THE CHURCH MILITANT
Ephesians 5:11-"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them". This Christian News Blog maintains a one stop resource of current news and reports of its own related to church, moral, spiritual, and related political issues, plus articles, and postings from other online discernment ministries, and media which share the aims to obey the biblical commands to shed light on and refute error, heresy, apostasy, cults, and spiritual abuse.
"Denton, Texas – A pro-life group from Texas has released a video of an exclusive interview with three women who recently left their jobs as assistants to an abortionist who, much like convicted Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, killed newborn babies upon their delivery.
Life Dynamics in Denton states that it has not named the abortionist so as not to interfere with a criminal investigation, but desired for the stories of the former employees to be told to demonstrate that Gosnell is not the exception in the abortion industry.
John 5:43-44-"I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?"
Romans 2:21-"You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?"
Romans 12:5-"so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another."
Romans 12:16-"Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion."
1 Cor. 3:4-"For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?"
1 Cor. 12:25-"that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another."
2 Cor. 11:4-"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!"
Gal. 1:7-"which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ."
Col. 3:16-"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
2 Tim. 3:13-17-"But evil men and seducers will go forward to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work."
Matt. 7:13-"Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it."
This event will be telecast or simulcast to other contemporary emerging churches which glory in the Warren/Hybels new paradigm of doing church, i.e., running a church like a business instead of the model created by Jesus Christ. The above thirteen guest speakers include high profile business world instructors, lawyers, psychologists, mega church pastors, new age practitioners and high level government alumni. Only the best of the best were invited this time so that you and your local church "leaders" can learn more about the workings of running a "business model" church that promises to grow exponentially IF you carefully follow their combined wisdom. Oh, what would the church world do without the benefit of their advice? Return to fundamental Christianity? Heaven forbid! The question that will be scrubbed from this conference is: "What would Jesus do?" You can be certain that although these name the name of Christ and claim to be people of faith, (but in what you may ask), they glory in man's wisdom as an improvement on, and superior to, the Word of God. So get ready for what August will bring in the way of unheard of revelations from this gnostic group.
We will be focusing on several of these to demonstrate that their advice and wisdom is of this world, derived from another gospel that repudiates the true authentic gospel of Jesus Christ, and represents not only a false methodology for doing church, but is poisonous to those who accept their apostate/heretical teachings without comparing to the Bible standard.
We will not be focusing on Bill Hybels, Andy Stanley, Colin Powell, and others who are well known to the church world and the secular world of business. Instead, for the purpose of this post and the overall aim of this blog, we will focus on Dr. Brene Brown, Dr. Henry Cloud, Mark Burnett, and Chris Brown, supplying as much information about them gleaned from their own websites, writings, videos, and other third party sources to uncover what they believe and promote. WARNING # 1:It needs to be said that churches should not be run like businesses. When churches are run like corporations, pastors, elders and deacons lose whatever humility they once had and become manipulative dictatorial leaders and/or task masters, and discard their roles as shepherds, ministers, caring advisers, and equal members of the body of Christ, under the authority of God. Frequently, and in their sinful arrogance and independent spirit, the result is a complete failure to teach from the Bible, disciple believers, and warn and/or correct the congregation in a loving way about apostates, heretics, false teachers, false prophets, and the twisting of Scripture. Instead, they themselves become the focus of worship, the primary and final arbiters of truth, doctrine, and practice on their own authority. Members are ridiculed for wanting to hear Bible based expository preaching on the pretense that it just makes people fat and lazy, unwilling to work for the common good of the church. Adopting a business-like structure in church creates a hierarchy of authority, a "chain of command", leads to abuse, contributes to gnosticism, fosters elitism, belittles the congregation as a working class, values performance over grace, diverts from the God-given guidance of Scripture and focuses on implementing the vision cast by leaders, requires the congregation to subject themselves to unbiblical self-appointed change agents, drives the congregation away from the true gospel of grace towards a social gospel of works, creates a socialist, collectivist, community organizational structure that denies or suppresses individualism, individual thought, and individual effort. Compliance and compliant church members fit into this unbiblical business community, and consequently, individualistic personalities are routinely discarded and booted out if they "don't get with the program". WARNING # 2:In our post of February 28, 2013, we showed that Tim Keller is giving advice to mega church pastors, such as at Willowdale Chapel of Kennett Square, PA. As with more than a few of the 13 guest speakers at GLS 2013, Keller is also enthralled with offering a blend of worldly humanistic psychological theories with Scripture, known among discerning Christians as psycho-heresy. Here again is what we posted on February 28, along with the sources:
Sources show Keller may not be the biblical "go to guy" for advice, whether for individual Christians or churches:
But Lafferty and Willowdale's leadership have apparently learned a lot from Keller as well as Warren. Of course, all these emergents would claim a biblical mandate from Scripture. That may be so, but the implementation is not. They all seem to want to redeem the culture with good works, applying "salt and light" and/or present an attractive image to the unregenerate. Unfortunately, they will attempt to accomplish that goal through implementing a collectivist/fascist business model based on Peter Drucker's ideas for business (the three legged stool), and which is the foundation of Warren's "Purpose Driven" methods.
The second aim appears to be the establishment of God's kingdom on earth or at least preparing the way, allegedly to reign, but not to rule, falling just short of the seven "dominionist" aims of the New Apostolic Reformation which includes ruling the culture.
Lost in all this is the one-on-one traditional biblical model of evangelism, as well as the important role of individuals in such. Now, the message is that the sum total of all individuals spreading the gospel cannot be as effective as the collectivist community inside a business model. This is explored at length by Chris Rosebrough of Fighting for the Faith (Pirate Radio) in this audio "Resistance is Futile. You Will Be Assimilated into The Community".
• Bill Hybels, founder and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, Ill.
• Gen. Colin Powell, former U.S. secretary of state
• Dr. Brené Brown, research professor at University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work
• Mark Burnett, four-time Emmy Award winner and executive television producer of “The Voice” and “The Bible”
• Vijay Bovindarajan, Top 50 Management Thinker, and author of Reverse Innovation and The Other Side of Innovation
• Patrick Lencioni, best-selling author, founder and president of The Table Group, and named one of America’s Most Sought-After Businesses Speakers by The Wall Street Journal
• Liz Wiseman, executive strategy and leadership consultant, author of the best seller Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter
• Oscar Muriu, senior pastor of Nairobi Chapel, Kenya, with 14,000 weekly worshippers and a network of 30 churches
• Dr. Henry Cloud, clinical psychologist, leadership consultant and author of the 2-million seller Boundaries
• Chris Brown, co-senior pastor and teaching pastor of North Coast Church with 9,000-plus attendees, 25 worship services and multiple campuses
• Joseph Grenny, co-founder of VitalSmarts and author of four best-selling books, including Crucial Conversations
• Bob Goff, founder and CEO of Restore International, giving voice to oppressed children and the poorest of the poor
• Andy Stanley, founder and senior pastor of North Point Ministries, Atlanta, Ga.
1) Dr. Brene Brown is described on Emerging Women here: http://www.emergingwomen.com/presenter/brene-brown/. Dr. Brene Brown's website, http://www.brenebrown.com/about/, containsa short biography on her own website, which contains a link, http://www.oprah.com/own-supersoulsunday/blogs/Coming-Up-Sunday-Dr-Bren233-Brown-on-Daring-Greatly, to Oprah Winfrey's Super Soul Sunday. Yes, it appears the two are in fact "soulmates", promoting "psycho-heresy" (psychology and religious heresy mixture), further blended with New Age beliefs and practices such as yoga, mindfulness, holistic medicine, ecumenism, universalism, Hinduism, Buddhism, mantras, breath prayers, contemplative prayer with emptying of the mind, goddess worship, and an array of pagan, mystical ideas. All this while insisting they are Christians!
in which Brown participated and joined with Oprah, the latter claiming to be Christian, but practices and promulgates New Age beliefs, practices, and practitioners. Some examples of sessions with Oprah are in these select videos:
Brown on her concept of "wholeheartedness":
Brown's "Parenting Manifesto":
Brown has written for "Spirituality and Health", a New Age/Yoga online website here:
Quote: "new truths to help you unlock your full potential. Explore the intimate connection between body, mind and spirit through yoga, meditation, spiritual, wellness, and personal growth retreats and workshops."
and Eomega cites its source at http://www.eomega.org/about-omega/history quote: "The name "Omega" came from the teachings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a renowned 20th-century philosopher, who used the term "Omega Point" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Point, to describe the peak of unity and integration toward which all life is evolving." Chardin is a New Age mystic, Catholic Jesuit priest, influenced by Charles Darwin's evolution theory.
Wikipedia states "Cloud co-founded and built Minirth-Meier ClinicWest and served as its Clinical Co-Director for ten years." and " (has) a PhD degree in clinical psychology from Biola University (1987). He also took classes from Talbot Theological Seminary." Talbot is at Biola University, and has been one of the top seminaries teaching spiritual formation and contemplative mysticism. Pat Robertson of CBN interviews Cloud about his book "The Secret Things of God", and his comments clearly point to a fusion of New Age practices and beliefs with Christianity, and in which he states that the Secret is "basically the New Age philosophy that says your thoughts create reality". The video of this astounding interview is here: http://www.cbn.com/tv/1418278203001. This is the book promotion video:
A less than complimentary review of his book was also written at CBN's 700 Club site here: http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/Henry_Cloud040408.aspx. Cloud is quoted as saying about his book therein as "a huge cultural phenomenon and is classic, new-age philosophy. " And the review further states "As a psychologist, he is amazed at 'the secret things of God' validated by research and clinical practice.
'In fact, I do not know of any successful clinical process or practice that does not agree with God’s secrets', he says. " The article goes on to describe a mystical encounter with Jesus by a Jewish woman: "She was going through a challenging time and asked God to show up. She was immediately embraced by the presence of Jesus."
Cloud has had a working relationship with Bill Hybels' Willow Creek Association as shown in these videos in which Cloud describes how to do "pruning" in your church.
This is very similar to James McDonald's "catapulting" uncooperative church members out of the parking lot, and the foul mouthed/cussing pastor, Mark Driscoll's "blessed subtraction" by getting rid of disagreeable church members by "throwing them under the bus".
Driscoll's "pile of dead bodies behind the bus":
Cloud with Steven Furtick of Elevation Church in this video discussing Cloud's "Necessary Endings":
Cloud claims that "dreams respond to positive and negative voices" in this video. Could the negative voices be demonic?
3) Mark Burnett, married to Roma Downey, were previously covered in a prior post of ours and the pertinent material from that post is copied and pasted here. They are clearly New Agers:
David Cloud's Way of Life reports: Roma Downey, the Roman Catholic co-creator (with her husband, Mark Burnett) of the History Channel’s popular “The Bible” miniseries, says Pope Francis is “a new pope of hope” (“Roma Downey,” Christian Post, April 4, 2013). Here is the promotion video of "The Bible" series:
Downey, famous for her role as “the angel Monica” in the new-agey TV series “Touched by an Angel,” plays the part of Mary in “The Bible” miniseries. She says the example of Pope Francis will cause “the seeds of hope to flourish in people’s hearts and people’s lives.” In an earlier interview, Downey said, “I have prayed to Mary and loved her my whole life” (“The Bible: An Epic Mini-Series,” Catholiclane.com, Feb. 28, 2013). Roma attended the University of Santa Monica http://www.universityofsantamonica.edu/, offering Master's degrees in Spiritual Psychology, “founded by New Age spiritual and self-help guru John Roger” (“Roma Downey Happy Out of Spotlight,” Beck/Smith Hollywood, April 23, 2013). She says that she listens to books on tape by New Age guru Eckhart Tolle, who teaches the divinity of man. The creators of “The Bible” miniseries have not been afraid to add to and change God’s Word.
4) Chris Brown of North Coast Church, http://www.northcoastchurch.com/, the largest Evangelical Free Church in the U.S.A. What more didn't we know that we should have known by now?
Chris Brown on avoiding "stained glass" words when inviting unchurched/unsaved visitors to church as part of their Creative Leadership Training:
Brown on "Sermon Series Branding" to make sermons palatable to the world by always changing everything in the church, so it doesn't look the same as it did 40 years ago. So much for traditional Christianity:
Ceilings of Creativity that hold things back in church, by Brown:
Here is an example of one mega church, Willowdale Chapel of Kennett Square, PA, influenced by all the emergent leaders including Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, and which will be hosting a live simulcast of the Global Leadership Summit this coming August:
Chosen as a premier host site, Olivet will host the live telecast of the Willow Creek Association’s 2013 Global Leadership Summit on August 8 and 9. This two-day event will be broadcast live from Willow Creek Community Church to Olivet’s site at College Church of the Nazarene, North Campus, in Bourbonnais, Ill. Since on-site seats at the main site in South Barrington, Ill., are already sold out, this provides a unique opportunity for local leaders of businesses, churches and organizations to experience the Summit via live telecast.
reported the court's dismissal, but Susan Burke, attorney for plaintiffs will appeal.
Here is Detwiler's report in full below:
Statement by Susan Burke Regarding Statute of Limitations, Bravery, Appeal, & Criminal Proceedings
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 4:28PM Brent Detwiler
Susan Burke, the plaintiff’s attorney, gave The Wartburg Watch permission to reprint the following statement, verbatim.
We (the victims and the lawyers) all knew about the statute issue at the outset. But fighting for justice means doing so even against known obstacles. We had a conspiracy theory to overcome the statute but the Court rejected it. The victims are all brave and courageous people whose willingness to fight against evil has already made a difference in the world. Also, please realize going forward with a civil lawsuit does not in any way prevent criminal actions – perhaps may even make it more likely. And please keep praying, as we think the Court erred, and will be appealing her ruling.
All the best, Susan L. Burke
If you read the 2nd Amended Complaint you’ll notice the emphasis on the conspiracy by the Defendants being discovered by the Plaintiffs in August, 2011. Susan Burke and Bill O’Neil hoped to overcome the statute of limitations using this legal argument.
These two lawyers took the case knowing it would be hard to argue successfully. They invested a lot of their own resources for the good of justice, the cause of the Plaintiffs, and the prevention of sex abuse. The same is true of the Defendants. One told me, they planned to keep $1 in damages and put the rest into a non-profit Foundation to help the victims of abuse.
The law “may” require the Judge to dismiss the case due to the statute of limitations. If so, she did no wrong but that does NOT mean justice has been served. It has been circumvented. God is interested in justice. Civil authorities often fall short in providing it. Then again the appeal may be successful.
This much I can tell you with certainty. Going forward with the appeal “does not in any way prevent criminal actions – perhaps may even make it more likely.” “Criminal actions.” That means arresting people. “More likely.” That is an understatement by Ms. Burke.
The criminal investigations are going on behind the scenes. Believe me when I say no one cited in the lawsuit is sleeping well at night. There are numerous criminal charges under consideration from obstruction of justice to rape. Plaintiffs are determined to press ahead. They may never be remunerated but they are not going to let their abusers, abuse others. The dismissal was excruciating but they are undeterred. Pray for them.
Pray also for law enforcement officials, witnesses who provide testimony, and victims in other churches who are afraid to come forward.
On May 11, 2013, supporters of traditional marriage rallied outside of Rep. Jim Durkin's district office in Western Springs. Rep. Durkin is currently undecided on the issue of gay marriage. Peter LaBarbera is the president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. Note: Midway through the speech a counter protester interrupted the speech and the police had to intervene.
"The original Class Action Lawsuit was filed on Oct 17, 2012. It named three plaintiffs and nine defendants. The First Amended Lawsuit was filed on Jan 11, 2013. It named eight plaintiffs and 14 defendants. The Second Amended Lawsuit names 11 plaintiffs and the defendants remain at 14. Some of the pseudonymous plaintiffs are now using their proper names."
Hebrews 13:9- "Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them."
From Rappler.com of the Phillipines, which has 45 articles on mindfulnesshttp://www.rappler.com/?option=com_rappler&task=search&q=mindfulness, "mindful eating" is clearly described as Buddhist and focusing on the creation instead of the Creator in this one article among the lot. Apparently, in the heavily "Catholic" Phillipines which has had the benefits and influence of American culture since World War II, a mixture of paganism, Buddhism and Catholicism is still the norm. Here is the article: http://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/29068-mindful-eating, with excerpts below. Bold emphasis ours:
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MANILA, Philippines - How do you eat? Do you shove food into your mouth in huge spoonfuls, chew a bit, then swallow? Do you nibble at small portions, picking your way through the food on your plate? Or do you eat mindlessly, talking, texting, watching TV, or reading while “eating”?
Venerable Miao Jing, head abbess at Mabuhay Temple (Fo Guang Shan Philippines), talked about eating meditation in "Food for Thought, Thought for Food: Eating as a Meditative Experience." The event was part of FGS Philippines’ Buddhist Lecture Series 2013 and also featured a simple tea ceremony to demonstrate the sacred ritual of preparing and sipping tea.
The head abbess emphasized the importance of using all of our senses to experience, appreciate, and contemplate the food that we eat. Due to our attachment to habit, she says, we fail to do these things and we continue to survive to eat, and not eat to survive.
“We need a new perspective to eating,” says Venerable Miao Jing.
The 5 contemplations
Written by Thich Nhat Hanh, this is a version of the grace said before meals. “The practice of reciting these contemplations before eating is a way to foster mindful eating, and helps promote inner peace through food.”
(Comment: Inner peace is NOT promoted through food, but through salvation in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior).
1."This food is a gift from the earth, the sky, the universe, numerous living beings, and much hard work."
(Comment: non-Christian worship of the creation instead of the Creator).
2."May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive it." (Comment: Gratitude to whom?)
3."May we transform our unwholesome mental formations, especially our greed, and learn to eat with moderation."
(Comment: As Christians, we believe we can NOT transform our sin nature and/or redeem our minds, hearts and souls by our own efforts).
4."May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of all beings, preserve our planet, and reverse the process of global warming."
(Comment: This is a globalist, liberal, ecumenical, Christ-denying one world religion)
5."We accept this food so we can nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, strengthen our community, and nourish our ideal of serving all beings."
(Comment: Eating mindfully does nothing to save people from their sins like Jesus Christ would, but has a collectivist goal).
Eating as meditation: Venerable Miao Jing in her talk mentioned that “eating is meditative training.” When there is silence during meals, eating can become a more meaningful experience.
(Comment: This is contemplative mysticism whether practiced in the East or the West, and has no place in the life of a true Christian believer).
1. Go beyond the taste. If you are mindful, the head abbess says, everything will taste the same.
(Comment: If everything tastes the same, then why eat mindfully? All the God-given enjoyment of savoring foods is lost!).
2. Don’t take too much of the food that we like. And don’t ignore the food that we don’t like.
(Comment: Romans 12:2- "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
3. When preparing food, do so with sincere thoughts. Fill the food with positive vibrations and love. These will be served to others as you share the dishes you made.
(Comment: This is totally devoid of prayerful thanksgiving to the one true God of the Christian faith through Jesus Christ, our one high priest and mediator with the Father God).
4. When you are 70% full, stop eating. If you fill your tummy a hundred percent when you eat, your metabolism will slow down and all your energy will be used in digestion. This is why we feel sleepy after a heavy meal.
(Comment: How does one measure when one is 70% full?).
5. When you are full, don’t meditate. The stomach should be only 30 percent full when meditating.
(Comment: Again, how does one know when one is 30% full?).
6. Eat only the right amount of food at the scheduled time of meals.
(Comment: How much is right?).
7. Don’t be angry if you get too much or too little food.
(Comment: If one is being silent and mindful, then how does anger enter into the mix? Must be a failure associated with mindfulness or the person then).
8. Always be grateful for the food given to you, even if you are not happy with the taste.
(Comment: If everything tastes the same as a result of mindfulness, then you might have reason not to be happy with the taste! Yes, thank the host and/or the preparer, but also be grateful to God in all things, even if the taste is all the same or not to your liking).
9. Whatever it is you’re doing — not only while eating — contemplate and appreciate. Be mindful.
(Comment: Christians contemplate on, and are mindful of, the Word of God in the Bible and appreciate what He has done to save us from our sins by sending Jesus Christ to atone for us. Acts 14:17- "Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.")
10. Do not waste food. Finish whatever you have on your plate. It has been said that one grain of rice is equal to one bead of a farmer’s sweat. So clean up your plate!
(Comment: Luke 12:23- "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing." As a Christian, you take only as much as you can finish, being guided in all things by the Holy Spirit and eating in moderation. Buddhism is worried about offending a farmer's efforts, but Christianity is concerned with the salvation of sinful people. John 6:27- "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." 1 Corinthians 8:8- "But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse."
“There is little question that one or more employees at the IRS stole our confidential tax return and leaked it to our political enemies, in violation of federal law.” -- Brian Brown, President, National Organization for Marriage
Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association fires off complaint letterto Obama about the IRS retaliatory audits they were subjected to for supporting biblically oriented political candidates.
