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Faith in God(J. Gresham Machen)

September 5, 2008

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What is faith in God? J. Gresham Machen explained:

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UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

September 5, 2008

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Surveying the rising ecumenical spirit found in much of the American Christian Church and its love affair with man-centered church growth methods, there is much reason for concern that the Protestant reforms of evangelicalism are not so subtly being reversed in order to find stronger fellowship with the Roman Catholic Church. But is this drift away from proper doctrine e.g. sola Scriptura the solution to true Biblical unity or is it rather a very dangerous compromise?

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:3-7, NASB)

Read The Signs Of The Time In Which You Live

In this generation all of us who will are truly following the Lord are going to be brought face to face with a couple of very crucial issues. There are vital issues that certainly are of prime importance as we begin to share the true Gospel of Jesus Christ within a society that is literally drowning itself in a sea of relativism and misguided tolerance. Not necessarily in order of importance—the first one being the idea of “unity” in the Body of Christ.

As in: How should we approach people of different faith traditions who would claim Jesus as their “Savior.” And the other issue would be the Roman Catholic Church. So, as you can probably see, these issues are in fact already intertwined. We who would call ourselves Evangelical will need to decide–once and for all–just what the proper stance is concerning the Church of Rome for those of us who are Protestante.

In other words, how should those of us who are Protestants view the Roman Catholic Church? For example, should we simply consider those who would claim to be Roman Catholics as brothers and sisters in Christ who are worshipping in another Christian denomination that happens to have some doctrines we just disagree with? Incidentally, this would seem to be the very idea that the vast majority of evangelical writings this writer has perused would be trying to convey.

It can readily be seen that there are segments within the genuine Body of Christ that do have some fairly serious differences with each other and yet fellowship doesn’t completely break down among them. They still join together because they agree on the correct understanding of justification—the doctrine at the very heart of the Gospel of Christ itself. And because these differences involve “non-essential” matters, in the interest of the correct understanding of unity within the universal (Greek katholikos) Church, they are still willing to accept each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

However, the key question then becomes: Should this be the case with the Church of Rome? And in this generation we will need to come to an agreement as Protestants in our answer to that question, as the Roman Catholic Church is a fundamental issue for those of us who in the Body of Christ to come to grips with. This is especially true right now as major postevangelical Christian leaders e.g. Emergent Guru Brian McLaren—in fact virtually all in the Emerging Church movement—are expressing an eagerness to put aside all “doctrinal differences” in seeking to make peace with Rome.

Those of us who would call ourselves Protestants must ask ourselves a very tough question: Have we lost confidence in the historic orthodox Christian faith that Luther and the Reformers risked their very lives to recover and defend? The time has clearly arrived to decide whether or not we are going to be obedient to God in representing His true Gospel to this lost world, or for the sake of tolerance will we acquiesce to it. For the Roman Catholic Church undoubtedly is an organization which claims direct and unbroken Apostolic succession from Peter to their current Pope, and it most certainly relates to the mandate that Christ gave to His true Church to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3, NKJV).

Unity In The Church

The first thing we need to do is to look at the question: What do we mean by “unity” in the Body of Christ. It is imperative today that we define our terms to those we witness to. And we obviously can’t do this if we are not sure what these things mean in the first place. Sadly, this is now the case with the average person today who would see themselves as an evangelical Protestant. In order to discover what is meant by unity in the Church of our Lord, we will first need to find out the kind of unity Jesus was praying for in the Upper Room? For the root of all the confusion over this issue of unity comes from a fundamental misunderstanding about just what the Master meant by unity in His High Priestly prayer in chapter 17 of the Gospel of John.

As we examine this passage of Holy Scripture we will see Jesus praying for all those who would come to know God through the witness of His Apostles who were there in that Upper Room with Him.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” (John 17:20–23)

Here is Christ Jesus praying that all those who would surrender their lives to Him as Lord and Savior would then be one—that they would be united. This brings up another issue that we don’t have space to deal with in depth here. What does it mean to “believe” in Jesus as Lord and Savior? Briefly, it means to totally commit oneself to Him alone. This is what the historic orthodox Christian Church has always meant when we say we believe in Christ.

I draw your attention back to verse 20—the middle of the verse. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. The Greek word here for “believe” is pisteuo. The key to understanding what someone “born again” must do is this word pisteuo, which is most always translated “believe” when it appears in the New Testament.

To the western mind to “believe” means to acknowledge something intellectually. As in “I believe in my heart that such and such is true.” It’s kind of a thought that you feel strongly about. But the word—pisteuo—in the vernacular of its culture actually means to totally trust in—and to “place confidence in” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, 511). So you can see that it’s really much more of a commitment than we in the West would normally associate with our believing something.

Now let’s look at verse 20 one more time for a different focus. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message.” The footnote in the famous Geneva Bible used by the Pilgrims who played a part in the founding of this nation is helpful at this point.

Secondly, [Jesus] offers to God the Father all of his, that is, all those who will believe in him by the doctrine of the apostles: That as he cleaves unto the Father, receiving from him all fulness [sic], so they being joined with him may receive life from him,… (emphasis added).

What applies here in relation to our discussion of unity in the Body of Christ is the phrase – “all those who will believe in him by the doctrine of the apostles.” This would be someone who believes in Christ according to what His Apostles taught. And this “doctrine of the apostles” is what we Protestants now refer to as Biblical doctrine. Someone who believes in Jesus Christ according to what Holy Scripture teaches is the one brought into that unity the Master is talking about in John 17:23. “I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me.” So we can see here that someone who holds firmly to the dogmas and sacramental system of the Roman Catholic Church has excluded themselves.

When you read this passage of Holy Scripture carefully it becomes obvious that this prayer was completely fulfilled in Acts chapter 2 as God the Holy Spirit came upon the believers on that Day of Pentecost when the Church officially began. Here in John 17:20-23 Jesus is talking about what the Holy Spirit would do inside genuine believers, but Who was yet to come at this point. Our Lord is praying for the Holy Spirit to come and indwell all people who will pisteuo. And we must keep in mind here again that this would be all those people who will place their complete “confidence in” and “totally trust in” Christ alone as their Savior. This is why the doctrine of justification is without a doubt a most central issue to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and why the Reformation happened in the first place.

If you look at John 17:23 carefully you will see that first Jesus says — “I in them and You [Father] in Me.” And then He says — “May they be brought to complete unity.” One would have to be in Christ as the Father was in Christ to ever even have this kind of “unity.” If one does not pisteuo in Jesus—that is to “believe” by fully trusting by God’s grace alone; through faith alone, in Christ alone—then he has not been born again. And, if he is not born again, then God the Holy Spirit does not indwell him. As such then, he cannot possibly have this “unity” with God that the Master is praying for here.

Dr. Herbert Lockyer’s insightful comment from his book All About The Holy Spirit is very helpful here:

Regeneration brings the Holy Spirit into the believing sinner. “If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (Rom. 8:9, KJV). “None of His.” How emphatic! Such a serious statement demands attention. Where the vital bond does not exist between the soul and Christ, the divine Spirit is not to be found. Whatever virtues a person may possess or whatever attractions and qualities may adorn his character, if unsaved, he is destitute of the Spirit… The Holy Spirit unites us to Christ, making us “accepted in the beloved.” We are joined unto the Lord by one Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). (137, emphasis mine)

The Return To Purity In Christ’s Church Is Imperative

Indeed it is a bit involved to understand but this is the issue that was at the very heart of the Reformation itself. But somehow this seems to have been forgotten by so much of the lukewarm evangelical community as well as in the American Christian Church at large. I think it’s very important for you to understand a couple of things here. 1) We are living in a world filled with every kind of blatant sin imaginable because there is no fear of God in our immoral culture; and 2) the unbelieving world also sees a Christian Church in this country which has lost our own fear of our Lord’s awesome presence.

And unfortunately, in addition the Church has apparently even lost our fear of disappointing our Master. It has become obvious to those with eyes to see that too many in the seeker sensitive Church Growth Movement are striving to live in peace with the world, when we should instead be the salt and light within it. As Christians we are to be the fragrance of the knowledge of [God] (see—2 Corinthians 2:14) as we stand with Jesus against this world system just as He once did. As Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989) used to say: The Christian faith was nurtured on the controversy it produced, and Jesus of Nazareth was the most controversial figure who ever lived.

Tragically Satan has been able to deeply imbed a twisted lie concerning tolerance into the very soul of our society. Of course we should be tolerant of other cultures and religious views here in pluralistic America. However, the feigned tolerance of this society is in actuality quite aggressively hostile to the historic orthodox Christian faith. And the time has now arrived where we must confront false doctrine within our Lord’s Church, and return her to purity. And at the same time His Church also needs to stop being wishy-washy and to make a firm commitment to start exposing the veritable cornucopia of false religious systems that are all around us. This also means that we are going to have to prepare ourselves intellectually to be able to confront their erroneous teachings, such as those of apostate Roman Catholicism.

Yes, we must face a hard reality here. It is true that many people in today’s seeker sensitive Purpose Driven churches aren’t going to like it. They will cry that we are “intolerant,” and they will call us “narrow-minded.” But this type of self-centered people said the same kinds of things about Jesus of Nazareth, so we are in the best company. For this is what He said — “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own” (John 14:18-19). You may draw strength from this: If someone who claims to know Christ “hates” you, then according to what our Lord and Master Himself just said, who do they actually belong to?

The Body Of Christ Does What Jesus Did

Widely respected Bible scholar Dr. John MacArthur pastors a church of some 12,000 members in Southern California, all the while having nothing to do with the compromises of PDL or the Emergent Church—one of its seeker sensitive Church Growth counterparts. Grace Community Church is made up of more than 50 percent former Roman Catholics who have come to know Christ under his ministry. So Dr. MacArthur knows from first-hand experience what he is talking about when he says:

it’s so important to know this. In a time like this of tolerance…false teaching will always cry – “intolerance.” It’ll always say — “you’re being divisive; you’re being unloving; you’re being ungracious” — because it can only survive when it doesn’t get scrutinized. And it cries against any intolerance; it cries against any examination; any scrutiny, “just let us embrace each other; let’s love each other; let’s put all that behind us.”

False doctrine cries the loudest about unity. [So] listen carefully when you hear the cry for unity; because it may be the cover of false doctrine encroaching. And if ever we should follow 1st Thessalonians 5 and examine everything carefully (v.21) — it’s when somebody is crying ‘unity, love, and acceptance’”(Online source).

In his book What If America Was A Christian Nation Again? the late Christian statesman Dr. D. James Kennedy, who was a friend of Apprising Ministries, brings up an indispensable reality for the Church of our Lord in this timid and tepid generation we are currently living in when he says:

Jesus confronted sinners and we are to do it as well. But the day is coming when we might suffer persecution for doing so. For far too long Christians have been afraid to state their faith for fear of offending somebody. It’s time for Christians to get out of the bleachers and on to the playing field and get involved or laws may be passed with consequences that will roost right in our homes and families.

The seeds of what Dr. Kennedy is talking about have already been planted within the Christian Church here in America. Sadly many evangelical leaders, misled by men like Rick Warren and his erroneous semi-pelagian Purpose Driven religion and Rob Bell with his Jesus the social reformer, have been already taken in by this horribly mistaken delusion that love doesn’t confront wrong. And this is an especially false idea when it comes to wrong views about God Himself. In fact in the Gospels we see Jesus of Nazareth confront false beliefs and man-centered religious leaders on a regular basis. Our Lord even made them so angry that they had Him nailed to a cross and then left Him to die! The absolute truth is—and Christ Jesus told us that He is Truth—the truth is, that while the Master was never offensive in how He confronted evil—the incontrovertible fact still remains—that our Lord offended many by what He taught, and by what He claimed.

Are You In The Body Of Christ?

There’s an interesting riddle about making decisions in life that goes like this. There were five frogs sitting on a log; and, suddenly four of them decided to jump off. So how many frogs are left on that log? The answer is all five. That’s because making a decision to do something is simply not the same as really doing it. For one to actually accomplish something an effort is needed, and it also requires a commitment. And so it is with the true Christian; making a decision to follow Christ is not the same as actually following him. As for those who are caught up in the self-absorbed seeker sensitive spirituality of the Ecumenical Church of Deceit, as a true minister of God’s Word, I must tell you the truth. Please understand that mentally acknowledging Jesus as your consumer friendly “Savior” simply is not the same as really trusting Him alone as your Lord, and being born again into the true historic orthodox holy and catholic (means “universal”) Christian Church.

The sad and pitiful fact is, there are so many of those today who consider themselves Christians because they attend the Mass, keep the sacraments, do nice things for the poor, or once walked down an aisle, said a little prayer and they think — “I’m in, so now I can just do whatever I want to.” You know—the old “once saved; always saved.” However, those who would have this eternally fatal view need to consider the following from Jesus of Nazareth lest they be deceived:

The [man] who received the seed — [of the message of salvation] — that fell on the rocky places is the man who hears the Word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word — [or he learns that he must obey Christ] — he quickly falls away.
(Matthew 13:20-21)

It’s imperative as the darkness grows during this apostasy for us to realize that it is one thing for someone to claim to be a Christian. It is, however, quite another thing to have the life to back it up. For truthfully Holy Scripture clearly reveals that a claim in itself really means nothing. The Apostle James asks us:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead… Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do (James 2:14,17,18).

No, this isn’t a popular message, but it is God’s truth for those who have ears to hear what the Spirit says. This fact remains; according to the Bible, and despite what we are so often told by these false prophets of the inward-turned emerging church movement and their sinner sensitive counterparts in the purpose driven church growth movement, the person who continues on in willful sin and prolonged self-ishness while professing to be a believer in Jesus Christ is demonstrating before the world that he never became a true Christian. Hence he was never even saved in the first place, and with them the true Christian has no unity.

And if you haven’t seen your own life change since you made your “decision” to follow Jesus, then it is you who have every reason to question whether you simply made a decision, or whether you have actually made the commitment to truly trust in Christ alone as your Lord and Savior. For it is written:

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know…that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified (2 Corinthians 13:5, NKJV).

If you truly are in Christ…then…you will know what I have just told you in the Spirit is the truth…

MANTRA MEDITATION FOR CHRISTIANS

September 5, 2008

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And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, KJV)

Modernism To PostModernism—Liberalism To Postliberalism

I begin this article for with an explanation as to why Apprising Ministries has labeled the basic theology of the Emergent Church a postliberalism. Simply, it goes like this: Before he went home to be with his Lord he loved so much Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989) correctly labeled the original liberalism as “the Cult of Liberal Theology.” Liberal theology was also known as “modern theology” because it attempted to use modernism’s flawed approach to science, etc. and then harmonize Scripture to it for the culture of its day. Hence things like the search for “the historical Jesus,” which actually began with Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

Fast forward to our time and we now supposedly have “Progressive Christians” like Marcus Borg and “postmodernism,” so now people like those at Emergent Village (EV) are busy trying to do the exact same thing as their parents in the cult of liberal theology. In order to try and suit our capricious culture, bowing as it is before the false philosophy of postmodernism, they are attempting—as did their satanic forebears—to change the Biblical message with their “postmodern theology.” So this is why we also have a postliberal theology. And this is exactly what it is.

Now, in the “Values & Practices” section of the official website of EV, home to Emergent Guru Brian McLaren—mystic mentor to minions like Emergent icon Rob Bell and Emerging Church pastor/spokesman Doug Pagitt—we are told that: “Members of Emergent Village hold in common four values and several practices that flow from them. In the language of a religious order, we call these four values our ‘order and rule’”. And then under the subheading, “1. Commitment to God in the Way of Jesus” we read:

We are committed to doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. In the words of Jesus, we seek to live by the Great Commandment: loving God and loving our neighbors — including those who might be considered “the least of these” or enemies. We understand the gospel to be centered in Jesus and his message of the Kingdom of God, a message offering reconciliation with God, humanity, creation, and self.

We are committed to a “generous orthodoxy” in faith and practice — affirming the historic Christian faith and the biblical injunction to love one another even when we disagree. We embrace many historic spiritual practices, including prayer, meditation, contemplation, study, solitude, silence, service, and fellowship, believing that healthy theology cannot be separated from healthy spirituality.

PRACTICES:

As Christ-centered people, to understand the gospel in terms of Jesus’ radical, profound, and expansive message of the kingdom of God.

As people seeking to be formed spiritually in the way of Christ, to learn historic Christian spiritual practices (disciplines), and to use them for the development of character, integrity, and virtue which flow from true communion with God.

As participants in the historic Christian faith, to be humble learners, to stimulate learning in others, and to give priority to love over knowledge, while still valuing knowledge.

As lovers of God and God’s truth, to seek wisdom and understanding, which are the true goal of theology, and to engage in respectful, thoughtful, sacred conversation about God, world, and church. (Online source)

Caution: Words May Not Mean What They Appear To Mean

The first thing you must recognize when interacting with the Emergent Church is you are dealing with an often radical redefinition of Christian terminology. Such is one of the hallmarks of any cult which arises to claim that they are in harmony with what Dr. Martin, renowned defender of the Church of Jesus Christ—whose doctorate was in the Church Fathers of the first five centuries of the Christian Church—would so often call “the historic orthodox Christian faith.” This must be understood before trying to make a proper assessment of this Emergent rebellion against the Bible.

Keeping this all in mind then, you must come to realize that the words I highlighted above are absolutely not referring exclusively to proper Biblical meditation and/or contemplation. No one is arguing against this “practice” or “discipline” for the Christian, as this is what it means to love God with all of your mind. Normally we think of “meditating” on, and “contemplation” of, the Bible as meaning to consciously reflect upon, and think about, what you have been reading in Holy Scripture. Certainly this is entirely acceptable, and even necessary, so as to let the Lord speak to us through the Bible.

Now I can show you that in his book The Sacred Way (SW), under the category of “meditation” in his suggested “Resources,” Emergent anti-theologian and National Coordinator for Emergent Village Tony Jones recommends Moment of Christ: The Path of Meditation (MoC) by apostate Roman Catholic Benedictine monk Dom (means “father”) John Main (1926-1982). Jones informs us, “Main combined Christian teaching with Hindu meditation to form a mantra-meditation” (215, emphasis mine). I find this information to be quite interesting because these practitioners of Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism keep trying to tell people that those of us who point out that Contemplative/Centering Prayer does involve borrowing pagan practices from Eastern religions and use of a mantra are wrong to say so.

“Dom” Main, another mystic monk ala Thomas Merton also happens to be one of the “classic” writers featured in a book called Spiritual Classics (SC), which is edited by no less an authority than the Guru of Contemplation, Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster along with Emilie Griffin. In the introduction to Main’s “spiritual classic” in SC—which is actually a section on “The Meaning of Silence” from his book MoC—recommended above by EV’s Tony Jones, we read:

Dom John Main understood well the value of both silence and solitude… Always drawn to religion and the spiritual life, Main rediscovered meditation while living in the Far East… Influenced by the fifth-century writings of John Cassian, Main learned the ancient Christian discipline of the prayer of silence… In the following selection, an essay taken from his book Moments of Christ: The Path of Meditation, Father John is not just teaching us a style of praying… Silence is a path into the reality of the universe, where God is in charge and we are not,… (155, emphasis mine)

Tony Jones further informs us in his book SW that:

At the end of the 20th century, Benedictine monk John Main pioneered a Christian form of meditation that was influenced by his study with a Hindu master. He taught a form of meditation using the word maranatha (Aramaic for “Come, Lord”) as a mantra. Sitting cross-legged, the meditator chants (either aloud or silently) “ma-ra-na-tha” for 20 minutes daily. The teachings of Brother Main and others became so popular that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a letter to all Catholic bishops in 1989, entitled “Some Aspects of Christian Meditation” to guide the bishops in their leadership of churches that were using meditation (80)

But in direct opposition to this repetitive mantra of Main the Master Christ Jesus taught us:

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. (Matthew 6:7)

The Gnostic Neo-Pagan Mysticism Of Contemplative Spirituality

I’ll have more on this spiritually corrupt CSM currently infecting the evangelical camp in subsequent articles here at AM. Right now however, I wanted to make sure the reader fully understood here that both Emergent anti-theologian Tony Jones and Roshi Richard Foster are well aware of, and as I have just showed you—even recommend Main’s book MoC and/or Main’s musings in antibiblical mysticism. The main point that I wish to draw to your attention again is in relation to this warped and toxic idea espoused by e.g. Rick Warren, as well as others in ecumenical postevangelicalism, that men can be saved apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And they end up believing this lie, sometimes known as the “wider mercy” view of the Gospel and also called “natural theology,” largely because of their heretical practice of so-called “Christian” mysticism. In his sermon “Preaching the Gospel Message (Pt. 1)” Dr. John MacArthur notes:

Perhaps the dominate myth in the evangelical church today is the myth that the kingdom of God and the glory of Christ somehow advance on the back of public favor. This is the fantasy that the path for gospel influence is paved with popular acceptance of the Christian message… Whether it’s Athens or whether it’s Rome or whether it’s Cambridge or Oxford or Harvard or Stanford or Yale or Princeton or wherever else, take all that wisdom that is outside the scripture and the revelation of the gospel and it all adds up to foolishness.

Romans 1 says, they give themselves degrees for it, “Professing themselves to be wise, they are however”—what? “Fools.” [1 Corinthians 1, v]erse 21: “For [since] in the wisdom of God, the world through its own wisdom didn’t come to know God…” God made the wisest determination. God wisely established it this way: that no one could ever come to know Him by human wisdom. Do you see that? That has tremendous implications. The only way you will ever come to know God is by divine revelation and through the Holy Spirit. You cannot come to know God by human wisdom.

That has a lot to say to this new natural theology movement where the assumption is that, by whatever degree of enlightenment the unconverted man has, he can find his way to some idea about God, which God will accept as sufficient to save him if he hasn’t heard the gospel. So, this is the final word on human wisdom: nonsense. Nonsense, when it comes to that which is eternal, cannot lead to the knowledge of God. Man, by wisdom, cannot know God… Cannot know God. (Online source)

So the reason I have been continually hammering away at this so-called “Christian” mysticism, which is actually a form of neo-pagan spirituality, is that in reality this amounts to a reimagined form of the very same Gnosticism that the ancient Church itself was battling. Evil men who ran forth claiming to be Christian and spread their foolish teachings which said that to actually be “saved” one needed more than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These Gnostics taught that people had to become initiated into their secret “knowledge” (Greek: gnosis), and further, that all men contained “a spark of the divine” within them. I have covered this in more detail in The Emergent “One” and Understanding the New Spirituality: God Indwells Mankind.

But for now I will show you in John Main’s book MoC that this is exactly what he taught right in line with classic mysticism. And mysticism is itself in ludicrous lockstep with ancient Gnosticism—which, do you sense the theme here; is itself also right in line with Satan’s own statement of selfish stupidity — “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14). Trying to combine proper Christian spirituality with practices borrowed from pagan religions in the East is exactly what John Cassian did and it is this same pathetic pattern of developing a so-called “Christian” form of transcendental meditation (TM) that John Main himself would later follow.

And in the warped work of men like Dom John Main we read the root thinking behind this whole Emerging Church idea of interspiritual dialogues such as in Doug Pagitt, Rob Bell, Dalai Lama and the Interspiritual Seeds of Compassion Event. Main tells us in MoC that:

Every great spiritual tradition has known that in profound stillness the human spirit begins to be aware of its own Source. In the Hindu tradition, for example, the Upanishads speak of the spirit of the One who created the universe as dwelling in our heart. The same spirit is described as the One who in silence is loving to all. In our own Christian tradition Jesus tells us of the Spirit who dwells in our heart and of the Spirit as the Spirit of Love (76, emphasis mine).

There in about as succinct a manner as possible is the poisoned root of the postliberal contemplative spirituality/mystic movement currently poisoning the more mainstream evangelical section of our Lord’s Church just the same as the original cult of liberal theology once did the mainline denominations. How many more times does one have to read these denigrations, and even denials, of Holy Scripture before they wake up to the fact that this Emergent rebellion cannot possibly have come from God? Above Dom Main writes about: “Every great spiritual tradition.” However, an insoluble problem immediately comes emerging because there is no such thing as “great spiritual traditions” in God’s eye. The Holy Spirit has already clearly told us — the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. (1Corinthians 10:20).

In SW Tony Jones also recommends as a “spiritual classic” messed-up mystic Meister Eckart’s Collected Works as “a mystical treatise on the intersection between Greek philosophy and Christian theology with an emphasis on God’s indwelling of humanity” (221, emphasis mine). This again is an example of classic Gnostic mysticism and it is exactly what you have seen above when Main says, “the Upanishads speak of the spirit of the One who created the universe as dwelling in our heart.” This compromise of the exclusivity of the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ and the acceptance of other religions as valid expressions of faith in God is always the end result of the alleged “enlightenment” arrived at through prolonged practice of Contemplative/Centering Prayer (i.e. TM for the Christian).

The Inner Light Of Divinity Within All Men Snuffed Out

Now you know why semi-pelagians like Rick Warren and Robert Schuller—one of his man-pleasing “mentors” before him—hint at, and/or teach, that men can be saved apart from Christ. They come to believe, as does Richard Foster through the Quaker teaching of the “Inner Light,” that supposedly God already dwells within all mankind. And as such, all they then need to do is to walk sincerely according to that alleged “light” of God living within them. As the fantasy goes, He will one day take into account their good lives and save them accordingly. But the eternally deadly deception spiritually is that the LORD God Almighty Himself has already told us in no uncertain terms that the Spirit of the Lord will only dwell within those Who are regenerated and completely surrender their old lives to Him by God’s Grace alone; through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.

Now you should be able to see why the Church of Rome with her apostate Roman Catholicism, and the Emergent postevangelical Ecumenical Church of Deceit—her devious daughter—have been undoing the teachings of the Reformation through this neo-pagan Gnosticism of contemplative spirituality/mysticism. And most especially under their attack is the doctrine of sola Scriptura, which neither of them adheres to. Let me sum it up for you like this as we us our God-given reasoning skills, which these spiritual fools claiming to be wise (see—Romans 1:22) want us to shut off in stupified “silence.”

Jesus tells us — “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17). Look again at verse 16, “I will ask the Father.” The Master was going to do this; therefore, it had yet to be done. “He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever — the Spirit of Truth.” Once again we can see this had not yet happened. However ,if God was already dwelling within all men by creation as these mystics “reveal,” then the Father wouldn’t have had to send the Spirit to spiritually dead mankind; He would have already been in them.

And finally, Jesus tells us — “The world” — this refers to the unregenerate, those who are not “born again” and who are not in Christ — “cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him.” However, says the Lord of Glory to His born again Christians — “you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.” So yes, God is present “with” men in this world. Well, at least for now; but the Holy Spirit will only be in those who are regenerated by God and then baptized into Christ (see—Romans 8:8-11; 2 Corinthians 13:5).

You Had Best Know Your Bible

So the choice you are going to have to make in this generation as this Age of Grace quickly continues to run out as sand through a nearly empty hourglass is this: Are you going to believe what the inerrant and infallible Word of God in the Bible says—no matter what life around you may look like? Or instead are you going to trust your corrupt, degenerate and sinful human reasoning alone and go by what you feel God is like, or what you think He ought to be doing? Let me leave you with this: 2 Thessalonians 2:9 says — The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders.

Then in Hebrews 2:3-4 God the Holy Spirit tells us — This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Men and women, you really need to understand that the exact same Greek words are used for both sets of “miracles, signs and wonders” described above. The point God is making here is that the closer we get to the End, the more spiritual deceptions are sure to be escalating. The Truth is that the Antichrist will one day “soon” be counterfeiting and duplicating the miracles of Christ and His Apostles in an attempt to deceive the elect—if that were possible (Mark 13:22).

And today I admonish you to forget your pet eschatological views for the moment because if you cannot recognize God’s true Voice, and if you do not test these coming supernatural experiences by the Bible, then you will find yourself ending up here:

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)

For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

The Desperate Need of the Hour

September 5, 2008

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“Never has the need been greater for the truths of sovereign grace to be firmly established in the church. Her thinking about God desperately needs to be flowing in the right direction. As the church thinks, so she worships; and, as the church worships, so she lives, serves, and evangelizes. The church’s right view of God and the outworking of His grace gives shape to everything that is vital and important. The church must recapture her lofty vision of God and, thereby, be anchored to the solid rock of His absolute supremacy in all things. Only then will the church have a God-centered orientation in all matters of ministry. This, I believe, is the desperate need of the hour.”
-Steven J. Lawson, Foundations of Grace

(Click book cover for more info)

ROB BELL AND NEW AGE GURU MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

September 5, 2008

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Below here at Apprising Ministries you will see beyond a shadow of a doubt that Emerging Church pastor Rob Bell agrees with New Age priestess Marianne Williamson concerning the nature of man. The question that needs to be asked is: What kind of a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ could agree with the lie from the pit of Hell you’ll see within? But it is this kind of lunacy in the Lord that we are getting leaders in the Emergent Church like the Elvis of Emergent Rob Bell.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Rob Bell Still Scratching Those Itching Ears

Emergent Church pastor Rob Bell went out on tour with his latest mythical mystic musing: The gods Aren’t Angry. In Emergent Church Pastor Rob Bell Recites the Mystic Mantra for the New Evangelical Religion of Man’s Love of Self I quote Bell himself as he says:

There is a greatness [in mankind]. The writer here [of Psalm 8] uses the word “glory and honor” that resides in every single human being. Fragile and yet filled with the potential for glory and honor. I love how Nelson Mandela puts it in one of his writings. He says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”

And then he concludes by saying, “Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. We were born to manifest the glory—put on display, to show—the glory of God that is within us.” He says, “you may be a dirt clod, but there is greatness and power and glory that resides in every singe human being.” (Week 330 05/29/05, audio sermon 12:27-13:28, transcription on file)

Bell, in context, is absolutely not speaking about believers who are in Christ. He is clearly talking about all of mankind in general when he says, “There is a greatness…and glory…[in mankind].” As is the quote which Bell is referencing; the one he attributes to Nelson Mandela.

But this is simply not Christian theology—For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh (Romans 7:18, NASB). And lest we get caught up in some stupid new perspective [read: revisionist history] of Paul, here is Paul’s Creator Christ Jesus of Nazareth speaking to His own disciples—“If you, then, though you are evil” (Matthew 7:11).

Let’s get this straight once and for all: Prior to the new birth—which is a new regenerated nature wherein God then comes to dwell within—there is absolutely nothing worth redeeming in mankind. In point of fact, this is what the opening text is clearly telling us—Christ died for the ungodly. But the us in that text is the elect who are in Christ; it does not refer to mankind in general.

Unless One Is Elect In Christ They Are Not Indwelt By God

And before we roll off course, you can back up the anti-Calvinist hate wagon because even Arminians believe that there is an elect in Christ. We would differ on how they get there. But the problem with the many closet inclusivists and closet universalists now slithering around in postevangelicalism and the emerging church is they are teaching that at the Cross God already redeemed all of mankind.

That’s why there is such a corresponding de-emphasis on repentance and holiness within this Emergent rebellion against the Bible. I cover some of this further in a post from last year called Rob Bell Says “All-ee in Free…Almost”. Maybe after another year of seeing more and more people come under The Spell of Rob Bell you’ll listen now.

O, and that quote from “Nelson Mandela,” to which Rob Bell referred to above; well, it wasn’t really from Mandela at all. Indeed it was not, and it now follows in full from its original source. This lovely sentiment of self (see—2 Timothy 3:2) that so deeply moves “Christian” pastor Rob Bell actually comes from the occultic book A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A COURSE IN MIRACLES by the Christ-hating New Age Guru Marianne Williamson:

‘our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond all measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us the most.’ We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, famous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just some of us; it’s in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And as we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (190,191, emphasis mine)

Now if you are under the spell of Bell then I admonish you in the Lord to ask yourself this critical question: What kind of a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ could agree with that above lie from the pit of Hell? But it is this kind of lunacy in the Lord that we are getting leaders in the Emergent Church like the Bell and his friend Doug Pagitt.

Men and women right now, these Emergent Hollow Men like Bell and his mystic mentor Brian McLaren are leading your kids into doubt where there IS no doubt. And if I were you evangelical parents I’d take a good long look at this passage from God’s Word:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

As you are now responsible for allowing these counterfeit Christian teachings from this emerging church cult of a new postliberal theology to spread their poison within the mainstream of the evangelical community by letting them teach your kids. Hear this; and you hear it good: This spiritual cyanide will kill evangelicalism just as dead as the poison from the original Cult of Liberal Theology—their evil parents—did the mainline denominations.

And of this there is no mystery…

OPRAH WINFREY SPEAKING AS A CHRISTIAN

September 5, 2008

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As pointed out in Oprah Winfrey A Christian? people often ask me here at Apprising Ministries if Oprah Winfrey is a Christian. The following should answer this question once and for all. Here is Oprah’s “Christian” testimony from her own lips.

This is taken directly from a transcript of her “New Earth” online class with New Age guru Eckhart Tolle:

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): And you know, it’s been a journey to get to the place where I understand, as I said on the pre-show here, that what I believe is that Jesus came to show us Christ consciousness.

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): That Jesus came to show us the way of the heart and that what Jesus was saying that to show us the higher consciousness that we’re all talking about here. Jesus came to say, “Look I’m going to live in the body, in the human body and I’m going to show you how it’s done.” These are some principles and some laws that you can use to live by to know that way. And when I started to recognize that, that Jesus didn’t come in my belief, even as a Christian, I don’t believe that Jesus came to start Christianity…

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): You have a rich array of gems from which to draw illumination. The world’s religious traditional, mythology, psychology, healing methods, scientific wisdom, your own experience and that you can begin to string a necklace all your own… And so it’s really a question of…this material [which] strikes a chord within you.

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): Something in you opens up and wants, you know, feels alive and is awakened to that. And yet there is the ideology that says what to you…

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): Well, I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.

OPRAH WINFREY (HOST): I’m a free-thinking Christian who believes that, who believes in my way, but I don’t believe that it’s the only way, with six billion people here on the planet.
(A New Earth Online Class, Oprah.com, 11,12, 14 transcript on file)

Unfortunately for Oprah and all who believe her message, as you can see in Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?, this is not Who Jesus is. The Bible clearly tells us that Christ Jesus of Nazareth is God in human flesh and the totally unique—one of a kind—Son of God:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth… No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him… Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 1:1,14,18; 14:6, NASB)

CROSSTALK: APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH

September 5, 2008

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It was a blessing that the Lord graced me with yet another chance to be a guest on the Crosstalk program from VCY America and to join host Ingrid Schlueter. This time we discussed the apostasy that is rapidly growing today in the Evangelical community in Body of Christ. Sadly by attempting to do the Father’s supernatural spiritual job for Christ in the flesh we are grieving God the Holy Spirit.

Here is the description of the program:

Today it seems the church is so concerned with filling pews, that sometimes it will stoop to using sensationalistic, unbiblical methods in order to draw people.

Ingrid Schlueter presents an example from a church in Granger, Indiana. Granger Community Church has a provocative billboard that seeks to promote a sermon series on God and sex.

God will not be mocked in such situations where people try to supplant the Holy Spirit through the methods of the flesh. Ingrid and pastor Silva show how these methods are spiritual traps; that instead we should be asking for the filling of the Holy Spirit and his power to guide our lives and to build the church.

You can listen to the program here.

CROSSTALK: APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH

September 5, 2008

Click the post title to be taken to the source.

Here is the description of the program:

Today it seems the church is so concerned with filling pews, that sometimes it will stoop to using sensationalistic, unbiblical methods in order to draw people.

Ingrid Schlueter presents an example from a church in Granger, Indiana. Granger Community Church has a provocative billboard that seeks to promote a sermon series on God and sex.

God will not be mocked in such situations where people try to supplant the Holy Spirit through the methods of the flesh. Ingrid and pastor Silva show how these methods are spiritual traps; that instead we should be asking for the filling of the Holy Spirit and his power to guide our lives and to build the church.

You can listen to the program here.

D.A. Carson on Rob Bell

September 5, 2008

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In this short post over at Apprising Ministries we bring to your attention the link to an audio clip from a sermon by D.A. Carson called “Keeping Up With The Conversation” posted over at Reformation Underway. Within Dr. Carson shares his educated view concerning popular Emergent Church pastor and emerging icon Rob Bell.

D.A. CARSON ON ROB BELL

September 5, 2008

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Apprising Ministries brings to your attention the link to an audio clip from a sermon by D.A. Carson called “Keeping Up With The Conversation” posted over at Reformation Underway.

In it Dr. Carson shares his educated view concerning popular Emergent Church pastor and emerging icon Rob Bell, where he says—among other things—that many people read Bell “in the best possible light because they’re bringing their Christian culture with them.”

Then using the topic of forgiveness as an illustration, Carson hits the eternally deadly spiritual problem with Bell’s Emerging Church pseudo-Christian message dead on target:

In other words, he shows a little clip on one of his Nooma videos—on forgiveness, let’s say—that would be completely gospel-free to anybody who is Biblically illiterate.

But if you bring in your Christian assumptions on what forgiveness looks like—because you know what Christ was doing on the Cross—and you’re making the right confessions already, you read your Christian assumptions into that video and you won’t see just how empty it is of real substance because you brought all of your Christian catechism with you. (Online source)

You can hear all of what Dr. D.A. Carson says in the short clip here.

Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

September 5, 2008

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Perhaps we’ll dedicate this to smilin’ Joel Osteen who is quite obviously confused as evident when he said that practicing Mormons are Christians, which you can see for yourself in Joel Osteen Blesses The Mormon Church. Who knows, maybe it’ll help him out a bit with the Jesus Who’s supposed to have sent him as a pastor.

Apprising Ministries now invites you to a very special spiritual edition of To Tell The Truth. As a part of our celebrity panel you will be hearing the claims of a few of the more predominate Jesuses you are likely to run in to during your lifetime; they may even come knocking on your door. At the end of this message, after you’ve heard from each of our guests and have the chance to compare them to Christ Jesus as He’s revealed in the Bible, we’ll then ask the crucial question: Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up? Let’s see how you do.

WILL THE REAL JESUS PLEASE STAND UP?

September 5, 2008

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“…let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12, ESV)

Looking To Tell The Truth

Perhaps we’ll dedicate this to smilin’ Joel Osteen who is quite obviously confused as evident when he said that practicing Mormons are Christians, which you can see for yourself in Joel Osteen Blesses The Mormon Church. Who knows, maybe it’ll help him out a bit with the Jesus Who’s supposed to have sent him as a pastor. However, this also was another non-issue within the evangelical “Love Shack.” But the fact remains that the largess landscape of the “postmodern” pudding, which is America today, is literally littered with many different views about Who Jesus Christ of Nazareth is. So I thought it would be interesting to ask the question: Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

James Walker, director of the apologetics ministry Watchman Fellowship, reminds us of an old TV program called To Tell The Truth which:

used to end each program by asking the real guest to, “please stand up.” Every episode featured three studio guests, all claiming to be the same person. One guest was who he said he was, but the other two were phonies.

The celebrity contestants had the difficult and often humorous task of identifying the genuine article. At the climax of the program, the two impostors remained seated and the real guest stood to reveal his identity. (Online source)

If you recall this celebrity panel would have to ask questions to try and figure who the real person was, which was all part of the fun. In his piece Walker reminds us that “Christians today witness many religious groups each claiming a belief in a Jesus.” However, their doctrine about Who they believe their Jesus to be “varies widely, and is often contradictory,” even though they claim to be able to show you Who their Christ is from the Bible.

As we said, the panel on To Tell The Truth only had the two counterfeits to eliminate. Unfortunately today there are scores of false Christs running about and you’d be amazed at the differing views as to who these various groups say Christ Jesus of Nazareth is. Each group has their own list of Bible verses as proof-texts to try and convince you of their beliefs about Jesus the Christ. They really don’t just make this stuff up out of thin air; ah, well at least most of them don’t. There are however, some people who have views that really do seem to have arrived here by way of some other planet.

An Eternally Deadly Case of Mistaken Identity

Now on the TV show celebrities who got tricked by the phonies weren’t going to suffer any real harm. “In fact,” Walker writes, “part of the program’s appeal was seeing a usually sharp celebrity deceived by a clever guest.” Not so when it comes to the only Savior there is for lost mankind. And Walker is dead on target when he says, “the person who puts their trust in a counterfeit Jesus is involved in a deadly case of mistaken identity.” The Master Himself made this crystal clear when He said to the religious people of His day, recorded for us by the Apostle John, who was an eyewitness — “if you believe not that I am — ye shall die in your sins” (John 8:24, literal Greek).

Walker then astutely points out:

The Jews obviously believed in a Jesus (he was standing right in front of them), but they did not believe the right things about Jesus. Their Jesus was only a man, a carpenter from Nazareth who had become a radical rabbi. Know who Christ is — or die in your sins. The statement certainly shocked the Jews with whom Christ was debating. They answered, “Who art thou?” (vs. 25).

In part, Jesus replied, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am,” (John 8:58). Jesus clearly identified himself as God, the I AM of Exodus 3. Unfortunately these particular Jews rejected the deity of Christ and ultimately refused to trust Him alone as Savior. Their response to Christ’s claim to be the “I AM” was unmistakably direct — “Then took they up stones to cast at him,” (vs. 59).

Like those first century Jews, the cults today rejected the true identity of Christ. Besides a few historical similarities, the Jesus of the cults bear little resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible. Sometimes only the name is the same! (ibid.)

A Spiritual To Tell The Truth With You As Guest Panelist

First, we’ll proceed along the lines of the great Church Reformer Martin Luther who once said: My mind is held captive by the Scriptures. So before we even bring out our contestants, let’s go the Bible itself for a quick look at Who Jesus Christ of Nazareth really is according to God‘s Word. And so, we’ll be right back after this most important message as we turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1. Here’s a real simple passage to show someone clearly the actual Identity of Jesus of Nazareth—the Christ of God.

John 1:1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then we go to verse 14 — The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. And finally on down to verse 18 — No one has ever seen God, but God the one and only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known. So then, it becomes quite obvious that the Word, Who became flesh, in this passage of John’s Gospel is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Let’s go back and look at John 1:1 again, this time inserting the name Jesus wherever we see “the Word.” Here’s the word picture you’d get from reading it in the original Greek — Before anything ever began, Jesus already was, Jesus was face to face with God, and what God was, Jesus also was. In the clearest terms possible John tells us that the Word—Jesus—is God. There is no doubt here the Bible is teaching that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is God Himself come into His Own creation in human flesh. Now I’m not trying to force you to believe this, but as we listen to our guests, this is the Jesus we are going to be looking for—the Jesus of Biblical revelation.

The Contestants Come Forward To Sign In

And now we are going to bring out our contestants To Tell The Truth. In the interest of space I’m only going to give a general description of the “Jesus” of a particular religious group. Everything I tell you about this Jesus I have personally and carefully investigated and it can be documented from their own sources. Also please keep in mind it is not my intention to belittle another’s faith. On the contrary, like the TV detective Joe Friday from Dragnet—a program contemporary with To Tell The Truth—we’re after, “Just the facts, m’am.”

Here is our first quest to sign in:

I am the Jesus of the faith of Islam. I am merely one of the many prophets of Allah, and his last and greatest prophet—Muhammad—“Peace be upon him,” supersedes me as God’s last revelation. I am not the Son of God, nor am I part of any Trinity. Through the angel Gabriel, Allah revealed to my fellow prophet Muhammad in The Qu’ran that God is not a trinity and they do blaspheme who say that He is. I was nothing but a slave upon whom Allah showed favor.

Although I was sinless in this life I did not atone for anyone else’s sin because I am just one of those who are near to God. Like Allah’s earlier prophets of God, such as Moses, Abraham and Elijah, I was a man who did perform many miracles and taught about the ways of the unknowable Allah. And I was a Messiah but I did not die on the cross. Somehow I was able to fool my captors and then substitute Judas Iscariot for me on the cross; or, it could have been that Allah miraculously delivered me from the hands of the Romans and the Jews before I could be crucified.

Muslim scholars aren’t sure which—and after-all—it was a long time ago. Allah’s Word, the Qu’ran, says that I was taken bodily into Heaven without having died; but in a later chapter, it then says that I died and will be resurrected. Apparently it is the will of Allah to reveal some other time which of things really happened.

Alright, will our next contestant sign in please:

I am the Jesus of The Way International. It’s founder Victor Paul Wierwille taught that the Bible clearly says that I am a man conceived by the Holy Spirit, which is only another title for God the Father. You see, the Trinity is a pagan teaching.

My life was perfect without blemish, and without spot. I am a lamb from the flock and thereby I was the perfect sacrifice. Now before I was born, I existed only in God’s foreknowledge. I am not co-eternal with God, nor am I co-equal with Him. My existence actually began when I was conceived by God as He created my soul-life in an ovum in Mary’s womb and I then became your redeemer.

God told Wierwille that he is the only one who properly interpreted the Bible and preserved the original meaning of the text. And those who teach that I am God will never stand approved as rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

And now here is our next contestant to sign in:

I am the Jesus Christ of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). My original Church went through a total apostasy and I took the Priesthood from the earth. In 1820 by one account—as there are nine different accounts—I appeared with Heavenly Father to Joseph Smith who would be the prophet to restore my Church. I told him that everything the historic Christian Church had taught was an abomination in my sight and that all who believe in those doctrines are corrupt. I am the spirit child who was born first to Heavenly Father, whose name is Elohim, and who has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.

Elohim was once a man who lived on the planet Kolob. He died and was resurrected by his father—after earning his way to godhood—as did his father before him and on back. Heavenly Father pro-created all of us through sexual relations with one of his celestial wives and we are all his spirit children. I was born first; next was Lucifer, and then on down the line comes you. When the head of the gods—of which there are countless numbers—called a council of the gods I came up with a better plan of salvation than my brother Lucifer did. So I became the Savior for Heavenly Father’s children on earth. I was conceived for my earthly mission when Heavenly Father came down and had sexual relations with his daughter the Virgin Mary.

I sweat great drops of blood for your sins in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then on the cross I finished my work; and because of that atonement, all persons on this earth are going to be resurrected. And so now you have a chance to earn your way to becoming a god just like me by working the Gospel Principles taught by the Mormon Church. But be careful because my blood was not sufficient to cover some of your sins my prophet Brigham Young once taught for me. He said, “There’s not a man or woman who violates the covenant made with their God that will not be required to pay that debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out. [And] Your own blood must atone for it.”

Ok, will our next guest please sign in:

I am the Jesus of Rev. Sun Myung Moon and The Unification Church. I was a man no different from you except that I was born without original sin. I am the son of Zechariah and his sister-in-law Mary. I did not come to die on the cross; no, that was a victory for Satan as he got what he had intended through the 4,000 year course of history—the exercise of his maximum power. Unfortunately I failed in my Christly mission, as my death on the cross was not an essential part of God’s plan for redeeming sinful man. What my death did do was to make the way for Rev. Moon as the Messiah—the “Lord of the Second Advent”—to complete the work I left unfinished when I was crucified.

My crucifixion wasn’t a total failure though because I did achieve a “spiritual” salvation. But Rev. Moon has come as the third Adam, and it is he who will redeem mankind physically from original sin. So my value to humankind is of no greater value than that of any other man. It is plain that I am not God Himself, I’m only a man in whom God was incarnate. In fact, Rev. Moon says you can compare yourself to me, and even feel you can be greater than I was. My words—and those of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament will lose their light—which means that the period of their mission has elapsed with the coming of this new age that was ushered in by Rev. Moon.

God’s real purpose in sending me was to find a bride, marry, and produce sinless children. The crucifixion was a universal tragedy because it was not the will of God. It was a secondary choice after it become obvious that I would not be able to fulfill my mission. My death on the cross was unable to remove mankind’s original sin. God’s primary will was for me to marry as there had to be a bride—a Mother—to become another Eve. Because Jewish people did not believe in me and delivered me up for crucifixion, my body was invaded by Satan, and I was killed. I was not resurrected; I am currently struck in a particular level of paradise, awaiting liberation by Rev. Moon’s ministry.

It’s time now for our next guest to sign in:

I am the Jesus of the historic, orthodox Christian Church, which I purchased with My Own blood. I Am the one true and eternal God incarnate—God the Son—second Person of the blessed and Holy Trinity. I am the very Creator of the entire universe and the only Savior of hopelessly lost mankind. There is never a time that I did not exist as I am the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

And in the fullness of time I was born of the Virgin Mary and clothed with human flesh. Then while on My planet I lived the sinless life necessary of you to come and be in the Presence of God the Father. In My Father’s will and for His glory, I willingly sacrificed My perfect life for yours, and shed My blood on the Cross as an offering for the sins of all who will be regenerated by God the Holy Spirit; who believe in Me.

I bore the wrath of Almighty God that you deserve and as I died in your place I said: “It is finished.” I was buried, but on the third day, I rose again from the dead in the same Body so that you could know that I am the One I claim to be. Now you can trust in Me because by My resurrection you know that I am able to save all those who by God’s grace alone, place their faith alone, in Me alone. I say that in all the universe there is only one God; you are not Him, nor will you ever be.”

The Time Is Growing Short To Tell The Truth

Well panel, as you can see so far, there are some interesting views on just Who Jesus Christ of Nazareth is. And I hope that you’re hanging in there with me now as we have just a couple of more contestants before we’re done. Will our next guest please sign in:

I am the Jesus of the Mind Science cults such as Christian Science, The Unity School Of Christianity, A Course In Miracles, and the New Age Movement. I am simply a man—just as human as you are.

And yet; I am God. But not the way you think. I am one of the Ascended Masters and many consider me the man who best demonstrated how to tune in to, and then to use, the Christ-consciousness principle which is actually in all of mankind.

I teach you that God is the force that we’re all a part of. God is not a person and so we are all god; just like drops of water make up the ocean, so are we like god. I teach you that through learning to develop the Christ in you, and through reincarnation, you can once again be one as god. Then you just fade back into the blessed nothingness, which some refer to as Nirvana.

It’s time for our next contestant to sign in please:

I am the Jesus of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which is also known as The Jehovah’s Witnesses. I am Michael the Archangel, the first and greatest spirit creation of Jehovah God. I was later recreated as a human and was born the man Jesus of Nazareth.

I was not crucified on the cross, but rather I was killed on a torture stake. Three days later Jehovah God recreated me again, this time back into the invisible divine spirit creature Michael the Archangel. Then he dissolved the body of the dead man Jesus into gases; or, he might have put it someplace to display it later.

I’m really not too sure on that but, in 1914 I returned invisibly and I am now ruling the universe for Jehovah God through the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in Brooklyn NY.

Last, but certainly least—in our spiritual parody of To Tell The Truth—will our final contestant please sign in:

I am the Jesus of today’s liberal theology of inclusive, politically correct, universalism. I am only a human man. I was not born of a virgin, nor did I actually rise from the dead. Unfortunately as a Jewish Rabbi, I attracted such devoted followers that even after my death they wanted to keep my spirit alive so to speak. And so they went and built this elaborate theology around me, which is largely based on the writings of that rascal Paul. Sadly, they ended up making me into a god.

I taught that the most important thing we can do is to love one another. You see, that’s all that matters because we are the brotherhood of man. No one should ever criticize what another person honestly believes about God. After-all, we are all God’s children. And even though we may take different paths of religion in this life, as all religions please God if they are sincere, in the end we’ll all be with God because everyone is going to be saved. Man is too good to be condemned and God is too good to condemn him. As long as you love one another it really doesn’t matter to God what you believe about him. He’s just delighted if you believe in him.

And so, “don’t worry; be happy.” You need to feel good about yourself. Every religion reserves a place for me as I’m the most popular Jesus because I’m not going to make any demands of you. The only choice believing in me requires that if you are going to follow my teachings you will have to look at the Bible as being the same as all the other religious literature. You don’t really need to be any more concerned with the Bible than you would be with any other religious teachings. Although it does teach some truth about God, the Bible isn’t any more important that any of the other holy books of other cultures. I teach that all of them contain a way to God and that all religions eventually lead back to God; so, I’m not exactly clear on why I had to go to the cross.

The Moment Of Real Truth Arrives

Well panel, there you have our contestants; each claiming to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Jesus of Biblical revelation. If you were sharp, as our guests were introducing themselves you were asking your questions; testing them, with what we know about Jesus Christ of Nazareth from the historical eyewitness accounts in the Bible. You may already know that God does demands us to investigate the claims made people claiming to speak for God.

He really does; this is what the Lord says — Test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The King James Version says — prove all things — the Greek word is dokimazo — and it means “to discern, to put to the test, to carefully examine.” In this verse—God the Holy Spirit—commands us to put every religious teaching to the test, and to examine it thoroughly to see if it is genuine—to see if it actually came from God. In his book Orthodoxy And Heresy Christian apologist Rob Bowman Jr. informs us:

the New Testament is emphatically clear that we are to judge truth from error—and good from evil. This verse especially focuses on the need to discern true revelations from false revelations. Those who claim to be prophets—who claim to speak under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit must have their revelations tested.

So with all of this in mind it’s time now to ask our critical question: Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up? If you have been putting each of our contenders to the test of Holy Scripture then you can now see that the historic Person Jesus Christ of Nazareth—preached by His historic orthodox Christian Church for 2000 years now—is the One Who is standing up. He towers high above those counterfeits Christs; dwarfing those who have no power to save anybody, because they are imposters and do not even exist. Only God himself could be our Savior. And this is exactly Who the Bible reveals Jesus to be.

One thing remains certain; none of these other Jesuses will pass that test of Holy Scripture. A fact that we will all do well to ponder ourselves; and then to share this with others, before it’s too late. I close now with the words of a great preacher of God’s Word just after the turn of the last century—Dr. R.A. Torrey. These prophetic words speak ever so loudly to this generation today. Dr. Torrey said, as he quoted Romans 3:18:

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” And the rejection of Jesus Christ—God the Son—Whom God the Father has appointed to be our Savior, our King and our Lord is the most daring and damning of all sins. There is nothing in this world that reveals what is in the human heart so clearly as what a man does with the real Lord and Christ. The rejection of Jesus Christ certainly proves a wicked heart. Hear this O sinner, the great question on the Judgment Day will be: “What did you do with Jesus Christ?”

Oh yes, I can imagine some people on that day. That man who sits in yonder gallery trying to make light of what I am saying tonight he will be there. I can see him standing before the Judgment Bar. The throng will fall back; there will be a profound silence. Then comes rolling forth like the sound of mighty rushing waters the majestic Voice of the awesome and dreadful Judge: “You man, what did you do with Jesus Christ!” Who is to be the Judge that day?

None other than Jesus Christ Himself! The Lord, Christ Jesus Whom you are rejecting is to be that Judge. This same Jesus Christ of Nazareth Whom you are robbing of the honor which is His due will be that Judge. That same Christ Whose Divinity you are denying. And not that you have any real reason to deny it, but simply in your proud and arrogant heart you want to deny it. And you want to comfort yourself in your sin. That same Christ, Whom you are trampling underfoot will sit as Judge that day. That will be a very dark day for some.

I can imagine that man or woman in this audience tonight who’s been telling their friends they do not believe that Jesus is God, and whose been trampling the God the Son underfoot, and who have been resisting the invitations of mercy—maybe even for years now—you will stand before that Throne. And this same Christ Whom you have defamed and slandered, mocked and rejected, lied about and trampled underfoot, will be sitting as your Judge. Friend, will you come to Him now, while He sits upon the Throne of mercy? I beseech you; come to Him today while the question still is: “What will you do with Jesus Christ?”

Grace Or The Law: The Choice Before You

Because, O sinner, if you will not have our Lord’s mercy; then you shall be judged by God’s perfect Law, and I assure you in the Spirit, His justice will be done. As it is written:

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31)

He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says, and may you come to the real Jesus now, before it’s too late.

Pastoral Malpractice and the Visible Church

September 5, 2008

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The Truth Matters blog shares an excellent article by Pastor Bob DeWaay, Pastoral Malpractice and the Visible Church

Pastor Warren may be correct that you cannot do both—expound important Biblical topics and appear attractive to seekers at the same time. But I disagree completely with the idea that we must appear attractive to lost sinners. We need to preach Christ to lost sinners so that they can know the terms of the gospel. That is the only valid “diagnosis” that will do them any good…

…The standards are strict and generally well observed for those who treat our bodies and cure our physical ailments. But the standards for those who care for our souls have fallen woefully short…

…pastoral malpractice will be dealt with in eternity, making it even more serious. In the meantime, pray that God will raise up pastors who will take seriously their sacred duty to interpret and apply the Bible accurately—and pray for churches that want such pastors to lead them.

A Sermon that has Angered Many: Examine Yourself (P. Washer)

September 5, 2008

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This sermon has angered many church goers, but it has also helped in the salvation of the souls of many church goers, too. Examine yourself.

http://www.heartcrymissionary.org

Author: LaneCh
Keywords: paul washer sermon angered many examine yourself andrewcbain
Added: September 5, 2008

KEEPING YOU APPRISED OF: T.D. JAKES ON THE TRINITY

September 5, 2008

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Apprising Ministries may develop this further as the Lord allows more time. But for now, as I pointed out in But Southern Baptist Say OK To “Bishop” T.D. Jakes back in February of 2007 Dr. Ed Young, Sr., former president of the Southern Baptist Convension shared a platform with Oneness Pentecostal and Word Faith mogul “Bishop” T.D. Jakes at the Creative Church Conference 2007 aka C3 2007. And oddly enough it is his own son Ed Young, Jr. who orchestrated that sad affair, but then again he’d already had Emerging Church icon Rob Bell at his C3 2005. So now the Body of Christ must squarely face the issue of whether someone like Jakes who denies–or most certainly will not openly state he that believes–the cardinal doctrine of the Holy Trinity can be considered as a member of the historic orthodox Christian – faith which was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3, NKJV).

You see the bottom line in our generation is this: either this faith of Jesus Christ was actually delivered once and for all or it was not. Heretical cult of personality teachers such as T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell and even Rick Warren are essentially telling us that it wasn’t and so we need their particualr Gnosis–whatever flavor of the Ecumenical Church of Deceit they teach–to “really understand” what the Bible plainly teaches. But no matter what these dreamers might say it doesn’t change the fact that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is essentially defined as:

Within the nature of the one true and living God there are three co-equal and co-eternal Persons (cognizant egos) existing simultaneously; The whole undivided essence of God belongs equally to each of the three Persons; God the Father; God the Son – Who is Christ Jesus of Nazareth – and God the Holy Spirit. And these three Persons are that one God. (see–Keeping You Apprised of: the Holy Trinity)

Men and women, quite frankly the issue of Oneness Pentecostal and Word Faith mogul T.D. Jakes preaching in an SBC church is one which I should never even have had to bring up in the first place. Yet it’s a sad reflection upon the near total lack of leadership within the Body of Christ in these timid times of tepid tolerance. But here through an issue like this our Lord Himself again targeted the fact that our leaders are simply not equipped to handle theological conflict. They are afraid and so they say nothing hoping it will all just blow over. Read my keyboard: Not gonna happen! O those silly Reformers who gave their lives for nothing. These poor slobs weren’t enlightened that God really doesn’t care what we believe about Him. Nah, these Reformers apparently didn’t know what the Lord would raise up Rock theologians Lennon and McCartney to teach us: “All You Need Is Love.”

T.D. Jakes On The Trinity

But the absolute Truth is that the Church of Jesus Christ owes a debt of gratitude to men of God like Athanasius who stood so strong during the Arian controversy. His work sets the standard for orthodox trinitarian statements. You may have heard: “Athanasius contra mundum,” meaning Athanasius against the world. Well, tragically today it’s more like evangelicalism with the world. May the Lord have mercy upon us all as in our lifetime we are going to watch the large sections of the Christian Church cave in on the cardinal doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Think I’m off-base; take some time to read a few doctrinal statements on the Trinity and you will see that so many are vague enough that Oneness Pentecostals could easily assent to them. Not long ago AM did the article Joel Hemphill Does Deny the Deity of Christ showing you that this “Christian” singer has even elected to Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame all the while denying the divine nature of the Savior he says he has.

Again it was treated as just another non-issue in the ol’ evangelical “Love Shack.” So we turn now to T.D. Jakes who’s latest musings imply that Ruth and Naomi were lesbians and that King David and Jonathan were gay lovers. Very nice. See for yourself in the Christian Research Net post Did T.D. Jakes Imply That Ruth ande Naomi Were Lesbians? However, that is apparently a non-issue as well as we ride off the rails on the postevangelical “Love Train.” So here I focus your attention upon the fact that when Jakes speaks of the nature of God he is expressing the view of Oneness Pentecostalism (aka Jesus Only) an heretical sect that teaches:

there is but one person who is God who acted in three separate manifestations (aka modes). In the Old Testament they say he acted as Father; in the New Testament he was the Son – Jesus, and now he is acting as Holy Spirit. Not three persons, but one person acting in three different ways or roles.

This teaching is not simply not Biblical and has already condemned as heresy by the Christian Church around 220 AD. Answers.com accurately tells us about the man Sabellius who originally taught what Oneness people still believe today:

Christian priest and theologian, b. probably Libya or Egypt. He went to Rome, became the leader of those who accepted the doctrine of modalistic monarchianism, and was excommunicated by Pope St. Calixtus I in 220. Opposing the orthodox teaching of “essential Trinity,” Sabellius advanced the doctrine of the “economic Trinity.” God, he held, was one indivisible substance, but with three fundamental activities, or modes.
(Online source)

The interested reader will also find the piece What Is Oneness Pentecostal Theology? from Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry very helpful as well. This is how the Belief Statement from The Potter’s House where Jakes is pastor currently reads:

God–There is one God, creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Online source)

Here we notice the language of Oneness Pentecostalism which is virtually identical to that expressed by Sabellius. In my article Can You Be An Evangelical And Deny God? I have pointed out that T.D. Jakes was listed number 13 among Time’s infamous top 25 Evangelicals and billed as “The Penetecostal Media Mogul.” And while it is true that Jakes is indeed a Pentecostal all right, as I just stated above he is actually a “Oneness Pentecostal.”

Now Jakes himself said in the February 1, 2000 edition of Christianity Today:

While I mix with Christians from a broad range of theological perspectives, I speak only for my personal faith and convictions. I am not a theologian, and I avoid quoting even theologians who agree with me. To defend my beliefs, I go directly to the Bible.

My views on the Godhead are from 1 John 5:7-8, “For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.” (NKJV)

I believe in one God who is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I believe these three have distinct and separate functions—so separate that each has individual attributes, yet are one. I do not believe in three Gods (Online Source, emphasis mine).

Jakes’ Ordination Is From A Oneness Pentecostal Church

And as I have said before it’s little wonder why Jakes avoids quoting “even theologians who agree with” him because those of us who study Comparative Religion will immediately recognize the modalism contained in the vague explanation of his beliefs. As a matter of fact in that very same CT article called “My Views on the Godhead” Jakes in forms us:

I was raised Baptist and became Pentecostal 26 years ago at a Greater Emmanuel Apostolic Church, where I was later ordained a Bishop.

I was unable to locate a website for this church but from years of personal reasearch and study I can tell you that almost invariably when we see the word Apostolic in the name of a church it is Oneness Pentecostal. Jerry L. Buckner further tell us that the Christian Research Institute “has received two e-mails sent by T. D. Jakes Ministries to people inquiring” about Jakes’ view on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. According to Bruckner one “e-mail response is that ‘Bishop T. D. Jakes and The Potter’s House of Dallas believe there is one God who manifest [sic] Himself in the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.’ ”

This representative for T.D. Jakes goes on to say they have “never denied the Trinity, and we are disappointed that anyone would misunderstand or misrepresent us.” Buckner then informs us:

T. D. Jakes Ministries and historic Christianity both use the word Trinity, but the meaning of the word appears to be different. Walter Martin taught us that we must scale the language barrier of the cults. We must recognize the reality that unless terms are defined, a semantic jungle will envelope us, making it difficult, if not impossible, to properly contrast orthodox Christianity with teachings outside it.

On the T. D. Jakes Ministries Web site, an older but still accessible version of their Statement of Faith reads, “There is one God, creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and existing in three Manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”29 Their current doctrinal statement has been altered somewhat to read: “THREE DIMENSIONS OF ONE GOD (1 John 5:7, Matt. 28:19, 1 Tim. 3:16)” — “We believe in one God, who is eternal in His existence, Triune in His Manifestations, being both Father, Son and Holy Ghost AND that He is Sovereign and Absolute in His authority.” (Online source)

And finally Buckner is quite correct when he notes that the “position taken by T. D. Jakes Ministries remains problematic” at best:

The problem lies in the word “manifestation.” Manifestation is a modalistic term often used by Oneness Pentecostals. Modalism views Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as different modes of God’s activity rather than three separate persons (ibid).

Jakes Must Be Held Accountable To State Clearly What He Believes

The fact of the matter is this: If Ed Young, Jr. and Ed Young, Sr. are unwilling to accept this information concerning T.D. Jakes contained here within, which is readily available, then at the very least they should now have a meeting with him. Jakes should asked point blank: Do you in fact believe the following concerning the nature of the God you profess to serve:

In all the universe there is but one God. Within the nature of this one God there exists three distinct co-equal and co-eternal cognizant egos, or Persons existing simultaneously; the whole undivided essence of God belongs equally to each of the three Persons: God the Father, God the Son–Who is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and God the Holy Spirit. And these three Persons are that one God.

And should that answer from “Bishop” T.D. Jakes be anything less than, “yes” he should immediately be dropped from C3 2007. And if my warning won’t do how about the following from Dr. John MacArthur from his series What Doctrines Are Fundamental? (Part Two) where he correctly points out:

a doctrine must be regarded as fundamental if eternal life depends on it. Scripture is full of statements that identify the terms of salvation and the marks of genuine faith.

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). That verse makes faith itself essential to a right relationship with God. It also expressly identifies both the existence and the veracity of God as fundamental articles of the Christian faith.

Elsewhere we are told that eternal life is obtained through the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ (John 17:3; 14:6; Acts 4:12). Since Jesus Himself is the true God incarnate (1 John 5:20; John 8:58; 10:30), the fact of His deity (and by implication the whole doctrine of the Trinity) is a fundamental article of faith (see 1 John 2:23). Our Lord Himself confirmed this when He said all must honor Him as they honor the Father (John 5:23). (emphasis mine)

This issue with the Youngs and T.D Jakes is also a critical one that the leadership within the Southern Baptist Convention should begin to investigate. In fact the question that needs to be asked by the whole of the Christian community and specifically the SBC is this: If the Oneness Pentecostal view was deemed heresy for 1800 years, then why is it now not heresy to deny “God in three Persons, blessed Trinity”? And they certainly need to assess just how it is that a two time ex-president of the SBC like Dr. Ed Young could possibly have been so obtuse spiritually that he would allow his son to yoke them to a heretic like T.D. Jakes in the first place.

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? (2 Corinthians 6:14-16, NASB)

Is Divine Election Unfair?

September 5, 2008

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By John MacArthur, Pulpit Magazine
In spite of the clarity with which Scripture addresses this topic, many professing Christians today struggle in their acceptance of God’s sovereignty — especially when it comes to His electing work in salvation. Their most common protest, of course, is that the doctrine of election is unfair. But such an objection [...]

Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose Driven Life

September 5, 2008

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Deceived On Purpose by Warren Smith When former New Ager Warren Smith began reading Purpose-Driven Life, he was shocked to discover language, ideas, terms and philosophies that he learned as a New Ager. If you have ever wondered what really lies beneath the surface of the Purpose-Driven agenda, then Deceived on Purpose is a must-read. A stunning and thought-provoking testimonial.

It is clear that Robert Schuller is tied in with New Age leaders and philosophies—now the question: Is Rick Warren connected to Robert Schuller? Warren Smith believes he is, and that puts the majority of the Christian church at risk!

Visit Deceived On Purpose Ministries for other discernment titles by former New Ager Warren Smith.

Faith in God(J. Gresham Machen)

UNITY IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

MANTRA MEDITATION FOR CHRISTIANS

The Desperate Need of the Hour

ROB BELL AND NEW AGE GURU MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

OPRAH WINFREY SPEAKING AS A CHRISTIAN

CROSSTALK: APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH

CROSSTALK: APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH

D.A. Carson on Rob Bell

D.A. CARSON ON ROB BELL

Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

WILL THE REAL JESUS PLEASE STAND UP?

Pastoral Malpractice and the Visible Church

A Sermon that has Angered Many: Examine Yourself (P. Washer)

KEEPING YOU APPRISED OF: T.D. JAKES ON THE TRINITY

Is Divine Election Unfair?

Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose Driven Life

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