MICHAEL W.
SMITH CONTINUES TO CALL FOR ECUMENICAL UNITY
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:
BY DAVID CLOUD
(Friday Church News Notes, January 5, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
- One of the great dangers of using contemporary worship music is that
it builds bridges to the one-world church. To my knowledge, 100% of the
popular contemporary worship musicians are radical ecumenists, including
Stuart Townend and the Gettys. They have non-critical association with
"Christians" of every stripe, including Roman
Catholics. To them, "separation" is almost a dirty word. Michael W.
Smith is one of the most prominent and influential names in contemporary
worship, and he continues to call for ecumenical unity. The goal of his
new live album Surrounded is "to unify the Church’s diverse
expressions into one passionate, joyful cry of worship." He says, "I
feel God moving through His Church and He is calling us together to be
one voice and one heart. One bride. Every
nation, every tribe and every tongue. Every social class, EVERY
DENOMINATION" ("Michael W. Smith Releases Two Albums," louderthanthemusic.com,
Dec. 2017). It is impossible to reconcile the Bible’s clear and
forceful warnings about false teaching and apostasy (e.g., Romans 16:17;
2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 11:1-4, 14-15; 1 Timothy 1:3; 4:1-5; 2 Timothy
3:5; 4:3-4; 1 John 4:1; Jude 3; Revelation 2:14-16) with contemporary
praise music’s call for ecumenical unity. For those
who love the Bible, interpret it literally, and hold it to be the sole
and final authority for faith and practice, it is clear that the voice
Michael W. Smith is hearing is not God’s. "Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and
I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:128). Bible-believing churches that
are messing around with contemporary music and are not properly
educating their people about this issue are playing with spiritual fire,
but most of the pastors are terribly and carelessly and willfully ignorant of such things.
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Michael W. Smith - Surrounded (Fight My Battles)
