Ray comfort has done an excellent job of forcing his listeners to face the reality of government sanctioned murder. Please take  half an hour and watch this video and let it be your 180.

Steve Blackwell

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y2KsU_dhwI&feature=player_embedded#!

Poor Harold Camping, the whole world has witnessed his fall, and now he must bolster his pride and continue his self-deception or confess and repent. But, let me say this in his defense; he is more honest in his promulgations than the whole camp of liberal Emergents. Harold studied the Bible, in the power of his own mind and reasoning, and boldly stated his conclusions to the world. The liberals, on the other hand, do their studying and then scurry off into shadows, innuendos, insinuation, half-truths, and misrepresentations.

These New Age liberal Emergents come to no absolute conclusions. By making no judgments, they can say everything, without saying anything. They have perfected the Luciferian art of “doublespeak” by virtually prefacing all they say with the preamble “Hath God really said,” or as Rob Bell would say “. . . and someone knows this for sure?”  Harold did no such thing; he boldly proclaimed his error, in the face of truth; he dared to come against the light in the open, and fell. The liberals lay in ambush with snares and pits, and hide in the fog of deceit. Harold was not really honest by any stretch of the imagination; even still, he was more honest than the Emergents.  When Satan initiated the use of Liberal tactics, in the Garden of Eden, he was awarded the title, “Father of all lies,” so what does that make the Emergents?

Harold rejected God’s truth and is condemned. The liberal Emergents reject God’s word and are applauded, proving that it is hard to hit a moving target or put fog in a box. At least Harold tried to be honest in his own deceived way. The best way to deceive is to copy Satan, by muddling, diluting, mixing, melding, stretching, bending, thinning, reducing, cutting, adulterating, or prostituting the truth, and never show your hand. Harold showed his hand, and is now clearly a liar and false prophet. You will rarely get a peek at the hand of an Emergent. Emergents love to engage in mind manipulation and ego massage, and appeal to the desires of the flesh, where the subtle effects of leaven can work unnoticed.

Who should we be concerned about mostly? Harold was a shooting star, his predictions were confined to a small group of followers, and collateral damage was minimal. On the other hand there are the liberal Emergents, whose infectious disease gnaw on and disintegrate the very foundation of truth. Harold Camping’s teaching is unsound, and needs to be exposed, and was mostly accomplished by his own actions; but the Emerging scourge is a wretched curse by which many a soul will be damned.

We love to focus on today’s headlines, and laugh at such foolishness as billboards predicting the return of our Lord, when all the while leprosy is creeping up our legs unnoticed. Satan will keep our eyes on the immediate comic display of a few as the real enemy surrounds the city. Harold Camping is more like a sedative to distract our attention till it is too late, until the last curtain falls on the final act, and the world is carried away in its stupor. 

The false prophet Harold Camping (see my article Harold Camping proclaims the Lord’s return will be in May 21, 2011) has put up billboards across the nation advertising his belief that the Lord will return for His Church on 5-21-2011, one such billboard is in Indianapolis. Harold’s heresy has been matched by the American Atheists who have put up their own billboards mocking, not Harold Camping, but all of Christianity. My question is, what will Harold be doing on May 22?

1. Christians on both side of the aisle debate the goodness of a God who would permit the kind of death and suffering we see in the aftermath of Japan’s 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown.  

2.  

3. All over the world the main topic of discussion is the Japan tragedy, and now we learn that the worst is yet to come. Both Christian and non-Christian people are confused. People can’t understand how a “good” God could allow thousands upon thousands of innocent people to be killed. It is not necessary to present another theological or philosophical debate to explain what, and why, these things happen, or to try and justify God; John Piper has done that; and Brian McLaren’s philanthropic love has cornered the market on empathy. With those bases covered the question of “why?” still remains, and will not go away. After the prayers are over, and the aid exhausted, the mothers, fathers, and children, who have lost so much, return to their homes, and keep asking, “Why?”

   Christians don’t have to have all the answers, but answers help, especially now; and you can do no better than opening up the Bible.

   How do we balance the mercy and love of God, with His justice? I say “we” because God doesn’t do a balancing act, nor does He juggle His emotions, trying to keep some kind of equilibrium between good and evil. God is God, even when we don’t understand Him. God is perfect, and man confused; it is man that walks the tight rope wanting to know “why?” It is “we” who are out of balance and stumble, proposing our question in hopelessness, when the answer is right there, in the Book. God has spoken!

   God has anticipated the question and has included the answer, in His book of answers, the Bible. We will look in vain going anywhere else.

   Luke. 13:1-9 says everything that needs to be said for those who want the truth.

   “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them — do you think they were guiltier than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’” 

   Then he told this parable:

   “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” 

   It was generally accepted by the Jews of that time, and many today, that if something bad happens to a person it is because of sin in their life. In other words if a building falls on you, you must have been very bad. Jesus’ simple answer was, no, that isn’t true. “But, unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” So, Jesus’ answer to the Japan disaster is, no, God did not cause this disaster, but He did allow it, and “unless you repent you will likewise perish.” The parable that follows, which most people overlook when considering the above passage, sheds some light on the matter. What some will see here is a mean natured God; others will see a God of mercy.

   By looking closely we discover that the wrong question is being asked. They, and we, ask “why did God do this or allow this to happen?” By understanding the parable and what Jesus is trying to teach us we understand that the question should be, Why does a perfectly “just” God tolerate anyone to live, why doesn’t He destroy all mankind, not just allow a few to die in accidents? The answer is “MERCY.”

   In the parable God is the owner of the tree and Jesus is the gardener, who asks for mercy on the tree, for a period of time, to try and make the tree fruitful. God is a merciful God who has waited and waited and waited, but His justice cannot wait forever; justice must prevail.

   It is precisely because of accidents that the preaching of the Gospel is so important. How long will God’s mercy be put off, the Bible says, “Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled,” Heb. 3:15? And, this is precisely why the message of Brian McLaren and Rob Bell, and the whole camp of the neo-liberal “Emergents” is a death sentence for anyone caught in their web of deceit. They destroy the justice of God and leave the question of “why” unanswered, and hide poor sinners from the mercy of a Father who will wait, till He can wait no longer.

   Come home, poor sinner;
   Why longer roam,
   Thy Savior’s calling,
   “Come home, come home!”

   He died to save you
   On Calvary;
   Behold what suff’ring!
   ’Twas all for thee.

   Oh, come to Jesus,
   Do not delay;
   Come, and He’ll save you;
   Come while you may.

   Oh, come to Jesus;
   He’s waiting still
   With His salvation,
   Thy soul to fill.

   Oh, come to Jesus;
   How can you stay,
   He’s pleading, pleading;
   Come, come today.

    

Rob Bell is obviously not one of those to whom the truth has been revealed, and has found it necessary to rely on his own “reason” to try and de-code Bible mysteries.  Rob’s results are laughable since he overlooks the evident simplicity of “truth.”

When Jesus spoke, many misunderstood Him, because He would use the apparent to identify the not-so-apparent. Most often this was seen in the many parables He spoke. Even His Disciples had to be taken aside and the meaning “revealed” to them. We are told that this is how we are to understand everything spiritual; it has to be revealed to us. Also, we are told that to those outside, the answer is not revealed, and that they will remain in the dark.

Understanding the inspired writings of God, which is proven by our obedience, is a wonderful “fruit,” and much joy comes as a result; along with much trouble. We are told to look for the fruit to distinguish the true believers from the false. But, in Rob Bell we see no fruit of understanding, only the fruits of a clever mind. Rob stumbles along, when trying to grasp what the Bible could possibly be talking about, when it uses words like “Gehenna.” Many in Jesus day were confused by His use of the common to illustrate the uncommon; they just couldn’t connect the dots, because the Master did not reveal the answer, and the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.

There were some of those surrounding Jesus who would have understood that the Greek word Gehenna was the same as the Hebrew Old Testament word Tophet , “ Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze,” (Isa. 30:33; Jer. 7:31,32.)

Jesus was linking Gehenna with Tophet, and neither Gehenna nor Tophet were the same as Sheol, Hades, the Abyss, or Tartarus, although they were translated Hell. Thus our Savior says in Matt. 10:28, “that we are not to fear them which kill the body, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.” This is the same place that John calls “the lake of fire which burneth with brimstone,” and into which the Beast and the False Prophet, Satan, Death, Hades, and whosoever is not found written in the book of life, are finally cast, and swallowed up forever; i.e., it is the ultimate “Hell” of full and final punishment.

As far as Rob wishing that this world is “Hell;” he can only wish.

Rob’s ignorance of Scripture shows up in his dealing with the Rich Man and Lazarus also. This story is not called a parable, and could very well be the unveiling of an invisible world where departed souls, of both good and bad, continue on in life, after leaving the body. Is not God the God of the Living?

If I may add my two cents worth here concerning Hades I think that the Scriptures have designated Hades as a place, other than just a hole in the ground. A careful inventory of the passages where this word is used I think is conclusive that Hades is the name of a place in the unseen world. But, it is distinct from Hell as the place of the final judgment. The ancient's understanding of the word was that it was a place of departed spirits, a receptacle of souls that have left the body. This is the place where Christ descended into, a place where both good and bad souls, up to the time of Christ's resurrection, went. The reason I say this, is that it seems that Hades was divided into two compartments, one side of which was known as "paradise." Hades is the place where the rich man and Lazarus both went when they died. Lazarus went into the bosom of Abraham, i.e. Paradise. In Hades the rich man lifted up his eyes and seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Lazarus was then in Hades too, as well as Abraham, and the only difference was a great gulf between them. Lazarus was comforted and the rich man tormented, but Lazarus was not yet in Heaven. And, also, the words of our Lord while on the cross to the thief; today you will be with me in Paradise, i.e. the better part of Hades. They were neither in Hell nor in Heaven. It is kind of like a holding area for both, a place of detention. We don't hear that there was any compensation given to the good, or of judgment for the bad. Christ, by virtue of death went to Paradise, but not as a subject of death, but as its conqueror proclaiming victory to the departed saints (1 Peter 3:18, 19) and brought with Him the faithful souls as "having the keys to death and to Hades." Paradise no longer is in Hades, but only those who await judgment. "O death where is thy sting? O Hades where is thy victory?" The grave still has its victory, all our dead bodies will end up there, but there is no victory for Hades as to the faithful, but only for those who have no claim in Christ; no share in His redemption. But, Hades is not Hell/Gehenna.

Rob’s nice little story may appease weak souls who feed on corn husk, but it will never convince anyone who is filled with the Spirit of God. Rob Bell is an unbeliever and a false teacher which can be proven by his fruits and his theatrics, and his rejection of the simple word of God.

Establishing the Fact

Why is it that every "Christian" thinks he or she is going to go to Heaven? The Bible is very plain concerning the fact that that isn’t going to happen. Everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will not make it. But, it doesn’t matter, wherever you go, or who ever you talk to, they’re all going.

Now, we have a little problem; either the Bible is incorrect or a whole lot of people have been deceived into thinking they have their ticket purchased and their trip all squared away, and they’re just waiting on the bus. Of course the idea that the Bible is not the final word and not totally correct is becoming more popular, and the issue of “having it all squared away” is becoming less controversial; there is a general consensus that that particular point is settled and we’re O.K., but the other idea, deception, ends up being the more realistic problem.

Deception, trickery, ruse, sham, fraud, con, cheat, what interesting words. Is it conceivable that so many Christians are deceived? Who is doing the deceiving? The preachers? The devil? The government? God? Maybe it is ourselves; Paul says, “…let no one deceive you…” as if we can only be deceived if we “let” ourselves be deceived. I can understand deception in the area of un-believers, but we’re talking about “Christians.” Ask anyone who has raised their hand during a worship service and they can assure you that they have followed procedures and that their bus token, regardless of how “straight” or hard the gate is to get through is valid. Who is it then that the Lord was referring to when he said in Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven…” Paul, interestingly enough, encouraged Timothy to “lay hold of eternal life,” creating the notion that it might slip away, or tear itself loose from its mooring, that even he might be deceived. Deception, a very interesting concept indeed, and one that needs to be comprehended, after all, it could be soundly stated that we are living in the age of deception, at the end, when all the chips are on the table and the great contest of wills and wit comes down to “the Lie,” the bluff that will win the ranch away from so many deceived Christians. But it isn’t just salvation that is at stake here, it is the whole body of Truth. This is a dangerous time, a time when we must be able to think clearly,  to cut through the haze and fog, and discern Truth.

The Bible instructs us to comprehend the “signs of the times.” Even professional poker players, gamblers in this world, make their living knowing how to read signs or “tells” that enlighten them on how to stay in the game. The overriding principle of winning the game of poker is to “put all the odds in your favor,” so studying the cards, being able to read the other players, having discipline, and being consistent, are keys to winning. No professional poker player thinks poker is a game of chance; if he puts “all” the odds in his favor he knows he can win. There is something to be learned from their technique. We can put the odds in our favor by knowing how to read the signs of the times (discernment Jn. 16:13), by studying Jesus (Heb 12:2-3), looking for the “tells” which expose false teaching (Matt. 7:20), living a disciplined life in the Lord (walking in the Spirit Gal. 5:16), and by being consistent (faithful Jas. 1:6). We can not allow our salvation to become a game of “chance;” we must not be deceived.

Re-discovering the Path

Things have been going the way they are at present for an extremely long time. If we are deceived, when did the deception sneak in? We should be able to look into the past and discover the point at which the path was departed. At the point of exit is where we must return. We need to begin with a firm foundation, of belief and doctrine (1Tim. 4:16), from which we can establish a boundary marker or a base, and then we can determine if those markers have been moved or tampered with. Once we see where the boundaries belong we can alter our heading to resume the correct path. Getting back to where we belong will mean an exercise of extreme faith and discipline, saving ourselves (Phil 2:12,13), and becoming a beacon of light for those who follow. The laws of inertia have a cementing effect on men, especially men who have become weak and at rest, and much effort will be involved to get them moving again, effort directed by the Holy Spirit.

First, we need to establish the fact that it is conceivable that the masses of mankind can be deceived. If this fact cannot be firmly established then we are wasting a lot of time looking for something that may not even exist. We talked about discovering the old surveyor’s marker that determines what the standard should be, the boundary marker that tells us that we can go this far and no farther. Now we are at the spot where we have to ask ourselves, “Will I believe what the marker says or will I be enticed to move the marker and break through the wall into areas I’m not permitted.” The Bible is our standard; it is the ancient boundary stone that we are forbidden to move at our own hurt. Hos 5:10 says "The leaders of Judah have become the lowest sort of thieves” as those who move boundary markers to steal property from their brothers and from the Lord (see Dt. 19:14, 27:17). The truth is we have moved it many, many, times over the past two thousand years and that is why we are wandering and confused, desiring Agape (Divine love), Koinonia (fellowship and sharing), and Ecclesia (the gathering of the saints) but knowing deep inside it is more our imagination than reality. We get the sense of it, the scent of it, like a flower we can’t see, and we know it exist because we can smell it. It is genuine and it is that yearning, for the real thing, not the “replica,” which demands that we press forward; it is the smell of our Lord that we sense and it is He that draws us to Himself. It is Jesus who is the boundary marker, the standard, and it is He that the Bible speaks of, from beginning to end. Jesus can be trusted and He Himself cautioned us to, “Take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many”( Matthew 24:4-5). “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (v. 11.) “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (v. 11). Note the words Jesus used: ". . . Many will come . . . and will deceive many . . . Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." The Greek word polus, translated "many," means "many, much, great" (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, "Many"). This deception is clearly massive and widespread. Who is the real mastermind behind this worldwide deception?". . . Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

Satan's Modus Operandi, DECEPTION  

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!" (2 Corinthians 11:3-4.)

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ" (Galatians 1:6-7).

Jesus Christ predicted that some would take His name and claim to represent Him—but those same people would be deceivers. They would claim to be Christian but would bring a different message and a counterfeit Christianity. In Paul's day this movement was already well under way. Some were already preaching "another Jesus" and "a different gospel." Most churches in our time focus on a gospel about Christ while ignoring the focus of His teaching. Obscuring His intended message, they preach a gospel that is different from "the Gospel of the kingdom of God"  that Jesus taught (Mark 1:14, 15).

What is the extent of this deception?

"… that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev 12:9)

“…and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while” (Rev 20:3).

“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea…” (Rev 20:7-9).

“Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Rev 13:14).

Who is involved in this deception?

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:13) .

Within only a few years after Jesus Christ's death, people began to distort and misrepresent His message. When two decades had barely passed, the apostle Paul warned congregations about "false apostles," telling them that he had already suffered at the hands of "false brethren" (2 Corinthians 11:13,26). These deceivers came in Christ's name, but they led many astray with their distorted message. By the time we reach AD 68 Jesus is telling John, in a vision, that if the Church did not do its first works over their candle stick would be removed. The social gospel had been born and was gaining a life of its own, a child of deception, and the offspring of Satan. The social gospel was no threat to Rome because they were of the same family. These corrupted believers could worship their god without the risk of persecution, just like the church in America and Europe.

In the face of  persecution, that followed closely, the genuine “Body of Christ” grew at an astounding rate. Within 300 years nearly the whole known world had been Christianized. All of this took place as Satan and his demons were lighting up the Roman Empire with the bodies of Christians, turned into human torches; while hungry lions gorged themselves on the members of Christ’s body; while Christians hid in caves and catacombs and fled for their lives into the vast reaches of the then known world, carrying with them the news of God’s immense love, His Kingdom come to earth, as exhibited through the living Body of Christ, the Church.

In A.D. 311 the Emperor Constantine declared the Roman Empire a Christian nation and established Christianity as the state religion. Did you catch that? Now, believing became easy, as the cost was reduced and persecution stopped. The doors were swung wide and the pews became packed with unbelievers anxious to partake of this free lunch of "Christian" importance. The numbers grew steadily, for awhile. Today, in this same area of the world, Christianity has been reduced to just a handful of believers and persecution is on the rise again. With Constantine, building the church was something men did. Men sanctioned it, men sponsored it, and men built it, with earthly materials. It was decided by men that building, maintaining, and spreading Christianity was something best accomplished by trained experts. Jesus was no longer the living head of the church body but rather the absentee landlord who has become a symbolical figurehead of the new church organization. The Body of Christ had become an organization instead of the living organism that characterized the early church of the Book of Acts. Only rumors and spotty second hand accounts remained to identify this new church with the power of the Holy Spirit displayed in the form of gifts and miracles and supernatural love. The church, as warned by Jesus Christ, was now in the hands of its captors, with miracles, healings, dreams and visions, and prophesies, all of another sort.

An historical account taken from Schaff’s History of the Church

\Volume Three – From Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great (A.D. 311-590)\NICENE AND POST-NICENE CHRISTIANITY (A.D. 311-590)\1. Introduction and General View. – §

1. Introduction and General View.

“From the Christianity of the Apostles and Martyrs we proceed to the Christianity of the Patriarchs and Emperors.” “The third period of the history of the Church, which forms the subject of this volume, extends from the emperor Constantine to the pope Gregory I.; from the beginning of the fourth century to the close of the sixth. During this period Christianity still moves, as in the first three centuries, upon the geographical scene of the Graeco-Roman empire and the ancient classical culture, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. But its field and its operation are materially enlarged, and even touch the barbarians on the limit of the empire. Above all, its relation to the temporal power, and its social and political position and import, undergo an entire and permanent change. We have here to do with the church of the Graeco-Roman empire, and with the beginning of Christianity among the Germanic barbarians. Let us glance first at the general character and leading events of this important period.”

“The reign of Constantine the Great marks the transition of the Christian religion from under persecution by the secular government to union with the same; the beginning of the state-church system. The Graeco-Roman heathenism, the most cultivated and powerful form of idolatry, which history knows, surrenders, after three hundred years' struggle, to Christianity, and dies of incurable consumption, with the confession: Galilean, thou hast conquered! The ruler of the civilized world lays his crown at the feet of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. The successor of Nero, Domitian, and Diocletian appears in the imperial purple at the council of Nice as protector of the church, and takes his golden throne at the nod of bishops, who still bear the scars of persecution. The despised sect, which, like its Founder in the days of His humiliation, had not where to lay its head, is raised to sovereign authority in the state, enters into the prerogatives of the pagan priesthood, grows rich and powerful, builds countless churches out of the stones of idol temples to the honor of Christ and his martyrs, employs the wisdom of Greece and Rome to vindicate the foolishness of the cross, exerts a molding power upon civil legislation, rules the national life, and leads off the history of the world. But at the same time the church, embracing the mass of the population of the empire, from the Caesar to the meanest slave, and living amidst all its institutions, received into her bosom vast deposits of foreign material from the world and from heathenism, exposing herself to new dangers and imposing upon herself new and heavy labors.”

“The union of church and state extends its influence, now healthful, now baneful, into every department of our history.”

“The Christian life of the Nicene and post-Nicene age reveals a mass of worldliness within the church; an entire abatement of chiliasm with its longing after the return of Christ and his glorious reign, and in its stead an easy repose in the present order of things; with a sublime enthusiasm, on the other hand, for the renunciation of self and the world, particularly in the hermitage and the cloister, and with some of the noblest heroes of Christian holiness.” “Monasticism, in pursuance of the ascetic tendencies of the previous period, and in opposition to the prevailing secularization of Christianity, sought to save the virgin purity of the church and the glory of martyrdom by retreat from the world into the wilderness; and it carried the ascetic principle to the summit of moral heroism, though not rarely to the borders of fanaticism and brutish stupefaction. It spread with incredible rapidity and irresistible fascination from Egypt over the whole church, east and west, and received the sanction of the greatest church teachers, of an Athanasius, a Basil, a Chrysostom, an Augustine, a Jerome, as the surest and shortest way to heaven.

It soon became a powerful rival of the priesthood, and formed a third order, between the priesthood and the laity. The more extraordinary and eccentric the religion of the anchorets and monks, the more they were venerated among the people. The whole conception of the Christian life from the fourth to the sixteenth century is pervaded with the ascetic and monastic spirit, and pays the highest admiration to the voluntary celibacy, poverty, absolute obedience, and excessive self-punishments of the pillar-saints and the martyrs of the desert; while in the same degree the modest virtues of every-day household and social life are looked upon as an inferior degree of morality.”

Today we have reached the pinnacle of pride and human glory in the man-made church and it is identified with a totally outward appearance but utterly lacking of inward substance. In the preface to his book The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer says the reason for writing the book was “called forth by a condition which has existed in the Church for some years and is steadily growing worse.” “Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the spirit.” “…The churches are more prosperous than at any time within the past several hundred years. But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal; and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.”

When we look for the church today it can be found in these outward characteristics of architecture, religious symbolism, or the increase of knowledge and intelligence. Mans seeking “his own” glory is at the root of the problem. Their earth bound desire to unlock Holy Scripture reflects a similar incident, involving the Pharisees, related in Matt. 22:29 “You error, not knowing scripture, or the power of God.” If we are not seeing God’s results from God’s Word then we are in ERROR and deceived. Even the disciples, after three years of teaching had to be rebuked for their unbelief. It wasn’t because they didn’t understand what they were told; it was because they did not believe what Christ said. “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Lk. 24:25-27). All the theological schools and universities and man made churches are filled to the hilt with deceived “Christians” trying to determine what God means in His word. Almost ninety times in the New Testament alone, an appeal is made to readers to just believe what “is written,” as if everything was simple enough to understand if you wanted to. Pride, self-will, self-deception, and rebellion against what “is written” are the causes of the Bible being hard to understand.

The Body of Christ today has become the invisible church, only to be found by very few. Today, as never before, it has become very apparent that all the building of our modern Tower of Babel has failed. The sheep of His flock have scattered and are lost and hungry and listening for a voice from heaven. Jesus promised that His sheep would hear His voice and would follow Him. The Good Shepard’s voice is being heard now, even though faintly, calling His sheep out of the dark.

“My sheep know my voice….”

Definition of PACIFIST

2: strongly and actively opposed to conflict and especially war

Does that definition describe Jesus? No! Although He never engaged in or even defended Himself against violence, and charged His followers to do the same, He did not strongly and actively oppose conflict or war by unbelieving nations or people. On the contrary the Bible declares that it is God who establishes kings and kingdoms to do His will to punish and judge, and Paul states in Romans that these kings and kingdoms bare not the sword in vain, and is it not Jesus who will return and smite the nations, and tread out the winepress of God's wrath? Jesus did not disapprove of war, only that His followers should not participate in it; or violence of any kind.

As we move toward the end of the age, with all of what that means in terms of violence and war, what should the Christian position be? Should Christians support, oppose, or remain neutral as to war and military service? The position of Jesus must be the position of every follower of His if we claim to be Christians.

In America, as it is in most other countries I suppose, patriotism and national allegiance are honorable positions, but are they “Christian” positions? Most of the Christian denominations are considered to be “warring” denominations, by the Government, when the question of conscientious objector status is brought up. This is not surprising considering that it is very often Christians who lead the charge in the debate of “just war.” They are the first to stand, and recite with the loudest voices, the Pledge of Allegiance, and in singing the National Anthem.  What is the Biblical position that Christians should follow? And, if they are following a contrary position, why are they following it, and where did that position come from?

The question of whether or not Jesus was a Pacifist is not a fair question. Since we know God never changes, being “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” and we know that Jesus will return to tread the winepress of the wrath of God, then we can say with confidence that Jesus was not, and is not, a Pacifist. Did Jesus come to show us a new way to run the earth by ridding it of war? No! He came to show us a way out, by following His example of faith and trust in a supernatural God. He came to save us from the evil that rules the earth, not to establish a new theocratic world government of men based on the faulty idea that all mankind can be convinced to live peaceably. 

I really don’t like the word “pacifist” much, it has been hijacked by the liberals, who are for the most part pacifist, but for a worldly kingdom, and not the Kingdom of God. They are really humanist who use pacifism as a political tool to engineer a man made peace on earth, which is impossible, if you believe the Bible. If we say yes, Jesus was a Pacifist, then we protest, picket, and run off to join Jim Wallis and his band of liberal Christian humanist, exploiting politics and theology for an ecumenical one world government.

But, if we say that Jesus was not a Pacifist, we join the ranks of the “just war” advocates and ally ourselves with the evil of mass destruction, and to the government that promotes it, and drape the cross in red, white, and blue.

Jesus was neither for or against war, as far as the question pertains to the world. Both of the arguments above have their roots in the flesh of men. They both start in the minds of men and reason their way to a presupposed conclusion. They both get what they want at the expense of truth.

The words pacifist and pacifism are worldly terms that conjure up images that are packed with worldly ideals, none of which reveal the mind of Jesus. We cannot force Jesus to conform to our definitions and to model Himself as a hippie or a warlord; Jesus will not follow us, we must follow Him. Neither ignoring His plain words, like the mass of conservative nationalistic evangelicalism does, or contorting His meanings, like the old school liberal camp and the more resent emerging Christianity, will work. Disobedience and rebellion are a malignant cancer in both camps.

As practicing Christians we must impose this limitation in our search for facts, are those facts true, according to Scripture. On the surface this statement may seem obvious. You may say, “well of course, the Bible is the final word on any subject, so why state something so apparent?” Because, although, the truth is apparent it always seems to have the habit of disappearing in a cloud of human reasoning. The Bible warns us in both the Old and the New Testaments to not trust human reasoning, but we cannot resist the temptation to take a position founded on what we conclude to be a very rational thought process. 

Prov. 14:12, 16:25 "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

Prov. 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." 

1 Cor. 1:20-21 "Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."

1Cor. 3:18-20 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, ‘He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS’; and again, ‘THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.’”

Why is the Lord so adamant about not trusting our ability to reason through a problem and coming to, what we might consider, a logical conclusion? The answer is, that we do not have the ability to reason properly since those days in the Garden of Eden, and that apple thing. Satan was right about having our eyes opened to both good and evil. Only now all of our cherished opinions and decisions are tainted with error. Every little task we now undertake has to be run through the infected database of our minds and heart. We rightly question whether or not we have made right choices. We ask our friends, search it out on the internet, and run it by the pastor, and are still deluded because we have not believed the plain written words of our Lord; the only one who can think straight and who has the power to discern correctly between good and evil; He says, "trust Me." 

Did Jesus exhibit the characteristics of a "pacifist" while He walked upon this earth? Yes, He appeared to be a pacifist. But, He was not. When Jesus comes the second time He will be no pacifist, but a roaring Lion, to tread out the winepress of the wrath of His Father, and to present a deed, that was purchased on Calvary. He will come as the conquering King, not a sacrificial Lamb, and declare war on all evil and unbelief.

It is Jesus’ first appearance, as the Paschal Lamb that we are to emulate. It is His cross that we are to likewise bear; it is His life that we are to present to the world, over and over again, as we follow the Master. The Lamb is our life, the humble Lamb, the meek Lamb, the weak and lowly Lamb. The life of Jesus should be the life of His followers.

This sounds all very simple, as it should be, yet there are those who disagree and argue that God supports and even promotes “just war.” In other words God approves and blesses Christians who fight as individuals, or in league with national allegiance, to suppress evil or defend the weak. 

Is this true? The truth is more important than any pet doctrine or allegiance to a flag. 

It seems that every little fragment of truth that we gather puts us more and more outside the circle of the general opinion or the consensus of Christian belief, either on the one side or the other.  Is it possible that truth is so rare that those who find it also find that they rarely agree with others who profess to follow the same Jesus you follow? The simplicity of Jesus, seems to be itself, veiled in complicated darkness and hidden from the sight of those who follow from a distance. They are more concerned with the pretty stones along the seashore than the mighty rolling glory of the Sea itself. But, many there are who look for pretty stones, and miss out on the preciousness, power, and cruelty of the sea. To follow Jesus will drive a wedge between what could be, lasting relationships, if the simplicity of Jesus becomes a reality in your life. 

If you were to ask the average person what Jesus preached – even the mediocre Christian – you'd no doubt hear something about love: "Jesus taught about love. He said we should all love each other." This perception of Jesus' teaching isn't wrong. Jesus did talk a lot about love. In fact he said that loving God is the greatest commandment and loving our neighbors is next (Mark 12:29-31). So, love figured prominently in the message of Jesus.

But love was not the core of Jesus' message. And, his preaching about love didn't get Him hung on a cross. Neither the Romans nor the Jews would have been particularly bothered by a Jewish prophet who ran around telling people to love God and people. A lot of Jews would not have appreciated His love of their enemies, but the Romans  wouldn't have crucified someone whose main crime was telling Jews to love them and turn the other cheek. The bone of contention with Jesus' message must have been more abrasive, indeed, more disgraceful, than a call to love your enemies.

Jesus' message was anything but pacifistic. He says of Himself that He, "came not to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus came to declare war against evil, using the tools of meekness, and obedience to the will of the Father, as a weapon of mass destruction to all who reject Him. What He doesn't win over with His immense, pure, complete, and everlasting display of love will be forever vanquished from His presence in a place the polar opposite of love, which can only be called pure Hell.  

Jesus spoke many times of the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth as a conquering force. He gave parables about the Kingdom and its King and His intentions.

Lk. 14:31 "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?"

Lk. 13:6-9 "He also spoke this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’"

Jesus' preaching of the Kingdom was not a message of a pacifist; He was delivering a stern warning, and it was understood as such by those who killed Him.

The kingdom of God has been equated with all sorts of things in the last two millennia. Some have claimed that it is heaven, and that Jesus was saying, in so many words, "Now you can go to heaven when you die." Others have understood "the kingdom of God" as referring to the Church. From their perspective, Jesus announced the beginning of the age of the Church. Still others have seen the kingdom of God as a world infused by divine justice. They have taken Jesus' announcement as a call to social action. In recent times, New Agers have reduced the kingdom of God to inner awareness of one's divinity. Like the ancient Gnostics, they understand the good news of the kingdom to mean "You are divine."

Jesus was unleashing the power of God into the world through His sacrificial act and that it would be carried on by the sacrificial acts of all His followers.

His message is; The Kingdom of God is coming, God is establishing His direct rule or government in the earth, and this government will be manifested through Messiah (Jesus) (Psalms 2), and His warning is, repent or perish, that is the terms for peace. The government of the whole world will "rest on His shoulders." Human self-determination will end, and "every knee will bow."

All the false dreams of nationalism, patriotism, and pacifism will be extinguished, and then we will come face-to-face with reality, because God is the God of reality.

Strong winds are blowing. What you may have thought was just a chilly gust representing a slight change in the Christian atmosphere is quickly becoming a cosmic storm of historical proportions.  Things are not what they seem to be, and what you thought you owned as a believer may very well be worthless. The greatest heist to have ever taken place, has taken place, right under the nose of unsuspecting Christians, by the very ones we trusted to secure that "Pearl of Great Price." The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been stolen and replaced with a forgery, and a cheap one at that. While mediocre, lukewarm, fence setting believers slept in the safety of their "organization" the "tares" of the evil one have completely covered the earth. The boldness of which the Devil is now moving is indicative of a judgment that looms just over the horizon. I fear that most who read these words of warning will just roll over and go back to sleep, not acknowledging the the most obvious facts of our Christian belief, and that is, that this is all foretold in the very Book we say we believe. 

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YEAR END SPECIAL REPORT FROM LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS: Rick Warren's Apologetics Weekend Should Apologize

RICK WARREN'S "APOLOGETICS" WEEKEND SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR REPRESENTING "ANOTHER GOSPEL"

What is the Acost@ involved to follow Jesus? And, what are the terms for peace dictated by the Great Conqueror? It will cost you everything; every cent; every ounce of energy, and every minute of every day; your life is no longer yours. The terms of peace are to lay down your arms and surrender. He will take everything. Your whole existence is the spoils of victory, and you are reduced to a servant, to serve Him forever. In return, He will allow you to live; He will give you life, eternal life as an adopted son, to share in His eternal glory and abundance, and never own anything, ever again, forever. But, He will not accept a compromise or mediocrity in your commitment.

God loves us but it does not mean that we can live a mediocre life; we have to discipline the body and mind, and press toward the mark of the high calling. The Israelites were baptized in the red sea and they had shared in spiritual food and drink, the food of angles, but this doesn=t guarantee the promised land; they all perished in the wilderness, remember. "…these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did." To desire evil does not mean to commit murder, robbery, or anything of that kind necessarily. The Israelites' desire was to go back to the world ‑ to Egypt, to settle for something less than the best; to be mediocre. Their heart was still back in the world with the world=s mindset, resulting in Aimmorality… and twenty‑three thousand fell in a single day."  They loved the world, and the world said it was O.K. to hedge their bets by holding back from God, and the world was in those who moaned and groaned that God was too harsh and demanded too much. The world in their midst were those 23,000 who had contracted the fatal disease of mediocrity, who failed to count the cost to build God=s Kingdom. Those 23,000 wanted a kingdom built on a structure similar to the kingdoms of the world, where mediocrity was accepted and encouraged, and they all died, in one day.

We Christians don=t want to be Good Samaritans these days; we want to be Mediocre Samaritans, where we only put a bandaid on a situation, then we=re off on our mediocre way, reasoning away God’s intentions for our lives. A mediocre Christian deserves a mediocre kingdom, and that kingdom will be pure Hell.

Mat 7:22,23 AMany will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Here is an article with a video at the end which I came across while perusing the internet looking for information to add to a database I am trying to develop of the Emerging Church and its leaders. The article is very well written and is a first hand account of the 2009 National Pastors Conference, presented by Zondervan Publishing. The article is a bit dated but still relevant for anyone concerned about the apostasy that has infiltrated the Church. A careful reading and examination of those mentioned should be enough to set any lover of God and Truth to an ALERT status. It is time for these alerted Christians to examine carefully the fruits these, so called Christians, bring to the table. Jude 12-13 these men are "waterless clouds, carried along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars for whom the nether gloom of darkness has been reserved for ever." They have no desire for truth, but bend and twist the plain truth of Scripture to capture drifting souls who have no anchor. Many Watchmen are sounding the alarm, there will be no excuse for ignorance when the Lord returns. Give heed the words that follow.

Steve Blackwell

P.S. Please bare in mind that the names mentioned in this article are only the tip of a very large iceberg. The influence of these men has infiltrated the vast majority of once conventional conservative Churches, and the chances are that you are being influenced yourself.

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THE EMERGING CHURCH IS COMING

by David Cloud

This is an eyewitness report on the February 2009 National Pastor’s Conference in San Diego, California, by David Cloud of the Fundamental Baptist Information Service, and a warning about the emerging church and its growing influence. 

The conference was sponsored by Zondervan and InterVarsity Press, two of the largest and most influential Christian publishers. Their authors represent the mainstream of evangelicalism today as well as its cutting edge, from Bill Hybels and Rick Warren to Rob Bell and Brian McLaren. 

Christianity Today magazine was prominently represented at the conference. Andy Crouch, a senior editor, was one of the main speakers and interviewers. He also led a praise and worship session. Other speakers included Bill Hybels, Rob Bell, Leighton Ford, Gordon Fee, Shane Claiborne, (left) J.P. Moreland, John Ortberg, David Kinnaman, Scot McKnight, Alex McManus, and Christopher Wright.



There were roughly 1,500 pastors and Christian workers in attendance. 



The emerging church is the name that has been coined for a new approach to missions and church life among some “evangelicals” for these present times. 



In reality, the emerging church is simply the latest heresy within the broad tent of evangelicalism. When the “new evangelicalism” swept onto the scene in the late 1940s with its bold repudiation of “separatism” and its emphasis on dialogue with heretics, the door was left open for every sort of heresy to infiltrate the “evangelical” fold, and that is precisely what has happened. The Bible does not warn in vain, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).



Emerging church teaching tends to be complicated, convoluted, contradictory, and confusing. 



Coming to grips with it is like trying to pin a glass marble to a table with an ice pick. It is movable and if forced to stand still and be consistent, it shatters! 



In addition, it is evolving, and there is a “conservative” side to the emerging church issue that further complicates things.



Regardless, we must deal with the emerging church because its influence is growing. 



EMERGING CHURCH IS SPREADING



Brian McLaren told how that Willow Creek Community Church had never had a sermon on environment, poverty, war and peace until last year, but now they are on the change-the-world, build-the-kingdom bandwagon. And Willow Creek is not just one mega-church near Chicago; it is also an association of 12,000 churches. 



Emergents Brian McLaren (right), Scot McKnight, and Shane Claiborne spoke at Willow Creek’s Shift conference in April 2008.

McLaren also described Rick Warren’s plunge into emerging church waters with his P.E.A.C.E. plan. When launched in April 2005, Warren said it would “change the world.” He wants to enlist “one billion foot soldiers” to overcome the five “global giants” of “Spiritual Emptiness, Self-serving Leadership, Poverty, Disease, and ignorance (or illiteracy).” Toward this objective he is calling for a broad ecumenical and interfaith alliance of evangelicals, modernists, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, homosexuals, pro-abortionists, etc. 



Warren has promoted McLaren on his Ministry Toolbox web site. Warren also recommends the very radical and liberal Leonard Sweet. Warren’s recommendation appears on the cover of Sweet’s book Soul Tsunami, which says, “It is time for a Postmodern Reformation … Reinvent yourself for the 21st century or die” (p. 75). Warren and Sweet collaborated on an audio set entitled Tides of Change, and Sweet spoke at Saddleback Church in January 2008 at a small groups training conference.



Rick Warren is a prominent pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination that is permeated with emerging church philosophy.



EMERGING CHURCH TARGETING THE CHILDREN OF FUNDAMENTALISTS



I attended the conference in San Diego because I am concerned about the next generation. The emerging evangelicals are targeting our children and grandchildren. Brian McLaren counseled emergents to be patient as opposed to trying to change churches overnight. In his 2008 book “Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices,” McLaren described his plan to infiltrate churches and Christian institutions that are currently rejecting the emerging church. He says: 



“But over time, what they reject will find or create safe space outside their borders and become a resource so that many if not most of the grandchildren of today’s fundamentalists will learn and grow and move on from the misguided battles of their forebears [Biblicist Christians]” (p. 133). 



McLaren is saying that emerging doctrine will infiltrate Biblicist churches from without through “resources” such as books, videos, and web sites. 



This is exactly how New Evangelicalism has so deeply infiltrated fundamentalist Bible churches and independent Baptist churches over the past two decades and it is doubtless how the more radical emerging church doctrines will infiltrate them in the coming decades. 



The conference represents the fruit of the New Evangelical movement founded by Billy Graham and Harold Ockenga and the post-World War II generation of evangelical leaders who rejected biblical fundamentalism. They founded Fuller Theological Seminary and Christianity Today, both of which were represented at this conference. Fifty years ago these men said, “We renounce separatism,” and this is where their children are today. It is a loud warning to Biblicist Christians who are tempted to go in the contemporary direction. 



CHANGE AGENTS



The emerging church aims to transform traditional biblical churches into a new emerging model and they are employing many tactics toward that end. 



One tactic is to create doubts and to bring about a re-thinking process, but they don’t lead the individual back to the Bible for the answers. It is not wrong to re-think things, particularly methodology, but our thinking must be carefully bounded by Scripture or we will find ourselves in deep spiritual trouble.



Another tactic is to get churches to see themselves through the eyes of the world and to encourage them to adapt to this viewpoint. For example, since the world doesn’t like “judgmentalism” and criticism, the churches must stop judging and be tolerant and tone down the “negative preaching,” and since the world is put off by an “anti-gay” stance, then the churches must adopt a new approach to sexual issues. 



God’s people should try to understand the people we are trying to reach and we should care what they think of us at some level, but the fact remains that the world has always looked upon Christians negatively. That was true in the first century and it is true today. Jesus said that the world will hate us because it hated him (John 15:18-20; 17:14). The only way to change the negative way that the world looks upon Bible-believing Christians is to compromise the faith. The emerging church solution, to make Christianity “cool,” is simply not an option for Bible believers.



Another tactic that the emerging church uses to bring change is to promote contradictory doctrinal positions. This is the dialectic approach. Zondervan and InterVarsity Press epitomize this. They publish men who claim to believe the Bible is infallible and who have a personal testimony of salvation and supposedly believe in hell (e.g., Bill Hybels and Rick Warren) alongside of men who do not believe in the substitutionary atonement and are convinced that “an exclusive, hell-oriented gospel is not the way forward” (Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 120, f. 48). 



These contradictory positions ultimately cause readers to conclude that doctrine cannot be dogmatically known and is not very important. It destroys doctrinal stability. 



CHRISTANIZED WORLDLINESS

The worldliness that permeates the emerging church is breath-taking. The general sessions of the National Pastor’s Conference began with half-hour stand-up comedy routines, some of it pretty crude. The comedy routines were followed by hard rock concerts complete with massive pounding speakers, colored lights, smoke, and huge rear-projection screens. All of this took place in a darkened hall. Some of the speakers, such as Will Willimon, (left) head of the United Methodist Church, used profanities that we would not repeat in print. The females were typically dressed immodestly. 



Even the most conservative branches of the emerging church have made shocking compromises with the world. They claim that they relate to the world without being conformed to it, but in reality they are deeply conformed to it. 



Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, claims to be “THEOLOGICALLY CONSERVATIVE AND CULTURALLY LIBERAL” (“Pastor Provocateur,” Christianity Today, Sept. 21, 2007). He criticizes “hardcore fundamentalism that throws rocks at culture” (ibid.) and defines himself as “relevant,” “contextual,” and “cool” (“Conference examines the emerging church,” Baptist Press, Sept. 25, 2007). 



Driscoll says, “Restrictive Christians go too far and name everything a universal sin, forbidding some culture activities that the Bible does not, such as listening to certain musical styles, getting tattoos, watching movies, smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, and body piercing” (The Radical Reformission, p. 103). 



Driscoll says that he learned to preach by “studying stand-up comedians.” He said that seeing the filthy comedian Chris Rock live was “a better study in homiletics than most classes on the subject” (Confessions of a Reformission Rev., p. 70) 



Mark Driscoll’s church sets up a “champagne bar” at its New Year’s Eve dance parties. The December 2007 party was called “Red Hot Bash2” and featured “one of the top dance bands in the Northwest.” Participants were invited to “come bust a move on the enormous dance floor” and were reminded to bring their IDs. 



Mars Hill has “beer-brewing lessons” and operates the Paradox Theater which has hosted hundreds of secular rock concerts. At one concert, a Japanese punk band performed naked. 



Mars Hill shows R-rated movies. In fact, Driscoll says that some of his sermons on sex are R-rated and that visiting youth groups have been embarrassed and walked out half-way through the message (Confessions of a Reformission Rev., p. 134).



And this is the very conservative side of the emerging church!



God’s Word says, “And be not conformed to this world,” and, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (Romans 12:2; 1 John 1:15). 



AN ECUMENICAL BLENDING

The doctrinal variety represented at the conference was amazing. There were Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Pentecostals, Mennonites, United Church of Christ, Roman Catholics, and others. 



The speakers included a Catholic priest (Emmanuel Katongole) (above, center) who teaches at the Methodist-affiliated Duke Divinity School, a Jewish agnostic (A.J. Jacobs, author of “A Year of Living Biblically”), a man who has written a book depicting God as a woman (Paul Young, author of “The Shack”), and a man who denies the infallibility of Scripture, the substitutionary blood atonement, an eternal fiery hell, creationism, and a literal fall (Brian McLaren). 



All of these were warmly accepted by the other speakers and the 1,500 pastors and Christian workers in attendance. No one that we talked to at the conference was willing to say a word against anything or anyone. 



HATRED OF BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISM



The only enemy that was clearly identified and attacked was biblical fundamentalism. The conference celebrated a wide variety of heretics, but the believer who takes the Bible seriously and is earnestly contending for the faith was held up to ridicule. 



Even the comedians targeted them. Michael Jr. called them “the over saved.” He told a crude joke about a dog licking itself and said, “If you didn’t laugh at that, you are over saved.” 



Brian McLaren ridiculed those who believe in a literal six-day creation.



Rod Bell described those who want to maintain “doctrinal purity and theological correctness” and make life difficult for emerging pastors. Bell quoted Titus 3:10 from the Today’s New International Version, which says that divisive persons should be rejected, and he advised that this is how pastors should deal with doctrinal puritans. This perversion of Scripture turns truth on its head. Paul was not warning about divisive persons in general. The truth itself can be divisive, and Jesus and the apostles caused great divisions. Paul was warning, rather, about those who are divisive through false teaching and refuse to submit to the truth.



A MAGNET FOR REBELS



The emerging church is a magnet for those who have rejected the “old-fashioned” New Testament faith and who despise traditional Bible-believing churches, dogmatic biblical preaching, and biblical “judgmentalism” in regard to lifestyle choices.



In a video-recorded interview, Zach Lind, drummer for the secular rock band Jimmy Eat World, told us that he grew up in a conservative type Baptist church and made a profession of faith when he was young, but he only did so because he didn’t want to be left out of the communion service. He secretly loved rock & roll and didn’t like to hear preaching against that sort of thing, so he left church and did not return to Christianity until he discovered the emerging church. Now he has the freedom to be a Christian and also a drummer in a filthy rock band that produces pornographic videos. Following is an excerpt from the interview: 



“The belief system that they emphasized did not necessarily resonate with me. For instance, when I was in junior high they played a video to the junior high group called ‘Hells Bells: The Dangers of Rock & Roll.’ And I was sort of secretly in the closet a big rock & roll music fan, listening to all different kinds of bands that typically the church wouldn’t approve. … Ultimately in high school I started a band with some friends; that was 15 or 16 years ago, and we still are a band today; we’re a secular rock band. I’ve lived in the world, and I’ve realized that a lot of the religious goods and services that I was provided as a kid just sort of fell flat when I entered into the real world. As I was trying to reconcile those kinds of things, I was free falling. The framework of Christianity wasn’t viable to me. It was nice to come into contact with some writers like Brian McLaren and Rob Bell and Dallas Willard that gave me a different framework, a different perspective, in order to construct a life of faith that really resonated with me. Because of my experience with the band and whatever notoriety I’ve gained with that, I’ve been able to make some friendships with people that I really respect and that have really shaped me. It’s been life-giving. … The gospel that I believe now is totally different than the gospel I grew up with. The gospel I grew up with was a transactional gospel, this idea that if I have the right belief now I will be somehow saved from some kind of punishment later. … Dallas Willard reminded me that the kingdom of God is not some future destination, that the kingdom of God is now.”



This theme runs throughout the emerging church.



In Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller tells how that he refused to be restricted by the teaching of traditional-type churches. He wanted to drink beer and watch raunchy movies and talk trashy and run around with atheists and other rebels.



In A Renegade’s Guide to God, David Foster mocks “Bible thumpers” and calls for a “renegade” type of Christianity that “resists being named, revolts at being shamed, and rebels against being tamed” (p. 8). He says, “We won’t be ‘told’ what to do or ‘commanded’ how to behave’” (p. 10).



In If Grace Is So Amazing, Why Don’t We Like It, Donald McCullough says that he doesn’t like the type of preaching that says, “… don’t do that, curb your appetites, reign in desire, discipline and sacrifice yourself” (p. 104). 



These people are rebels against the plain teaching of the Bible, and as a magnet for rebellion the emerging church holds a wide attraction in these last days as prophesied in Scripture:



“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). 



This prophecy describes a great turning away from Biblical truth among professing Christians. It says they will reject the sound teaching of Scripture and desire a new type of Christianity that allows them to live after their own lusts. That is a strange type of Christianity, but we are seeing its fulfillment before our very eyes. The prophecy says there will be heaps of teachers who will give the people this new type of Christianity, and this is exactly what we see. Christian bookstores are filled with books and the Internet is filled with Christian articles and blogs, but the majority of this material does not contain the straightforward preaching of God’s Word that reproves, rebukes, and exhorts (2 Timothy 4:2). Rather, it is filled with doctrine that scratches the itching ears of those who have rejected the Bible. It is filled with pop novelties, psychology, self-esteemism, pampering of the ego, conformity to the world, heresies, questionings, boastings, doubtings, illicit fellowship with error (e.g., the contemplative spirituality movement), railings against “legalism” falsely so called, fairy tales, fictional romance, reconstructed history, fascination with ancient heretics wrongly called “church fathers,” and many other things.



The New Evangelicalism of the 1950s was a rebellion against strict biblical Christianity, and the emerging church is simply a step further in that fearful direction. 



Rebellion is a natural product of our fallen nature. The “old man,” as it is called in Scripture, which we inherited from Adam’s fall, is at enmity against God and His Word. True Christianity requires a new birth. There are no “second generation” Christians in the true biblical sense. It has been truthfully said that God has no grandchildren. Thus each person that grows up in a Christian home must come to grips with the gospel for himself and herself, and because the devil and the indwelling fallen nature are real, there is a fierce spiritual battle that must be waged. 



I faced this battle in my youth. I grew up in a Baptist church and went through the motions of receiving Christ and joining the church, but I wanted my own way more than Christ’s. I therefore rejected the Bible, left the church, and went very far into the world before being converted at age 23. 



Because of this ongoing battle that rages with each new generation, the rebellion that is part and parcel of the emerging church philosophy is very enticing to a wide range of people.

THE SHACK: THE EMERGING CHURCH’S NEW GOD



One of the speakers at the National Pastor’s Convention was William Young, (right) author of “The Shack.” It has held first place on the New York Times bestseller list for Paperback Trade Fiction for nine months and as of January 2009 had sold five million copies. It is being translated into 30 languages, and a motion picture is in the works.



Young had his own break-out session and was interviewed in one of the general sessions by Andy Crouch. It was said that 57% of the attendees had read “The Shack,” and Young was enthusiastically received. Crouch treated him as a fellow believer and did not even hint that there might be a damnable theological problem with the way that God is depicted in this book. 



When Young said, “I don’t feel responsible for the fact that it [“The Shack”] is tampering with people’s paradigms,” or how people think about God, the crowd responded with clapping, cheers, and laughter. This group loves to tamper with traditional Bible doctrine and there is no fear of God for doing so! 



In “The Shack,” Young presents traditional Bible-believing Christianity as hypocritical and hurtful. The book’s main character grew up under “rigorous rules,” and his father, who was an elder in the church, was “a closet drinker” and treated his family with cruelty when drunk (p. 7). 



Hypocrisy is very injurious to the cause of Christ, but hypocrisy on the part of Christians does not disprove the Bible. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4)! All too often this type of thing is used as an excuse by rebels. I know this by personal experience. In my youth I used the inconsistencies that I saw in Baptist churches to excuse my rejection of the church. The chief problem, though, was not the hypocrisy of others but my own rebellion and love for the world. When I repented of my wickedness at age 23 and turned to Christ and received the Bible as God’s holy Word, I stopped blaming others and took responsibility for myself before Almighty God. 



Rules and obligations under God’s grace are not wrong. They are an integral part of Bible Christianity. We are saved by grace without works, but we are saved “unto good works” (Ephesians 2:8-10). The New Testament epistles are filled with rules and obligations that believers are expected to keep and filled with warnings about disobedience. The true grace of God does not let us live as we please. It teaches us, rather, “that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12). That is a very strict standard of Christian living.



There is hypocrisy in churches and there are false gospels that are law-based rather than grace-based and most churches today are corrupt, but the solution is not to reject the literal interpretation of Scripture and create a new God! God is amazingly compassionate and loving and He has proven that on the cross, but God is also holy and just and requires obedience and hates and punishes sin, and that side of God cannot be ignored without creating a false God. 



The flesh wearies greatly of the holiness of God! I can testify to that. From time to time in my Christian life I have gotten discouraged at God. It is not a simple thing to reconcile God’s love and grace with His awful holiness and justice. On one hand, the New Testament tells us that the believer is forgiven, redeemed, justified, accepted in the beloved, blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ, holy and without blame before God, and seated in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1-3). On the other hand, the same New Testament tells us that the believer must be exceedingly careful about how he lives before God. We are to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1), which is the highest conceivable standard. The believer who does not pursue this is in danger of being judged (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:13-17; 9:26-27; 11:27-32; Hebrews 13:4; 2 John 8-11; Revelation 2:4-5, 16, 22-23; 3:15-16). There is even a sin unto death (1 John 5:16-17; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 11:30). Thus there must be many warnings in the Christian life (Acts 20:31; Colossians 1:28; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:13; 2:15).



These things seem to be contradictory to the fallen flesh and to the natural man, but they are two sides of the same compassionate, thrice holy God, and to reject either one is reject the true God for an idol. 



REDEFINING GOD



In fact, “The Shack” is about redefining God. Young has said that the book is for those with “a longing that God is as kind and loving as we wish he was” (interview with Sherman Hu, Dec. 4, 2007). What he is referring to is the desire on the part of the natural man for a God who loves “unconditionally” and does not require obedience, does not require repentance, does not judge sin, and does not make men feel guilty for what they do. 



In that same interview, Young said that a woman wrote to him and said that her 22-year-old daughter came to her after reading the book and asked, “IS IT ALRIGHT IF I DIVORCE THE OLD GOD AND MARRY THE NEW ONE?” 



Young therefore admits that the God of “The Shack” is different from the traditional God of Bible-believing Christianity. He says that the God who “watches from a distance and judges sin” is “a Christianized version of Zeus.” This reminds me of the modernist G. Bromley Oxnam, who called the God of the Old Testament “a dirty bully” in his 1944 book “Preaching in a Revolutionary Age.” 



“The Shack” explores the issue of why God allows pain and evil. It is a fictional account of a man who is bitter against God for allowing his youngest daughter to be murdered and who returns to the scene of the murder, an old shack in the woods, to have a life-changing encounter with God. The “God” that he encounters, though, is not the God of the Bible. 



Young depicts the triune God as a young Asian woman named “Sarayu” * (supposedly the Holy Spirit), an oriental carpenter who loves to have a good time (supposedly Jesus), and an older black woman named “Elousia” (supposedly God the Father). God the Father is also depicted as a guy with a ponytail and a goatee. (* The name “Sarayu” is from the Hindu scriptures and represents a mythical river in India on the shores of which the Hindu god Rama was born.)



Young’s god is the god of the emerging church. He is cool, loves rock & roll, is non-judgmental, does not exercise wrath toward sin, does not send unbelievers to an eternal fiery hell, does not require repentance and the new birth, puts no obligations on people, doesn’t like traditional Bible churches, does not accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God, and does not mind if the early chapters of the Bible are interpreted as “myth.” 



Note the following quotes from the god of “The Shack”:



“Don’t go because you feel obligated. That won’t get you any points around here. Go because it’s what you want to do” (p. 89). 



Contrast 1 Corinthians 4:2. 



“I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it…” (p. 120). 



Contrast Isaiah 13:11; Ephesians 5:5-6.



“There are lots of people who think it [Eden] was only a myth. Well, their mistake isn’t fatal. Rumors of glory are often hidden inside of what many consider myths and tales” (p. 134). 



Contrast 2 Peter 1:16. 



“[Your heart] is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process” (p. 138). 



Contrast Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-23.



“To force my will on you is exactly what love does not do. … True love never forces” (pp. 145, 190). 



Contrast John 8:31-32; 14:15; Titus 2:11-12; Hebrews 12:5-11; Revelation 2:14-16, 20-23; 3:3, 16-19.



“Our final destiny is not the picture of Heaven that you have stuck in your head–you know, the image of pearly gates and streets of gold” (p. 177). 



Contrast Revelation 21-22. 



“My church is all about people and life is all about relationships. … You can’t build it. … I don’t create institutions–never have, never will” (pp. 178, 179). 



Contrast Acts 2:41-42, 13-14.



“Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don’t vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. … I have no desire to make them Christian” (p. 182). 



Contrast Acts 4:12; 26:28. 



“Through his death and resurrection, I am now fully reconciled to the world … The whole world. … In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me … When Jesus forgave those who nailed him to the cross they were no longer in his debt, nor mine” (pp. 192, 225). 



Contrast John 3:36; Acts 17:30-31; 1 John 5:12, 19; Revelation 20:11-15.



“The Bible doesn’t teach you to follow rules. … Enforcing rules, especially in its more subtle expressions like responsibility and expectation, is a vain attempt to create certainty out of uncertainty. … That is why you won’t find the word responsibility in the Scriptures. … because I have no expectations, you never disappoint me” (pp. 197, 203, 206).



Contrast 1 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 5:18. In Ephesians 4-6 alone there are at more than 80 specific obligations that believers are exhorted to keep.



“I don’t do humiliation, or guilt, or condemnation” (p. 223). 



Contrast Isaiah 2:11; 5:15; John 3:19; Romans 3:19; 1 Corinthians 11:27; James 3:1; 5:9; Jude 4; Revelation 11:18; 20:11-15.



THE SHACK’S GOD IS EMERGENT AND NEW AGE



Not only is “The Shack’s” god suspiciously similar to the one described in the books of the more liberal branch of the emerging church (e.g., Rob Bell, Donald Miller, Brian McLaren), it also has a strong kinship to the New Age god promoted by Oprah Winfrey. Her gospel is that man is not a sinner, God is not a judge, all is well with the universe, and I just need to surrender to the flow. Her message is the celebration of self. She grew up in a traditional Baptist church, but she has reinterpreted the Bible and moved beyond its restrictions. She says, “As I study the New Age movement, it all seems to say exactly what the Bible has said for years, but many of us were brought up with a restricted, limited understanding of what the Bible said” (“The Gospel according to Oprah,” Vantage Point, July 1998).



“The Shack” is another building stone of the end-times Tower of Babel. 



DENYING THE IMMINENCY OF CHRIST’S RETURN



Another foundational error of the emerging church is its rejection of the imminency of Christ’s return. This is why they can have long-range goals to save the earth, solve the AIDS problem in Africa, do away with poverty, and perform other “kingdom works” to renew society. 



At the National Pastor’s conference Brian McLaren said that dispensational theology is dangerous because it causes Christians not to be concerned for the earth. He said, “In theology, eschatology always wins. This is one of our theological crises. Why is there little concern about the environment? Because people are being taught that the world is going to be destroyed soon.” 



McLaren mocks the “fundamentalist expectations” of a literal second coming of Christ with its attendant judgments on the world and assumes that the world will go on like it is for hundreds of thousands of years (A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 305). He calls the literal, imminent return of Christ “pop-Evangelical eschatology” (Generous Orthodoxy, p. 267) and the “eschatology of abandonment” (interview with Planet Preterist, Jan. 30, 2005, http://planetpreterist.com/news-2774.html).



The rejection of a pre-tribulational Rapture is a characteristic of the emerging church in all of its aspects, including the more conservative side. Mark Driscoll refers to it as “pessimistic dispensationalism” (Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, p. 146). He has said that eschatology-minded Christians are not welcome in his church (“Mark Driscoll Rejects McLaren but Embraces Contemplative,” Jan. 11, 2008, http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=931&more=1&c=1). In the book Confessions of a Reformissional, Driscoll mocks the idea of the Rapture and a one-world government with an Anti-christ who makes people wear a mark to buy, sell or trade (pp. 49-50). He claims that this was not a message from Jesus but rather one ‘concocted from a cunning Serpent’” 



In The Radical Reformission, Driscoll claims that the Rapture doctrine is evidence of the sickness of American Christians and mocks those who have the goal of leaving “this trailer park of a planet before God’s tornado touches down on all the sinners” (p. 78). He calls dispensationalists “nutty, Christian, end-times-prophecy Kaczynskis” (p. 165). [Ted Kaczynski was the “Unabomber” terrorist who murdered three people and maimed 23 others in his 18-year campaign against modern technology.]



The doctrine of judgment to come and the imminent return of Christ is not the figment of some novelist’s imagination!



The Lord Jesus Christ taught that great judgments will come upon the world (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) and that believers must be ready for His return at any time. He likened His return to the days preceding the Flood when the people mocked Noah and ignored his warnings up to the very day that he went into the ark, and then the judgment came and the world was destroyed (Mat. 24:36-39). 



Christ warned, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Mat. 24:44). 



The apostle Paul taught the same thing: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand” (Phil. 4:5).



James also taught it: “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door” (James 5:8-9).



And Peter taught it: “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Pet 4:7).



The early Christians lived in constant expectation of the Lord’s return.



“For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).



The doctrine of a pre-tribulational Rapture is very important. It does matter how you interpret Bible prophecy. 



First, it is a great motivator for purifying one’s personal Christian life. 



Second, it encourages the believer in trials and persecutions. 



“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).



Third, it keeps the church’s focus on the Great Commission. The imminency of Christ’s return teaches us that winning people to Christ is the most urgent matter. We have been provided with a pardon for sinners in the gospel; we are ambassadors for Christ and have been given the responsibility of exhorting unbelievers to be reconciled with God (2 Cor. 5:20). Evangelist D.L. Moody had it right when he said: “I look upon this world as a wrecked vessel. God has given me a lifeboat and said to me, ‘Moody, save all you can.’” It is impossible to accomplish the great work of world evangelism while also trying to build the kingdom of God by involving ourselves in massive socio-political endeavors. There is neither the time nor resources to do both, and history shows us that when Christians try to save society (not to speak of the earth) the gospel of personal salvation gets pushed far to the back of the wagon and is soon kicked right off. 



Fourth, the doctrine of the imminent Rapture keeps believers on the outlook for heresy and apostasy. 



That the emerging church has rejected this doctrine is a very serious error.



CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICISM



Contemplative mysticism lies at the heart of the emerging church. It is a powerful bond that is drawing evangelicals together with the Roman Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church together with pagan religions like Hinduism and Buddhism and all contemplative Christian practitioners together with New Agers. 



Roger Oakland observes that “wind is to a sail boat what contemplative prayer is to the emerging church” (Faith Undone, p. 81).



Mysticism is permeating Christianity at every level. Ursula King observes that “recent years have seen a greater interest and fascination with the mystics of all ages and faiths than any previous period in history” (Christian Mystics, p. 22).



Contemplative Mysticism is an attempt to commune with God experientially and to find spiritual understanding beyond the pages of the Bible, particularly by means of Roman Catholic monastic practices such as centering prayer, visualizing prayer, Lectio Divina, and repetitious prayers such as the Jesus prayer.



Contemplative mysticism was represented at the National Pastor’s Conference by the following books published by InterVarsity Press’s Formatio imprint:



“Sacred Rhythms” by Ruth Haley Barton (IVP, 2006). Chapter 3 deals with Lectio Divina. 



“The Path of Celtic Prayer: An Ancient Way to Everyday Life” by Calvin Miller (IVP, 2007)



“Celtic Devotions” by Calvin Miller (IVP, 2008)



“Sacramental Life: Spiritual Formation” through the Book of Common Prayer by David A. DeSilva (IVP, 2008). This book features a recommendation by the Quaker mystic Richard Foster. 



“Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us” by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun (IVP, 2005). It deals with contemplation, solitude, retreat, silence, and spiritual direction.



“A Community Called Taize: A Story of Prayer, Worship and Reconciliation” by Jason Brian Santos (IVP, 2003). Taize is an influential, radically ecumenical, half-Protestant, half-Catholic community in France that is led by a Catholic priest. 



We have documented the spiritual danger of this practice in the new book “Contemplative Mysticism: A Powerful Ecumenical Bond.”



WHAT HAS BROUGHT EVANGELICALISM TO THIS PLACE AND WHAT MUST BIBLE-BELIEVING BAPTISTS AND FUNDAMENTALISTS WATCH OUT FOR? 



The evangelical movement took a dramatic new turn fifty years ago, and we see the shocking fruit of it today. It is large, influential, and wealthy, but it is also spiritually destitute and filled with heresies. 



How did evangelicalism come to the place where some of its most prominent leaders accept a novel depicting God as a non-judgmental woman? 



Following are some of the things that have brought evangelicalism to this place, and these are the very things that are sweeping into many fundamentalist Bible-believing churches. As for independent Baptists in particular, they are at the same place today that the New Evangelicals were just four decades ago. 



(1) Shallow evangelism and confusion about the gospel



Evangelical churches are filled with nominal Christians who do not have a clear new birth testimony. At the National Pastor’s Conference I asked several people when they were saved and heard the testimonies of several of the speakers, and biblical testimonies of salvation were pathetically rare. One Lutheran pastor told me that he had always been a Christian. 



In fact, the conference took its own survey along this line. Attendees were asked, “What percentage of your congregation is trying to actively live what the Bible teaches?” An overwhelming majority of the pastors, nearly 80%, replied that fewer than one-fourth of their church members are trying to obey the Bible! What is that if not a lack of biblical salvation? As the apostle Paul said, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate” (Titus 1:16). And the apostle John added, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).



The book “Emerging Churches” by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger contains the testimonies of dozens of emerging church leaders. Only a few have any semblance to biblical salvation. Consider the following examples, which are typical:



Jonny Baker of Grace, London, England: “I loved God, or rather, knew I was loved by him, from an early age. I actually received the gift of tongues when I was just four years old” (p. 240). 



Kester Brewin of Vaux, London, England: “I can point to a Billy Graham rally in 1984 as a conversion, but that was really more of a moment of STRENGTHENING A FAITH THAT HAD ALWAYS been there” (p. 248). 



Roger Ellis of Revelation Church in Chichester, England: “In my late teens, I had a dynamic experience of God, an encounter of the Spirit at a crazy charismatic church down the road” (p. 268). 



Barry Taylor of Sanctuary in Santa Monica, California: “In the end, I didn’t pick Christianity. I picked Jesus instead, because Jesus seemed cool and treated people kindly. From that time I sought to follow Jesus” (p. 311). 



Andy Thornton of Late Late Service in Glasgow: “When I was seventeen. I prayed a prayer, which was not a problem, because I DIDN’T REALLY SEE MYSELF AS AN UNBELIEVER. I felt something warm and affirming and quite energizing” (p. 314). 



In fact, many within the emerging church have decided that salvation is not an event but a process. Shane Hipps, one of the speakers at the National Pastor’s Convention, says, “… there has been an increasing acceptance of a process conception of conversion,” and, “… the categories of believer and unbeliever … are no longer used to define a target for evangelism” (Hipps, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture, Zondervan, 2005, pp. 78, 81). 



Consider Robert Webber, one of the most influential voices in the emerging church. He grew up in the home of a fundamental Baptist pastor, but the thing that is missing in his autobiographical accounts is a biblical testimony of salvation. Webber argued that salvation does not have to be a dramatic conversion experience and he admitted that he didn’t have such an experience. He said that repentance “can have a dramatic beginning or can come as a result of a process over time” (The Divine Embrace, p. 149). He came to see salvation is a sacramental process that begins at baptism, and that is one reason why he joined the Episcopalian church and was perfectly comfortable with Roman Catholicism. Webber described many experiences he had with his students at Wheaton College, but he doesn’t give any examples of counseling them about personal salvation.



The purity of the gospel and personal salvation is foundational to maintaining the truth and keeping churches pure, and salvation is a supernatural birth and not a sacramental process. Those who are not saved do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit of truth and cannot properly interpret the Bible and do not have any zeal to defend it. 



Fundamental Baptists are in danger here because of the Quick Prayerism technique that is so rampant. I refer to the soul winning methodology that is quick to manipulate someone into praying a prayer through salesmanship techniques even when there is no evidence of conviction and repentance and saving faith. It is then quick to give that individual assurance even though there is no evidence that he is saved. My wife and I tried to follow-up on two Quick Prayerism soul winning campaigns in past years. One church that we attended 30 years ago had a Foster Club program, and women would go out every week and return to report that some people had been “saved.” The pastor asked us to follow up on these and gave us a stack of information cards, but when we attempted to do so we discovered that these “saved” people had no interest in the things of Christ and didn’t even want to talk to us! About eight years ago we followed up on decision cards that were filled out by those who prayed the sinner’s prayer through a County Fair ministry. Again, of the many people who had been “saved,” we could not find any that were interested in attending church or meeting with us to study the Bible. The unmistakable mark of Quick Prayerism is when only a very small percentage of a church’s reported “salvations” have any biblical reality. Some argue that at least the gospel is being preached and some people are getting saved, but the fact is that people are actually being inoculated to the truth. When you meet a victim of a Quick Prayerism program and try to deal with them about the salvation of his soul, he will reply, “I have done that,” even though he is still living like the devil. What he means is that he has “prayed the prayer” and been given assurance by a Quick Prayerism evangelist. 



This could be a major reason why the independent Baptist movement has been shot through and through with immorality, biblical shallowness, and carnality. 



Churches that are not exceedingly careful about salvation and about receiving members can become filled up with nominal Christians. In our missionary work of nearly two decades we have preached to Hindus in South Asia, and their first inclination after hearing the gospel is to try to add Jesus to their other gods and become half-Hindu, half-Christian. Since we don’t want half-Hindu, half-Christians as church members, we are very careful about receiving people into membership. We deal with them patiently and carefully to try to make sure that they understand the gospel. When they profess to have repented and put their faith in Christ and we have some confidence that their testimony is real, we put them through a baptismal class to further instruct them about the gospel and the purpose of baptism. At the end of that class, they come before the church leaders and their wives and give their testimonies. If any of the leaders have a doubt about an individual’s conversion, we put off the baptism of that individual. And the process doesn’t end there. On the day when we have the baptism service, the candidates stand before the whole church and give their testimonies and the church members are allowed to ask questions if there is some doubt. 



The reason why we do this is to protect the churches and maintain purity in the work of God in these confused and evil days. 



Keeping the gospel pure and being careful about salvation and church membership are foundational to everything else that we do.



(2) The judge not philosophy; doctrinal tolerance; a positive, non-critical emphasis



Another thing that has brought the evangelical movement to its present apostasy is the judge not philosophy. When New Evangelicalism was founded after World War II, its leaders rejected the “negative” approach of the old fundamentalism. They wanted a more positive, less critical Christianity. 



This, though, is a plain rejection of the Bible’s command to reprove and rebuke sin and error. It is a rejection of the example of the apostles and prophets who plainly exercised this ministry. John the Baptist got his head cut off for reproving the illicit marriage of a political leader of his day. The Lord Jesus Christ condemned the Pharisees in the severest terms (Matthew 23). The apostle Paul continually identified and condemned sin and heretics, as did Peter, James, and John. 



When this type of judgment is left off, the devil is free to operate and sin and error spreads apace. 

At the National Pastor’s Conference in San Diego we interviewed Leighton Ford, (above, left) Billy Graham’s brother-in-law. I stated him that this conference represents the state of evangelicalism today and asked him if he is satisfied with where the movement has come in the past fifty years. I reminded him that there are loud voices within evangelicalism that are questioning such cardinal doctrines as the very gospel itself, substitutionary atonement, and eternal fiery hell. This was a good opportunity for him to reply, “I am very sad that we have come to this place. Those who teach error should be condemned and not praised. Brian McLaren, for example, is destroying people’s faith with his heresies, and William Young is preaching a false god.” Leighton Ford did not say any of that, of course. Instead, he replied, “I will not criticize others” and then brusquely cut us off when we tried to follow-up on that.



It might sound very pious not to criticize one’s fellow Christians, but it is plain disobedience to God’s Word, which commands us to mark them which teach contrary to apostolic doctrine and to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Romans 16:17; Jude 3). 



The “I will not criticize others” philosophy is the foundational principle that has destroyed evangelicalism. Those who believe the Bible and refuse to lift up the voice against error are traitors to Jesus Christ. They enable error to grow and prosper. They are the “useful idiots” of heretics and compromisers.



When error is not clearly identified and reproved, even the preaching of the truth can become an accommodation to error. When Billy Graham has preached in Roman Catholic Churches, for example, he has preached the gospel in a vague way but has refused to identify Romanism as false and to plainly contrast Rome’s gospel with the Bible’s. As a result, his Catholic hearers typically believe that he is saying basically the same thing as their priests and go away lost. That is indefensible.



We witnessed this same thing at the National Pastor’s Conference. Bill Hybels preached a message to that mixed multitude on “listening to God’s whispers.” He urged the crowd to take heed to what God tells them to do. What he said was not false and he made some good points, even giving a biblical-sounding testimony of salvation, but by pretending that his listeners were saved people who were sound in the faith and by not clearly identifying and reproving the heresies that were present, Hybels aided and abetted the devil and his lies. He encouraged Brian McLaren, for instance, to listen to the whispers that are telling him to deny cardinal doctrines of the faith and William Young to listen to the whispers that are telling him to redefine God.



(3) Rejection of biblical separation



Hand in hand with the judge-not philosophy is a rejection of biblical separation. Harold Ockenga, who claimed to have coined the term “new evangelicalism” in 1948, said, “We reject separatism.” (For documentation of this see our book “New Evangelism: Its History, Characteristics, and Fruit.”) 



To reject separatism is to reject the command of God and to remove the wall of protection that God has given to protect us from the winds of error and the wiles of the devil. No wonder the evangelical movement is literally filled with doctrinal confusion. The Word of God warns, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).



In this light it is frightful that there is a growing rejection of separatism among fundamental Baptists. There is a changing mood, a growing dislike for “judgmentalism.” There is growing sympathy toward New Evangelicals, whether it is Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, James Dobson, David Jeremiah, Kay Arthur, John Maxwell, Philip Yancey, Max Lucado, Ravi Zacharias, or a slew of others. There is a growing non-critical relationship between the members of independent Baptist churches and syndicated Christian radio programs and bookstores such as Family Christian Bookstore and Lifeway Christian Stores, which are filled to overflowing with the New Evangelical philosophy. 



(For more about this see the articles “Dangers in Christian Bookstores” and “Dangers on Christian Radio” at the Way of Life web site.)



(4) Biblical ignorance and lack of education in the issues facing us today



The average member of an evangelical church is biblically ignorant and uneducated in spiritual issues. Very few could explain the nature of Rome’s sacramental gospel or the Mass. Very few are equipped to refute the errors of such grave spiritual dangers as Pentecostalism, Seventh-day Adventism, contemplative mysticism, and the New Age. 



I doubt that the average member of a fundamental Bible-believing church is any better educated. 



It is more imperative than ever for pastors to ground their people in God’s Word and train them to discern today’s errors. It is imperative that fundamentalist Bible Colleges and institutes prepare their students properly to resist this tide of error. 



Too often it can be said of Bible-believing churches today what was said of Israel of old, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). The average member of a fundamentalist Bible-believing church is not equipped to deal effectively with the spiritual dangers that lurk on the shelves of the typical Christian bookstore and on the airwaves of the typical Christian radio station. The average church member receives little practical warning from his pastors and teachers and has no interest in building a library of material that can help protect him from spiritual dangers. If this situation is not rectified, the Brian McLarens of this world will doubtless devour many of our children and grandchildren, just as they intend to do.



(5) Worldliness



New Evangelicalism rejected separatism and has had the objective of communicating with modern culture, and it is not surprising that it has been corrupted by that communication (1 Corinthians 15:33). 



By 1978, Richard Quebedeaux observed, “In the course of establishing their respectability in the eyes of the wider society, the evangelicals have become harder and harder to distinguish from other people” (“The Worldly Evangelicals,” p. 14), and, “… the wider culture has had a profound impact on the evangelical movement as a whole” (p. 115). He described how that evangelicals were “grooving on rock music,” dancing, drinking and smoking, reviewing the world’s movies, divorcing and remarrying, using profanity, viewing pornography, even using marijuana. 



There has been a capitulation to the pop culture, to the world’s music, the world’s gods like professional sports, the world’s fashions, and the world’s causes such as environmentalism, feminism, and “equality” and “civil rights” for homosexuals. 



Worldliness is of the flesh and blinds spiritually. The apostle Paul exhorted us to abstain from fleshly lusts because they “war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11).



That which happened within evangelicalism in the 1970s is happening today among fundamental Baptists, and the result with be the same.



(6) Modern versions



The acceptance of the modern versions has weakened the authority of the Bible among evangelicals. When I attended a service at Saddleback Church a few years ago, I observed that few people carried Bibles. As I entered the building I was given a bulletin that contained an outline of the morning service with the Bible verses typed out. Several modern versions were used in that one message, so it would have been impossible to have followed along in one’s own Bible, regardless of which version you brought. 



In this environment a clear “thus saith the Lord” is replaced with “my version says such and such; what does your say?” It lends itself to “sharing” and “storytelling” rather than biblical preaching. 



Fundamental Baptist churches that are adopting the modern versions should look at this and not rush to disaster.



(7) Contemporary Christian Music



Contemporary Christian Music is one of the great ecumenical bonds today. The same music is used by Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, you name it. Recently while on a preaching trip to the Philippines I went into a Roman Catholic bookstore in Manila, and they were playing “evangelical” contemporary praise music. 



This music is sensual (e.g., the hard rock back beat), doctrinally shallow, experience-oriented, and repetitious. It detracts from critical thinking and encourages a more emotional, broadminded approach to the faith.



And when this music comes into a fundamentalist Bible-believing church, it eventually changes everything.



The late evangelist Gordon Sears warned: “When the standard of music is lowered, then the standard of dress is also lowered. When the standard of dress is lowered, then the standard of conduct is also lowered. When the standard of conduct is lowered, then the sense of value in God’s truth is lowered.”



Ernest Pickering gave the same warning: “Perhaps nothing precipitates a slide toward New Evangelicalism more than the introduction of Contemporary Christian Music. This inevitably leads toward a gradual slide in other areas as well until the entire church is infiltrated by ideas and programs alien to the original position of the church.”



Frank Garlock says: “If a church starts using CCM it will eventually lose all other standards.”



(For documentation of these quotes see “Contemporary Christian Music: Some Questions Answered and Some Warnings Given,” which is available from Way of Life Literature.) 



(8) Pride of scholarship



There is one more thing that I want to mention that has brought evangelicalism to its present apostasy, and that is the pride of scholarship. Speaking at the annual convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1971, Billy Graham said: “I believe that Christianity Today has played a major role in giving evangelicals that INTELLECTUAL RESPECTABILITY and initiative that was so drastically needed 29 years ago.”



John R.W. Stott, whose books are published by InterVarsity Press, said: “For 50 years and more, I have urged that authentic evangelical Christians are not fundamentalists. Fundamentalists tend to be ANTI-INTELLECTUAL…” (Stott, Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue, 1988, p. 90). The younger evangelicals in the Anglican Church, who have been influenced deeply by Stott, are on a “quest for RESPECTABLE THEOLOGY” (Iain Murray, Evangelicalism Divided, p. 175).



The quest for scholastic respectability in the eyes of apostate Christianity and the world carries men far beyond biblical simplicity and dogmatism. 



Study is good and important (2 Timothy 2:15; Titus 1:9), but pride is deadly. God warns against intellectual pride. “When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom” (Prov. 11:2). 



The apostle Paul said:



“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Cor. 1:26-29). 



Apostasy usually begins among would-be intellectuals. This is what brought the downfall of Harvard University in the early 19th century. In their zeal for intellectual respectability they brought in an unbelieving Unitarian renowned for his scholarship to head up the school, and it destroyed the spiritual life of the institution.



The wise Bible believer is not anti-intellectual in the sense of being anti-learning and anti-education; but he understands the dangers inherent in human scholarship because of man’s fallen nature, and he is opposed to humanistic scholarship that is divorced from and antagonistic to God’s Word. Faithful Bible students are not critics of God’s Word.



God’s people are, for the most part, common; they don’t need intellectualism; they need simple and practical Bible truth. The truth has a basic simplicity that the common man can understand. “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Mat. 11:25). 



It is the devil who complicates things. “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).



The New Evangelical approach to theological scholarship has corrupted those who have pursued it. The pride of intellect is a dangerous trap. The apostle Paul warned, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33). To gain impressive scholarly credentials requires sitting at the feet of and affiliating closely with unbelievers and apostates, which is exceedingly dangerous and which we are forbidden to do (Psalm 1:1-3; Romans 16:17; 2 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Timothy 3:5; 2 John 9-11).



Pride of scholarship is a very real danger to many independent Baptists. This is one reason why Calvinism and Reformed Theology are spreading. And it is the would-be intellectuals who are adopting the critical Greek text and the modern versions. 



Indeed, the emerging church is coming to independent Baptists. It is not something “way over there.” Its destructive seeds are being sown in our very midst, and ignorance and apathy will not win the battle. 

_______________________



Video report from the National Pastors Conference



 

We deal with this subject much more extensively in the book “What Is the Emerging Church,” which is available from Way of Life Literature.