“No servant can serve two masters.” (Luke 16:13, KJV)

O unclean man, how can you dream of salvation while you are defiled with filthiness? What, you and your harlot, members of Christ! Oh, you know not my pure and holy Master. He receives sinners, but He rejects those who delight in their iniquities. You must have done with the indulgence of sin if you would be cleansed of it. There is no going on in transgression and yet obtaining salvation: it is licentious supposition.

Christ comes to save us from our sins, not make it safe to do evil. That blood that washes out the stain brings with it also a hatred of the thing that made that stain. Sin must be reliquished, or salvation cannot be received. I spoke very plainly just now, but some here of pure heart little know how plainly we must speak if we are to reach some men’s consciences, for it shames me when I think of some who year after year indulge in secret sin, and yet they are regular frequenters of the house of God.

You would think they surely were already converted or soon would be when you saw them here, but if you follow them home, you would quite despair of them. O lovers of sin, do not deceive yourselves; you will surely reap that which you sow. How can grace reign in you while you are slaves of your own passions? How can it be while you are anchored to a secret sin that you should be borne along by the current of grace toward the desired haven of safety?

Either you must leave your sin, or you must leave all hope of heaven; if you hold your sin, hell will ere long hold you. May God deliver us all from the love of sin, for such a deliverance is salvation. (Charles Spurgeon, At the Master’s Feet, November 7)

Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”

It Is Not Love To Withhold The Truth 

In the Apprising Ministries piece Outlaw Preachers And The Emerging Church I show you concrete proof that this rather rapscallion bunch, currently slithering up all around head Outlaw—gay affirming “pastor” Jay Bakker—who’ve crowned themselves outlaw preachers, have now been fully embraced by the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church de-formation of the Christian faith—now morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC).

And as I also pointed out, these “out” laws actually end up as “no” laws because their gospel-less message over-emphasizes the grace of God, thereby neglecting the conviction of sin, which then ends up in an antinomianism. As you’ll see in a moment from out ignore-law preacher Khad Young, they are not unaware of that charge. Just this morning these ignore the Law preachers are busy retweeting something Young himself tweeted @outlawpreachers:

If the worst thing anyone says about you is that you love too much, you’re in good company. http://j.mp/2KTZiU #outlawpreachers (Online source)

I’m not sure who it is Young’s referring to, but being one who has written a bit concerning these preachers of a false gospel I can tell you, what I’m saying is they don’t love people—specifically GLBTQ people e.g. fellow outlaw preacher Adele Sakler of the EC group Queermergent—enough to tell them the truth about their sin. The link above takes us to Young’s July 9, 2009 post Love Too Much. In it he begins by asking the question: “How does one show grace without antinomianism?” He then shares his “secret”:

I would rather show too much grace than not enough. That usually takes me pretty far. (Online source)

My question is: Takes him pretty far toward what? Leaving people condemned within the prison of their sin (see—John 3:18; 3:36)? Since Young claims to be a minister of the Gospel, and is pastor of the Metamorphosis gathering he’s attempting to plant in LA, then he should know it’s not his place to decide he’s going to show ”too much grace”; if Young is one sent by Jesus Christ, then he is to be — holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict (Titus 1:9, NASB). 

This is not optional; the Church is not a democracy, and the Lord isn’t at all interested in how we may feel about such things. As pastors we are bound in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom to — preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction (1 Timothy 4:1-2, NASB). And being ready in season and out of season means, whether a given culture, or a given individual, likes what the Word says or not.

Straw Men, And Red Herrings, And Rabbit Trails! Oh My! 

In his post Young demonstrates a very common EC straw man concerning “legalism.” The genuine minister of God is not advocating legalism; and we are sorry that so many who gravitate toward this postliberal cult of Emerging/ent/ence Christianity—essentially a Liberalism 2.0—with postmodern theology replacing outdated modern theology, were raised around legalistic churches with a dead orthodoxy. However, this has given rise to way too many ”know-it-all” spiritual thirteen-year-olds who have now decided that “no one’s going to tell me what to believe.”

Well, I’m here to rain on your petulant parade, because what one believes grows out of what God Himself has clearly said in Scripture concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As John MacArthur said in his excellent book Hard To Believe, we can’t change the message because the message isn’t ours; it belongs to God. I have spoken personally with Young a couple of times, and while he seemed like a nice young man, he gave me absolutely zero indication that he was actually willing to listen to someone who’s been in the Gospel ministry for nearly as long as he’s been alive.

Sadly, one of the problems in attempting to dialogue with EC/no-law preachers, now embraced by the Emerging Church “conversation,” such as those Young has decided to become a part of—and therefore yoked with (see—2 Corinthians 6:14-18)—is that they are not really looking for actual dialogue with those like me who oppose their false doctrines. As such, the sooner they quit their hypocrisy, the better. They should at least be honest enough to admit they are, indeed, trying to convert people to their version of the Christian faith. So let’s lose all the blether like:

It’s not my job to convert, convince, or otherwise cajole anyone into believing anything. I’m just called to love them. As soon as I start judging, the Father wants me to back off. (Online source)

Right; out of one side of their mouth EC/no-law preachers say they don’t try and “convert, convince, or otherwise cajole anyone into believing anything,” but the fact is, this is a statement designed to do just that. Fine by me, but from five years of tracking this EC cult, whenever one tries to reason with such as these you’ll quite quickly find out the other side of that double-minded statement. I advise you to ignore the red herring: “As soon as I start judging”; no one’s telling anyone to be judgmental. That said however, the Christian is still to proclaim—not discuss—the Gospel with the unregenerate.

And unquestionably we are to do so just as loving, gently, patiently, and often, as we can; but proclaim it, we must. The genuine minister of Jesus already knows, “It’s not my job to convert, convince, or otherwise cajole anyone into believing anything.” So, with all of this in mind, no one could possibly model the Christian faith better than Jesus Himself does:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard [Jesus and Jewish leaders publicly] debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” (Mark 12:28)

The EC/no-law preachers will be hard-pressed to find anyone among them who could even carry the Apostle Paul’s parchments when it comes to preaching the Gospel as he did. His  friend Dr. Luke shares his eyewitness testimony:

Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them… As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures. (Acts 15:1-2; 17:2) 

Or even Apollos for that matter:

For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. (Acts 18:28)

If You Truly Love Someone You’ll Risk Telling Them The Truth, Even When It Hurts

In our examples from Scripture above, are we really to think that these sent by God weren’t trying to “convince” people to repent and believe the Gospel that Jesus died in our place for our sins, was buried, rising again the third day (see—1 Corinthians 15:1-2) and repentance for forgiveness of sins should be preached in the Name (means: character, power, authority) of Jesus Christ (see—Luke 24:46-47)? No, it becomes clear for those who wish to see, that each was following precisely what God has told the Christian to be doing:

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

Notice that ”otherwise cajole anyone into believing anything” doesn’t appear anywhere within these texts; the truth is, it’s a pet EC/no-law straw man used as an excuse for their worldly gospel because they — speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them (1 john 4:5). But specific to the homopression being perpetrated by EC/no-law preachers upon GLBTQ people, for whom Christ died, again I ask: Why No Condemnation For Christians Who Are Homopressive? As I said before, Because I Love Jay Bakker And GLBTQ People, I will continue to tell them the Truth.

Young goes on to say:

If I begin to convict someone’s conscience, I find the Holy Spirit already there doing what He does best. (Online source)

Really; but who’s recommending human beings convict anyone’s conscience? But if we’re not teaching someone what the Bible actually says, then they won’t be coming to saving faith in the first place, because it’s written: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10:17, NASB). Again Young, who you’ll see in Communion With Outlaw Preacher Khad Young has all the while been working very closely with Jay Bakker promoting this whole outlaw preachers shtick, confuses the issues and sets up a false definition of what it means to confront sin when he concludes:

Live by grace and God will give you the wisdom to know when to confront. I find that most often people already know when they are sinning and merely need to know that God still loves them. There isn’t really any confronting to do if confronting is defined as “pointing out their shortcomings.” They know. Love them. (Online source)

But who’s saying don’t love people? And, in his living by grace, why hasn’t God given Young the wisdom to confront his friend Jay Bakker concerning Bakker’s sin of lying to GLBTQ people and affirming them in their deviant lifestyle? Doesn’t Young love Bakker, and GLBTQ people, enough; obviously, no. Leaving the subject of God’s love aside here; the Bible tells us with crystalline clarity that all who unrepentantly practice sin, apart from Christ, will never enter the Kingdom of God:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, ESV)

In closing this for now, we can note at least a couple of things above: 1) That’s a pretty thorough list of sin, which even aside from homosexuality, covers everyone else as well; and 2) God says through Paul to His Christians — such were some of you; it’s past tense. Why? Because you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Young’s a college educated Lutheran, he should know Luther’s correct stance that the Christian is simultaneously sinner and saint; and yet, declared righteous because of Christ’s work on the Cross.

Be careful not to go running down EC/no-law rabbit trails, which were orginally cut by legalists who showed so many of these being drawn into this Emergence Christianity cult of a postliberalism, with its reimagined social gospel of good deeds, a bad example. Yes, we do feel sympathy for these people injured by others who may not have lived their profession of the Christian faith correctly. However, to jettison the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ in favor of love of mankind (i.e. themselves, 2 Timothy 3:2) isn’t the answer. I implore you to turn your back on those who don’t love enough to tell the Truth.

See also:

JAY BAKKER RECEIVES AWARD

HOMOPRESSION IS AT LEAST AS BAD AS HOMOPHOBIA

ROB BELL, PETER ROLLINS, AND QUEERMERGENT’S ADELE SAKLER

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GOOD NEWS

THE SIN OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS DIFFERENT

EX-HOMOSEXUAL FRIEND OF APPRISING MINISTRIES 

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINNING FOR MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM

Warning: Apostasy In Your Mirror Closer Than You Think

In posts like Meet Outlaw Preachers and Communion With Outlaw Preacher Khad Young recently Apprising Ministries has introduced you to a rather rapscallion bunch, who’ve crowned themselves outlaw preachers and who are now slithering up all around head Outlaw, gay affirming “pastor” Jay Bakker. As I previously pointed out, this growing, largely Biblically illiterate, group of  *cough* “preachers” is currently quite busy Turning God’s Grace Into An Idol. 

For more on what is meant by that the interested reader is referred to ELCA, Gospel Reductionism, And Homosexuality; but simply, these “out” laws actually end up as “no” laws. The point being, their message over-emphasizes the grace of God neglecting the conviction of sin, which ends up in an antinomianism. But what’s this got to do with the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church de-formation of the Christian faith—now morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC)?

I’m glad you asked; what’s important for you to know is that, as it continues swallowing up mainstream evangelicalism, it’s also embracing these self-styled outlaw preachers as well. We take for example a couple of EC “Voices” who were supposedly revealing “the way the Christianity will be changing in coming days” at the recently concluded Christianity 21, which was put on by heretical Emerging Church theologian Tony Jones and his equally heretical quasi-universalist Emergent Church pastor Doug Pagitt.

One of them is “queer inclusive” ELCA “pastor,” and former “professional f**k-up,” Nadia Bolz-Weber. In the AM post Outlaw Preacher Nadia Bolz-Weber you’ll see she has announced herself as an outlaw preacher and has already appeared on the Outlaw Preachers precast, hosted by the aforementioned Khad Young, which was the forerunner to the Outlaw Preachers podcast mentioned below. As a matter of fact Bolz-Weber is in this debut episode along with Bakker’s assistant “pastor” Vince Anderson.

And then yesterday EC pastrix Makeesha Fisher, who will be attending the Outlaw Preacher’s Reunion being held at Bolz-Weber’s church in May 2010, tweeted the below because she wanted to make sure those following the errors of this Emerging/ent/ence form of Christianity knew about the:

Outlaw Preachers podcast episode 1 http://post.ly/Bmer (Online source)

Evangelical leaders can sleep on if they want to, but some of us will continue to attempt to make you aware that the warped and toxic teachings of such as these have been dripping into your Youth Groups and Young Adult classes for years now. As I informed you e.g. in Ex-Homosexual Friend Of Apprising Ministries one of the pet doctrines of these vipers is attempting to convince us that the deviant lifestyle of having sexual relations with another of the same sex, i.e homosexuality, is a viable one for the evangelical Christian.

And this is why AM has been continuing to warn that there’s a very dark and threatening same-sex storm right now approaching hurricane force which is currently only slightly off the coast of your own local church.

See also:

EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY—A POSTLIBERAL CULT SLITHERS INTO EVANGELICALISM

JAY BAKKER FEATURED ON OOZE.TV OF EMERGING CHURCH

HOMOPRESSIVE AS JAY BAKKER

DID NADIA BOLZ-WEBER JUST CALL JESUS “A SCHMUCK”?

MAKEESHA FISHER: SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA BE CRASS

MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM NOW ON THE RAPID SLIDE TO APOSTASY

THE SIN OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS DIFFERENT

Just when we were getting discouraged…wondering why our dreams were fading, God opened double-doors so wide…that peeking through them makes us dizzy. Now we scramble to be ready to walk through those doors… (bold his)

And concerning Door #1 he announces The Exchange Conference:

In San Diego, June 17-18, 2010, truthXchange and the Resurgence will co-sponsor the Exchange: The Truth and the Lie. Mark Driscoll and I will be joined by Francis Chan, Kevin DeYoung and others in a church that holds 3,500! We never dared think that big. We will be sending out information when registration for this conference is available.

This continues work begun together in a free workshop and lunch back on January 8, 2008 at Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church Ballard Campus that featured Peter Jones.

The one below is published by permission of its author:

Pastor Ken,

You’ve directed a lot of your attention to identifying the contemplative practices coming from the “emerging church” people (and rightly so), but what about the “Silence and Solitude” (chapter 10 in Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life)?  Most conservative churches have this book in their library and/or for sale in their bookstore. Prof. Whitney still promotes ’silence and solitude’.  He also promotes a method of prayer (praying through scripture), in which you meditate on every word in a verse and pray about whatever pops into your mind as you contemplate that word.

He teaches this in the book, as well in seminars. If I remember he is the head of a ‘Spiritual Formation’ discipline/program at his seminary.  I’m not saying that he actively promotes contemplative mysticism (he will speak against it), but some of what he has written appears to head in that direction. Whitney taught his ‘praying through Scripture’ method at the 2008 Personal Freedom Outreach Conference on Biblical Discernment.  Gary Gilley told me that he attended this session and that he did not think it was biblical. 

Whitney teaches it in his book “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” (so it’s not new to him).  I listened to Whitney’s interview with Mark Dever in which he stated that of the two (Foster and Willard) he was probably closer to Willard.  He did discuss some contemplative methods and said that they were wrong, but he never linked Foster or Willard to them.  I listened to a March 2009 interview with Whitney where he was promoting ’silence and solitude’ (and thus his book).  It really seems that he has not changed his position on any of this. 

In the book he teaches that the ‘Spiritual Disciplines” are channels of grace and that the Lord expects them of us.  They are the “scriptural ways” that we discipline ourselves for godliness, according to him.  Some of the Spiritual Disciplines (so identified in the book) include: “watching”, spiritual direction, simplicity, confession, journaling, sacrifice, affirmation, celebration…  I looked up “watching” and it is definitely linked to contemplative mysticism, as is ’spiritual direction’.  Again, thanks for addressing the subject.

A  pastor I know used to work with John MacArthur and I think he met Whitney there. It’s been my experience that most of those who know him give him a larger ‘benefit of doubt’, as it were.  They don’t seem to want to take his writing at face value and/or to read him critically.  I responded to one of Al Mohler’s blogs one time outlining some of the problems I have with Whitney’s teaching/writing.  I didn’t get a response. 

I also forwarded Bob DeWaay’s article/review to Tom Schreiner and Bruce Ware at SBTS.  Dr. Schreiner was nice enough to respond.  I think he fell into the, “I know him and he’s a nice guy, so I don’t think he’s teaching that” camp.  He did admit that he had not read “Spiritual Disciplines…” in a number of years, and that he might have some problems with it now, that he didn’t have when he read it before.  He also said that he didn’t have the time to read it right now with the amount of attention that it would need to do it right.  Dr. Ware never responded.

Hello AM Reader,

Thank you for contacting Apprising Ministries. Above you ask about Donald Whitney. May I publish your email; it would give me another opportunity to point people to articles at AM where Whitney’s been discussed e.g. these below:

THE TERMINOLOGY TRAP OF “SPIRITUAL FORMATION”

BOB DEWAAY ON DONALD WHITNEY AND SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES

You are correct, these are valid concerns and need to be brought to light.

Blessings,

Ken Silva, pastor-teacher

The basic issues underlying the concerns raised above have also been addressed within recent AM articles such as Protestant Contemplative Spiritual Director N. Graham Standish, Move Over Pastors For Spiritual Directors/Gurus, and Corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism Gaining Ground In Evangelicalism. I’ve said before that I’m a former Roman Catholic whom God, through His grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, delivered me from apostate Roman Catholicism into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

So this issue of the increasing inroads into mainstream evangelicalism made by corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) ala Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster—and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard—who are spreading this spurious Spiritual Formation hits close to home. It’s beyond question that CSM, and it’s main vehicle of Contemplative/Centering Prayer—which is actually meditation in an altered state of consciousness—flowered in the antibiblical monastic traditions of the Roman Catholic Church.

Now you have the proper background as you read the following by Dr. Gary Gilley, pastor of Southern View Chapel, is adapted from Mysticism – Part 2 of his excellent 5 part series Mysticism, which is also used with permission:

Medieval mysticism has managed to survive within small pockets of Roman Catholicism for centuries but has gone largely unnoticed by evangelicals. It is true that a few groups, such as the Quakers, have always kept some aspect of mysticism within range of evangelical awareness, and elements of mystical practices have actually thrived in charismatic circles right down to the ranks of Fundamentalism. But classical mysticism was virtually unknown in Evangelical circles until 1978 when Quaker minister Richard J. Foster published Celebration of Discipline, the Path to Spiritual Growth. Hailed by Christianity Today as one of the ten best books of the twentieth century and voted by the readers of that magazine as the third most influential book after the Bible, Celebration of Discipline has blown the doors off evangelicals’ understanding of spirituality.

What Foster has done, in essence, is reintroduce to the church the so-called “masters of the interior life” as he likes to call the Medieval mystics. He declares that they alone have discovered the key to true spiritual life and slowly, over the last few years, convinced multitudes that he is right. It seems to me that Foster’s recipe for Christian living has been simmering in the pot for over two decades but as of late has caught fire. New forces and new players have popularized Foster’s ideas to a new set of Christians and it seems to be rapidly taking hold. This is due to the efforts of organizations such as Youth Specialties, numerous Bible colleges, and a rash of books and speakers, all introducing mystical practices and theology to our young people and our young ministers. Many of these, having grown up in churches that no longer major on the teaching of Scripture and are thus lacking biblical discernment, are easy prey for spiritual sounding techniques, especially those that promise such personal and life changing encounters with God. Before we look into the disciples of Foster, we should first get a good overview into Foster’s key teachings.

Celebration of Discipline alone, not even referencing Foster’s other writings and teachings and ministries, is a virtual encyclopedia of theological error. We would be hard pressed to find in one so-called evangelical volume such a composite of false teaching. These include faulty views on the subjective leading of God (pp. 10, 16-17, 18, 50, 95, 98, 108-109, 128, 139-140, 149-150, 162, 167, 182); approval of New Age teachers…[e.g. Thomas Merton]; occultic use of imagination (pp. 25-26, 40-43, 163, 198); open theism (p. 35); misunderstanding of the will of God in prayer (p. 37); promotion of visions, revelations and charismatic gifts (pp. 108, 165, 168-169, 171, 193); endorsement of rosary and prayer wheel use (p. 64); misunderstanding of the Old Testament Law for today (pp. 82, 87); mystical journaling (p. 108); embracing pop-psychology (pp. 113-120); promoting Roman Catholic practices such as use of “spiritual directors,” confession and penance (pp. 146-150, 156, 185); and affirming of aberrant charismatic practices (pp. 158-174, 198).

However, all of these are minor in comparison to the two main thrusts of Foster’s book and ministry… Foster introduces to the unsuspecting reader literally dozens of mystics, some from the Christian tradition, some not. Many of these, he assures us, have traveled to depths of spiritual experience that we moderns cannot even imagine. Foster wants us to know that these individuals knew the secrets to an encounter with God. If only we would follow their pattern we too could enjoy what they enjoyed… As concerning as many of Richard Foster’s teachings and mentors are, far more disturbing are the two main thrusts of his spiritual formation system. The first is his use of what he calls the “Spiritual Disciplines.” The second is closely related, but deserves its own paper. I speak of what is called [Contemplative/Centering Prayer], which is rapidly becoming the rage throughout much of evangelicalism, especially among the youth. (Online source)

See also:

CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY GROWING WITHIN MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM

CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY OF RICHARD FOSTER ROOTED IN THE EASTERN DESERT AND THOMAS MERTON

DISCIPLINES TO DECEPTION IN SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

THE TERMINOLOGY TRAP OF “SPIRITUAL FORMATION”

“INWARD JOURNEY” ESPOUSED BY RICHARD FOSTER IS A FORM OF DIVINATION

MEDITATING ON CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER

DR. AL MOHLER: IS TRUTH REALLY PLURAL?

Religion is, shortly, the reaction of the human soul in the presence of God. As God is as much a part of the environment of man as the earth on which he stands, no man can escape from religion any more than he can escape from gravitation. But though every man necessarily reacts to God, men react of course diversely, each according to his nature, or perhaps we would better say, each according to his temperament. Thus, broadly speaking, three main types of religion arise, corresponding to the three main varieties of the activity of the human spirit, intellectual, emotional, and voluntary. According as the intellect, sensibility, or will is dominant in him, each man produces for himself a religion prevailingly of the intellect, sensibility, or active will; and all the religions which men have made for themselves find places somewhere among these three types, as they produce themselves more or less purely, or variously intermingle with one another.

We say advisedly, all the religions which men have made for themselves. For there is an even more fundamental division among religions than that which is supplied by these varieties. This is the division between man-made and God-made religions. Besides the religions which man has made for himself, God has made a religion for man. We call this revealed religion [Christianity]; and the most fundamental division which separates between religions is that which divides revealed religion [from God] from unrevealed religions [of man]. Of course, we do not mean to deny that there is an element of revelation in all religions. God is a person, and persons are known only as they make themselves known — reveal themselves. The term revelation is used in this distinction, therefore, in a pregnant sense [i.e. important meaning]. In the unrevealed religions God is known only as He has revealed Himself in His acts of the creation and government of the world as every person must reveal himself in his acts if he acts at all. In the one revealed religion [Christianity God has revealed Himself also in acts of special grace, among which is included the open Word.

There is an element in revealed religion [of God], therefore, which is not found in any unrevealed religion [of man]. This is the element of authority. Revealed religion comes to man from without; it is imposed upon him from a source superior to his own spirit. The unrevealed religions, on the other hand, flow from no higher source than the human spirit itself. However much they may differ among themselves in the relative prominence given in each to the functioning of the intellect, sensibility, or will, they have this fundamental thing in common. They are all, in other words, natural religions in contradistinction to the one supernatural religion which God has made.

There is a true sense, then, in which it may be said that the unrevealed religions are “religions of the [human] spirit” and revealed religion is the “religion of authority.” Authority is the correlate of revelation, and wherever revelation is—and only where revelation is — is there authority. Just because we do not see in revelation man reaching up lame hands toward God and feeling fumblingly after Him if haply he may find Him, but God graciously reaching strong hands down to man, bringing him help in his need, we see in it a gift from God, not a creation of man’s. On the other hand, the characteristic of all unrevealed religions is that they are distinctly manmade. They have no authority to appeal to, they rest solely on the deliverances of the human spirit. As Rudyard Kipling shrewdly makes his “Tommy” declare:

The heathen in his blindness bows down to wood and stone,
He don’t obey no orders unless they is his own.

Naturally it makes no difference in this respect whether it is the rational, emotional, or volitional element in the activities of the human spirit to which appeal is chiefly made. In no case are the foundations sunk deeper than the human spirit itself, and nothing appears in the structure that israised which the human spirit does not supply. (excerpt from Mysticism and Christianity, emphasis mine)

Benjamin Warfield

See also:

CORRUPT CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM GAINING GROUND IN EVANGELICALISM

DISCIPLINES TO DECEPTION IN SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

THE TERMINOLOGY TRAP OF “SPIRITUAL FORMATION”

“INWARD JOURNEY” ESPOUSED BY RICHARD FOSTER IS A FORM OF DIVINATION

MEDITATING ON CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER

KEN SILVA ON IRON SHARPENS IRON: EMERGING CHURCH GURUS AND ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTICISM IN PROTESTANT EVANGELICALISM

THROUGH ROB BELL “THE GREAT ENLIGHTENED ONES” TELL US MAN HAS DIVINE GREATNESS

For example, I’m not so sure one needs to point out that poison berries are pleasing to the eye. With this in mind, I will bring to your attention a review of Manifold Witness: The Plurality of Truth, the latest book by John Franke, a leading theologian in the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church de-formation of the Christian faith—now morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC).

Dr. Mohler begins:

The question of truth stands at the very center of the postmodern challenge… [postmodernism is] deeply subversive of the very concept of truth. Indeed, the rejection of truth in any knowable and objective form is one of the greatest challenges postmodernism presents to the Christian faith… the more general effect of postmodernism has been to insinuate a very dangerous epistemological humility that can undermine confidence that any truth can actually be known. (Online source)

He then goes on to point out:

In Manifold Witness, Franke offers a skillful review of postmodernism and its understanding of truth… In the end, Franke’s understanding of the Bible falls desperately short of evangelical conviction… we are not actually bound by the words of Scripture. Instead, the church is to engage the Bible, trusting that the Holy Spirit will lead the community into a new understanding. Thus, the emerging church would be freed from accountability to the actual words and propositional statements of Scripture. The community can simply claim that it is being led by the Spirit into a new and different understanding…

Of course, this is the very argument asserted by Protestant liberals over the last two centuries. Franke adds postmodern concepts and language to an old argument. The new liberalism, chastened by postmodernism for its extreme individualism, now puts theological revisionism in a communal context. The result is the same — the subversion of biblical Christianity… The Protestant liberals of the 19th and 20th centuries often offered words of criticism that orthodox believers and theologians needed to hear.

Nevertheless, their subversion of biblical truth and their embrace of heresy rather than orthodoxy established these theological liberals as adherents of a religion fully distinct from Biblical Christianity. Now,  the leading edge of the emergent church movement follows the very same trajectory. Manifold Witness is a fascinating book, but John Franke’s proposal is a recipe for theological disaster. In this book, a new postmodern form of theological liberalism comes fully into view. (Online source)

Which is why I’ve pointed out many times that this EC is actually a cult of a postliberalism metastasizing as a spiritual cancer throughout the visible church. Circa 1985 Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989), author of the classic The Kingdom of the Cults, was lecturing on what he was calling “The Cult of Liberalism.” Remember, liberal theology was also known as “modern theology.”

Why; because it was an attempt to harmonize the Christian faith with the modern culture of its day. Can the big name evangelical leaders really not see the obvious parallel; postmodern [postliberal] theology is the same stupid attempt to harmonize the Christian faith with the postmodern culture of our day. And if they can; e.g. how have the mytic musings of the Elvis of the EC Rob Bell now become mainstream?

See also:

THE EMERGING CHURCH HIGHJACKING EVANGELICALISM

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINNING FOR MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM

EMERGING CHURCH TRANSFORM

THE GOSPEL-LESS GOSPEL OF ROB BELL

IS ROB BELL EVANGELICAL?

ROB BELL ABSOLUTELY WRONG ABOUT SCRIPTURE

SHANE HIPPS, CO-PASTOR WITH ROB BELL, SAYS ALL RELIGIONS VALID

“For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” (Habakkuk 2:3)

Mercy may seem slow, but it is sure. The Lord in unfailing wisdom has appointed a time for the outgoings of His gracious power, and God’s time is the best time. We are in a hurry; the vision of the blessings excites our desire and hastens our longings; but the Lord will keep His appointments. He never is before His time; He never is behind.

God’s word is here spoken of as a living thing which will speak and will come. It is never a dead letter, as we are tempted to fear when we have long watched for its fulfillment. The living word is on the way from the living God, and though it may seem to linger, it is not in reality doing so. God’s train is not behind time. It is only a matter of patience, and we shall soon see for ourselves the faithfulness of the Lord. No promise of His shall fail; “it will not lie.” No promise of His will be lost in silence; “it shall speak.” What comfort it will speak to the believing ear! No promise of His shall need to be renewed like a bill which could not be paid on the day in which it fell due-”it will not tarry.”

Come, my soul, canst thou not wait for thy God? Rest in Him and be still in unutterable peacefulness.

Charles Spurgeon

See also:

CHARLES SPURGEON: MAINTAIN THE DIFFERENCE

AS THE LORD MAY LEAD

LIFT UP YOUR EYES!

IT’S WELL PAST TIME TO GET READY

READ THE BIBLE, PRAY, AND DO WHAT IT SAYS

THERE IS NO SPIRITUAL SWITZERLAND

IRRECONCILABLE HOSTILITY

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self.

Seeking To Avoid Preaching The Gospel

The Scripture above shows us that the spirit of the age in which we now live is inversalism because mankind is in love with itself. A perfect example is the video below, which the Massachusetts Bible Society wanted to make sure we see:

It’s Really All About God – Samir Selmanovic (Video) http://bit.ly/32AkMW (Online source)

In posts like Samir Selmanovic: God Is Father Of All Religion previously Apprising Ministries has introdcued you to Selmanovic, a member of the Coordinating Group for Emergent Village , itself a key cog in the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church de-formation of the Christian faith—now morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC).

Selmanovic also contributed a chapter called “The Sweet Problem of Inclusiveness: Finding Our God in the Other” in An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, a fairly recent book edited by heretical EC theologian Tony Jones along with his equally heretical quasi-universalist pastor Doug Pagitt. In it Selmanovic shared the following myth:

Can it be that the teachings of the gospel are embedded and can be found in reality itself rather than being exclusively isolated in sacred texts and our interpretations of those texts? If the answer is yes, can it be that they are embedded in other stories, other peoples’ histories, and even other religions…

God’s table is welcoming all who seek, and if any religion is to win, may it be the one that produces people who are the most loving, the most humble, the most Christlike. Whatever the meaning of “salvation” and “judgment,” we Christians are going to be saved by grace, like everyone else, and judged by our works, like everyone else…

For most critics of such open Christianity, the problem with inclusiveness is that it allows for truth to be found in other religions. To emerging Christians, that problem is sweet… Moreover, if non-Christians can know our God, then we want to benefit from their contribution to our faith. (192, 195,196) 

But “non-Christians” i.e. the unregenerate can’t know God; Jesus Himself said — “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). And I will admit, this kind of pablum from Emerging Church pastor-teacher Samir Selmanovic—sounding hauntingly like something straight out of Unitarian Universalism—would be great…if…Jesus had never said:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, ESV) 

See also:

SAMIR SELMANOVIC

FAITH HOUSE MANHATTAN: PROJECT OF APOSTASY BY SAMIR SELMANOVIC

ROB BELL AND CHRISTIAN UNIVERSALISM

SHANE HIPPS: OSAMA BIN LADEN INDWELT BY HOLY SPIRIT

EMERGING CHURCH TRANSFORM

THE EMERGING CHURCH HIGHJACKING EVANGELICALISM

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINNING FOR MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM

Apprising Ministries readers remember that Jones and Pagitt are the dubious duo behind the recent EC apostasia-palooza Christianity 21 (c 21). Yesterday Jones wanted to make sure we knew about TransFORM as he tweeted:

 Launching today – TransFORM : an international, trans-denominational missional community formation network: http://ow.ly/yE8z (Online source)

Turns out it was “Kingdom Journalist” Steve Knight aka ”Steve K. [who] created this social network.” For those who don’t know, these are simply more of the usual suspects working closely with Emergent Village., a key cog in this Emerging/ent/ence takeover of apostatizing evangelicalism.

I’m also pleased to point you to 5 pt. Salt as well because Joel Taylor has done us a real service as he’s gone into more detail turning over some more rocks. In his fine post TransFORM: The Devil & His Emergent Church In Your Neighborhood Taylor shares what his own research shows scurried out into the light concerning this TransFORM .

If you’re at all familiar with this postliberal cult of Emergence Christianity then you’ll recognize many of the names on the Leadership Team of this TransFORM, as well as the people in the following video, e.g. gay affirming “pastor” Jay Bakker, as well as C 21 “Voices” pastrix Nanette Sawyer, Makeesha Fisher, Julie Clawson, and ELCA pastrix Nadia Bolz-Weber, shown below:

TransFORM: Missional Community Formation from TransFORM on Vimeo.

See also:

THE EMERGING CHURCH HIGHJACKING EVANGELICALISM

CHRISTIANITY 21 AND ALLEGED INNOVATIVE VOICES IN THE FAITH: PHYLLIS TICKLE

ROB BELL, PETER ROLLINS AND PHYLLIS TICKLE TOGETHER ADVANCING EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY

CHRISTIANITY 21 AND ALLEGED INNOVATIVE VOICES IN THE FAITH: NADIA BOLZ-WEBER

THE NEW CHRISTIANS WITH CHRISTIANITY WORTH BELIEVING—NO SOLA SCRIPTURA: YES, WOMEN PASTORS AND QUEER CHRISTIANS

ROB BELL, PETER ROLLINS, AND QUEERMERGENT’S ADELE SAKLER

THE NIGHTMARE BEGINNING FOR MAINSTREAM EVANGELICALISM