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.
Two weekends ago, former evangelical pastor Rob Bell and former television icon Oprah wrapped up their national 8-city “Oprah’s The Life You Want Weekend” New Age tour. Joining Bell and Oprah on the tour were other two New Age sympathizers – Deepak Chopra and Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love). There was a time, not too many years ago, when Bell’s best-selling bookVelvet Elviswas being read by millions of young evangelicals, and the book was touted by Christian leaders and college professors. It was a disaster in discernment in the church as even back then Bell was promoting the New Age. In a 2007 article, a Lighthouse Trails stated, “Velvet Elvis and Bell’s Noomas are a trojan horse that will deliver to young unsuspecting kids from Christian homes a hearty helping of the New Age (i.e., mysticism and panentheism). And if they are introduced to the New Age under the guise of Christian literature, many of them will be seduced by ‘doctrines of devils.'”
Bell, who stepped down from the evangelical pastorate in 2011, has finally openly shown his true New Age colors by yoking himself with Oprah Winfrey, the most influential New Ager in the world today.
How to Maintain the "Momentum of a Positive Life Change"
Oprah's Life You Want Weekend With Rob Bell;
(He Speaks at About 3:00 Minute Mark):
ROB BELL'S EXPERIENTIAL MYSTICISM:
"GOD IS LIKE A SONG & 'YOU HEAR IT'":
"3 Definitions of God":
Oprah's Life You Want Weekend
Published on Sep 9, 2014
It's a simple question with an infinite number of answers: How do you define God? Watch as three of Oprah's "life trailblazers," Rob Bell, Iyanla Vanzant and Elizabeth Gilbert, discuss their personal understanding of a greater power.
“Plain and simple, Rob Bell’s teachings are not true to the words of Scripture,” Eric Ludy, pastor of Church at Ellerslie and president of Ellerslie Mission Society in Windsor, Colorado told Christian News Network. “They are a sly attempt at blending the philosophies of our post-modern age with the vernacular of pop-Christianity. The end product is highly dangerous to the human soul because it is the forging of a golden calf god—a God of our culture’s making—and certainly not the God of the Bible.”
“The Rob Bell Show” is set to air on Dec. 21, 2014 at 8 p.m. on OWN (OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK).
Pope Francis, left, hugs Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, after a holy liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. Pope Francis appealed for unity between the Catholic and Orthodox churches on Sunday as he wrapped up his visit to Turkey with a liturgy alongside the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians and a meeting with young refugees from Syria and Iraq. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
(Publishers remarks: As we said in yesterday remarks, in this meeting between Pope Francis and Bartholomew, the leader of the Orthodox Church, we are seeing events of unprecedented proportions in fulfilled prophecy that will eventually affect every person on earth. It is especially leading up to the formation of the one world church under the head of the false prophet of Rev. Ch. 13 and the political leader who will be the Anti-Christ, also discussed at length in Rev. Ch. 13. It will most assuredly involve the future of the nation of Israel as mentioned at Zec. 2:2-3 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Tomorrow will be the last in this three part series when the Pope makes history when he meets with the Grand Mufti of the Blue Mosque. One of the most mosques in Islam.)
ISTANBUL (AP) — Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians demanded an end to the persecution of religious minorites in Syria and Iraq on Sunday and called for a “constructive dialogue” with Muslims, capping the pontiff’s three-day visit to Turkey with a strong show of Christian unity in the face of suffering and violence.
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Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I issued a joint declaration urging leaders in the region to intensify assistance to victims of the Islamic State group, and especially to allow Christians who have had a presence in the region for 2,000 years to remain on their native lands.
“The terrible situation of Christians and all those who are suffering in the Middle East calls not only for our constant prayer but also for an appropriate response on the part of the international community,” they wrote.
Specifically, Francis told reporters on the way home from Istanbul that all Islamic leaders — political, religious, academic — should clearly condemn terrorism so that their people hear it directly from their mouths.
“We need a global condemnation — including from Muslims — who say ‘This isn’t who we are. This isn’t the Quran,’” he said.
Francis, who represents the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church, and Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians, called for “constructive dialogue” with Islam “based on mutual respect and friendship.”
Pope Francis, left, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I bless the faithful gathered in the courty …
“Inspired by common values and strengthened by genuine fraternal sentiments, Muslims and Christians are called to work together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every person, especially in those regions where they once lived for centuries in peaceful coexistence and now tragically suffer together the horrors of war,” they said.
Francis’ outreach to Muslims in the Muslim nation, and his comments about the Islamic assault on Christians next door, took center stage during his brief visit: His prayer in Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmet mosque was replayed again and again on Turkish television in a sign that his gesture was greatly appreciated. And it seemed that the message was reciprocated: The grand mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran, who received him at the mosque, said he hoped that Francis’ visit would “contribute to the world getting along well and living in peace.”
Francis told reporters on the way home from Istanbul that he was greatly touched by the care that Yaran took in showing him around the mosque and explaining verses of the Quran to him, such that he felt inspired to pray together with him when they reached the eastern most part of the room.
“I prayed for Turkey, for peace, for the mufti, for everyone, for myself because I need it,” Francis said. “I really prayed, and I prayed for peace above all, saying to the Lord ‘let’s end this wary.’ It was a moment of sincere prayer.”
Another poignant moment during the trip came when he met with about 100 Iraqi and Syrian refugee children, telling them that he wanted to share in their suffering, offer his consolation and give them hope.
Pope Francis, left, hugs Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, after a holy liturgy at the Patriarchal …
“I ask political leaders to always remember that the great majority of their people long for peace, even if at times they lack the strength and voice to demand it,” he said. During the encounter in the Holy Spirit cathedral in Istanbul, a young Iraqi girl told the pope of the suffering of Iraqi Christians forced to flee their homes and another child gave him a drawing.
“I am so, so happy I have seen the pope today,” said Marsel Basam, a 17-year-old from Baghdad who has been in Istanbul for four months. “This is my dream, yes.”
Francis kicked off his final day in Turkey with a lengthy, two-hour liturgy alongside Barthlomew in the Orthodox Church of St. George, where incense mingled with hypnotic chants and prayers on an important feast day for the Orthodox Church.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches split in 1054 over differences on the primacy of the papacy, and there was a time when patriarchs had to kiss popes’ feet. The two churches have grown closer together in recent decades, such that at the end of a joint prayer service Saturday evening, Francis bowed to Bartholomew and asked for his blessing “for me and the Church of Rome,” a remarkable display of papal deference to an Orthodox patriarch that underscored Francis’ hope to end the schism.
In his remarks Sunday, Francis assured the Orthodox faithful gathered in St. George’s that unity wouldn’t mean sacrificing their rich liturgical or cultural patrimony or “signify the submission of one to the other, or assimilation.”
Pope Francis, left, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I leave the Patriarchal Church of St. Georg …
“I want to assure each one of you gathered here that, to reach the desired goal of full unity, the Catholic Church does not intend to impose any conditions except that of the shared profession of faith,” he said.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, acknowledged the novelty in Francis’ message. While experts from both churches continue to debate theological divisions between them, Francis and Bartholomew are “pushing with incredible strength toward union” through their frequent and warm personal contacts, Lombardi said.
“The theological dialogue and other aspects can go forward better or sooner if there is a strong attitude” on the part of the pope and patriarch, he said. “I cannot say that this is the solution to the problem, but this is surely a strong impulse.”
Bartholomew, for his part, noted that Christians are being persecuted across the Mideast regardless of their particular confession.
“The modern persecutors of Christians do not ask which church their victims belong to,” he said. “The unity that concerns us is regrettably already occurring in certain regions of the world through the blood of martyrs.”
(Publishers remarks: This past Sunday, March 23, a gigantic birth pang toward the end of the age took place in the forming of the World Church of the Anti-Christ, as Pope Francis received a blessing from Patriarch Bartholomew of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He also prayed in one of Istanbul’s most important mosques alongside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran. This is the most important event of this kind since the Pope met with the leader of the Orthodox Church in 1964 in Istanbul for the first time since the schism between the Western and Eastern divisions of the Catholic Church. We also know that at some point all of the religions will come together under the false prophet of Rev. 13:12 “who causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” It also says at verses 16 and 17 “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.) Surely the time is drawing near, how we need to be ready, waiting and longing for our Lord to come that we might escape these things that are coming upon the earth. There will be two more related articles to follow on Tuesday and Wednesdy.)
ISTANBUL (AP) — Pope Francis and the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians demanded an end to the persecution of religious minorities in Syria and Iraq on Sunday and called for dialogue with Muslims, capping Francis’ three-day visit to Turkey with a strong show of Christian unity.
Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I issued a joint declaration urging leaders in the region to intensify help to victims of the Islamic State group, and especially to allow Christians who have had a presence in the region for 2,000 years to remain on their native lands.
“The terrible situation of Christians and all those who are suffering in the Middle East calls not only for our constant prayer but also for an appropriate response on the part of the international community,” they wrote.
The statement was issued at the end of Francis’ first trip to Turkey during which he prayed in one of Istanbul’s most important mosques alongside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran. He was also set to meet with a few of the 1.6 million refugees who have crossed into Turkey to flee the IS assault in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
Francis, who represents the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church, and Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians, called for “constructive dialogue” with Islam “based on mutual respect and friendship.” “Inspired by common values and strengthened by genuine fraternal sentiments, Muslims and Christians are called to work together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every person, especially in those regions where they once lived for centuries in peaceful coexistence and now tragically suffer together the horrors of war,” they said. Later Sunday, Francis was to meet with a few dozen young refugees who are being educated by the Salesian religious order. The Vatican had downplayed the meeting, perhaps because of organizational glitches or to not distract from Francis’ ecumenical activities which were the main reason for the visit. But just before the trip began, the Vatican revealed that he would indeed deliver a speech to the youths.
Francis kicked off his final day in Turkey with a liturgy alongside Bartholomew in the Orthodox Church of St. George, where incense mingled with hypnotic chants on an important feast day for the Orthodox Church.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches split in 1054 over differences on the primacy of the papacy, and there was a time when patriarchs had to kiss popes’ feet. At the end of a joint prayer service Saturday evening, Francis bowed to Bartholomew and asked for his blessing “for me and the Church of Rome,” a remarkable display of papal deference to an Orthodox patriarch that underscored Francis’ hope to end the schism.
In his remarks Sunday, Francis assured the Orthodox faithful gathered in St. George’s that unity wouldn’t mean sacrificing their rich liturgical or cultural patrimony or “signify the submission of one to the other, or assimilation.”
“I want to assure each one of you gathered here that, to reach the desired goal of full unity, the Catholic Church does not intend to impose any conditions except that of the shared profession of faith,” he said.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, acknowledged the novelty in Francis’ message. While experts from both churches continue to debate theological divisions between them, Francis and Bartholomew are “pushing with incredible strength toward union” through their frequent and warm personal contacts, Lombardi said.
“The theological dialogue and other aspects can go forward better or sooner if there is a strong attitude” on the part of two leaders, he said. “I cannot say that this is the solution to the problem, but this is surely a strong impulse.” Bartholomew, for his part, noted that Christians are being persecuted across the Mideast regardless of their particular confession.
“The modern persecutors of Christians do not ask which church their victims belong to,” he said. “The unity that concerns us is regrettably already occurring in certain regions of the world through the blood of martyrs.” ___ Suzan Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.
(Publishers remarks: This is the last of a three part series on Pope Francis’ recent visit to Istanbul where he met and prayed with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of the Orthodox Catholic Church and then prayed at the Blue Mosque with Istanbul’s Grand Mufti Rahmi Yaran. This is one of the most prophetically significant events that has taken place in our life time. The schism between the two divisions of the Catholic Church has been breeched since 1054 AD. The division between both and Islam has been severed since at least 600 AD. Francis is using the precedent of his predecessor Benedict who took the same path at the dismay of many eight years ago. The Catholic Church is the leader of the Chrislam movement. This movement purports to unite Christianity and Islam in a unity for the purpose of opposing the persecution and killing of Christians and other minorities of all religions. While this may sound good, in reality, it is a an effort on the part of these unbelievers to persecute, kill and totally fundamental Christianity along with the Jews all over the world, including a divided Palestine and the eventual elimination of all Jews from Palestine. It all began with a joint resolution of the UN in 1947 for the partitioning of Palestine and several anti-Jewish resolutions since. We might remind this whole crowd that the Abrahamic Covenant is still alive and well. Gen 12:1– 3Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Pope treads carefully in footsteps of predecessor in ‘moment of silent adoration’ to mark religious cooperation during Turkey visit
Pope Francis and Istanbul’s Grand Mufti Rahmi Yaran pray together in the Blue Mosque. Photograph: AP
Saturday 29 November 2014 15.07 EST
In a gesture designed to highlight his commitment to inter-faith dialogue,Pope Francis conducted a silent prayer alongside a senior Islamic cleric in Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Saturday. Facing Mecca, Francis bowed his head in prayer for several minutes while standing next to Istanbul’s Grand Mufti Rahmi Yaran. The Vatican described the gesture as a “moment of silent adoration” of God.
Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict, caused dismay among many conservative Catholics and some Muslims when he appeared to pray in the same mosque on his visit to Turkey eight years ago. The Vatican felt compelled to publish a statement saying that Benedict had merely been in meditation, though he later acknowledged that he “certainly turned his thoughts to God”.
Francis then paid a visit to the Hagia Sophia, the most important cathedral of Orthodoxy for almost 1,000 years. The basilica was turned into an imperial mosque under the Ottomans when they conquered the city in 1453, and converted into a museum after the foundation of the Turkish republic in 1923.
His visit was followed by a papal mass in the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, which the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said alongside Bartholomew I, head of the 300 million Orthodox believers worldwide.
At the entrance to the church, Turks and foreigners alike strained to catch a glimpse of the pope as he emerged after the mass. One Argentinian TV assistant director, who came to visit his Turkish girlfriend in Istanbul, said he was surprised and excited about the possibility to see the pope. “This is the first stop for me, I came straight from the airport,” he said.
Garbis Atmaca, 72, an Armenian jeweller from Istanbul, said he had high hopes for the pope’s visit. “It is very good that he came,” Atmaca said. “His visit will have a good impact on the Islamic world. It will help foster understanding and peace.”
The mixed Christian community in Turkey is very small, estimated at about 80,000 in a country of 75 million, and only the few Roman Catholics and Chaldeans regard the pope as their spiritual leader. Atmaca, who belongs to the Gregorian-Armenian church in Istanbul, said that he nevertheless holds the current pontiff in high regard. “He is a very modest man, the best pope we ever had.”
Three Austrian nuns who attended the mass said that they had never seen as much cheering for a pope. “We came to see Pope Benedict eight years ago,” one of them said. “But we have never seen anything like this.”
Francis’s visit comes at a time of extreme hardship for the dwindling Christian communities in the region, especially in neighbouring Syria and Iraq where Islamic State (Isis) militants have captured large swathes of land and persecuted Shia Muslims, Christians, Yazidis and others who do not agree with their radical interpretation of Sunni Islam. Many of those fleeing the violence currently live as refugees in Turkey.
The 77-year-old Argentinian pontiff urged that fundamentalism be fought not through military interventions, but by eradicating poverty, hunger and marginalisation around the world.
“Both [the pope and Bartholomew] are deeply concerned about the brutal treatment and expulsion of Christians from their homes in the region, which has historically been the cradle of Christianity,” John Chryssavgis, theological adviser at the Patriarch of Constantinople, said.
Some fear that increased authoritarianism, nationalism and President Erdogan’s constant focus on Sunni Muslim identity might lead to more pressure on minorities in Turkey, too; others believe the situation has started to improve for Christian minorities during the 12 years of Islamic Justice and Development party government.
“Things are good now, better than before certainly,” Atmaca said. “I think the Islamist rhetoric [of the government] is mostly show.”
Others feel there has been stagnation. “Things will likely not get worse under the AKP,” said Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a human rights lawyer and expert on minority rights. “But they will not get better either. The Christians in Turkey should stand up for their rights and make more demands.”
Speaking at the presidential palace on Saturday, Francis underlined the importance of religious freedom for everyone. “It is essential that all citizens – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – both in the provision and practice of the law, enjoy the same rights and respect the same duties,” he said in a joint press conference with Erdogan.
Later on Saturday, Bartholomew I, with whom the pope shares close personal ties, is to receive Francis at the ecumenical patriarchate.
Pope Francis is telling those committed to Christian unity that they should pray and work together now, and not wait for theologians to reach agreement.
Vatican Radio reported that the Pope said this during an Oct. 10 private meeting with the Ark Community, which was founded by his late friend, Tony Palmer.
Palmer was recognized globally as a friend of the Pope when he facilitated the recording of a papal message sent to Kenneth Copeland Ministries in February.
Palmer died suddenly in July when he was in a traffic accident.
Vatican Radio reported that Pope Francis thanked Palmer’s widow and the new leader of the community, Archbishop Robert Wise, for carrying forward the dream of walking together in communion.
“We are sinning against Christ’s will” the Pope said, “because we continue to focus on our differences,” but “our shared baptism is more important than our differences.”
While the devil, the “father of lies” divides us, the Pope added, we are called to preach the Gospel in every corner of the earth, with the certainty that He is with us. “We each have in our churches excellent theologians,” the Pope said, “but we shouldn’t wait for them to reach agreement.”
The Holy Father noted that denomination does not matter for Christians who are suffering the same persecution in places such as the Middle East or regions of Africa.
A video of the informal meeting and the Pope's off-the-cuff comments, recorded by a member of the Community, is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-8ahwAT5_k (The Pope speaks in Spanish and a priest translates his comments to English.)
"Miracle of Unity" Video From Article Above:
Bishop Tony Palmer and Pope Francis -
The "Miracle of Unity" Has Begun:
KCM Ministers' Conference 2014:
Commentary from Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel at:
Mike's Comment: The pope's quest for "Christian" unity is not the same unity that Christ prayed for in His high priestly prayer. He prayed for all those who believe in Him through His Word to be sanctified by truth in the same way the Father and the Son are united as one (John 17:17-21). It is the devil who seeks to unite apostate Christianity with all the religions of the world at another tower of Babel. The pope is the devil's willing ambassador as he seeks to carry out his prophetic plan. Let no one be deceived - divine division in truth is infinitely better than satanic unity in error!
Mike's Comment: The apostate Catholic religion will continue to seek unity with all religions under the global power of the false prophet who sits in the office of the papacy. As you can see here, the call to Rome continues to be the false Christ of the Eucharist. How absurd and moronic it is for a Catholic priest to declare that Mary "pondered the Eucharist" when the angel Gabriel announced that she would give birth to Jesus, the Son of God. Catholicism rejects Christ as the only sinless mediator and declares that Mary is another sinless mediator who can bring unity to all religions if they worship her sacred heart.
FROM DAVID CLOUD'S "WAY OF LIFE": http://www.wayoflife.org/friday_church_news/15_48.php EMERGING CHURCH’S “3.0 CHRISTIANITY” DESTROYS BIBLICAL AUTHORITY (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2014, www.wayoflife.org,fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In a message presented at the Greenbelt Festival in England in August, emerging church leader Brian McLaren sought to destroy absolute biblical authority by claiming that we have entered a new era of Bible reading. He divided church history into three parts: Bible 1.0 was the Roman Catholic approach to Scripture whereby the Bible “was read and controlled by the religious elite.” Bible 2.0 was the Protestant approach to Scripture by which “the Bible itself was viewed as inerrant” and believers tested everything by it. Bible 3.0 is the new approach recommended by McLaren whereby the multiplicity of interpretations available on the Internet allegedly render any one authoritative interpretation invalid. He says that Bible 3.0 is to be “in conversation with everything and everyone.” He says, “Bible 1.0 didn’t give up to Bible 2.0 without a fight. And it’s very difficult for Bible 2.0 to imagine a world of Bible 3.0,” but, “If we are ready, we are going to discover the Bible as better, deeper and richer than before” (“Brian McLaren: ‘We’ve entered a new era of Bible reading,’” ChristianityToday.com, Sept. 4, 2014). McLaren’s “deeper and richer” Bible reading is the one-world church’s approach which is tolerant of other views and exalts unity, “social justice,” etc., over doctrinal purity. McLaren grew up in a fundamentalist Christian home, but he rejected the faith of his parents and his godly grandparents, who were Brethren missionaries. He is a dangerous heretic who has robbed many of their biblical faith. In response to the Bible 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 thing, we would observe that McLaren’s view of history doesn’t start early enough. In truth, Bible 1.0 is not the Catholic Church. It is the New Testament churches under the direction of Christ’s apostles. Bible 1.0 is the Christianity of those who believe that one infallible faith was delivered in the New Testament Scriptures and is to be contended for (Jude 3). Bible 1.0 is the Christianity of those who take the words of the resurrected Christ seriously when He said that His disciples are to be taught to “observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:20). There is no room for the confusion of multiple interpretations here. Bible 1.0 is the Christianity of those who believe that Paul committed absolute truth to faithful, born again men who were to teach “the same” to others (2 Tim. 2:2). Bible 1.0 is the Christianity of those who are taught to test, beware of, mark, avoid, and reject false teachers and heretics (Rom. 16:17-18; Eph. 4:4; Phil. 3:2, 17-18; Col. 2:8; 2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 3:10-11; 1 Tim. 4:1-4; 1 John 4:1). This is impossible for those who believe in a variety of acceptable interpretations. By McLaren’s scheme, no one is a heretic. Rather, all are sincere seekers with different “perspectives.” Further, Bible 1.0 is the Christianity of those are taught to study to show themselves approved unto God by “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15) and who “have an unction from the Holy One” to know the truth (1 John 2:20, 27). This means that the Spirit of God leads His redeemed people to the correct interpretation of Scripture. (For more on this see “Beware of Brian McLaren” by using the search engine at www.wayoflife.org.) EMERGING CHURCH CHANGE AGENTS (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Emerging church leaders like Brian McLaren are very effective change agents. His popular breakout book A New Kind of Christian presents theological liberalism in the guise of a wiser, kinder, gentler type of Christianity called “Postmodern.” The book recounts a pastor’s journey from a position of holding the Bible as the absolute standard for truth, a position in which doctrine is either right or wrong, to a pliable stance in which “faith is more about a way of life than a system of belief, where being authentically good is more important than being doctrinally right” (from the back cover of A New Kind of Christian). Chameleons like McLaren can talk like Bible believers when it suits their purpose (as he did in an interview with me in at the 2009 National Pastor’s Conference in San Diego). But he has publicly rejected (by re-definition) such fundamentals of the faith as the inerrancy of Scripture, the necessity of the new birth, the substitutionary blood atonement, the literal return of Christ, and eternal judgment. In other words, he has rejected the New Testament Christian faith and has become its enemy. He is a dangerous man, but he is clever and patient, and he is by no means alone in his war against biblical Christianity. He is joined by thousands of “new thinkers” who are leavening individuals, homes, churches, and schools with heresy. McLaren has indicated that he is targeting the children and grandchildren of today’s fundamentalists. EMERGING CHURCH SPREADING BY “SEASONING” (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In his blog this month, Brian McLaren says that the emerging church is growing in influence, “not by creating a new slice of the pie, but by seasoning nearly all sectors of the pie” (“More on the emergent conversation,” BrianMclaren.net, Nov. 17, 2014). He is exactly right, and the “seasoning” extends even to many “fundamentalist” churches. What McLaren calls “seasoning,” the Bible calls “leaven,” and it twice warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9). The church at Corinth and the churches in Galatia were being careless about error. They were entertaining it, countenancing it. They were “bearing with it” (2 Cor. 11:4). But if a small amount of error is countenanced, it will eventually leaven everything. This is why we have warned that most independent Baptist churches will be emerging within 20 years. Large numbers of them are entertaining error. They haven’t capitulated, but they are playing with it. They are arguing, “But this is just a small thing; let’s ‘major on the majors.’” They are playing with contemporary worship music, which even in its most “conservative” form is a definite bridge to the one-world church of the Getty’s and Townend’s and Redman’s and Kendrick’s and Zschech’s. Some are even playing with contemplative prayer, as we document this month in the report “Pensacola’s A Beka Promoting Catholic Contemplative Mystics.” THE INVASION OF THE EMERGING CHURCH (Friday Church News Notes, November 28, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Brian McLaren did not invent emerging heresy. It is in the very air we breathe today. He is a product of it, and he in turn has become a purveyor. He grew up with the priceless heritage of being the son and grandson of Bible-believing Christians, but at some point he was converted to modern unbelief. His book A New Kind of Christian is doubtless biographical to some degree. An evangelical pastor is converted by a likable man named “Neo,” who befriends him in a crisis of faith. At the beginning of the conversations, the pastor is afraid that Neo’s ideas are corrupting him (p. 26), but he quenches the fear, continues to listen to the voice of the serpent, and becomes a convert to heresy. McLaren, the author of the book, considers this transformation a good thing, of course. This reminds me of the 1956 movie TheInvasion of the Body Snatchers, in which the earth is invaded by aliens in the form of seed pods. Each pod is capable of transforming a human being into an alien by capturing his soul if the individual is sleeping nearby. The invasion is quiet and insidious. One by one, unsuspecting human beings are transformed into aliens with alien thinking and objectives who seek to transform everyone else. A doctor discovers what is happening and tries to warn people, even standing on a highway screaming to the motorists, “They’re here already! You’re next!” but he is ignored. Like TheInvasion of the Body Snatchers, the emerging church is an alien Christianity. It spreads quietly and subtly, from individual to individual. It puts people at ease by downplaying its radicalness and by using the comfortable old biblical and theological terms, yet with new definitions. McLaren and his friends would tell you that they believe in Biblical inspiration, salvation, atonement, judgment, and the kingdom of God, but they re-define these terms in modernistic ways. They are “sincere and caring.” They profess to love Jesus and the truth. The emerging heresy takes over the hearts and minds of those who are sleeping and are not alert to the danger, who have been lulled to sleep by the popular thinking that judging is carnal and “critics” are mean-spirited troublemakers and that preaching and teaching should be kept on a “positive note” and “not deal with personalities.” It is especially effective in converting second generation Christians who often lack the spiritual dynamism and vigilance of the first generation. It spreads through the “seed pods” of literature, Internet blogs, MP3 sermons, Bible College classrooms, and friendships. It captures the hearts of pastors’ sons, who then insidiously convert unsuspecting congregations. I remember being frightened by The Invasion of the Body Snatchers when I was a kid. After watching it, I awoke one night and saw a watermelon beside the refrigerator outside my bedroom door; fearing that it was a seed pod, I cried out to mom to come save me! The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was fiction, but the invasion of the emerging church is very real, and I am doing everything I can to warn and protect as many people as I can. This is a major motivation for the production of such things as the Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible and the One Year Discipleship Course and An Unshakeable Faith and the Advanced Bible Studies Series. We need parents and pastors and teachers and missionaries who will provide serious discipleship to the next generation to protect them from the invasion of apostasy.
