Friday, January 31, 2014

Linger and Passion Conferences: The Presence of God and Gnosticism

               
                     (Photo Source)

The stated vision and goal of the upcoming  Linger Conference is:

"The vision and purpose of the Linger Conference is to impart the fundamental importance of remaining or "Lingering" in the presence of the King. Our attention span as a culture, even for spiritual matters, is measured in seconds and minutes rather than hours and days. This conference offers the opportunity to be transformed in the presence of God by lingering in worship, prayer, meditation on scripture, and reflection. We hope to draw the attendance of lay people in addition to church staff and provide a conference environment where believers can linger in the presence of the Lord. We pray that this conference will spark a hunger for the presence of God and a lifelong pursuit of beholding His Glory."

Additionally Linger states

The concept of lingering in God’s presence isn’t new. We see it throughout scripture, and we all know life makes more sense and we have more peace when we take the time to listen and worship. Worship changes us. It sculpts out a place for God, where He can be present in every aspect of our days.When we pause in His presence, He works miracles in our heartsMonotony begins to fade and is replaced with a sense of joy and purpose that underlines our moments, our circumstances. 

Linger Conference seeks to explore the concept of lingering in the presence of God as part of life-changing worship. They also say:


If I’ve known the benefits of lingering in everyday circumstances, then I’ve most assuredly known the value of lingering in God’s presence. Anytime I move worship off the grid of time constraints and expected formulas, I am blessed with a deeper, more meaningful, one-to-one connection. And the reward of this kind of lingering leaves blooper reels, extra pie or sales tips in the dust. Lingering in God’s presence is life changing.
It’s this simple truth that sparked the genesis of Linger Conference.
Linger Conference is a unique event created to help all of us learn what it is to linger in God’s presence. In two amazing days in Dallas in February 2014, we will assemble some of the brightest speakers, teachers and artists to share in the disassembling of our preconceived notions about spending time in God’s presence. From moments of undiluted worship to sessions that bring us together with like-minded friends and colleagues, Linger Conference is a chance to rest, review and renew so that we can bring more intentional worship back to our churches across the country. 

~Linger (italics, original)


Now, read this analysis of the gnosticism of strange fire:

Quote:

In their 1995 book Strange Fire: The Rise of Gnosticism in the Church, which exposed the esoteric roots and fruits of the modern-day IHOP and NAR movements, Travers and Jewel van der Merwe warned about their faulty teachings about God’s “presence”:

When a high value is placed on personal experiences or revelations, Scriptures are then unscrupulously twisted and misquoted. We find those who believe the feelings of a congregation must be hyped up in order to "feel" the Presence of the Lord or else the church is thought to be "dead". Instead of music being used to worship and glorify God, it is used as a means of "connecting" or "feeling" the Presence of God. If the "location" (or a feeling within) of God is not aroused and sensed, the Spirit is said to be either absent or bound. To counter this passive situation, worship is intensified, the devil is "bound" and certain forms of excitement are encouraged until "God's Presence" is "felt". Many times music is used as the conduit for the "feeling". A popular slogan to advertise a certain music company is: "Feel the Presence of the Lord".The church has been taken down this primrose path for so long that they equate the Presence of God with a certain feeling that they obtain by doing certain things. The "goose bumps" or the "warm fuzzies" or tears of comfort, is their way of "knowing" that God is present. So what this thinking boils down to is simply: "To know God's Presence you must feel Him." In actuality this is pure Gnosticism…. 

The Gnostic god is localised in a subjective experience, a soulish feeling of being in union with creation and God. It rejects the relationship with the Creator based on faith in His written Word…. 

[W]hen emotional feelings become the doctrine of God's Presence, then God has been reduced to a "gnosis" form of Presence. For many, the doctrine of "knowing the Presence of God" is sought in a subjective experience. An emotional experience, especially a repetitive one during a worship service, if not kept in proper perspective or check, can lead to an altered state of consciousness in which the capacity for rational reasoning is greatly reduced. At this point the congregation is open to delusion and can be easily led astray. In many charismatic groups an altered state of mind is explained as "getting into the Spirit" or as a manifestation of the presence of God. Uncontrolled spiritual feelings transcend sound scriptural rationalism and give rise to the doctrine of "the Presence of God" built on an experience.[88] [emphasis added]


~Herescope, "The Passion of the Presence" (black bold, original)

Here is Lectio Divina practiced to get into the presence of "God' at Passion 2012, starring LeCrae, John Piper, Lou Giglio, Beth Moore, Francis Chan:



What Passion conferences are all about: passion.

Louie Giglio is Pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Ga, and the Founder of Passion Conferences, a movement gathering collegiate-aged young people since 1997 in events across the US and around the globe. Most recently, Passion hosted over 60,000 people at Passion 2013 in the Georgia Dome, uniting students in worship and prayer, and raising awareness for modern-day slavery. In 2008, Louie and his wife Shelley led the team that planted Passion City Church, a local community of faith with the DNA of the Passion movement. Their desire is to inspire this generation to live for what matters most.
In case you didn't count them, "passion" was used six times in that little paragraph. There's a message being brought forward there.
Sound familiar to Joel's Army? Youth, passion, social justice, sensuousness, mysticism.
Passion Conference 2014: I noted the sensual, fleshly, worldly nature of the conference, nearly identical to that of any famous secular band's concert these days: both using sensory techniques to heighten the senses. Enter Sola Sensa.
Passion 2014 Day 1:






(Source)

Matchbox 20, a popular secular band:








Or Maroon 5 another popular secular band:



As *NewCalvinist notes (excerpts):
Passion worship is very different from the biblical understanding of worship described above, for it is based in a culture of rock music and psychedelic lighting that produces a spirit of revelry. The reason Passion worship cannot follow biblical principles is because it has emerged from the ethos of the worldly clubbing scene that emerged in the 1960s, when it was discovered that the hallucinatory trip induced by LSD could be enhanced by swirls of intense psychedelic light. And so strobe lights were introduced into night clubs, accompanied by fast-beating, loud rock music, to heighten the sensory stimulation of the club scene. The pleasure experienced by young people at events that became known as raves was greatly enhanced by psychedelic lighting. Rave culture arose in one of the most permissive and revolutionary periods of the twentieth century....
In like manner, the Passion conference is built on the foundation of rock music and psychedelic lighting. Passion worship takes place in a darkened auditorium with flashing strobe lights piercing the darkness, to the thundering beat of rap music that arouses the young crowd into a state of ecstatic revelry, with wild arm waving and rhythmic body movements. Combined with the raucous inane lyrics of the Christian rock artist, the mesmerizing music and flashing lights are designed to arouse sensuality. The whole psychedelic event prepares the way for drugs, sex, rebellion, and godlessness....
Added to the mix is the name Jesus, and the young people are led to believe that they are worshipping the God of the Bible. But they have been deceived—what we see at Passion is counterfeit worship. And the terrible truth is that most of the young people at Passion actual believe that they can worship God in this way. We must conclude that the spirit of Passion is not the Spirit of God.
End quote.
This is Sola Sensa.
But it gets worse. Following the mind-numbing, sensory overload, in walks John Piper, ex-pastor, popular speaker, with the spotlight on him. No house lights turned on for the young adults to have their Bibles open (not everyone has the Bible on their cell phones, nor is that something that should be, imo, encouraged--and they should be taking notes, good or bad). I find it ironic but typical, because this is a stage act; a sole man getting attention; all eyes on The Man.
 Remarkably, Piper’s address to the massive crowd took place in the dark, except for a spotlight focused on the preacher. Piper in darkWhy no light? Because the mystical, ecstatic atmosphere of Passion, which has been so carefully cultivated by darkness and beat music, with piercing strobe lights, would be shattered as the young audience were brought to their senses. But Passion does not want that; it wants young people who are held captive under the intoxicating spell of the clubbing atmosphere. It is, of course, very difficult for the Gospel of Truth to be effectively preached in such an atmosphere. Here we should remember what our Lord said about those who love darkness: ‘And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God’ (John 3.19-21)
Why the darkness? A Bible preacher, who is preaching God’s Word, would surely want the congregation to be able to refer to the biblical text.  Piper praysBut not Piper!  He is perfectly happy to preach in the dark, and by doing so he conforms to the ethos and spirit of the Passion conference which is all about worldly music and psychedelic lighting. 
End quote.
Linger, New Apostolic Reformation, Passion Conferences all have a lot in common. They are of the flesh, not of the HOLY Spirit. They feed the temporal, the cause people to see the things of the earth, instead of setting their minds on the things above where Christ is seated, with sober mindedness, being alert and examining all things, as the Bible commands Christians to do.
These movements and their conferences are spiritual whore houses. And trying to sanitize what they are doing with Christianese or claiming "it's for the glory of God" won't make it worthy of HIM. Israel tried that ad nausem when they pragmatically and seductively embraced paganism around them (often by marrying people in pagan cultures God prohibited precisely because they would lead the Jews astray) and ended up in spiritual as well as physical adultery. Today's "Christianity" is no different. HIS presence is not something one can call down and claim that it will keep one from all evils no matter what. When the Jews tried that with the Ark of the Covenant (then later, the Temple), God destroyed many of them for their presumption, sin, arrogance, and idolatry. He's no different today.


* NewCalvinist somehow and erroneously believes John MacArthur is a New Calvinist. This is incorrect. In fact MacArthur teaches against New Calvinism. I will say that there likely will come a time when The Master's College and Seminary, as well as likely Grace Community Church will end up as New Calvinist, but MacArthur doesn't teach nor accept it (I do agree with NewCalvinist that the music is a concern, however, at Resolve and as I hear, at GCC in the youth department).

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