

Artist of "The Shack" book cover regrets promoting book. That's good. However, he still has some issues:

Many will still say that the book was intended as just a work of fiction, but the author himself, William Paul Young, is quoted as saying, “The Shack is theology. But it is a theology wrapped in a story.”
Embracing The Shack, as I did, led me to other books, other authors who had started out on the straight and narrow, having solid Biblical beliefs, but strayed off into apostasy land. Rob Bell, Jim Palmer, Brian McLaren, to name a few of those by whom I was inspired. That "inspiration" led me to the edge of this Universalist belief. I thank the Lord that He pulled me back from that edge.The Shack’s story wonderfully painted this picture to me of an incredibly knowable and loving God, one full of forgiveness, but without being judgmental. The fact is that there are two inseparable sides to God. He is both love and judge.
Again, this thing called “free will” has given us the ability to willfully accept God’s gracious gift of His Son, Jesus, who died on a cross to save us from our sins, or willfully reject His gracious gift. Jesus did die for the sins of the whole world, but tragically most of the world has and will refuse Him.

End quote.

~Dan Aldrich

Bell and McLaren were never ever solid. Also, there is no such thing as "free will" since Scripture clearly and adamantly states that we are all slaves either to sin or righteousness (Rom. 6:16-22). If we are not redeemed and adopted by God to God, then we remain as children of the devil, under his reign. There is no neutrality toward God and sin for anyone. Basically the "free will" doctrine denies the sound doctrine of total depravity.

Rom 8:5  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 

Rom 8:6  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 

Rom 8:7  because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 

Rom 8:8  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

1Co 2:14  But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 

Rom 5:9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 

Rom 5:10  For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 

Eph 2:1  And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 

Eph 2:2  in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 

Eph 2:3  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 

Php 3:18  For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 

Universal atonement is blasphemous as it portrays a helpless god who's will is thwarted, although filled with good intentions. It's pushed by those who don't want to offend sinners, but instead assure the wicked God loves them and thus Jesus died for them all. To say Jesus died for all sinners and yet many won't go to Heaven is a FALSE GOSPEL.

Joh 10:26  but you do not believe because you are not part of My flock.

Acts 13: ^48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

Rom. 8: ^30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those he justified, he also glorified

Rom 11:7  What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, 8  as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day." 

Eph 1:4  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 

Eph 1:5  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 

Eph 1:6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 

Eph 1:7  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 

Is. 14: ^24 The LORD Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand… ^26 This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. ^27 For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? 

Barnabas Piper Loves Eastern Mystic Heretic Brennan Manning

2 Tim. 4 ^3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ^4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

It seems the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Then again, when you've grown up on false doctrines and a low view of Scripture, emboldened by your parents, it's not a surprise.

Barnabas Piper, one of John Piper's sons, who was divorced by his wife at the end of last year (it sounds like it was an unbiblical one and it has come up first in January when he announced it and then again last week in a "Christianity Today" interview), has written a post applauding Brennan Manning's book "Ragamuffin Gospel". Manning is a false teacher and was a key factor in the anti-biblical Emergent Church Movement (so really, B Piper is behind the curve). 

He offers 50 of the best quotes, but starts by saying:

I recently read Brennan Manning’s classic work on God’s profound love and grace, The Ragamuffin Gospel. I’d known of the book for years, but it took dozens of recommendations before I bought and read it. Part of me wished I had done so earlier and part of me is grateful I encountered this beautiful book when I did. It is rare or me to read a book that makes me love Jesus and feel loved by Jesus more. This one did, page after page, relentlessly. It is magnificent in its simplicity and depth and honesty and gratefulness and worship. If you have not, please read it. Here are a election of the best quotes from it.

End quote.

Manning is heavily into gnosticism, specifically Contemplative Spirituality and prayer, which is grounded in the Eastern mysticism of the Roman Catholic Desert monks. Worse, Manning denies the penal substituionary death of Christ and thus along with that, the absolute, inflexible justice of God. But there's more.

As Lighthouse Trails Research says:

In Manning’s more recent book, Above All, he says: “[T]he god who exacts the last drop of blood from his Son so that his just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased, is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist (p. 58).” Manning actually took this idea, nearly word for word, from William Shannon, author of Silence of Fire. But Manning has made a habit of quoting Shannon. Ray Yungen elaborates:

[W]hen Manning quotes from (and even recommends in one interview) William Shannon’s book, Silence on Fire, one would expect to find a common ground somewhere between the two of them. Yet Silence on Fire contains nothing that would inspire a true evangelical. In fact, it is filled with universalist statements that would offend anyone with doctrinally-sound evangelical sensibilities. One portion states, “[T]here is a oneness in God that unites all women and men … The goal of all true spirituality is to achieve an awareness of our oneness with God and with all of God’s creation.”

Alan Jones, whom Manning also repeatedly quotes, calls the doctrine of the Cross a vile doctrine. This rejection of the biblical view of the Cross by Jones and Shannon is similar to that of Brian McLaren who says the doctrine of the Cross and Hell are “false advertising for God.” End quote.

A more anti-doctrines of grace (TULIP and the 5 Solas) you can't find. Mysticism is at the heart, anti-Scripture alone. It does find common ground with the unholy Charismatic movement, though. And that would make sense, considering John Piper's charismaticism himself. When one commits the sin of Adam and Eve by not trusting in God's character and Word but rather, goes outside of His Word to find "knowledge", that is to say, when Scripture isn't enough, people will absolutely fall into error and in many cases, grievous error. Charismaticism (which John Piper holds to) denies the sole sufficiency of Scripture and instead looks to experiences and feelings as if those indicate truth or spirituality. It is nothing less than gnosticism.

As Ken Silva said: As yet another example of the grave danger of spiritual deception for those who persist in CSM’s rebellion against the final authority of God’s Word in favor of personal, highly subjective “experience,” in Reflections for Ragamuffins (RfR) by Brennan Manning the daily devotion for May 8 is based on his lovely lament concerning Isaiah 53. O but of course, first using a methodology so often employed by the Emergent Church, he begins by taking a shot at those of us who adhere to Sola Scriptura as he whines about “how difficult it is to receive anyone who has all the answers.” End quote.

Silva goes on to say:

This next part you really have to read for yourself to believe just how exactly backward Manning’s semi-pelagian ear-tickling centered on the self message actually is:

So Jesus comes in the way of weakness, giving us the chance to love him and making us feel that we have something to give him. Isaiah prophesied that he would be “like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers”(53:7 NAB). Jesus, who understands the human heart, allowed the image of a dumb, helpless animal to be applied to himself. (129)

Because the level of Biblical discernment today is so low this is the kind of trite, pious-sounding, and people-pleasing pabulum that has even begun affecting mainstream evangelicalism in the Chuck Swindolls, the David Jeremiahs, and the Charles Stanleys (the SBC is fine shape). Popular evangelicals like Max Lucado and Philip Yancey long ago succumbed. Lucado writes of Manning that “he does a masterful job of blowing the dust off shop-worn theology” [means: the stuff I don’t like] and Yancey says, “I consider Brennan Manning my spiritual director in the school of grace.” And SBC minister Dallas Willard, who is the Spiritual Formation friend of the aforementioned Foster, tells us that Manning “throws firebrands into your soul and makes you wonder why you are not living stripped, standing in the arctic ‘Sonshine’ of God’s love” (back cover).

O please; it becomes obvious that these men are reading the Bible and then still thinking only as men think. Yes, Jesus came to give man the chance to love Him alright but the Bible is painfully clear in that He was roundly rejected. Christ came “making us feel that we have something to give him”? And what pray tell would we give to Him Mr. Manning; filthy rags? You should have read a little further on in Isaiah — All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (64:6). The Bible teaches very clearly that mankind was helpless on his own to do anything to please God — when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).

The terrible truth is that we have absolutely nothing at all to give God that is even remotely worthy of His incredible gift. Here’s the issue, Manning is mangling the metphor of Isaiah 53 and taking it well beyond its intended meaning. Uh-oh; I just inferred that I know what this passage of Scripture means. What a serious faux pas I have commited because my Emergent “brothers” would tell me I simply can’t know for sure what Isaiah 53 means. Because you see, those who say to us it’s humble to admit we don’t know for sure are in turn *ahem* sure that they themselves in fact know I’m wrong to be…um, sure. Ah Alice, what color is the sky out there in Wonderland? But as has been pointed out well elsewhere: 

Metaphors are often used in Scripture to help the reader understand an abstract concept that might otherwise be lost or to emphasize a particular element. It is dangerous, if not completely off-base, to motivate a position using an element of a metaphor that is not supported or called out by the context. Jesus is the Lamb of God, like a sheep lead to the slaughter… The imagery is that of a blameless sacrifice who willingly, and without protest (see Isa. 5:5), takes upon Himself the wrath of a Just and Holy God in our place.

The context simply does not support the proposition that Jesus wants to be viewed as a “dumb, helpless animal” or did so for the purpose of giving us a “chance to love him.” Manning uses a novel and unsupported interpretation of the metaphor to develop a point he wants the reader to accept. In addition, Manning is a master at building an ambiguous straw man argument on the basis of feelings the reader might have, especially those of inadequacy. The fact that the reader can identify or relate to a particular story becomes the support for the proposition espoused. The methodology appeals to the reader’s experience rather than the truth contained in God’s Word.

Sola Scriptura; Sola Christus!

But therein lies the very grave spiritual danger in following these pied pipers of the postevangelical and Emergent Church rebellion against the authority of the Bible. These fools (look it up in the Bible) have elevated their own corrupt and fallen human reasoning above the text of the Word of God. In simpler terms, these people with their neo-Gnostic mysticism-lite are interpreting the text of Scripture by how they “feel” about it rather than going by what the text clearly says. And it’s a hallmark of the neo-orthodox approach to the Bible. Ever notice how many Emerging Church leaders praise Karl Barth?

End quote.

Read the entire article here.

How is it that Barnabas Piper finds such a heretic like Manning leading him to love Jesus more? The answer is that he's not loving the biblical Jesus. He's not even hearing His voice.

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.

Joh 10:4  "When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 

Joh 10:5  "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."

Joh 10:14  "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me

Doctrine Matters: Scripture Is Sufficient for Doctrine AND Practice

Cecil Andrews recently wrote a piece on the Post-Modern IKON group and Peter Rollins. What caught my eye was an email exchange he had with a father:

"I recently had an exchange of emails from a professing Christian father who was concerned at my article on the upcoming ‘Summer Madness’ event in Belfast where ‘emerging guru’ Brian McLaren will be the main speaker. The very way he signed off his first email spoke volumes – he wrote – Yours In Christ [the guy less concerned with doctrine and more with his children's needs]". The rest I'll quote and comment on below, but I want to look at this problem.

Doctrine and Jesus: without Scripture one can't know who the real Jesus is.

Isa 8:20 To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Luke 24:44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Mat 24:23 Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

2Jn 1:9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

The problem is a low view of Jesus Christ ("the guy"). He isn't a "guy", He is holy and righteous and Judge. His eyes are like fire, piercing the soul. HE comes with a sword to trample over His enemies. He is to be FEARED and worshipped. Unless one reads and believes the Bible, they won't have the right Jesus nor the right response to Him,nor the right Gospel.

Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Eph 6:5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,

God Is Knowable

God revealed who He is by Scripture. His Word starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation. From the first verse to the last, God is teaching us about Himself, our sin and need of Him, salvation, creation, destruction, Hell, justification, relationships, money, lifestyles.

The Post-Modernists reject the Word then claim know one knows anything, yet they also claim, oddly, that all Christians are hypocrits because they don't live according to Scripture (see the rest of Andrews' article on IKON). This is truely foolish thinking. If they want to know God, they must accept the Bible. Yet they reject the very way God has revealed Himself, so their questioning is ridiculous. Clearly this man has been influenced by Rick Warren who says:

"Rick Warren’s gospel is never clearly described. Here is one of his statements about it: “God won’t ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. The only thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you and did you learn to love and trust him?” (Warren: 34). But, doctrine does matter because our doctrine of Christ determines whether we believe in the Christ of the Bible or the Christ of Mormonism or some other religion."--Bob Dewaay

The one who rejects the Bible on any level is the one who's paths are darkened. They cannot have peace with God or of God, nor can they have a stable life. They cannot please God.

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.3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous rules endures forever.

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

God's Word Shows Us How To Live:

Doctrine leads to practice. Bad practice reveals bad doctrine. These two are intertwined. That's why Paul most often first established doctrine and THEN showed how to put it into practice. You can't practice something true (of Scripture) if you don't have, read, or believe the Scripture!

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

His Word gives us understanding so that we know Truth and hate error's ways:

Psa 119:104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

2Jn 1:6 And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

Cecil continues: "You can see from that, that where his children were concerned, ‘doctrine’, in other words, ‘belief’ was very much a secondary issue. I wrote back and sought to explain and share my convictions about how ‘from the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden there has been an ongoing 'Truth War'. I received a very gracious and at times open response to this email and at one point, this professing Christian father, who is involved in church-plant work, wrote – ‘I guess I have started believing that God may be as good as his Word [as in scripture] but we only see this in action and not in written word. But here is the crux of the matter: I don't have a clue. I am stumbling in the dark. I believe certain things about God and Christians and they might be justifiable but they might also be by-products of a distancing from God. I just don't know…’. This, for me, was a very real example ‘in action’ of the widespread loss of confidence, within professing Christendom, in the Bible being the inspired, inerrant and infallible living Word of the living God." (emphasis original)

Psa 119:104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Pro 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Here's the thing: they determine the Word doesn't mean what it says or say what it means ("doctrine doesn't matter"), then claim it doesn't help them ("don't have a clue"), and THEN claim Christians are hypocrits (see IKON or other ECMers). This is foolishness in its clearest form. By what standard do they judge everyone? How do they know Christians are hypocrits? How do they know God doesn't care much about doctrine? Based on what? The Bible? But they reject the Bible as knowable and True. So how do they KNOW "Christians" aren't "doing" Christianity right? And how do they know they have the right God and not the god of Mormonism or Romanism or Buddism? See the tangled mess of their unregenerate thinking? As James 1 says, doubting (which is unbelief) causes a man to be double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

Perhaps this man, at the end of his tether and seeing the ultimate vainity of the way he's been thinking (clearly revealing a hopelessness and rightly so), is beginning to see that the Bible must be true and faithful, because God is true and faithful. His Word really is connected to Who He is: if God isn't trustworthy (how does one even measure that if there's no reliable standard, aka the Bible), then Scripture isn't either. In other words the only way the Bible can be faithful and knowable and true is precisely because God is. Ps. 138:2 says God holds His name and His WORD above all else.

Mat 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Psa 119:13 With my lips I declare all the rules of Your mouth.

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Scripture, being God-breathed, is a reflection of who God is, that is why we can rely on it and know it. If God is knowable its because His Word is too. Scripture is originated by God: it comes from His mouth. If Scripture isn't true, then God is a liar.

Rom 3:2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, "That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."

Joh 10:35 …and Scripture cannot be broken--

Psa 119:89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

Ps. 138:2… You have exalted above all things Your name and Your word.

Psa 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

If you find yourself sitting in the seat of scoffers, or doubting God's Word (echoing the voice of Satan, saying "Has God said?"), I would urge you to read all of Ps. 19 and Ps. 119, listing all the things it says about the Word ("law", "precepts", "testimony"). This is God's stamp of approval and elevation of the perfection and sufficiency of His Word. After all, it comes out of HIS mouth.

Cedarville University Offers Religious Poison to Students

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.

I read this article from Ingrid over at Slice of Laodicea, but you can go directly to Lighthousetrails if you want. Both sites are excellent.

In part here's what it said:


One of emerging spirituality’s pied pipers, Shane Claiborne, is scheduled to speak at Cedarville University. The present leadership of that institution is apparently failing to hold the line on contemplative and emerging influences. Lighthouse Trails Research is reporting the following:


"On February 11th, Cedarville University will be hosting an evening with emerging church activist Shane Claiborne. The evening is titled after Claiborne’s book, The Irresistible Revolution. Lighthouse Trails spoke with John Purple (Cedarville’s Dean for Student Life), who said the event was open to both students and the public.

Lighthouse Trails told Purple that in the back of Claiborne’s book he lists a number of “Local Revolutionaries and Ordinary Radicals” to which proceeds of the book go. One of those is the church Brian McLaren founded - Cedar Ridge Community Church 1 Another is Rob Bell’s church, Mars Hill Bible Church2. Bell is a New Age sympathizer who tells readers in his book, Velvet Elvis that they should study the teachings of mysticism and tantric sex promoter Ken Wilber (p. 192) (see Wilber’s website with discretion). Bell also resonates with a Dominican sister (whom he invited to his church) who is from a spiritual center that promotes the occultic healing technique called Reiki (see March 29, 2006 teaching at Mars Hill).

Claiborne’s book has a foreword by liberal political activist, Jim Wallis. While Cedarville’s Dean of Student Life (Purple) told Lighthouse Trails that Cedarville is “very conservative,” pointing students to a book that is partially written by Wallis seems to give a different message. Wallis is the founder and director of Sojourners magazine, a widely read publication that gives a voice to mystics, emerging leaders, and New Age proponents. Sojourners would not represent the views of a “conservative” Christian college by any means, and it is a dichotomy for Cedarville to call itself conservative Christian then introduce students to a book written by Wallis and Claiborne in a favorable light, which CU is doing when it says that Claiborne is “rooted in the values of the Christian faith.” 'Source here.

In addition, Ingrid noted that Cedarville's President Book List also promotes ECM guru Leonard Sweet's book "Soul Tsunami". You can read about him at Lighthouse Trails as well.

This "Christian" university is falling down the Down grade fast, exposing its students to religious poison via the ECM. Its not surprising but pathetic that a "Christian" college would tout themselves to be conservative when in fact they are denying the Truth so they can be "open-minded".

Notice how in academia over 100 years ago, is like today: indulging in the ungodly notions, considering their worth, gleaning something from the putrid garbage of the world, and saying they are gaining wisdom. Utter nonsense. Its sitting in the seat of scoffers, asking "has God said?"

2 Tim. 2: 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.

The Down Grade SECOND ARTICLE April 1887 Sword and Trowel

http://www.spurgeon.org/s_and_t/dg02.htm Robert Shindler writes:


"He 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. "

Shindler goes on to say:

Quote:

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.

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.

2Co 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Dan Kimball, Rick Warren, and Post-Modernism

Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox:


Notes & Quotes -- www.TheOoze.com

"Yes, we truly believe there is such a thing as truth and truth matters -- if we did not believe this, we would have no good reason to write or speak; no, we are not moral or epistemological relativists any more than anyone or any community is who takes hermeneutical positions -- we believe that radical relativism is absurd and dangerous, as is arrogant absolutism; yes, we affirm the historic Trinitarian Christian faith and the ancient creeds, and seek to learn from all of church history -- and we honor the church's great teachers and leaders from East and West, North and South.

"Yes, we believe that Jesus is the crucified and risen Savior of the cosmos and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus; no, we do not pit reason against experience but seek to use all our God-given faculties to love and serve God and our neighbors; no, we do not endorse false dichotomies -- and we regret any false dichotomies unintentionally made by or about us (even in this paragraph!); and yes, we affirm that we love, have confidence in, seek to obey, and strive accurately to teach the sacred Scriptures, because our greatest desire is to be followers and servants of the Word of God, Jesus Christ." - Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, Spencer Burke, Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Andrew Jones, Chris Seay www.TheOoze.com

Posted Thu, Jun 30 2005 12:07 PM by MTBEditor
Filed under: Notes & Quotes

"Christianity Today" --A Total Farce

I read Ingrid Schlueter's article this morning over at Slice of Laodicea, and thought how she's got it right, once again. She says in part:

In talking about an upcoming "apologist" conference, starring non other than the great apologist himself, James Dobson (uh, he's hardly an apologist---he's merely a humanistic psychologist "Christian" in my own opinion), Ingrid challenges the notion of such a conference, given the farce of "Christianity" today:

Quote:

With months long freak shows like the one Todd Bentley just completed, with televangelists jetting around at donor expense so the Senate has to investigate, with men like John Avanzini handing out lucky rubbing stones so people can get rich, with cussing pastors and churches handing out cards with ideas to jazz up your sex life, with pastors getting arrested for trying to hook up with 13-year-old girls online, and so forth and so on, maybe they shouldn’t call this a National Apologetics Conference. I think it should be called a National Apology Conference. They could line up Christian “leaders” and lay people who could spend hours apologizing.

1. We’re sorry for treating Jesus Christ as a life-enhancement product.
2. We’re sorry for funding and listening to crooks and liars on TV and sending them money.
3. We’re sorry for attending churches where live motorcycle stunts are performed onstage.
4. We’re sorry for having 3rd rate ethics while claiming to follow Christ.
5. We’re sorry that neighbors had to call the police because our church sound system blew out their windows.
6. We’re sorry for supporting a deranged “evangelist” who kicks people in the stomach to cure their cancer.
7. We’re sorry for wearing/selling/buying stupid T-shirts that blaspheme God and thinking that would impress non-Christians.
8. We’re sorry for spending billions of dollars on music downloads and CD’s of our favorite Christian pop star and funding their demise.
9. We’re sorry for blowing off Sola Scriptura and returning to medieval mysticism.
10. We’re sorry for buying books from heretical wolves like Brian McLaren who deny hell, the substitutionary atonement and the Second Coming.
11. We’re sorry for adopting hindu worship practices as a Christian means of encountering God.
12. We’re sorry for buying trash like The Shack that redefines the Trinity and introduces goddess theology to evangelicals.
13. We’re sorry for following the Rupert Murdoch-sponsored pied piper into his latest church campaign because we refuse to think biblically.

End quote.

These things are disgusting, but it reflects "Christianity" today. Scripture speaks of such nonsense:

2Ti 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.


2Ti 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

And why is it that millions fall for such putride garbage while slapping "Jesus" on to it? They lack a love for Truth, for Scripture, for God, and for His people. They are worldlings that are merely religious. I'll even go a step further and say most of these people were saved by a gospel, but not The Gospel.

Most professing Christians are told while unsaved, that

Jesus loves you
If you were the only person in the whole world, Jesus would have died just for you
God is on bended knee, arm stretched out with a ring, hoping you say "yes" to His proposal
Make a decision, walk down an aisle, raise a hand to get saved
Say a prayer to get saved
Jesus is your boyfriend, best buddy, He won't judge you
God has a wonderful plan for your life
Free will / neutrality toward God and sin

Moreover, the "gospel" people hear and believe is nothing more than a self-esteem pep talk. It has man at the center of the Gospel, Salvation, the Bible, and God's universe.

They leave OUT:

Jesus Christ is Lord (Master, Sovereign King, to be obeyed)
Jesus is God
Jesus Christ is the center of the Gospel
Jesus Christ is the center of the Bible
God is the center of the Universe
God's wrath on the sinner (the person, not *just* the sin, as is so commonly proclaimed--John 3:36)
Man's total depravity / sin
Repentance from sin
Jesus is sinless and took the Father's wrath at the cross, paying for all the sin of those who believe
Jesus died and rose again on the Third Day according to the Scriptures
Jesus is the ONLY way, Truth, and life, and NO ONE comes to the Father but by Him
Hell is where you go if you refuse to believe in Him alone for salvation, apart from your works

What we end up with is a bunch of self-absorbed religious people who are not anchored in Truth and therefore have no solid foundation. They are worldly, have a form of godliness but no power, claim a Jesus, but not the Master who is Ruler and Dictator. They fall for every type of doctrine and philosophy of the world (psychology, evolution, humanism, gnosticism, intellectualism, superstition/Charismaticism/Word of Faith, feminism), they are easily offended, judge others for being judgmental. They tolerate sin and false teachers, but not Truth and those who stand for biblical Truth. Thse "Christians" end up in prison, arrested for DUI, outted as sodomites, found to have committed fraud on the unsuspecting, cuss and swear like sailors.

Its no wonder the world laughs at them: their own jesus is as effective as allah or Barney. Their lives are full of divorce, adultery, fornication, homosexuality (Ray Boltz, the singer is the most recent to flaunt his lies and homosexuality), envy, strife, chaos in the home and in the church. Their children are themselves sexually immoral, getting pregnant as teenagers, doing drugs (some prominent "Christians" admit about their days of drug use), bitter, and angry.

What's the point in being THAT kind of "Christian"? Might as well do it all without the "restraints" of "Christianity" since they ARE doing all those things anyway. What a farce and what absolute hypocrisy!

Reclaiming the Mind: Mark Driscoll, Scot McKnight, and Dan Kimball: Emergent Poison Pushed

Reclaiming the Mind’s Converse With A Scholar offers Mark Driscoll (April 24, 2008), Scot McKnight (April 3, 2008 ), and Dan Kimball(March 20,2008) for the sheep to listen to. However, what they offer is nothing but Emergent Church garbage. Take a look here at Lighthouse Research Trails’ March 2007 Newsletter :

Quote:

Some say that some emerging church leaders (like Dan Kimball and Mark Driscoll) are not part of the Emergent movement and that the terms Emergent and emerging church mean two different things. However, according to one of the strongest catalysts for the emerging church movement, Zondervan Publishing, Kimball and Driscoll are indeed part of the "Emergent movement." Zondervan describes its 2007 book, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches as: "Five of the emergent movement's most prominent leaders debate their views on Scripture, Christ, atonement, and more." Those five are Dan Kimball, Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Karen Ward and Doug Pagitt. Be that as it may, emergent and emerging are just words, but those who adhere to either of the concepts are going in the same direction, and as we stated in our article, Emerging Church Confusion: What Does it Really Mean?, emergent leaders are feeding the emerging church movement and making it what it is and will become.

Incidentally, in Zondervan's book, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, Robert Webber, the editor of the book, says that "traditionalists have been out of touch with cultural changes, and the contemporaries who have become so thoroughly enmeshed with and catechized by culture are out of touch with the traditions. This reality has created what seems to be an unalterable division between devoted Christians" (p. 213). This is a scary statement, and here is why: In Dan Kimball's book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church, he makes it clear that "traditionalists" are those who take the Bible literally. Webber says those kind of Christians are out of touch with today's culture (in other words they don't wear hip looking eye glasses or wear slicked back hair or drink beer at the pubs with gays, or cuss in public). That makes them abnormal and oblivious to the world around them according to Kimball. Webber would like to see the two types of Christians (those literalists who believe everything the Bible says and those emergents) come together. He states: "What are we to do? Should we encourage the split? Or is there a new direction for us all? ... What will it take to create an Ancient-Future faith (Webber's name for the emerging church)?" (p. 213) He goes on and tells the solution: "First, an Ancient-Future faith calls us to return to our ancient roots in the first centuries of the church." He explains that these "ancient roots" include "spiritual formation" (contemplative mysticism) and he says that while there have been reforms throughout history (such as the Reformation), we do not need to be divided over them (he includes Catholicism) and says we are "connected to the same family. This ecumenical conviction is central to an Ancient-Future Vision" (p. 214).

In emerging church leader, Scot McKnight's book, The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus, McKnight says that Protestant Christians are the only Christians who do not honor Mary. He recommends that Protestant churches all practice an "Honor Mary Day" (p. 144), saying she "leads us to a Jesus who brings redemption ... To listen to Mary is to hear the message of Jesus' death and resurrection as a mega-event whereby God established a new kind of power, a new kind of family, and a new kind of kingdom" (p. 145). McKnight describes this great event as a time when the world will come together and worship Mary.

Today, Christendom has become filled with leaders who have lost their way. If Christian leaders like David Jeremiah and Josh McDowell, who are now promoting emerging leaders, continue in their present direction, they will be responsible for countless lives losing their chances for hearing the true gospel, and these leaders will be helping pave the way for an interspiritual, mystical, apostate religion.
Unquote.

Dan Kimball’s push for ecumenical paganism:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/dankimball.htm
and
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/stevemuseemerging.pdf

More from Lighthouse: 2008 National Pastors Convention

Quote:

Pastors and church leaders who are planning on attending the 2008 National Pastors Convention, which will be presented by Zondervan Publishing and InterVarsity Press this coming February, should think twice about going. After travel expenses, ticket, lodging and food, the cost for the event for one pastor could easily run over a thousand dollars. In light of the speakers who will be teaching, and other events being offered, this may prove to be an unfruitful way to spend so much money, and may even be spiritually detrimental.

Speakers at this year's event include some of the most blatant proponents of contemplative spirituality and the emerging church, which in many cases also means having a propensity toward Catholic mysticism and interspirituality. Some of these speakers include: Ruth Haley Barton, Tony Jones, Erwin McManus, John Ortberg, J.P. Moreland, Calvin Miller, Scot McKnight, and Dan Kimball. Chuck Colson, co-author of the ecumenical Evangelicals & Catholics Together document will also be speaking. Emerging church favorite Phyllis Tickle (who once called Brian McLaren the next Luther) will be a speaker at the event as well. 1 A number of other speakers also fall into the contemplative/emerging camp.

A number of other speakers also fall into the contemplative/emerging camp. Extra activities offered at the convention, in addition to seminars by the speakers, include "Christian Yoga" presented by Shelly Pagitt (wife of emerging church leader Doug Pagitt), New Age sympathizer Rob Bell's Nooma films, opportunities to be instructed by "spiritual directors" (those who teach contemplative spirituality), and prayer Labyrinths.

Critical concern courses will offer "Practicing the Presence of Jesus: A Spiritual Retreat" by Mark Yaconelli, who once revealed to Lighthouse Trails that he taught mantra meditation in his classes. Popular teachers Henry Cloud and John Townsend (CCN) have found a teaching place at the convention too in a critical concerns course called "Revolutionizing Group Life in the Church." Having these two mainstream speakers will give much credibility to the event in the eyes of many. Dan Kimball will teach a course named after his book They Like Jesus but not the Church (see review).

Unquote.

**UPDATE***

The Submerging Influence, a "community blog" of Reclaiming the Mind, links some of the most liberal "Christian" websites: iMonk (Michael Spence), Jesus Creed (Scot McKnight) and Christianity Today. This is no surprise. In fact it just confirms the lack of love for purity in doctrine and love of Truth, God, and His children. Offering poisoned water doesn't glorify Him.

2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
2Co 6:15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Co 6:17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

Gal 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- Gal 1:7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Jud 1:3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

2Pe 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.