December 15, 2008
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DOWN WITH SOLA SCRIPTURA
We have been discussed here at Apprising Ministries an escalating rebellion against Sola Scriptura in the Emergent Church. And in Faith House Manhattan: Project of Apostasy by Samir Selmanovic AM has introduced you to self-proclaimed “Presbymergent” Adam Walker Cleveland. Cleveland was a contributor to the recent book An Emergent Manifesto of Hope (EMH) co-edited by the Emergent Church leader Tony Jones and his Emerging Church pastor Doug Pagitt.
Now coming on the heels of Phyllis Tickle and the Emerging Church: It’s Not If Sola Scriptura Ends But When and Emergent Church Theologian Tony Jones and his Unrepentant Homosexual Christians we now have even more reason to wonder Will Rob Bell Now Follow Tony Jones Out of the Closet? because with the lastest post by Cleveland it really starts to appear that The Emerging Church is Soon to Put Forth a Gay Face.
In “The Bible & Homosexuality: Enough with the Bible Already” filled with the usual whining that anyone who believes the practice of homosexuality is a sin doesn’t know; doesn’t care about, is afraid of, blah, blah, blah, gay people. I refer Cleveland and cohorts to Ken Silva: It’s Time to Rethink the Issue of Homosexuality. Amidst his straw men and red herrings Walker tells us:
presenting a coherent biblical argument for why homosexuality is not a sin and why our gay brothers and sisters should be fully welcomed into all areas of the church and ministry is not my point here. I think many people have done just that (Jack Rogers and Stacy Johnson come to mind), but they are easily dismissed by many because they apparently don’t have a “high enough view of scripture.”
Well – if that’s the problem – then I say, “Enough with the Bible already!” This issue has been on my mind a lot recently, for a variety of reasons, but most recently because Sarah and I gathered with some friends from our church and watched the documentary, “For the Bible Tells me So.” (Online source)
In fact Walker sums his post up thusly:
If it is the Bible that is causing us to delay accepting and celebrating LGBT persons as being fully human and fully created in the image of God, just as they are, then perhaps we need to say, “Enough with the Bible already…” (Online source, bold his)
Lord willing, should AM survive there will be more to come but for now I try yet again to bring to the attention of the slumbering evangelical community that the above views are already deeply embedded in many of your youth groups who have been corrupted by this Emergent rebellion against the Bible for nearly ten years now. And the existential approach to this issue of homosexuality is the result of Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism masquerading as Spiritual Formation.
Well, the Rip Van Winkles in evangelical leadership had best awaken soon because it truly is as was pointed out in We Feel Homosexuality Is Not A Sin. Evangelical Bible colleges and seminaries filled with neo-orthodox (at best) professors were using books like Self-Esteem: The New Reformation by Robert Schuller and Celebration of Discipline by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster to begin emptying the terminology of the historic orthodox Christian faith of its original Biblical usage all the while recasting it with the meaning of semi-pelagian (at best) human potential.
Then this set of pastors was sent out; maybe even to your church, where they have bred the new breed pastors littering the landscape today. But evangelical leaders simply slept on refusing to listen to warnings like the following from Dr. Walter Martin (circa 1985) and so we arrive at this pathetic time in the history of the Christian Church. Well, it’s not like mankind hasn’t been here before — everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25):
The culture does not annul the Law of God; God’s Law stands whether the culture stands or not. What you are getting from the Cult of Liberalism is what is known as moral relativism. Do you understand that; moral relativism, which means you get away with whatever you think in your heart you can get away with…in effect, the end justifies the means…
And you’re right back to the Jesuits; the end justifies the means. No, it doesn’t. [There were] an awful lot of dead bodies in the Inquisition because they thought the end justifies the means—Jews and Christians… [The Cult of Liberalism] is theologically corrupt because it is Bibliologically corrupt. It denies the authority of Scripture; it ruins its own theology.
And it ends in immorality because the only way you could have gotten to this homosexual, morally relativistic garbage—which is today in our denominational structures—is if the leadership of those denominations denied the authority of the Scriptures and Jesus Christ as Lord. That is the only way you got there. ((The Cult of Liberalism, available Walter Martin Religious InfoNet)
See also:
APPRISING MINISTRIES: SHOCKING NEW EVIDENCE JESUS CONDEMNED THE PRACTICE OF HOMOSEXUALITY
TODD FRIEL: A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE ROB BELL SAYS PUBLICLY PRACTICING HOMOSEXUALITY IS OK FOR CHRISTIANS
BRIAN MCLAREN, THE EMERGING CHURCH, AND HOMOSEXUALITY: WHAT’S SO HARD ABOUT THAT?
ROB BELL AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM
DOUG PAGITT AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM
December 15, 2008
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From the United Kingdom to Connecticut to Canada, Tony Blair has been campaigning for global interfaith cooperation. Tony Blair recently addressed the need for global interfaith support of the United Nations’ Millenium Development Goals.
See which prominent Evangelicals are supporting the rising global faith sector cooperation with the United Nations at the Watcher’s Lamp.
December 15, 2008
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DOWN WITH SOLA SCRIPTURA
Some thoughts on these critical matters over at Apprising Ministries.
December 15, 2008
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As one whom the Lord has given a shepherd’s heart, and that particularly for young people, I can’t read letters like the one below without getting angry. However, my anger isn’t directede at the people who write me letters like this – literally every day. No, my anger is at those who began and continue to perpetrate this Emergent Church rebellion against Sola Scriptura.
And if you don’t think this is what it is I refer you to Phyllis Tickle And The Emerging Church: It’s Not If Sola Scriptura Ends But When. These people have long ago abandoned fidelity to the Word of God in the Bible; simply, and willfully, refusing to acknowledge its authority. The tragic fact is that when evangelical leaders embraced such as Doug Pagitt and his postliberal pal Rob Bell they had no idea of the terrbile consequences to come.
The fact is that like a spiritual version of the Titanic the “unsinkable” evangelical community thought it would be able to toy with corrupt Counter-Reformation Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) passed off as Spiritual Formation by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard without any consequence.
Proud and arrogant allegedly “Protestant” evangelicalism boasted nothing could penetrate its outward shell of Christianity. Well, God is not mocked and what one sows they reap. Sow spurious spirituality gleaned from the antibiblical monastic traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism – which so grieved God He raised up the Protestant Reformation – and reap false converts who are blind spiritually.
Well, it grieves me deeply to receive emails like the one to follow from young people whose spiritual lives have been raped and pillaged through fables invented by purveyors of this Emerging rebellion against the Bible. And the sad truth is that these Emerging liars and dreamers have actually turned people away from the truth and instead turned them aside to myths as evidenced below.
What you’re about to read is really very typical of what many of us in the discernment camp receive from young people all over the world who’ve quite literally been brainwashed by these teachers of a counterfeit Christianity with pseudo-60’s anti-establishment skubalon, which actually originated within modern theology aka liberal theology. And what do we have now: Postmodern i.e. postliberal theology.
Now what follows has about as much to do with the historic orthodox Christian faith as did first century Gnosticism. And as a matter of fact, if you really look closely, you’ll see that the so-called spiritual formation of CSM is really nothing more than a repainted/reimagined version of Gnosticism itself:
Your critique on Rob Bell seems to be a critique on Christ himself. Typical pharisee language coming from the religious who are out of touch with God’s Spirit. Rob Bell and teaching like his helps to refocus God’s people on God’s love once again, instead of legalism and spiritual superiority. If you are blind to this, I’m sorry to say you may be blind by the very Spirit of God’s love (just like the pharisees). Pray hard. Look deep into your soul and the truth of scripture. Understand the context of scripture rather than the uneducated and mis-interpretted assumptions of any given word or phrase. Your words are hurting the cause of Christ and dividing the Body with slanderous accusations that are certainly not of Christ and the love of God’s Spirit. My heart aches at your hurtfullness and lack of understanding of what God wants us his people to wake up to. Please pray. Please put on the eyes of love. Please stop being scared the way the pharisees were when Christ came into their world… eventually crucifying him. I’m afraid you may be doing the same thing. Your religious structures are being shaken so that the radical love of Christ will break through once again. Wake up! please. Get rid of fear and embrace the radical love of Christ.
See also:
CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM AFFIRMS SALVATION BY JESUS
EMERGING CHURCH PASTOR DOUG PAGITT
IS ROB BELL EVANGELICAL?
ROB BELL RESOURCES FROM APPRISING MINISTRIES
PASTOR CHAD HOLTZ EXPLAINING CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM
December 15, 2008
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Those who espouse Christian Universalism as the true model of God’s Redemption plan for man, must ignore most of Sacred Scripture as well as misinterpret their so-called “proof texts” in order to make their suppositions. The Bible makes it very clear that the Universalist teachings of Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt are heretical.
(click here to read this post)
December 15, 2008
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This post needs no introduction.It is a textbook example of the rebellion against the scriptures which has been referred to in recent posts.
What is amazing to me is that those who hold to a liberal philosophy touting their “radically” inclusive, and more tolerant pov are actually the least loving in their approach.
December 15, 2008
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Wherefore the Word of God, who is also the Son of God, co-eternal with the Father, the Power and the Wisdom of God, mightily pervading and harmoniously ordering all things, from the highest limit of the intelligent to the lowest limit of the material creation, revealed and concealed, nowhere confined, nowhere divided, nowhere distended, but [...]
December 15, 2008
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Wherefore the Word of God, who is also the Son of God, co-eternal with the Father, the Power and the Wisdom of God, mightily pervading and harmoniously ordering all things, from the highest limit of the intelligent to the lowest limit of the material creation, revealed and concealed, nowhere confined, nowhere divided, nowhere distended, but [...]
December 15, 2008
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“Oh!” saith the Arminian, “men may be saved if they will.” We reply, “My dear sir, we all believe that; but it is just the if they will that is the difficulty. We assert that no man will come to Christ unless he be drawn; nay, we do not assert it, but Christ himself declares [...]
December 15, 2008
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“Oh!” saith the Arminian, “men may be saved if they will.” We reply, “My dear sir, we all believe that; but it is just the if they will that is the difficulty. We assert that no man will come to Christ unless he be drawn; nay, we do not assert it, but Christ himself declares [...]
December 15, 2008
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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
End of post.
December 15, 2008
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The first thing I’d like to post out in this post here at Apprising Ministries is that I strongly disagree with Chad Holtz; however as I told him in the combox of his post “Why Evangelize?”, unlike many others who likely hold the same view of Christian Universalism, I do respect him for at least having the integrity and intellectual honesty to speak of his beliefs plainly.
Please also know that this is in no way intended as a mockery of Holtz who, by way of introduction, tells us he is currently:
working on my MDiv at Duke Divinity School and have the honor of pastoring a wonderful rural church called Marrow’s Chapel United Methodist while I study. (Online source)
Holtz informs us that what follows has borne from discussions he’s been having recently and which have also led to posts such as “The Universal Good News” where he says:
The more I engage in conversations with people about the universal love God has for the world and his desire to redeem the world the more I find myself scratching my had at some of the objections that are raised or the assumptions leveled at people like myself. Whether I am being told that I have forsaken all talk of judgment or sin or that I should be ashamed to give “false hope” to the lost by espousing some philosophy like “I’m OK, you’re OK, we are all OK,” the point is clear:
Either I am a) not yet well versed enough in this matter to articulate my understanding of God’s universal reconcilation or, b) I am, as one friend puts it, “slippery,” or, c) as others have so eloquenty put it, I am still lost and need to just “read my Bible” and “find Jesus.” If I have a choice, I’ll take letter ‘a’… (Online source)
In “A word from Willimon and Barth” Holtz shares the below from William Willimon’s book Who Will Be Saved? where Willimon writes:
Barth believed that salvation is not the removal of the threat of judgment but the accentuation and fulfillment of divine judgment… Sometimes to be close to Jesus increases our uneasiness with Jesus. We know not only the one who is able to say “depart from me into the eternal fire…into eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:41-46) and, “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23). We also know the the one who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:1-6), the one who promised that he would “draw all people to himself” (John 12:32). We know that in Adam all have sinned, but now we know that the grace of Christ takes precedence over the sin of Adam(Rom. 5:12-21). Or, as Barth preached so eloquently, “God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that he may be merciful to all” (Rom 11:32). All. (Online source)
Those following AM know that I have recently been discussing the issue of Christian Universalism, sometimes referred to as Universal Reconciliation, e.g. in Rob Bell and Christian Universalism. And as I pointed out in Doug Pagitt and Christian Universalism we are not talking here about a Universalism teaching men will be saved regardless of their religious convictions. Rather what’s under discussion is a Christian Universalism (CU), which does see Jesus Christ as the only way that all men will eventually be saved.
There are various views but this CU is based upon a universal atonement of Christ on the Cross that sounds a lot like the following from Rob Bell, a friend of Pagitt’s, and quite literally the Elvis of the Emerging Church rebellion against the authority of the Bible:
So this is reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, is true for everybody. Paul insisted that when Jesus died on the cross, he was reconciling “all things, in heaven and on earth, to God.” All things, everywhere.
This reality then isn’t something we make come true about ourselves by doing something. It is already true. Our choice is to live in this new reality or cling to a reality of our own making. (146, emphasis mine)
Which brings us nicely back around to the “Why Evangelize?” post by Chad Holtz where he could very well be describing what Bell is talking about concerning this new ”reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, [which] is [already] true for everybody.” The following Holtz very succinctly sums up what my research into the soteriology of Christian Universalism shows me:
I believe scripture teaches us that salvation is about being caught up in the dream God has for the world. You and I, we who know this Jesus, we get to be part of that dream!! It is an amazing thing to know you are loved and forgiven by the creator of the universe and get to live this life in such an abundant way – with a purpose that speaks to the hope we have in this God who intends to renew and recreate the world – when the heavens and earth are joined together forever. How cool is that!!!! We get to be “co-laborers” with Christ as we work to build the kingdom with God “on earth as it is in heaven.” That is our mission. And to those of us who have been given much much will be expected (Luke 12).
We love others because we have first been loved by this God. We have come face to face with Love. That is what compels us to evangelize. Not to win “converts” that we can move from the category of “hell bound” to “heaven bound” but to recruit disciples who will be part of this dream that is God’s. Judgment will come. But that is God’s judgment – not ours. Our task is to point to the one who is Lord of heaven and earth and through whom all things are being reconciled to God. Our task is to tell the world the truth about themselves – they are saved, therefore, repent and live unto God. That is why we evangelize. (Online source)
For the record I will clearly state again that I strongly disagree with Christian Universalism believing it to be another gospel; and therefore, it is no gospel at all. That said, for those who wish to better understand this CU, which in all likelihood forms at least some part of the teachings of leaders in the Emergent rebellion against Sola Scriptura e.g. like Bell, Pagitt and Brian McLaren, I also will direct you to another post by Chad Holtz highly illustrative of CU.
In “The Truth About You” Holtz provides the written version of a sermon he preached using Romans 5:1-11 as his text. As I said previously, in my view, what Holtz is about to say could very well be describing what Bell means concerning the new ”reality, this forgiveness, this reconciliation, [which] is [already] true for everybody” he speaks of in Velvet Elvis. Also if you look on Holtz’ blog under “Great Sites” you will see the link to the Mars Hill Bible Church of Rob Bell, and listed under “Recommended Reading,” are Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis and Sex God:
This, friends, is the Good News of the gospel! This news is not dependent on whether you acknowledge it or not – it is a fact about you that you cannot run away from and will one day have to reckon with. The truth about you is that you are loved by the God who knew your name before you were ever born, who knows every hair on your head and who stepped out of heaven and all its glory to take the penalty of death on his own shoulders so that we can be saved through his life. You and I and all the world are being called to belong to the God who loves us so much that even while we were weak, while we were sinners and while we were even enemies of God, God rescued us. This is the truth about you today.
So if that is the truth about us, what then? A German pastor and theologian living during Hitler’s rise to power had a wonderful way of describing this truth about us and how we ought to respond. Karl Barth is his name and he is one of the pastors in Germany who spoke forcefully against Hitler and refused to back him. Barth asks us to imagine being in a bomb shelter for the duration of the great war. It is dark and crowded in the shelter below ground. One day, a day unlike all the rest, an amazing thing happens. The locked doors above fling open and an Allied soldier stands at the top of the ladder, light streaming in from around him.
He announces to all of us in the bunker that 6 months ago they defeated Hitler and freed the country and that we could come out now and live in the freedom that had already been won. Many will scamper up the ladder and run into the light of the day to live in this freedom that has been won for them. Sadly, there are some who will not. They will choose to stay in the darkness of the bunker, refusing to believe what is in fact true about them – they ARE free, yet they reject that identity and choose to live in bondage. It is a tragic thing to live in rejection of the truth about us and to snub the God who has done everything on our behalf to free us. (Online source)
See also:
CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM AFFIRMS SALVATION BY JESUS
EMERGING CHURCH PASTOR DOUG PAGITT
IS ROB BELL EVANGELICAL?
ROB BELL RESOURCES FROM APPRISING MINISTRIES
December 15, 2008
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Readers, for years I have been telling Christians about Share International and its claims that the “World Teacher”, international man of peace, Maitreya, is coming on the scene. I have quoted founder Benjamin Creme, a man I have interviewed, and told you how in recent days, the Presidency of Barack Obama is being heralded as the beginning of a new era of this supposed world teacher. Supposedly, Maitreya made an appearance in Kenya, back in the 80’s. See a picture here.
Very strangely, this press release initially was found on the Marketwatch financial website on December 12. It has now disappeared. You can see the cached version here. This is what the Share International press release said:
LOS ANGELES, Dec 12, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — For years the world has been filled with miracles of all kinds. In April 1995 Time magazine devoted an eight-page spread to its cover story on miracles and concluded: “People are hungry for signs.”
Look now for the biggest miracle of all. In the very near future a large, bright star will appear in the sky visible to all throughout the world — night and day.
Unbelievable? Fantasy? No, a simple fact. Around a week later, Maitreya, the World Teacher for all humanity, will begin his open emergence and — though not yet using the name Maitreya — will be interviewed on a major US television program.
In 1988, CNN and other media reported on Maitreya’s miraculous appearance to 6,000 people in Nairobi, Kenya, on Saturday, June 11. A week before the event, a remarkable sign occurred: “On Saturday 4 June a big, bright star was sighted, unusually brighter than ordinary stars,” reported Kenya Times editor Job Mutungi.
For over 30 years, artist, author and lecturer Benjamin Creme has been preparing the way for the emergence of Maitreya and his group, the Masters of Wisdom. In May 1982, Creme revealed at a packed press conference in Los Angeles that Maitreya had been living in the Asian community of London since July 19, 1977.
Awaited by all faiths under different names, Maitreya is the Christ to Christians, the Imam Mahdi to Muslims, Krishna to Hindus, the Messiah to Jews, and Maitreya Buddha to Buddhists. He is the World Teacher for all, religious or not, an educator in the broadest sense.
As a modern man concerned with today’s problems, Maitreya works behind the scenes of our changing world. The outpouring of his extraordinary energy has been the stimulus for dramatic developments on many fronts: the ending of the cold war; the break-up of the Soviet Union; the reunification of Germany; the ending of apartheid in South Africa; the growing power of the people’s voice, leading to demands for freedom and justice; and the worldwide focus on preserving the environment.
Maitreya’s message can be summarized as “share and save the world”. He will seek to inspire humanity to see itself as one family, and to create world peace through sharing, economic justice and global cooperation.
With Maitreya and his group working openly in the world, humanity is assured not only of survival but of the creation of a brilliant new civilization.
http://www.share-international.org
SOURCE Share International
###
Why did Marketwatch, a financial news site, place this up in the first place? Where did it go? I’d like some answers.
December 15, 2008
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Watch as John MacArthur faithfully stands up for the authority of the Bible.
Click here to view the embedded video.
December 15, 2008
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Over at Slice of Laodicea Ingrid Schlueter posts a clip of the Nooma DVD “She” by the Elvis of the Emerging Church rebellion against Sola Scriptura Rob Bell. Among other things Schlueter also points out:
After looking at an increasingly androgynous Rob Bell in this video, I’d say Bell doesn’t seem limited to a gender either. Any time the feminine side of God is touted by religious leaders, support for homosexuality is never far behind… (Online source)
You view this post by Ingrid Schlueter here.
See also:
ROB BELL AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM
ROB BELL IN A NUTSHELL: THE BIBLE
IS ROB BELL EVANGELICAL?
ROB BELL RESOURCES FROM APPRISING MINISTRIES
December 15, 2008
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Rick Warren is headlining at the 8th Annual Muslim Public Affairs Counsel convention coming up on December 20th in Long Beach, California. Think about that one for a moment. “New Era, New Role” is the name of the gathering. As a friend put it, “The puzzle pieces keep coming together.” Rick will not be there to proclaim Christ crucified, the only hope for the world. He will not be there to warn the Muslims that they worship a false god who will lead them to hell. He will give them instructions on how they can link arms with Christians to make the world a jollier, nicer place. How “God” has a purpose for every one of our lives. How we’re not here for ourselves. He’ll ramble on about the three-legged stool, and what he learned from his family’s health issues, and how we can all band together in this “new era” of hope and opportunity. In other words, he will be fulfilling, to a letter, the role of interspiritual unifier.
Rick Warren is doing what he has always done so well–he succeeds in obscuring the truth by giving half truths and promoting works righteousness for non-believers. At every turn, this man has had opportunities to lift up the name of Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross. He has chosen, instead, to promote a new, false gospel of good works, without Christ or the cross, while millions perish in their sins. This is why I will continue to warn, with the loudest voice, that Rick Warren is a false prophet with a very distinct role to serve. It is his very innocuousness that causes evangelicals to miss it. Rick’s congeniality, his guy-next-door appearance, and his folksy speech all serve his purposes well. Decades of biblical illiteracy and pastors preaching to felt needs has left the church wide open for this kind of deception.
December 15, 2008
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DOWN WITH SOLA SCRIPTURA
Over at Slice of Laodicea Ingrid Schlueter posts a clip of the Nooma DVD “She” by the Elvis of the Emerging Church rebellion against Sola Scriptura Rob Bell. Among other things Schlueter also points out:
After looking at an increasingly androgynous Rob Bell in this video, I’d say Bell doesn’t seem limited to a gender either. Any time the feminine side of God is touted by religious leaders, support for homosexuality is never far behind…
See also: ROB BELL AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM
ROB BELL IN A NUTSHELL: THE BIBLE
IS ROB BELL EVANGELICAL?
ROB BELL RESOURCES FROM APPRISING MINISTRIES
December 15, 2008
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The culture does not annul the Law of God; God’s Law stands whether the culture stands or not. What you are getting from the Cult of Liberalism is what is known as moral relativism. Do you understand that; moral relativism, which means you get away with whatever you think in your heart you can get away with…in effect, the end justifies the means…
And you’re right back to the Jesuits; the end justifies the means. No, it doesn’t. [There were] an awful lot of dead bodies in the Inquisition because they thought the end justifies the means—Jews and Christians… [The Cult of Liberalism] is theologically corrupt because it is Bibliologically corrupt. It denies the authority of Scripture; it ruins its own theology.
And it ends in immorality because the only way you could have gotten to this homosexual, morally relativistic garbage—which is today in our denominational structures—is if the leadership of those denominations denied the authority of the Scriptures and Jesus Christ as Lord. That is the only way you got there. And there is a remedy for this my brothers and sisters.
The remedy is to start asking questions. Start demanding definitions of terminology. Start insisting thst people tell you what they’re giving to before you give them a dime. Examine the people that occupy the chairs of theology in the seminaries, and if they are not given to the historic Christian faith—out with the rascals. Examine you churches, your sessions, your Baptist boards—and everything else—and find out who is in the Faith. (The Cult of Liberalism, available Walter Martin Religious InfoNet)
Dr. Walter Martin
December 15, 2008
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Rob Bell’s new Nooma video is a doozie. The video, entitled “SHE”, is introduced this way:
A lot of us are comfortable with male imagery for God. But what about female imagery for God? Is God limited to a gender?
After looking at an increasingly androgynous Rob Bell in this video, I’d say Bell doesn’t seem limited to a gender either. Any time the feminine side of God is touted by religious leaders, support for homosexuality is never far behind. After all, the thinking goes, if man is made in God’s image, why would he/she be limited to a gender either, right? The goddess, feminine theology, introduced here by Bell and also by the recent Shack novel, will go a long way to push this thinking forward.
Here’s a preview to “She” with Rob Bell.
Click here to view the embedded video.
December 15, 2008
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Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. (Isaiah 55:7-8)
At first, men may have very low ideas of sin. It is a trible, a mere mistake, a failure of judgment, a little going aside; but when the Holy Spirit begins to deal with them, sin grows to be an intolerable burden, a fearsome thing, full of horror and dismay. The more men know of the evil of sin, the more astounded they are that they ever should have found any pleasure in it or could have made any excuse for it.
Now, it is well when men begin to see the truth about themselves, for even if that truth breaks into pieces, it is well that they are delivered from the dominion of falsehood. Sin is great, and for that reason the sinner thinks it cannot be pardoned, as if he measured the Lord by his sin and fancied that his sin was greater than the mercy of God. Hence, our difficulty with men who are really awakened is to raise their thoughts of God’s mercy in proportion to their raised idea of the greatness of sin.
While they do not feel their sin, they say that God is merciful and talk very flippantly about it, as if pardon were a trifle. But when they feel the weight of sin, then they think it impossible that sin should be forgiven. In out text God in condescension helps the sinner to believe in pardon by elevating his idea of God. Because God is infinitely superior to man, He can abundantly pardon. (At the Master’s Feet, December 15)
Charles Spurgeon
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