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Wednesday, January 8, 2020

WARREN SMITH: "FEARING GOD IN A FEARLESS NEW AGE"

WARREN SMITH: 
"FEARING GOD IN A FEARLESS NEW AGE"
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
From Warren Smith's Through It All Scripture Series
By Warren B. Smith
Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. (Psalm 128:1)
We are living in fearful times, yet the Bible repeatedly tells us to “Fear not.” Scripture assures us that “God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). It teaches us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that “perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). But at the same time the Bible continually tells us to “Fear God.” How is this seemingly apparent contradiction regarding fear to be reconciled by those who wish to follow God and do His will?

The New Age Take on Fear

In this rapidly changing world, it is important to understand how the biblical concept of “fear” is being redefined by both the world and the church. In particular, a variety of voices on both sides would now have us believe that “the opposite of love is not hate but fear.” It is important to note that this deceptive concept about fear was popularly introduced into the world by a channeled New Age Christ through a set of metaphysical/occult teachings titled A Course in Miracles. In the Introduction on the very first page of this over 1000 page tome, The Course’s “Jesus” proposes this foundational New Age teaching that “the opposite of love is fear” but cleverly adds—“but what is all-encompassing [love] can have no opposite.”1 He says—“Teach only love, for that is what you are.”2 Thus, The Course’s New Age reality is that because love is “all-encompassing” and because God is love, all is therefore God. Consequently, The Course’s false Christ teaches that all fear is delusional and part of a hapless dream from which the dreamer needs to be “gently wakened” by God’s “happy dream.”3 To deliver us out of our “fearful dream,” we are told that God’s dream” is being sent to bring us to our senses and to the realization that we are love and we are God. There is no fear! What becomes apparent is that these false teachings lay the groundwork for a New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality to completely supplant biblical Christianity. No fear and no fear of God because we are all love and we are all God—all in the name of “God’s dream.” How unbiblical and truly diabolical!

A Course in Miracles and God’s Dream

First published in 1975, A Course in Miracles has become a cult classic that is often referred to as the New Age “Bible.” Allegedly channeled by “Jesus” to clarify “misunderstood” Bible teachings with his “new” revelation, The Course’s false Christ emphatically teaches God’s “happy dream” that there is no sin,4 no evil,5 no Devil,6 and no need to get saved by an external Savior named Jesus Christ. He says we save ourselves7 and the world by recognizing that we are all “one”8 because we are all “Christ”9 and we are all “God.”10 This New Age “Jesus” teaches that “a slain Christ has no meaning”11 and warns us not to make “the pathetic error of clinging to the old rugged cross.”12 He declares that “The journey to the cross should be the last useless journey.”13 Again, all of these false teachings are described as part of “God’s dream” to save the planet as he “wakens” everyone from their “fearful dreams” with his “happy dream”14 that we are all “one” because we are all “God.”

“Fearing God” is Insanity and Madness?

A Course in Miracles lesson number 48 states—“There is nothing to fear”15 and that especially includes not “fearing God.” Fearing God according to this New Age “Jesus” is bogus and directly equated to one’s fear of being God. The Course’s false Christ says we are not to fear God because we are God.16 But he takes our not fearing God a significant step further. In redefining fear, The Course’s New Age “Jesus” describes the Bible’s teaching on the “fear of God” as “stark insanity and raving madness.”17 He goes so far as to state that the Bible’s take on the “fear of God” is the last remaining “obstacle” to “peace.”18 He says that when humanity overcomes its “fear of God” and is collectively “awakened” by “God’s dream” to the reality that they are God—then and only then—can inner peace and world peace be finally realized. However, the Bible’s teachings on the “fear of God” have nothing to do with fear being the opposite of love and our being God. More importantly, Scripture is unequivocal in its oft repeated teachings on the fear of God and how we are to literally fear and revere and joyously worship the one true God who we definitely are not.

Gerald Jampolsky, Oprah Winfrey Endorse The Course

A Course in Miracles gained enormous popularity when psychiatrist/author Dr. Gerald Jampolsky’s best-selling 1979 book Love is Letting Go of Fear promoted The Course and its New Age teachings. However, the biggest endorsement of The Course came in February 1992 when Oprah Winfrey featured then-fledgling author Marianne Williamson and her book A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah told her worldwide television audience that she had purchased a thousand copies of Williamson’s book because she had never “been as moved by a book” as she had by Williamson’s book about A Course in Miracles. Oprah said she believed that the teachings of A Course in Miracles “could change the world.”19 Thanks to Oprah, the false New Age Christ had just been mainstreamed into everybody’s living room. After Oprah’s endorsement, Williamson’s book about The Course shot to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and stayed there for several months.

Pastors Following New Age Suit

Robert Schuller Several years after the publication of Jampolsky’s 1979 book Love is Letting Go of Fear, Pastor Robert Schuller celebrated Jampolsky as his featured guest on his worldwide Hour of Power television program. The late Schuller also cited him in his best-selling 1982 book Self-Esteem: The New Reformation. Quoting Jampolsky’s Course teaching that “The opposite of love is not hate, but fear,” Schuller described this false teaching as “profound theology.”20 In this same Self-Esteem book, Schuller made multiple references to the New Age term “God’s dream.” Through his writings, teachings, and television ministry, Schuller passed along The Course’s New Age take on “fear being the opposite of love” and the term “God’s dream” to millions of people—but perhaps most especially pastors. At his longstanding Robert H. Schuller Institute for Successful Church Leadership, Schuller communicated his beliefs and teachings to countless pastors over the years. Graduates from Schuller’s Institute routinely incorporated Schuller’s teachings into their own ministries. Perhaps the most famous “graduate” from Schuller’s Institute is Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren.21
Rick Warren Echoing Schuller, Jampolsky, and the false Christ of A Course in Miracles, Rick Warren took the New Age teaching on “fear being the opposite of love” one step further. He tried to make it biblical! In an April 9, 2009 article written for The Christian Post, Rick Warren, without citing any Bible reference, wrote—“The Bible says the opposite of love is fear, and the opposite of fear is love.”22 Yet, there is no properly translated Bible that says this. The only “Bible” that says this is A Course in Miracles—the New Age “Bible.” What Schuller described as “profound theology,” Rick Warren was now describing as biblical. And just as Schuller passed this false New Age teaching about fear being the opposite of love to countless pastors like Rick Warren, Warren is now passing this false teaching on to a new generation of pastors—pastors like Mark Batterson and Jason Mitchell.
Mark Batterson Echoing A Course in Miracles, Robert Schuller, and Rick Warren, Circle Maker author Mark Batterson writes:
The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is fear.23
In his best-selling book Chase the Lion, Batterson uses the word dream over 500 times. He not only references the term “God’s Dream,”24 but like the false Christ of A Course in Miracles, he introduces the idea of God’s dream “within” a dream.25 In addition to his controversial endorsements of The Shack26 and Jesus Calling,27 Batterson has also publicly praised and recommended a number of books by New Age authors (e.g. Eckhart Tolle, James Redfield, and Jack Canfield).28 Wittingly or unwittingly, Batterson is using the overlapping language of the New Age, Robert Schuller, and Rick Warren (whom he openly respects and praises).29
Jason Mitchell In the May 5, 2017 edition of the popular Christian publication Relevant Magazine, there was an article by Pastor Jason Mitchell titled “The Opposite of Love Isn’t Hate.” In the article, Mitchell wrote—“The opposite of love isn’t hate—it’s fear.”30 Several months prior to the publication of his article, Mitchell’s Pennsylvania church spent six weeks of Sundays going through Rick Warren’s book The Purpose-Driven Life. Whether or not Mitchell picked up this teaching of fear directly from Rick Warren is not the point. The point is that—thanks to Robert Schuller and Rick Warren—this false New Age teaching on fear is now in the church.

The Bible’s Warning

Not surprisingly, the Bible specifically warns about false teachings on fear that are taught by the precepts of men and not by God:
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. (Isaiah 29:13)

Fear God—Yes!

Consult any dictionary or thesaurus, and it will not tell you that the opposite of love is fear; it is hate. And while the word “fear” in the Bible is translated from Hebrew and Greek words that have slightly varying and nuanced meanings, the word fear generally means just that—fear. The degree of fear in these definitions can range from “mild uneasiness to stark terror.”31 The frequent biblical command to “Fear not” means we are not to give undue respect or regard to man or to be unnecessarily anxious or afraid of the challenging circumstances that inevitably arise in our lives. But the Bible is exceedingly clear that we are to definitely fear God. But our fear of God is ideally tempered with joyous love, worshipful adoration, and reverential regard. This loving but real fear of God bears witness to the supreme significance of our relationship with Him and to the eternal consequences the relationship holds. We are to both love and fear who He is—“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8).

Fear Man—No!

An important distinction must be maintained between the “fear of God” and the “fear of man.” The Bible says we are not to fear the “reproach” or “revilings” of man (Isaiah 51:7). It warns that the fear of man is a “snare” (Proverbs 29:25) and a “sin” (1 Samuel 15:24-25). But the fear of God is “for our good always” (Deuteronomy 6:24). The Bible teaches that while we are not to fear man or the circumstantial challenges we may be confronted with—we are to fear God. But why? So the Lord can scare, intimidate, manipulate, demean, and ultimately control us? Not at all. Scripture makes it clear that the “fear of God” is a most amazing and wonderful thing. It is the beginning of “knowledge” and “wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). Our fear of God is not only not an “obstacle” to peace—it is something that will bless us (Psalm 128:1), make us “happy,” (Proverbs 28:14) and cause our soul to “dwell at ease” (Psalm 25:12-13).

“Fear of the Lord” Rests Upon Jesus

The prophet Isaiah—prophesying about the coming of the Messiah (the true Jesus Christ)—describes how the spirit of “the fear of the LORD” literally rests upon Him.
And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:1-2)

Jesus Taught the Fear of God

Our Spiritual Adversary, through his deceptive “God’s dream” theology, wants to redefine fear as something that is the opposite of love and not even real. He wants to eliminate fear because he does not want us to fear and revere the one true God. He does not want us to know the benefits and blessings that come from fearing God. And he most certainly does not want us to know that Jesus Christ Himself specifically taught that we should all fear God. Jesus said we are not to fear those who kill the body, but we are to “fear him” who is “able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:27-28)
The “fear of the Lord” is not only something God desires (Deuteronomy 5:29) but also what He requires (Deuteronomy 10:12)—not for His good, but “for our good always” (Deuteronomy 6:24). Contrary to the false New Age Christ and those who wittingly or unwittingly espouse his false New Age teachings about fear, Scripture repeatedly tells us just how important and necessary the fear of God is for the serious believer.

Fear Of God

Fearing God is What God Desires O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! (Deuteronomy 5:29)
Fearing God is What God Requires And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 10:12)
Fearing the Lord is a Fountain of Life The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. (Proverbs 14:27)
Fear of the Lord is His Treasure And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the LORD is his treasure. (Isaiah 33:6)
Fearing God Pleases God The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. (Psalm 147:11)
Fearing God for Our Good And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. (Jeremiah 32:39-40)
Fearing God is for Our Good Always And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. (Deuteronomy 6:24)
Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Knowledge The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)
Fear of the Lord is to be Sought and Understood Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. (Proverbs 2:3-5)
Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Wisdom The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10)
Fear of the Lord is the Instruction of Wisdom The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility. (Proverbs 15:33)
Fear the Lord and Bless the Lord Bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD. (Psalm 135:20)
Fear the Lord and be Blessed Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. (Psalm 128:1)
Fear the Lord and Praise the Lord Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. (Psalm 22:23)
Fear the Lord and be Praised Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)
Fear the Lord and Trust the Lord Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. (Psalm 115:11)
Fear God and Obey His Voice Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. (Deuteronomy 13:4)
Fear the Lord Above All Other Gods For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. (Psalm 96:4)
Fear God—There is None Like Him Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. (Jeremiah 10:7)
Fear God and Go Not After Other Gods Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you. (Deuteronomy 6:13-14)
Fear God and Worship Him But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. (Psalm 5:7)
Fear the Lord with Reverence and Godly Fear Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)
Fear God Greatly and Revere Him in the Assembly God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. (Psalm 89:7)
Fear the Lord and Let Him Be Your Fear Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. (Isaiah 8:13)
Fear the Lord and Rejoice With Trembling Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2:11)
Fear God by Serving Him and Cleaving to Him Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. (Deuteronomy 10:20)
Fear the Lord and His Angel is With Thee The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (Psalm 34:7)
Fear God and Serve Him Only Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. (Joshua 24:14)
Fear God and Serve Him in Truth Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. (1 Samuel 12:24)
Fear the Lord and His Eye Is Upon You Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. (Psalm 33:18-19)
Fear God and Be Accepted by Him But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. (Acts 10:35)
Fear the Lord and Have No Want O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. (Psalm 34:8-9)
Fear God and Receive His Goodness Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! (Psalm 31:19)
Fear God and Receive His Mercy For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. (Psalm 103:11)
Fear God and It Shall Be Well Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him. (Ecclesiastes 8:12)
Fear the Lord and Be Satisfied The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil. (Proverbs 19:23)
Fear God and Your Soul Shall Be at Ease What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. (Psalm 25:12-13)
Fear the Lord and Be Happy Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. (Proverbs 28:14)
Fear of the Lord Is to Hate Evil The fear of the LORD is to hate evil. (Proverbs 8:13)
Fear the Lord and Depart From Evil Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:7)
Fear God and Avoid False Prophets If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)
Fear God and be Delivered from Your Enemies But the LORD your God ye shall fear; and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. (2 Kings 17:39)
Fear God and Have Strong Confidence and a Place of Refuge In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.(Proverbs 14:26)
Fear the Lord and Don’t Sin And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. (Exodus 20:20)
Fear the Lord and be Shown His Covenant The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. (Psalm 25:14)
Fear God and Receive a Banner Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. (Psalm 60:4)
Fear of God for Those Who Rule The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. (2 Samuel 23:3)
Fear God and Honor All Men Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. (1 Peter 2:17)
Fear God and Fellowship with One Another Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. (Malachi 3:16)
Fear God and Submit Yourselves One to Another Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. (Ephesians 5:21)
Fear God and be a Companion to Those Who Keep His Precepts I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts. (Psalm 119:63)
Fear God and Beware of Those Given to Change My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change. (Proverbs 24:21)
Fear of the Lord is Clean The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever. (Psalm 19:9)
Fear of the Lord Brings Honor By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. (Proverbs 22:4)
Fear the Lord and Walk Uprightly He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him. (Proverbs 14:2)
Fear God and Walk in His Ways Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. (Deuteronomy 8:6)
Fear God and Perfect Holiness Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)
Fear God and Declare His Works And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. (Psalm 64:9)
Fear God and Declare What He has Done For Your Soul Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. (Psalm 66:16)
Fear God and Teach Your Children to Fear God Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. (Deuteronomy 4:10)
Fear God and Individually Grow But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 4:2)
Fear God and Churches Grow Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied. (Acts 9:31)
Fear God and His Salvation is Nigh Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. (Psalm 85:9)
Fear God and Be Saved He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. (Psalm 145:19)
Fear God and Give Him Glory And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him. (Revelation 14:6-7)
Fear God and Fear His Name Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. (Psalm 86:11)
Fear God and Glorify His Name Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. (Revelation 15:4)
Fear God by Passing Your Time Here in Fear And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. (1 Peter 1:17)
Fear God From All the Ends of the Earth God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. (Psalm 67:7)
Fear God and His Goodness in the Latter Days Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days. (Hosea 3:5)
Fear God All the Earth O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. (Psalm 96:9)
Fear God All Day Long Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. (Proverbs 23:17)
Fear God as Long as You Live Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. (Deuteronomy 4:10)
Fear the Lord Through All Generations They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. (Psalm 72:5)
Fear God Forever That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever. (Joshua 4:24)

Fear of God: Foundational to Our Faith

Scripture tells us that one of the foundational attributes of the early church was their fear of God:
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. (Acts 2:42-43)
If the anti-Christ false Christ of the New Age movement continues to have his way, fear will continue to be redefined out of the world, out of the church, and out of our lives. This redefinition of fear is at the heart of the deception and why fear being the opposite of love is taught on the very first page of the New Age “Bible”—A Course in Miracles. But those who truly love God and His Word also fear Him. When it comes to the fear of God, fear and love are intimately bound together—they are not opposites. Teaching that they are opposites is to play right into the hands of our Spiritual Adversary and His anti-christ New Age/New Spirituality.

The Conclusion—Fear God

The Bible makes it very clear that we are to fear God, and we are not to adopt false teachings about fear that are taught by the precepts of men (Isaiah 29:13). In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon states that when all is said and done—we are to fear God and keep His commandments:
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)
To order copies of Fearing God in a Fearless New Age in booklet format,click here.
Endnotes 1. A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume (Glen Ellen, California: Foundation for Inner Peace,1975), (Introduction) p. 1. 2. Ibid., (Text) p. 94. 3. Ibid., (Text) p. 584; p. 377. 4. Ibid., (Workbook) p. 183. 5. Ibid., (Text) p. 38. 6. Ibid., (Text) pp. 49-50. 7. Ibid., (Workbook) p. 119 Lesson 70 “My salvation comes from me.” 8. Ibid., (Text) p. 125. 9. Ibid., (Manual) p. 87. 10. Ibid., (Text) p. 147. 11. Ibid., (Text) p. 425. 12. Ibid., (Text) p. 52. 13. Ibid. 14. Ibid., (Text) p.377. 15. Ibid., (Workbook) p. 77. 16. Ibid., (Text) p. 147. 17. Ibid., (Text) p. 422. 18. Ibid., (Text) p. 420, p. 606. 19. The Oprah Winfrey Show, February 4, 1992, quoted from DVD copy of program and transcribed by author. 20. Robert Schuller, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982), p. 51. 21. Warren Smith, Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church (Mountain Stream Press: Magalia, CA, 2004), p. 80. 22. Rick Warren, “Easter: God’s Antidote to Fear” (The Christian Post, April 9, 2009, https://www.christianpost.com/news/easter-god-s-antidote-to-fear-37969).
23. Mark Batterson, Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn’t Scare You It’s Too Small (New York, NY: Multnomah, 2016), p. 124. 24. Ibid., p. 4 25. Ibid., p. 7. 26. Mark Batterson’s review of The Shack: https://web.archive.org/web/20101226173947/http://evotional.com/2008/05/what-im-reading.html. 27. Jesus Calling endorsement by Mark Batterson: https://www.jesuscalling.com/blog/gregalan-williams-mark-batterson. 28. “Recommended Reading” list on Batterson’s website: http://web.archive.org/web/20061209190909/www.evotional.com/reading.htm. 29. Mark Batterson, Chase the Lion, op. cit., p. 36. 30. Pastor Jason Mitchell, “The Opposite of Love Isn’t Hate” (Relevant Magazine, May 5, 2017, https://relevantmagazine.com/god/faith/the-opposite-of-love-isnt-hate). 31. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology online at biblestudytools.com.
To order copies of Fearing God in a Fearless New Age in booklet formatclick here.

"CHRISTIANITY TODAY": "WE ARE THEOLOGICALLY CONSERVATIVE---COMMITTED TO THE GLORY OF GOD"~CT HISTORY SHOWS DIFFERENTLY

"CHRISTIANITY TODAY": 
"WE ARE THEOLOGICALLY CONSERVATIVE---COMMITTED TO THE GLORY OF GOD"~
CT HISTORY SHOWS DIFFERENTLY 
republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research 
purposes:
On December 19th, 2019, Christianity Today, the magazine that considers itself the “flagship” magazine for Christianity released an article written by the just-retired editor-in-chief, Mark Galli, titled, “Trump Should Be Removed from Office.” According to CT, the article set off a firestorm. And by our estimates, millions have now seen the article as scores of media outlets across the country reported on the story.1 However, that article will not be the focus of this Lighthouse Trails report. Rather, we will be discussing something said in a rebuttal article aimed at the critics that came out on December 22nd titled, “The Flag in the Whirlwind: An Update from CT’s President,” written by CT president Timothy Dalrymple.
In his effort to defend and define Christianity Today, Dalrymple’s article states that CT is “theologically conservative” and is “committed to the glory of God.” 
Lighthouse Trails hopes to show that in the last 20+ years, since the emerging “progressive” socialist church was birthed, that Christianity Today has not been theologically conservative and has actually helped to propagate an emergent socialist, very non-theologically conservative spirituality that does anything but bring glory to God.
Emergent Church Background
In Roger Oakland’s 2007 book Faith Undone, he chronicled the birth of the emerging church, dating back to the 1950s with Peter Drucker who eventually inspired another business guru, Bob Buford. Around 1998, Buford’s organization, Leadership Network, with encouragement and enthusiasm from Leith Anderson, Rick Warren, and Bill Hybels, pulled together a group of youth pastors from around the country to form what would be called Terra Nova. Some of these young men included Brian McLaren, Mark Driscoll, Dan Kimball, Doug Pagitt. Chris Seay, and Tony Jones.
The Terra Nova group eventually broke up with each of these men going their own ways; but today’s postmodern emergent church was birthed, and much theological and spiritual damage has been done because of it. Countless young people, raised in Christian homes and confessing a faith themselves, were introduced to emergent Marxist/socialist-leaning ideologies by professors in Christian colleges, youth pastors who were enamored with the Terra Nova men, hundreds of books by Christian publishers, and Christian magazines. Christianity Today was right there at the forefront giving a major platform and thrust to the commencement of the emergent church. Many of the young people who were taken down the emergent path through these venues either became emergent themselves or walked away from the Christian faith all together.
Lighthouse Trails has documented this tragic occurrence for nearly 18 years. So to hear Christianity Today defend itself and say it is a “theologically conservative” magazine that brings glory to God compels us to show the role it has played in bringing about quite the opposite. And as we described in our 2013 article, “They Hate Christianity But Love (Another) Jesus – How Conservative Christians Are Being Manipulated and Ridiculed, Especially During Election Years,” those who have propagated the emergent church (including Christianity Today) have had political motives that are cloaked in supposed theological and spiritual interests.
Our 2013 article stated:
In 2008, which was an election year, books, videos, broadcasts, and news articles were pouring into mainstream America with a guilt-ridden message that basically manipulated conservative Christians into thinking that either they shouldn’t vote because “Jesus wouldn’t vote,” or they shouldn’t vote on morality issues such as abortion or homosexuality. Suddenly, all over the place, there was talk about “destroying Christianity,” or “liking Jesus but not the church,” or “Jesus for president” (suggesting that maybe we could get Him on the ballot but certainly we shouldn’t vote for anyone already on the ballot). It all sounded very noble to many. . . .
It’s hard to believe there was not at least some political agenda in this storm of “we love Jesus but not the church or Christianity” especially witnessed in election years. And we believe this agenda was aimed particularly toward young people from evangelical conservative upbringings who had joined the emerging church movement. In a CBS Broadcast, anchorman Antonio Mora suggests there may have been over twenty million participants in the emerging church movement in the United States alone by 2006.2 Even half that number would be enough to change the results of a presidential election.
Our 2013 article also referred to the role that the “social justice gospel” played, something that changed the minds and spirituality of millions of young people, which inadvertently changed the outcomes of elections.
In 2011, we wrote an article titled “Christianity Today’s New 5 Year Teaching Series, the ‘Global Gospel Project,’ May Have Political and Emerging Objectives.” The article explained that Christianity Today had come up with a plan to help alleviate the confusion that so many young people now had regarding their spiritual beliefs (such as the atonement). In our article, we challenged Christianity Today for helping to create the problem in the first place through their continual and energetic endorsing and promotion of the emergent movement and then turning around and proposing to help solve the problem. In essence, that is what they have done for many years now—help create the problem then seemingly innocent and concerned offer to help solve the problem and act as if they have been on the right side all along. This is what they were doing over two decades ago, and by all appearances, this is what they are doing today.
In conclusion, we have put together a chronological list of a few of the countless articles Christianity Today has posted over the last four decades that have given backbone and stamina to the emergent socialist “church.” CT might argue that they are merely reporting without bias, but that is not the case as their steady history of often one-sided reporting (especially from emergent-leaning editors and writers), accolades, and hearty praise to the emerging, contemplative, social-justice church shows their bias as does their own published materials (magazines, journals, podcasts) and their recommended reading lists, book reviews, and endorsements. This small sampling of CT articles below illustrates how this supposedly “theologically conservative” magazine has made a steady concerted effort to change and redefine traditional evangelical views on issues such as the New Age and mysticism, the biblical relevance of the nation of Israel, the sin of homosexuality, conservative politics, interspiritual ecumenism, and other “conservative” issues. All this to say, Christianity Today is anything but “theologically conservative.” Some will say that interspersed with the bad, Christianity Today has good articles too. But as Harry Ironside said, “Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous.”3
As for the Christianity Today article calling for the removal of President Trump, given that so many church goers and proclaiming Christians see the magazine as a trustworthy manifesto and directive for Christianity, you can be sure, it will alter the way many evangelicals vote this coming November, just like it played its part in helping to alter the election in 2008.

An Incomplete Chronological List of CT’s Articles Promoting Emergent, Socialist, Contemplative, Progressive Spirituality

Summer 1981—“An Invitation to the Spiritual Life” (by Henri Nouwen)
Spring 1992—“SOULWORK ” (promoting contemplative meditation practices)
August 1993—“Leadership Network: The 21st-Century Church” (on Buford and Drucker)
January 1996—“Helping the Successful Become Significant” (on Bob Buford/Leadership Network)
Fall 1999—”BiblioFile Recommended Reading ” (Recommending New Age sympathizer, Leonard Sweet)
April 2000—“Measuring What Matters” (making plans for the growth of the emerging church and the contemplative prayer movement)
Fall 2001—”Amaze-ing Prayer” (by Dan Kimball, on the use of the labyrinth)
Summer 2003—“Emerging Values” (by Brian McLaren)
February 2005—“Jim Wallis: ‘I See Genuine Soul-Searching Among Democrats'” (Encouraging evangelicals to compromise on abortion and other conservative issues)
May 2005—“Yes to Yoga”
September 2005—“The New Monasticism” (uplifting social-justice emergent Shane Claiborne)
October 2006—”Elementary Disciplines: Spiritual formation for little lambs” (promoting contemplative prayer for children)
January 2007—“Fresh Air”
January 2007—“Five Streams of the Emerging Church” (by emergent Scot McKnight)
February 2008—“Braking for Bloggers” (CT upset that Cedarville cancelled event with emergent Shaine Claiborne)
May 2008—“What form should our love of LGBT neighbors take in the public square?” (Encouraging evangelicals to remain silent on the LGBT issue)
October 2008 (just prior to election)—“After the Aloha Shirts” (promoting Rick Warren’s PEACE Plan and Saddleback’s presidential forum (of which some analysts said helped to get Obama elected by swinging the views of many evangelicals)
October 2008—“Preach and Reach “ (helping to alter the election)
November 2008—“John Ortberg’s Lessons from the Election” (Ortberg is a major player in the contemplative prayer movement)
November 2008—”Listening and Learning in the Middle East ” (by anti-nation of Israel Lynne Hybels)
September 2009—“Lord, Save Us From Your Followers” (on emergent, see our commentary)
August 2010—“Discernment: Is There an App for That?” (article promoting New Age centering prayer)
August 2010—“What Is the Gospel Response to the Prop. 8 Decision?” (Hoping to stop conservative laws on LGBT)
February 2013—“Why You Shouldn’t Have a Position on LGBTQs.” (Attempt to silence evangelicals on homosexual issue)
June 2013—“Sex Without Bodies” (Manipulating evangelical views on homosexuality)
March 2014—”Evangelicals Defend ‘Christ at the Checkpoint’ from Israeli Critics” (article with a strong anti-Israel slant)
December 2016—“Are Trump’s White Evangelical Supporters Racist?” (with emergent socialists Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo)
August 2018—“In the Beginning Is Silence” (Mark Galli)

Related Articles:
Endnotes:
  1. One media outlet, The Hill, received tens of thousands of views and “shares” when they announced the CT article about removing Trump from office.
  2. Cited from Faith Undone, from chapter 1; taken from Antonio Mora, “New Faithful Practice Away from Churches” (CBS Broadcasting, July 10, 2006).
  3. Harry Ironside, “Should Christians Expose Error?”

ENVIRONMENTALISTS WANT TO TAKE YOUR FOOD, YOUR HOME & YOUR CHILDREN

ENVIRONMENTALISTS WANT TO TAKE 
YOUR FOOD, YOUR HOME & YOUR CHILDREN
Give up everything. For the planet.
BY DANIEL GREENFIELD
SEE: https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/environmentalists-want-take-your-food-your-home-daniel-greenfield;  republished below in full unedited for informational, educational and research purposes:
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.
At CNN's Climate Town Hall, which set out to save the world by having ten of the 2020 Democrat presidential candidates, their staffers, drug dealers, and mistresses fly out to appear in the fake news network's facilities, Senator Bernie Sanders proposed saving the planet by killing the children.
 A concerned questioner at a forum being held in a green mega-complex built on the site of a former slaughterhouse, appropriately enough, urged Sanders to discuss the importance of "educating everyone on the need to curb population growth."
"Would you be courageous enough to discuss this issue and make it a key feature of a plan to address climate catastrophe?” the anti-kids schoolmarm demanded
Once upon a time, environmental activists claimed that they wanted to save the planet for the children. Now they want to save the planet from the children.
"The answer's yes," said the socialist politician who has a poor relationship with his only son. Then he suggested that this brand of environmental eugenics really ought to be applied to "poor countries around the world."
Poor countries being any country in which the socialist millionaire doesn't own three homes.
Saving the planet from the children is a popular environmental cause.
The World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency letter published in the Bioscience journal boasted the signatures of 11,000 scientists lending the full weight of their useless degrees to order that "the world population must be stabilized—and, ideally, gradually reduced—within a framework that ensures social integrity."
Reducing populations for social integrity was the specialty of such innovative environmental activists as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mohammed.
“There’s scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez announced on an Instagram video. That's where most scientific consensus debut. “And it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: Is it okay to still have children?”
How many resources do children consume versus the resources consumed by streaming video via Instagram's massive array of Facebook server farms in places like Alabama, Singapore, or near the Arctic Circle, to millions of people around the country? But if AOC were forced to choose between having 2.5 kids and being a celebrity living in a luxury building with an infinity pool, a rooftop dog park, massage rooms and a wood-fired pizza oven, which is especially good for the environment, it's an easy choice.
Hello infinity pool, goodbye kids.
But the competitive 2020 race to ruin everyone's life for the environment is just getting started. While Bernie and AOC want to get rid of other people's kids, Senator Cory Booker wants to get rid of meat.
This radical position allowed him to stay in the race while Senator Kamala Harris, who just wanted to ban straws, had to drop out.
"We’ve seen this massive increase in consumption of meat produced by the industrial animal agriculture industry," Booker, who claims to be a vegan whose "spirit" won't allow him to have an omelet, insisted. "The tragic reality is this planet simply can’t sustain billions of people consuming industrially produced animal agriculture."
There are too many kids and burgers for the planet. And if you take a kid out for a burger, you might as well be running over polar bears in a Hummer or holding a Climate Town Hall in Manhattan.
And just think about what that will do to Cory Booker's spirit animal chickens.
No plan to make the planet miserable to save it from having fun can go without being endorsed by a few hundred grant grifters who had spent six figures of taxpayer money to buy themselves a PhD in busybodying.
And so a letter in Lancet Planetary Health by assorted scientists, grad students, people who claim to be scientists, and people who once watched an episode of Cosmos, demanded that meat consumption drop by 2030.
Not that it matters.  Rep. Alexandria Cortez had claimed,"The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change."
If we're all going to be gone by 2031, the final year of the fall of man, why not go out with a burger and a glass of wine?
Speaking of wine, that's also on the list.
Or, as the New York Times recently inquired, "How Does Your Love of Wine Contribute to Climate Change?” . The Times never gets around to asking its readers how their love of lies printed on the skin of dead trees is killing the planet.
Coffee? Forget about it.
A large cappuccino, the kind that pays Starbucks to indoctrinate staffers on their white privilege for asking crazed vagrants to stop shooting up heroin in the non-gendered bathrooms, has a carbon footprint of 235g.
That's the equivalent of driving from Cleveland to Toronto. And if you get a large latte, that's like a car trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
I didn't make that up. Environmentalists did.
Will those ecos at least let you have some bread and water? Even the living standard of medieval prisoners is too much for our green barons.
The ecos have been waging a long bitter war on bottled water. "A million bottles a minute: world’s plastic binge ‘as dangerous as climate change," a typically non-hysterical Guardian headline bleats.
Since the ecos also tell us that climate change is worse than WW2, you can understand why Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, a bunch of shrieking grad students who spray red paint on things to spread awareness of what a bunch of wankers environmentalists are, dismissed the Holocaust as no big deal.
Who can be expected to care about gas chambers when the bottled water catastrophe is upon us?
Your daily bread? Forget about it.
One loaf of bread puts out 1.7 pounds of carbon dioxide. That's like tying a whale to a jet liner, basting it in gasoline, and having it along with some bottled water through a plastic straw.
An estimated half a percent of the UK's imaginary carbon emissions are caused by bread. The obvious answer is a bread ban.
At least Marie Antoinette would have let the people eat cake. Her latter day successors in the UK won't even let you have a loaf of bread, a bottle of water, coffee, wine, or anything except soy and more soy. Or Soylent Green.
Forget about eating or kids. What about being left alone to live in your house?
Hah.
"If we want to keep cities safe in the face of climate change, we need to seriously question the ideal of private homeownership," The Nation clamors
"We need another kind of escape route—away from our ideologies of ownership and property, and toward more collective, healthy, and just cities,' the socialist rag argues.
If you're keeping track, you can't have kids, a house, a glass of wine, a burger, or anything.
The real question is what in your life will environmentalists allow you to keep?
The answer is nothing.
The environmentalists claim that if they're not allowed to have their way, the planet will be destroyed. And if they are allowed to have their way, they will take everything from us that makes life worth living.
______________________________________________________________
SEE ALSO:
https://cms.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2020/01/california-green-new-deal-act-lloyd-billingsley

POLICE STATE: BARNEGAT, NEW JERSEY MAYOR STANDS UP TO GOVERNOR ABOUT MANDATED LGBTQ SEX EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Cirulli, who is an elder at his church in Toms River, also lamented that liberal politicians are behind other ungodly laws and they will have to give an account to God for their actions.
“Now is the time for the righteous to stand up for their rights,” he declared.
"WE'VE CROSSED OVER THE LINE INTO ABSURDITY"
POLICE STATE: BARNEGAT, NEW JERSEY MAYOR STANDS UP TO GOVERNOR ABOUT MANDATED LGBTQ SEX EDUCATION CURRICULUM 
IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Get Kids OUT of Public School, 

Warns Educator Turned Mayor

SEE OUR PREVIOUS POSTS:
FLEMINGTON, N.J. — In this interview with The New American magazine's Alex Newman at the Protect Your Children conference, prominent New Jersey Mayor Alfonso Cirulli warned that parents should get their children out of the public-school system. “If you can get your kids out of public school—and I'm a career educator—get them out, and hold them out,” he said. Cirulli, a veteran educator with decades of experience in education, sparked a firestorm after boldly speaking out against a new state law purporting to require that government schools indoctrinate children into the LGBT agenda. He says this law tramples the First Amendment-protected rights of parents. “It's outrageous,” he said, calling for the statute to be repealed. Cirulli also noted that homosexual activists have come against him by calling him names. However, major voices, including Franklin Graham, have come out in his defense. ▶️ Related Videos: Get Them OUT! Rescuing Our Kids from Public Schools https://youtu.be/G74e8TrQAMI Social Justice vs. Education https://youtu.be/tWEa99nKRu4 Shadows in the Public Education System https://youtu.be/vER95E8G6rE 📰 Article: Rescuing Our Children https://bit.ly/2SYKlV0 🚨 Get the Latest News: http://www.thenewamerican.com/ 📲 Let's Connect! http://www.facebook.com/TheNewAmerican https://twitter.com/NewAmericanMag https://www.instagram.com/newamerican... #GetThemOut #AlexNewman
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MAYOR TO TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS: 
CITES VIOLATIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF PARENTS IN NEW LAW
CIRULLI: "homosexual activism is 'an affront to Almighty God'"