Reformata

Some Thoughts on Limited Atonement and "What Did Jesus Accomplish on the Cross?" by Jim McClarty

August 31, 2008

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Limited (or definite) atonement has to be one of the most hated and most caricatured positions of all that’s taught in the systematic theology known as Calvinism. I personally believe that this is due to people not believing that they are rightly condemned before God already for not believing in Christ (John 3:18). Also, I believe that when those who oppose are believers in Christ, this is due to the fact that they don’t understand that they don’t deserve to believe in Christ. That last statement might sound strange at first, but think about this: Does anyone deserve grace? Is anyone saved apart from grace? If grace is therefore necessary, do our works merit us any salvation or was it Christ alone? Is grace necessary and sufficient or just necessary and not sufficient? I believe this is where the crux of the dispute is. If a person believes that they are saved because of God’s grace alone, the idea that God can show mercy to whoever He wants to show mercy to (definite atonement) makes sense. If someone believes they are saved by faith plus any work whatsover whether that work be attending mass, “praying a prayer to ask Jesus into your heart”, taking the lonely trip down the aisle called an altar-call, or any of a number of the other things that people think merit them salvation, I’m convinced that the concept of limited atonement will never make sense to them. How could it? If salvation does not rest solely in God’s hands but rests in ours, how could someone possibly accept the fact that God doesn’t have to save anyone who does whatever work it is that person believes is meritorious? Certain people even turn faith itself into a work when Scripture teaches plainly that it’s a gift. (Eph. 2:8-9; Php. 1:29) I believe that the doctrine of definite atonement is a sort of litmus test to a person’s humilty although it isn’t a foolproof test. If a person realizes that they did nothing but sin against God their entire life, that even their righteousness was as filthy rags, and they do not deserve salvation in any sense, naturally limited atonement will make sense to them, and they’ll find themselves agreeing with the doctrine.

Many disputes arise about it because people just can’t bring themselves to believe that Christ came and died with a specific purpose; that purpose being to save His sheep. They hold that Christ must have died for every single person who ever lived in existence. Perhaps the best argument I’ve heard against this came from the great Puritan John Owen.

Owen put it like this:

“The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:

1) All the sins of all men.

2) All the sins of some men, or

3) Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:

That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved.

That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth.

But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, “Because of unbelief.”

I ask, “Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it is, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!”

(The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Book 3, Ch. 3)

This analysis by Owen makes perfect sense logically. If there’s a sin that Jesus didn’t die for on my behalf, I still have to pay for that sin. Also, if I’ve transgressed one law (sin) I’ve transgressed them all, (Jms. 2:10) If all these factors are true, how could I not stand condemned before God? The only way is if I had a substitute who kept the law perfectly in my place. So perfect that not one jot nor tittle passed away but was fulfilled in Him. This is what Jesus did. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. (Rom 10:4) If He didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (as He said in Matt. 5:17) then who did He fulfill it for? On who’s behalf was the law fulfilled? It was fulfilled on the behalf of everyone who has broken at least one of God’s laws and is guilty of all AND who also believe on Him. The question must arise then, “Did he do this for everyone?” If so, why does the Bible speak so forthcoming about hell? Obviously He didn’t substitute himself for everyone. Why are there unbelievers? It is because faith is a gift, and if faith is a gift, then God is not obligated to give everyone His gift. If he were obligated to give this saving grace to everyone, it would no longer be a gift, but a wage; a compensation for some sort of work the person did to merit saving grace. As Romans 11:6 states, though, if (salvation) is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

I said all that to basically prime the following video. Jim McClarty is a brother who leads a Sovereign Grace fellowship in Smyrna, Tennessee. He goes further into the teaching of limited atonement, and I believe the following hour will be well worth your time. I don’t think I truly had love and understanding for Christ and what He’s done until I understood “that dreaded L” that so many of us have had problems with or may even still have. This video should alleviate some of those concerns.

BONUS VIDEO:

CHRISTIANITY TODAY PROMOTING THE CULT OF RICHARD FOSTER

August 31, 2008

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See also:

THE CULT OF GURU RICHARD FOSTER

DELUSIONS OF DALLAS WILLARD

SPIRITUAL FORMATION: JUST SAY NO

RICK WARREN GUILTY FOR ENDORSING THE CULT OF GURU RICHARD FOSTER AND HIS REIMAGINED GNOSTIC MYSTICISM

ROB BELL IN A NUTSHELL: CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICISM

SACRED WAY OF TONY JONES AND THE EMERGING CHURCH

EMERGENT CHURCH: DAN KIMBALL AND LECTIO DIVINA

Christianity Today Promoting The Cult of Richard Foster

August 31, 2008

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In the September 2008 Christianity Today magazine there’s a feature interview with Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster. In the Apprising Ministries article Contemplative/Centering Prayer As “Christian” Meditation we look further at the so-called “spiritual disciplines” of the spurious Spiritual Formation aka Contemplative Spirituality/Myticism, which he teaches along with his spiritual twin Dallas Willard.

Foster refer to these practices as “The Inward Disciplines” in his classic book on the subject Celebration of Discipline (12). In fact with “Silence and Solitude,” “The Jesus Prayer,” and “Centering/Contemplative Prayer,” we are now involved with what even Foster himself calls “The Discipline of Meditation” (15). And in that CT issue we find an ad for Spring Arbor University with it’s Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation And Leadership course “designed with [Richard Foster's] direct input, which tells us: “Deep within you there is a place. It’s vast and expansive. It’s also hard to find.”

This is the mistaken and semi-pelagian (at best) idea of a spark of the divine, which is also referred to as your alleged “true self.” I refute this Biblically in The Real Truth About Your Evil “True Self” so here I remind you that Richard Foster was very influenced by a Roman Catholic monk named Thomas Merton whom you can find out more about in Who Is Thomas Merton? Below is what Merton’s mysticism “revealed” to him as he teaches us that there is a spark of God in everyone:

Again, that expression, le point vierge, (I cannot translate it) comes in here. At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us.

It is so to speak His name written is us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billion points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely….I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere (Conjectures Of A Guilty Bystander,158, emphasis mine). 

Here’s the most important point to understand with all the talk in the evangelical community today about this alleged “inward journey” of silence and solitude, which refer to the practice of “Christian” meditation. The practice of this type of meditation is virtually identical to that practiced in Eastern religions such as Zen Buddhism and the transcendental meditation of Hinduism. And if you really want to know where the foolish inward journey of corrupt Contemplative/Centering Prayer will eventually take you make the time to read Thomes Merton and the Buddhas where you’ll read Merton’s own idolatrous account of his standing in front of the huge Buddha statues on Polonnaruwa.

This garbage has no place in the Church of Jesus Christ and Christianity Today should be ashamed of itself for promoting Roshi wannabe Richard Foster.

My Soul Waits for the Lord

August 31, 2008

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Despite the prevalent “Christian” teachings in our time that suffering is never God’s will for His people, a close, sober, and honest study of scripture reveals that the fires of tribulation are used by God to form and refine His people. The view that God desires of each Christian to always be healthy and prosperous is based on many false assumptions. One false assumption is that salvation is somehow deserved and those who profess faith can claim anything they want from a god who is bound to meet all their requests. Another false assumption moves the focus of salvation from God glory to the person’s glory and their “having their best life now.” Sin is seen as simple mistakes that God overlooks because He is all love.

(click here to read this post)

Sovereign in the Midst of the Storm

August 31, 2008

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CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER AS “CHRISTIAN” MEDITATION

August 31, 2008

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At Apprising Ministries you will likely hear me talking more about the new spirituality which has now slithered its way deep into postevangelicalism from its den in the Emerging Church. The fact is this neopagan Gnostic spirituality is most pointedly on display in the misguided mysticism of the Emergent Church with its reimagined postliberal theology. Consider this dubious choice made not long ago by a couple of notable pastors in the EC who practice this new spirituality Seeds of Compassion Event: Rob Bell, Doug Pagitt with Dalai Lama.

And yes, I am fully aware that people involved in this highly schismatic movement prefer to be known as the Emerging Church, but no longer emerging, this cultic group has now fully emerged from the shadows on the outskirts of the American Christian Church right into the heart of the rapidly apostatizing evangelical camp itself.

…but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. (Psalm 106:35)

Via Contemplativa

The most dangerous aspect of the new spirituality is this idea propounded by the Emergent Church of supposed “spiritual disciplines,” which they insist must be performed in order to more fully “experience” God. Space does not allow a discussion of “the deeper life” that orthodox Christians such as A.W. Tozer would speak of, but we are clearly not talking about the same thing—nor am I necessarily endorsing it. Here I am simply discussing the heretical practices culled from so-called “Christian” mystics that they in turn adopted from Eastern religions and then passed off as consistent with the historic orthodox Christian faith.

Emergent Church theologian Tony Jones, National Coordinator for Emergent Village, having written extensively on the subject is to be considered a primary source concerning these messed-up mystic practices. In his book The Sacred Way (SW), Jones provides us with a list of what he refers to as “Contemplative Approaches to Spirituality.” These spiritual disciplines/practices would be: “Silence and Solitude, Sacred Reading, The Jesus Prayer, Centering Prayer, Meditation, The Ignatian Examen, Icons, Spiritual Direction, and The Daily Office.” (5)

It should also be noted that those who are following blind guides in the Emerging Church will insist that these areas are not all the same. However, the truth is that most of these practices are indeed aligned with what Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster—one of the leading “authorities” on this Contemplative Spirituality/Myticism—refers to as “The Inward Disciplines” in his classic book on the subject Celebration of Discipline (CoD) (12). In fact with “Silence and Solitude,” “The Jesus Prayer,” and “Centering/Contemplative Prayer,” we are now involved with what even Foster himself calls “The Discipline of Meditation” (15).

Here is the most important point to understand with all the talk in the evangelical community today about Contemplative/Centering Prayer: The practice of this type of meditation is virtually identical to that practiced in Eastern religions such as Zen Buddhism and the transcendental meditation of Hinduism. This becomes readily apparent as Jones tells us:

As a Christian practice [meditation is] inextricably bound up with…silence, the Jesus Prayer, and Centering Prayer,… Further, it’s linked with the recent popularity in the West of Eastern religions, resulting in books with such titles as Christian Zen and Christian Yoga. While this makes some Christians nervous, others revel in the fact that God is revealed in all truth, no matter the religion of origin.
(SW, 79,80, emphasis mine)

Since Jones himself has now introduced the book Christian Zen (CZ) by the late William Johnston, a priest of apostate Roman Catholicism who wrote “numerous articles on Zen and Christianity, [and] on mysticism East and West,” let us turn to it. In this book Johnston “suggests techniques of Zen meditation” will “heighten Christian meditation.” In fact, Johnson “discovered in Zen a pool of quiet energy which transforms the Western intellectualized experience of meditation into a full-bodied, intuitive communion with God” (front flap). Johnson further enlightens us as he says:

Turning to Christian mystics,…[h]ere are men and women whose meditation (or contemplation) is more akin to that of the Zen Masters… [Thomas] Merton, too, belongs to the same tradition, and that is why he has such sympathy for Zen. (25)

Foster, who considers Merton to be one of his own mentors, then tells us what happens in this meditation “is that we create the emotional and spiritual space which allows Christ to construct a sanctuary in the heart.” And Foster is telling the truth when he writes that meditation “opens the door.” (CoD, 20) It is what inevitably comes through that open door which is the concern of this particular work. As we progress with this you will come to understand the dangerous spiritual reality about what Foster tells us concerning the eventual effect that arrived at through the meditation “of this kind [which] transforms the inner personality.” Indeed, it does.

West Meets East In Meditation

In CoD Foster does make the attempt to distance his brand of “Christian” meditation from Zen and Hinduism when he says:

there are those who assume it is synonymous with the concept of meditation centered in Eastern religions. In reality, the two ideas stand worlds apart. Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to fill the mind.” (Ibid., 20)

The problem is this just isn’t true as you have seen from CZ and from what Tony Jones himself admits in SW. As a matter of fact on page 73 of SW Jones mentions that M. Basil Pennington is “one of the Trappist monks who has developed the modern practice of Centering Prayer.” Among the “resources” that Jones recommends is Pennington’s book Centering Prayer: Renewing An Ancient Christian Prayer Form (CP). You will also find it interesting to note that in CoD Foster personally recommends another book called The Living Testament: The Essential Writings of Christianity Since the Bible, which just happens to be edited by Pennington and one Alan Jones—another name that should be familiar to those following this work.

We should find it of concern, as well as, quite revealing in CP as Pennington tells us that in “recent years” there has been “a significant number” of people who have been “turning to the East” in search of wisdom.” (15) In Pennington’s view this is a return to the ways of early Christian mystics who also headed “toward the East in search of wisdom.” While discussing the meaning of the words meditation and contemplation it becomes obvious that what Pennington writes about in CP is the same type of meditation as that practiced by what he refers to as “our brothers and sisters in the Hindu tradition.” (20)

The Christian has no “brothers and sisters” among practicing Hindus and/or Muslims faithful to the Qur’an, although you will also hear this kind of spiritual adultery coming out of the mouths of mystics like Emergent Evangelical Prophet Tony Campolo and his disciple Shane Claibourne, a hugely popular icon of the Emergent Church:

Islam is much more gracious towards evangelical Christians who are faithful to the New Testament, than Christians are towards Islamic people who are faithful to the Koran. The Islamic faith will ask, “Are you faithful to the book that you have?” Mohammad was very understanding that there was great truth in Christianity. He differed with us in that he felt he had a more complete truth, and Islam would hold to that, but Mohammad contended that we would ultimately be judged in terms of the truth that we had at our disposal.

I think there are Muslim brothers and sisters who are willing to say, “You live up to the truth as you understand it. I will live up to the truth as I understand it, and we will leave it up to God on judgment day.” (Online source)

This kind of universal foolishness is the direct result of the deception which comes when one continually practices this unbiblical form of transcendental meditation for the Christian (see—2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

The Influence Of Thomas Merton

So it should not come as a great surprise then as I show you that this form of Centering/Contemplative Prayer, or so-called “Christian” meditation, really is nothing more than transcendental meditation lightly sprayed with Christian terminology. This is why there is such a grave danger in the practice of this neopagan Gnostic contemplative spirituality/mysticism which has been spreading like a spiritual wildfire through the Church of our Lord for a few years now. And perhaps the most prominent purveyor of this so-called “Christian” mysticism is Richard Foster, whom I mentioned earlier. A member of the The Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers) Foster is quite familiar with mysticism and very well versed in “the silence” aka meditation, and none other than Emerging Guru Brian McLaren himself calls Foster a “key mentor” in the Emergent Church.

In his fine series called Mysticism, which I highly recommend, Dr. Gary Gilley did great job whittling down this massive subject to its most important elements. Regarding Richard Foster’s work Gilley brings out just how deeply Foster was influenced by mystic monk Thomas Merton:

Foster cites and/or quotes Merton on at least nine separate occasions in Celebration of Discipline, yet Merton was not a Christian as far as we can tell. He was a twentieth-century Roman Catholic who had so immersed himself in Buddhism that he claimed he saw no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity and intended to become as good a Buddhist as he could.

But despite his doctrinal views and New Age leanings Foster considers Merton’s Contemplative Prayer, “A must book,” and says of Merton, “[He] has perhaps done more than any other twentieth-century figure to make the life of prayer widely known and understood.” Merton wrote, “If only [people] could see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed…. I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.” ( Online source )

Mystic Monk Merton’s Message

The above quote from Merton comes from his Conjectures Of A Guilty Bystander. In this book Merton also denies the doctrine of original sin when he says at, “the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth.” (158) Here’s some more information on the theology that Thomas Merton “received” as a result of his years of practicing transcendental meditation. The following comes from Merton’s Message off The Thomas Merton Foundation a website favorable to this deceased heretic:

He takes people into deep places within themselves… At the core of Thomas Merton’s spiritual writings is the search for the “true self” and our need for relationship with God, other people and all of creation… He concludes that we must discover God as the center of our being to which all things tend…

Merton’s interests were prophetic,…he foresaw…the source of the problem [we face] is that man “has become alienated from his inner selfwhich is the image of God.” [The solution] requires a social conversion,… The first step in this turning is a transformation of consciousness and Thomas Merton is a preeminent guide to us in this first step…[and] a spiritual master whose influence crosses generations and religious affiliations.

For more on “true self” I refer you to The Real Truth About Your Evil “True Self” but of course Merton’s mystic musings would cross “religious affiliations”; certainly there is no mention of the inherent sin nature of man, or the need for being regenerated, or of the Cross of Christ as the only real solution for mankind’s sin. Because what we have just read from a website promoting Merton’s ill-fated works could be agreed uopn by virtually anyone from any spiritual background, and this is precisely my point. It is exactly this same message of New Age spirituality that comes through the “transformation of consciousness” to all those who practice this transcendental meditation long enough to anger God until He finally abandons them to their reprobate mind. (see—Romans 1:18-32)

Contemplative Spirituality And Mystic Meditation

What is happening here with men like Richard Foster and others who teach and practice this neopagan Gnostic new spirituality is they are equivocating with words. The goal of contemplative spirituality/mysticism, which as I have shown you is actually meditation for the “Christian” every bit as consistent as that practiced in Zen, is clearly spelled out here in Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience. Meditation, we are told, consists of any “of the various disciplines of mind and body that enable one to achieve higher states of consciousness.” And further, exactly as in Merton’s mystic Message above, we see “the goal toward which [meditation] is applied is the transformation of consciousness.” (355, emphasis mine)

And it is precisely this “transformation of consciousness” that is a major source of concern in my work right now at AM. What makes the Emergent Church so very dangerous to your youth spiritually is that we have quite questionable “theologians” like Foster, Tony Jones, and Brian McLaren—as well as practioners and emerging church pastors like Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt—molding the impressionable minds of young people who are simply not equipped to see through this non-Christian neopagan contemplative spirituality/mysticism. For that matter it seems we have very few leaders within the evangelical camp itself who appear capable of recognizing just how deeply the Devil has penetrated into the Church of our Lord with his repainted Gnosticism all over again.

In this generation it has become critical that the American Christian Church repent of virtually ignoring the spiritual side of our relationship with the one true and living God as revealed in the Bible. Men and women, to be a born again Christian—by God’s grace alone; through faith alone; in Christ alone—is to be indwelt by God Himself. And since Jesus of Nazareth—the LORD God Almighty Himself in human flesh—explains that God is Spirit, then it logically follows we are going to have to be involved in a spiritual life. Just as we see people “possessed” by demons (fallen spirits) in the Gospels, so it is that we who have been regenerated are to be possessed ourselves by God (see—John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 5:18).

And the sooner we get over our fear of this the better, because what has happened now in our pagan “postmodern” nation is that some people have been quicken by God to become spiritually hungry for more of Him, which is a good thing. However, at the same time Satan has now rushed with his new spirituality into this vacuum of proper spirituality rooted in Scripture now created by a dead orthodoxy within much of the contemporary Christian Church in America. Tragically this has now given rise to a postevangelicalism and the emerging church, both rooted in a neo-orthodox and highly subjective “experience interprets Scripture” approach to the Bible, which has rapidly coalesced into what is becoming the The Ecumenical Church of Deceit.

See also:

ROB BELL IN A NUTSHELL: CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICISM

RICHARD FOSTER AND GNOSTIC MYSTICISM

THOMAS MERTON AND THE BUDDHAS

EMERGENT CHURCH: DAN KIMBALL AND LECTIO DIVINA

EMERGENT WOLVES ENTER YOUR SHEEP PENS THROUGH YOUTH GROUPS

Rob Bell’s Recommended Author Interviews Neale Donald Walsch

John MacArthur – A Tale Of Two Sons

August 31, 2008

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End of post.

Introducing Reformata TV

August 31, 2008

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I am pleased to announce the launch of Reformata TV. Reformata TV allows you to watch full-length, biblical sermons and share them with friends. You can embed the videos in your blog or website, or email them to a friend. More videos will be coming soon, and I will be adding more categories eventually. You can access Reformata TV by visiting Reformata.org and clicking on the link in the top menu bar.

Introducing Reformata TV

August 31, 2008

I am pleased to announce the launch of Reformata TV. Reformata TV allows you to watch full-length, biblical sermons and share them with friends. You can embed the videos in your blog or website, or email them to a friend. More videos will be coming soon, and I will be adding more categories eventually. You can access Reformata TV by visiting Reformata.org and clicking on the link in the top menu bar.

One Cry Away…

August 31, 2008

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When I was a young boy, I spent a whole summer vacation with my cousins on their farm in South Dakota. That was an adventure I will never forget.

One of our favorite hot summer afternoon pastimes was to cool off in the stock tank. One day, while we were taking a dip, a lone, yearling calf came in from the pasture to get a drink. Like most boys, we had some mean streaks in us and decided not to share our water tank with him.

But it was hot and he was thirsty and persistent. In spite of his every effort to get near enough for a quick drink, we were determined not to let him; we kept him at bay by yelling and throwing dirt clods. Pretty soon he started lowing and so we began to mimic him. He got louder and we got louder. Then his mooing turned to a sound like I had not heard before. It was almost as if he were wailing but we just kept on tormenting the crying calf. We were having great fun until, suddenly, I looked up and there, on the crest of the hill above us, stood every bull and steer in my uncle’s herd. They were lined up like Indians in an old western movie. All at once, they started charging down the hill toward us.

We grabbed up our clothing and scrambled for the fence. I just barely made it over. All of them were snorting and pacing along the fence line almost as if to dare us to come back over. I think back at that event and realize that although that little calf was intimidated, he was never really in danger. Why? Because just one cry away he had resources.

If God’s creatures are that responsive to the cries of their own, how much more responsive must God be to the cries of His own? Just one cry away we have unlimited resources.

“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry” Ps. 34:15

Ralph M. Petersen

End of post.

SACRED WAY OF TONY JONES AND THE EMERGING CHURCH

August 31, 2008

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The Lord be praised that He has seen fit to open the door for Apprising Ministries to have become one of the leading voices against the postliberal cult of the Emergent Church. Because of the issue with Richard Abanes, which blew up the original AM website, as God allows time I plan to fix the resulting myriad broken links and to update my articles as quickly as I can in an effort to make information as accessible as possible to as many possible.

More often the idea will be to present various apologetics against this Emerging Church rebellion against sola Scriptura. And even back in 1987 Dr. Walter Martin made the bold and accurate declaration that:

Anyone who does not know that the Church world-wide is in an accelerating apostasy does not know; I repeat, does not know what is going on.

And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:12-14)

The Apostasy Still Spreads Rapidly

Anyone today who believes what passes for the Church in America is better now than it was twenty years ago is a foolish dreamer who needs to have their spiritual heads examined. This Emergent menace to the Church has the very real potential of bringing irreparable harm to the Body of Christ if some influential evangelical leaders do not stop their hiding and arise to condemn this Emergent movement, which is simply not a move of God the Holy Spirit.

Sadly I have felt it necessary to refer to this whole situation as The New Downgrade No-Controversy, and symptomatic of this is the widespread acceptance of the Emergent Church within the Southern Baptist Convention. Once operating on the fringes of the Church it has now received virtual mainstream acceptance within numbers-mad evangelicalism. For example we have Tony Jones, National Coordinator of Emergent Village.

Since Tony wrote about it on his blog I will also inform those who may not know that a while back he gave me a call and we talked for about thirty minutes. He said we, “agreed to hang on to each other’s phone numbers.” And that I “seemed like a good guy.” I’ll also say that Tony seemed like a good guy to me also, but then this isn’t the issue. I would think that the Gnostics of the first century seemed like nice guys as well. However, doesn’t it make sense based on the opening text above that if the Devil was going to counterfeit Christianity the closer he could make it seem like the original the better?

Spreading Practices Of Gnostic Mysticism

The fact is that Tony Jones openly advocates the so-called “spiritual disciplines” aka Spiritual Formation, which is the corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism consistent with The Cult of Guru Richard Foster. Some of these originated with apostate eastern “Desert Fathers and Mothers” such as Contemplative/Centering Prayer—so-called “Christian” meditation—Lectio Divina, praying to Icons and the Labyrinth, most of which would germinate within the anti-biblical monastic system of the apostate Roman Catholicism. Jones is not alone in advocating this type of spirituality because these types of mystical practices and others form a core doctrine found in most Emergent Churches.

As such he is in fact one of many spreading New Age type teachings of spirituality which are somewhat comparable to the Gnosticism that spread through much of the early Christian church in the first several centuries. And the seeking of mystical gnosis is a basic staple of the Emergent Church movement as was reported on the PBS Special in July of 2005: “Individual emerging churches may look different, but they share many characteristics; most are casual with a big emphasis on the experiential.”

As an example of the kind of flawed philosophy of spirituality taught by Tony Jones here is what he says in his book The Sacred Way from the chapter “The Quest For God”:

I voraciously read authors and books they didn’t assign in seminary: St. John of the Cross, St. Theresa of Avila, and The Pilgrim’s Way… For years I’d been told that to be a Christian meant I had to do three things: (1) read the Bible, (2) pray, and (3) go to church. But I had come to the realization that there must be something more. And indeed there is.

There is a long tradition of searching among the followers of Jesus––it’s quest, really, for ways to connect with God––and it has been undertaken by some of the most intelligent and deeply spiritual persons ever to walk this planet. The quest is to know Jesus better, to follow him more closely, to become––in some mysterious way––wrapped into his presence (16,17).

Subjective Spiritual Experience In The Labyrinth

And then Jones makes an interesting statement: “the point of these practices is to draw me into a deeper relationship with the Christian God” (17). Among the practices that will draw people “into a deeper relationship with the Christian God” Jones will be teaching the Labyrinth. In The Sacred Way he describes one of his experiences this way:

Pausing at the threshold of the labyrinth, I prayed, ‘Your will be done.’ I entered expectantly and began walking on the path at a relatively slow pace, savoring the opportunity for my body to connect with God while moving. At about the third turn, I noticed I’d slowed almost to a stop…I have learned that it is always worthwhile to pay attention to what I am noticing as I use a labyrinth (128).

As Jones then describes some of his observations he says:

Since I usually move around turns at the same pace I use on the rest of the path, my sudden desire to stop surprised me. I asked myself and God, What’s going on? I knew the answer would come in the walking, so I moved on. I could feel and hear someone coming up behind me on the path… [I] waited on the far side for him to make the turn and walk on… I moved back on to the half moon shaped slab of stone and stood there I the unexpected awareness, Here I am again. Stopped at a turn.

“Oh!” I laughed out loud as the realization hit me. “I’m in a time of transition in my life. Many changes (turns) are ahead,… No wonder God is using the turns in this labyrinth to offer me the opportunity to gain needed wisdom about moving through transitions” (ibid)

With all due respect to Tony Jones here, what we have just seen couldn’t be a clearer example of the inherent danger in this type of subjective experience. This would have as much to do with being a mystical experience with God as spilling the milk when you go to put it on your cornflakes in the morning would be a spiritual exercise with Jesus telling you, “this is to teach you patience My son as you slowly clean up the mess.” And yet this is precisely the type of subjective reasoning we will get from Jones as he tells us:

After that I made at least a brief stop at each of the 28 turns that lead to the center. As I did so, a fuller understanding came… I usually speed up and take care of everything I can in order to make the difficult situation “better”… Standing on that turn without moving, I realized I was practicing a skill I would need to use often in the coming months. Through this amazing labyrinth pattern that my body was praying, God was communicating this message: “As you enter transitions, you will find it helpful to slow down, perhaps even stop, before entering the experience of change that lies before you.”

My labyrinth prayer had once again opened me to the possibility of walking with God, others, and myself in new ways. I had come to the labyrinth with an open mind and heart. God had met me with a gift I had not realized I needed. I moved on, filled with gratitude (128,129).

The Presence Of God In The Icons

As a final example, in chapter 9 Jones teaches us about the “true” use of icons. He quotes his friend panentheist Frederica Mathewes-Green who says that the “sober presence of the Lord in an icon makes us uncomfortable because we realize how far short we fall from the ineffable beauty and power of God” (98). Then Jones tells us about the way icons are also like the Bible in that they “draw us to” God. He explains the way Catholics pray through saints, “especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, and their prayers will be delivered to the throne of God.”

Jones may try and deny that he is implying his own belief in such a thing, but the following shows this does appear to be exactly what he is saying:

I’ll admit that, to a Protestant like me, the difference between praying through an icon or a saint is a nuance I have a hard time grasping. However, I can understand the theological difference, and I respect the traditions under which they developed. The bottom line is that we use icons to pray, but we pray through them, not to them. In this case, the preposition makes all the difference.

Father Nicholas Speier of Goleta, California, explained it to me like this: I ask friends to pray for me;… Since we believe that those who died I faith are currently living in eternity with God praying through an icon of a saint is simply asking one of those friends to pray for me (102).

Jones then informs the reader how to go about securing an icon just the way he has taught many youth ministers in his speaking engagements at Youth Specialties’ National Youth Workers Conventions and possibly your pastor at last Year’s Zondervan National Pastor’s Conference. Jones tells us that:

Human models are never used to paint icons; only other icons are acceptable as models… The icon itself is a source of light: “The saintliness or the holiness of the person shines out from the entire body. The light of God saturates all things, therefore, the images on icons do not cast shadows.” The parts of the anatomy associated with the five senses are exaggerated in size, since they are the windows of the souls, and the person in the icon looks straight at the pray-er…and icon is not meant to be a depiction of a normal human being but of Jesus or Mary or a saint in their resurrected state…” (103)

And then Jones quotes Roman Catholic Priest and contemplative Henry Nouwen (1932-1996) who says:

Icons are not easy to “see.” They do not immediately speak to our senses… They do not reveal themselves to us at first sight. It is only gradually, after patient, prayerful presence that they start speaking to us. And as they speak, they speak more to our inner than to our outer senses. They speak to the heart that searches for God (ibid.)

The Emergent Spiritual Blender

What we need to see here is that this kind of cut and paste spirtuality is a very dangerous combination and in his previous book Soul Shaper Jones began defining his postmodern approach to youth ministry by bringing together aspects of what he sees as common spirituality in Evangelicalism, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions along with eastern religious practices gleaned from Buddhism and Hinduism. This type of approach by Jones and the Emergent Church is worthy of special concern because of their careless use of very questionable practices that will be passed off to the unsuspecting as if this is actually a rediscovered and long hidden orthodoxy for a postmodern Christianity that makes the “past come alive in the present.” (Soul Shaper, back cover).

Of special concern, which will be covered as the Lord provides the time, is Tony Jones’ recommendation of Meister Eckhardt’s Collected Works. Jones tells us that they are, “a mystical treatise on the intersection between Greek philosophy and Christian theology with an emphasis on God’s indwelling of humanity” (ibid.,252). But what we need to see here about this Emergent Church movement is that at it’s core theology is the seed of a growing deception that within all the religions of the world to varying degrees there is a universal work of a God Who indwells creation. This spirit of panentheistic inclusivism is behind the theology of some of their other Emerging Church leaders e.g. Brian McLaren and Doug Pagitt and his friend Rob Bell who are already leaning toward the possibility that there is a divine spark within all religions which can ultimately unite all of mankind itself because God already lives within all men.

I refute that idea Biblically in Understanding the New Spirituality: God Indwells Mankind and the very grave spiritual danger here is that all who follow this emerging “generous orthodoxy” are in danger of being taken in by this mistaken idea of a warped ideal of some alleged Global Family of God.

See also:

TONY JONES: EMERGENT CHURCH ”SOUL SHAPER”

TONY JONES OF THE EMERGENT CHURCH SAYS: “THE BIBLE IS AN F***KING SCARY BOOK”

EMERGENT WOLVES ENTER YOUR SHEEP PENS THROUGH YOUTH GROUPS

EMERGENT CHURCH: AN EMERGENT MANIFESTO OF HOPING FOR A NEW EVANGELICAL INCLUSIVE “GOSPEL”

THE EMERGENT CHURCH: IMAGINE AN INCLUSIVE POSTEVANGELICAL GLOBAL FAITH WHERE EVERYONE’S ALREADY SAVED

Rick Warren Guilty for Endorsing the Cult of Guru Richard Foster and his Reimagined Gnostic Mysticism

August 31, 2008

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The September issue of Christianity Astray Today magazine is poised to bring favorable attention to The Cult Guru Richard Foster. So Apprising Ministries reminds you that in his modern Church Growth classic The Purpose Driven Church PDL Pope Rick Warren says that from “time to time God has raised up a parachurch movement to reemphasize a neglected purpose of the church.”

And among these parachurch movements Warren’s discussing is what he calls The Discipleship/Spiritual Formation Movement. In this post you’ll see America’s Megapastor tell us that “authors such as…Richard Foster, and Dallas Willard have underscored the importance of building up Christians and establishing personal spiritual disciplines. This would be the repainted pietism of corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism aka Spiritual Formation.

RICK WARREN GUILTY FOR ENDORSING THE CULT OF GURU RICHARD FOSTER AND HIS REIMAGINED GNOSTIC MYSTICISM

August 31, 2008

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I hate those who regard vain idols, But I trust in the LORD. (Psalm 31:6, NASB)

These Opened The Mystical Door Of No Return

With the September issue of Christianity Astray Today magazine poised to bring favorable attention to The Cult Guru Richard Foster here Apprising Ministries reminds you that Emergent Church Swami Brian Mclaren, who is friends with Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster brought out an important fact in his earlier statement in The Emergent Mystique where he says Foster, and his friend Dallas Willard, “with their emphasis on spiritual disciplines,” they are also “key mentors for the emerging church” along with Guru McLaren himself.

So this means that Foster does minister to the evangelical community as a “key” spiritual guide in this cult of a postliberalism. However, at the same time in his modern Church Growth classic The Purpose Driven Church PDL Pope Rick Warren says that from “time to time God has raised up a parachurch movement to reemphasize a neglected purpose of the church.” Notice carefully here now that Warren has just said “God has raised up” these movements up for “a neglected purpose of the church.” This is very important as we then analyze what is to follow from Warren.

Church Growth Guru Warren then pronounces his blessing upon these movements as being “valid, and even helpful” in that these organizations can “focus on a single purpose.” We wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with the premise itself but Warren informs us that among these parachurch movements he’s discussing is what he calls The Discipleship/Spiritual Formation Movement. Warren tells us that:

A reemphasis on developing believers to full maturity has been the focus of this movement. Organizations such as the Navigators, Worldwide Discipleship, and Campus Crusade for Christ, and authors such as Waylon Moore, Gary Kuhne, Gene Getz, Richard Foster, and Dallas Willard have underscored the importance of building up Christians and establishing personal spiritual disciplines (126).

The Mystical Door To the Emergent Penetration Of The SBC

This endorsement from America’s Megapastor Rick Warren would be a great assist in holding open the door for the Southern Baptist Convention to hop back on the road home to Rome accepting apostate Roman Catholicism as a viable expression of the Christian Church. It would also usher in an open attack on the Reformation from postevangelicalism, which was to be launched as a result of practicing the serpentine and spurious spirituality of men like LST Richard Foster. For example Spiritual Formation Survey And Contemplative Prayer In The Baptist State Convention Of North Carolina (SBC) .

And although with all I’ve been through I’m not easily shocked I do have to admit I have been stunned by the almost total lack of response by anyone in NC period regarding this spiritual travesty. I’m thankful for a couple of tips concerning where this stuff has been infiltrating BSCNC but I’m appalled that this spiritual lunacy can be thoroughly exposed going on in an ostensibly Protestant denomination without even a whimper of protest.

One just can’t help but think about the frog in the kettle complacently meditating as the water of corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism slowly begins to boil. Is this really how conditioned to accept the Devil’s Ecumenical Church of Deceit the flocks of so many SBC pastors and ministers have become? The tragic result of years of indoctrination into this anti-Reformational garbage forced on them in seminary studies and crippling counseling courses until they simply can no longer discern Truth from error?

See also:

LIVING SPIRITUAL TEACHER RICHARD FOSTER

Studies in Prayer: Part 7

August 31, 2008

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Loma Community Church

August 31^st, 2008

A Study on Prayer

With some direct references from

“A Call to Prayer”

By J.C. Ryle

Part 7: Thankfulness & Intercession

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”—James 5:16

Last week, we studied fullness (not leaving anything out that should be prayed about) and particularity (being specific) in prayer. We learned that it is important to pray to God and not always be ruled by the clock. We should take the time to pray to Him openly and honestly, to be specific in our prayers. We examined the examples of Abraham’s servant who prayed so specifically to God to lead him the right woman for Isaac. We also read of Jacob, who was very clear to God about his fears.

This will be our last study on prayer for now. We will soon, Lord willing, finish up Ephesians. But today, I want us to examine how thankful we are when we pray, and also how important it is to pray for others.

Click HERE to continue reading…

Marsha West: “We Have Had Enough of False Prophets”

August 31, 2008

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This is simply a must-read article on the Todd Bentley circus act that crashed and burned. Thank you, Marsha West, for taking time to document what was said and done and for tying it all together!

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Who Are We? An Open Letter

August 30, 2008

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Men, my brothers, it is indeed my prayer that some of you will hear these words anew, that they might be fresh like that first crisp taste of fall after a long, dry summer. For others, it is also my prayer that these words would be safely familiar—like the sight of smoke from the home place chimney after a long journey away from home—it may be well known, but never before appreciated so greatly. For the rest, these words might sting and make you uncomfortable. In that case, comfortable is the last thing I would want you to be. I pray that you all will be enabled to grasp the severity of the words at hand, and that by them you will not be cowed, but rather convinced. As you read this, as soon as your mind starts to think to itself, “ah! That sure describes those people…” Stop. I am not writing to get “amens”. I am not writing to make a sensation. I am writing to bring about conviction. I might be writing about you, whoever, and wherever you may be. So keep that at the back of your mind as you read on. As soon as you think I have described the “others”, I have already described you.

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JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES AND ISAIAH 9:6

August 30, 2008

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A classic verse of Scripture concerning the nature of the Messiah (Hebrew – Mashiyach), or the Christ (Greek – Christos), is Isaiah 9:6 – For to us a child is born, to us a son s given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And it is also a passage of Holy Scripture that is vehemently attacked by the Watchtower Bible And Tract Society (WBS), also known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW), in an attempt to obscure and ultimately deny the Deity of our Lord, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

However, as we read this verse it immediately becomes evident that we are not dealing with a mere human being here. Clearly this child will be much more than that as He is called Mighty God and Everlasting Father. It should be noted that Everlasting Father could be better translated “The Eternal Father,” as it is in Tanakh-The Holy Scriptures, which is published by the Jewish Publication Society, and “represents the collaboration of academic scholars with rabbis from the three largest branches of organized Jewish religious life in America” (Preface, xv).

In their classic work Jamieson, Fausset and Brown comment on the title Everlasting Father: “This marks [the Messiah]…lit. [as] ‘The Father of eternity’…” (Vol. 2, p. 594). Everlasting Father will also remind the serious Bible student of Psalm 90:2 –Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. When this verse is cross-referenced with John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16, we will see that we are indeed talking about the Deity of Jesus Christ.

Dr. John Martin of Dallas Theological Seminary further points out:

[The Messiah] is also the Mighty God (cf. 10:21). Some have suggested that this simply means “a god-like person” or hero. But in context it becomes clear Isaiah meant much more than that, for he had already spoken of the Messiah do-ing what no other person had been able to do (e.g., 9:2-5). Isaiah understood that the Messiah was to be God in some sense of the term” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary, OT, p.1053).

This is confirmed by what Isaiah had previously written in Is. 7:14 – Therefore the Lord (adonai in the Hebrew) himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (NIV). When this verse is cross-checked with Matthew 1:22-23 we find the name Immanuel means “God with us,” and that this passage of Holy Scripture is speaking of Jesus of Nazareth.

The WBS does concede here that Isaiah 9:6 is fulfilled in the man Jesus of Nazareth, and that He is the Messiah. However, they then argue that Christ Jesus is Mighty God, but that He is not Jehovah–the Almighty God–because the text of Isaiah doesn’t have “the” in it. The truth remains though, that the Bible itself knows nothing of an Almighty God, and a lesser “Mighty” God.

In fact, the distinguishing religious characteristic of the nation of Israel in Old Testament (OT) times was their monotheism (belief in one God). In stark contrast to all other cultures around them at the time who were polytheistic (belief in many gods), the Jews worshipped the one true LORD God Almighty of the Bible.

The absolute truth remains that no amount of fanciful eisegesis can ever get around the incontrovertible fact that the OT teaches monotheism. Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one (Deuteronomy 6:4, literal Hebrew). And even the New World Translation (NWT), published by the WBS agrees – Listen, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.

Norman Geisler and Ron Rhodes point out the WBS error when they say:

The folly of the Watchtower position is at once evident in the fact that Jehovah himself is called a “Mighty God” in the very next chapter of Isaiah (10:21). That both Jehovah and Jesus are called “Mighty God” in the same book within the same section demonstrates their equality.

A good cross-reference is Isaiah 40:3, where Jesus is prophetically called both “Mighty God” (Elohim) and Jehovah (Yahweh): “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the LORD [Yahweh] in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God [Elohim]’” (NASB; cf. John 1:23). Clearly Jesus is not a lesser God than the Father (When Cultists Ask, pp. 78, 79).

As far as “the” not being in the text of Is. 9:6, “Mighty God” translates the Hebrew El Gibbor. Literally this means “God of Might.” This term is applied to Jehovah in Isaiah 10:21, also without “the” in the original text – A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to [the] Mighty God. The NWT reads – A mere remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty God. In both of these verses Isaiah 9:6 and 10:21 the construction of the Hebrew is exactly the same, El Gibbor, “God of Might.”

We know from Holy Scripture that “the LORD” – Jehovah – is the God of Jacob. And he [Jehovah] went on to say: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob – Exodus 3:6 (NWT). And then, in Isaiah 45:21-22 the LORD is clear and emphatic that there is only one God period, and that He is the only Savior. Is it not I, Jehovah, besides whom there is no other God; a righteous God and a Savior, there being none excepting me? Turn to me and be saved, all YOU [at the] ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no one else (NWT).

One of the most important rules when we attempt to interpret the Bible is to let the text speak in its plainest sense. In other words, as we read Is. 45:21-22, what is Isaiah attempting to explain to us? When he writes that besides Jehovah there is no other God, it becomes plain that he means to tell us that there is only one God by nature. Jehovah Himself reiterates this in verse 22 when He announces I am God, and there is no one else. Apart from further indoctrination, no one would ever come to the conclusion that there is more than one God from reading Is. 9:6, 10:21 and/or 45:21-22.

Dr. Walter Martin, author of The Kingdom of the Cults is quite correct when he writes:

Isaiah 9:6 in the Hebrew Bible is one of the most powerful verses in the Old Testament in proving the deity of Christ, for it incontestably declares that Jehovah himself planned to appear in human form. The verse clearly states that all government will rest upon the “child born” and the “son given,” whose identity is revealed in the very terms used to describe his attributes. Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describes Christ as “Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” – all attributes of God alone. The term “Mighty God” is itself indicative of Jehovah, since not only is He the only God (Isaiah 43:10-11), but the term mighty is applied to Him alone
in relation to His deity (pp. 107, 108).

In conclusion–the Christian always need be mindful that the JW is also a person for whom Christ died. And it will be helpful to remember that the characteristics of all non-Christian cults include a denial of the full Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and some type of a teaching system to indoctrinate followers into their peculiar beliefs.

The most important issue is this: The JW has been deceived by the WBS (see 2 Corinthians 11:13-15) into believing in a different Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 11:4) and in a different gospel (see Galatians 1:6-9). And as such, they are in need of a saving relationship with the true Jesus of the historic revelation found in the Bible.

It is our job as ambassadors of Christ to faithfully proclaim to all men everywhere that Jehovah God has said – Furthermore, there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved – Acts 4:12 (NWT). The wise man is going to ask – “What is that name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved?”

And the all-important answer is found just two verses before in verse 10 – it is by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazareth.

For the Lord’s Day: The God of Abraham Praise

August 30, 2008

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The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above;
Ancient of everlasting days, and God of Love;
Jehovah, great I AM! by earth and Heav’n confessed;
I bow and bless the sacred Name forever blessed.

Before the Savior’s face the ransomed nations bow;
O’erwhelmed at His almighty grace, forever new:
He shows His prints of love—they kindle to a flame!
And sound thro’ all the worlds above the slaughtered Lamb.

The whole triumphant host give thanks to God on high;
“Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” they ever cry.
Hail, Abraham’s God, and mine! (I join the heav’nly lays,)
All might and majesty are Thine, and endless praise.

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JOEL HEMPHILL DOES DENY THE DEITY OF CHRIST

August 30, 2008

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Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. (1 John 4:1-3)

Clearly Hemphill Does Deny The Deity Of Christ

It’s really a sad state of affairs in the Body of Christ that Satan has been able to sow so much confusion today the average professing Christian doesn’t seem to know what to believe anymore. And a good case in point would be a story which was brought to my attention through a letter I received from an Apprising Ministries reader the other day. In it I was given some documentation showing that Southern Gospel Hall of Fame “Christian” singer Joel Hemphill does not believe that Christ Jesus of Nazareth was the LORD God Almighty in human flesh.

In “Christian” Gospel Artist Joel Hemphill: “Jesus Is Not God” I then shared the results of my investigation. This sad truth reveals that in his 2007 book To God Be The Glory: Exalting the Bible View of God (TGB) Hemphill clearly denies the Deity of Christ, a cardinal doctrine of the historic orthodox Christian faith. There’s also a link to a short post that had been done a few days earlier by Dr. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries. And even still there are those who wonder how can this be; and is this actually true?

The truth is that things like this happen because people do not test the spirits due to their wrong understanding of Christian love; and yes, this denial of Christ’s divine nature is absolutely true. Joel Hemphill himself even tells us he has always denied the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as a modalist for he is a former Oneness Pentecostal, “My belief was called ‘Oneness’ or ‘Jesus Only’” (Online source). It now appears that Hemphill is with another anti-trinitarian denomination called Church of God General Conference in Morrow, GA. As of this writing the second item on the front page of their website under “News” is the addition of Joel Hemphill’s book TGB (Online source).

Over at Hemphill’s website he tells us this book is really based on an actual conversation he allegedly had with God Himself:

In the spring of 1986 I had an awesome encounter with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Along with many other things that He told me, He said for me to study the Scripture, as He was going to reveal Himself to me in His word…
(Online source, emphasis mine)

Now what’s important to keep in mind here in making a right judgment (see—John 7:24) is that Hemphill is telling us this information, later written down in TGB, was literally revealed to him by God. It’s beyond the shadow of a doubt that Hemphill is saying Jesus Christ is not God and using arguments which those of us who deal in non-Christian cults often hear from Jehovah’s Witnesses and Oneness Pentecostals. For example:

Jesus is not a human incarnation of Almighty God as the Oneness teach, nor an incarnation of God the Son, second person of a triune God, a pre-existent being, as millions of Trinitarians believe…

Friend, if Jesus, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Peter knew nothing of a pre-existence and incarnation, it did not happen !
(Online source, emphasis his)

The focus of my book isn’t what Jesus is not, but rather who God the Father is. God is immortal – Jesus was not… Hebrews teaches, and I believe that Jesus did not come in the God family (there is only one God), or the angel family, but in the human family (Heb. 2:7, 9). He is perfect, sinless man, but man nevertheless!…

A God-man could not redeem us. It took a sinless man, the Lamb of God, with righteous blood untainted by the sin of Adam, to redeem mankind. He is the second Adam, not the first God-man… If the disciples who had just seen Jesus ascend to heaven in Acts chapter one, did not pray to him in Acts chapter four, then he is not God!… The incarnation as taught by modern Christianity is a fable.
(Online source, emphasis his)

2. Jesus never one time said that he is “God.” He said many times, “I am the Son of God” and he is, but “Son of God” and “God” are not interchangeable terms.
(Online source, emphasis his)

Jesus Christ Claims To Be God, The I Am In Human Flesh

So as you can clearly see from Hemphill’s own testimony he was once part of Oneness Pentecostalism and he is in fact still denying the nature of the God of the Bible. For more on the doctrine of the Truine nature of God I refer you to Keeping You Apprised of: the Holy Trinity. Furthermore the “god” Hemphill has been chatting with, and who supposedly revealed himself to him, has taught him to openly deny the Deity of Christ. So if we can show from the Bible that Christ Jesus of Nazareth does claim to be God then we will have shown Hemphill to be a false prophet who should not be allowed any forum inside Christian churches.

The following two verses are taken from the Gospel of John. This is the eyewitness deposition of the Apostle John who personally heard Christ Jesus—God the Son—say these words and then later under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit also wrote them down. They are sufficient to show that the Master did indeed claim He was the Creator God. Jesus said, “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I Am, you will indeed die in your sins” (John 8:24. literal Greek). Note e.g. that the King James Version adds the word “he” in italics, the New American Standard simply inserts the word “He” into the text, and the New International Version has “the one I claim to be” in brackets.

However, what Jesus was really saying to these men to whom He was speaking is, “If you do not believe that I AM the LORD God Who spoke to Moses from the burning bush then you will die in your sins.” And this is confirmed just a little later in the same chapter of John’s Gospel where the Master went on to say, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham came into being, I Am” (v.58). Notice in the very next verse that when Jesus states this to these men they immediately pick up rocks to stone Him. They knew He had just taken the Name of God and applied it to Himself. This would be blasphemy; unless, it is true. And it is; because the LORD had already told us long ago that He would be the Savior — “ there is no God apart from Me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but Me” (Isaiah 45:21).

In the end men and women, the sad truth is that Hemphill absolutely is denying the very Savior he would say he believes in. What is more he has been doing this all along during his career as a “Christian Gospel” singer. May God in His mercy grant Hemphill repentance so that he might really come to know Who Jesus Christ of Nazareth truly is. And may it be that Joel Hemphill will one day be found among those of whom God, the only Savior there is, says of His redeemed children — “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me” (Isaiah 49:15-16).

God Is On The Dems Side

August 30, 2008

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In the same line of thinkin that spawned Michael Moore’s incredible ignorance, comes this gem featuring some of the democratic party leadership.
True believers, from the party that advocates the wholesale slaughter of the yet to be born.

Psalm 2:
4He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6″As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”