Article on Emmaus Walk/Cursillo

This is a older article but the information is still good.
I would caution you to never do anything in secret or be part of something that tell you to not reveal its secrets whether its bieng a Freemason or going on a Emmaus Walk or Cursillo my mom did all this stuff in the 60's and the fruit is a belief in what she calls the divine in herself. I love my mom very much but I see what the long term effects of the occult masked as Christianity can do to a person.-Tim


NAMB official cautions churches to be wary of renewal weekends

Baptist Press,
December 29, 1999 By Todd Starnes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--When several members of a Georgia Baptist church were invited to attend a weekend of spiritual renewal, their pastor, Paul Mason, didn't give it a second thought. After all, "Tres Dies" (Spanish for three days) sounded like it was a normal, weekend getaway sponsored by a mainline religious denomination.
But a few months after they returned from the retreat, Mason realized he had a problem on his hands at Central Baptist Church, Douglasville. "When I asked them how the retreat went, they told me it was a secret. They couldn't talk about what happened during the weekend," he said. Mason noticed that couples who had attended the Tres Dies retreat were secretly inviting other couples to attend the program. After the church's Sunday school superintendent went to the retreat, he abruptly resigned his church position without reason. And within six months, Mason said the couples who had initially attended Tres Dies completely ostracized themselves from the congregation. The result, Mason said, was a divided church.
Determined to learn all he could about Tres Dies, Mason uncovered some unsettling information about a spiritual movement that is raising concern in the Southern Baptist Convention. Tres Dies is one of three major spiritual renewal movements that emerged from the Cursillo Movement. Cursillo is a three-day learning, sharing experience of living in a Christian community or a short course in Christianity.
The Cursillo Movement originated in the Roman Catholic Church. However, many of the current Cursillo Movements are run by Protestant denominations. The Three major movements in this country are Tres Dies, a charismatic movement with ties to the United Methodist Church; "The Emmaus Walk," sponsored by the UMC; and the Lutheran-affiliated "Via De Cristo."
The weekend retreats aren't just aimed at adults. Many Southern Baptist teenagers have attended the UMC's youth Cursillo called, "Chrysalis" and that has caused the North American Mission Board to sound a word of caution. "If Southern Baptist teenagers want a deeper relationship with Christ, a three-day weekend is just a quick fix. These retreats often create more problems for a church than they resolve," said Tal Davis of NAMB's interfaith witness team.
Mason agreed. "The Emmaus Walk and Chrysalis were adopted and adapted to fit the Methodist denomination and it works well for them. I make my strongest appeal that Baptist teenagers should receive their spiritual training through Southern Baptist organizations," he said.
Davis said a number of Southern Baptist churches have contacted his office with stories of problems resulting from the retreats. "It's very strange. Some church members have done extreme things, selling possessions, becoming secretive. It's almost like the weekend retreat has become the focus of their spiritual lives."
George Osment, a lay leader at First Baptist Church, Scottsboro, Tenn., said the spiritual intensity is so great that leaders of one Tres Dies retreat refused to allow a camper to leave. "This person wanted to go home but they wouldn't let him. He saw what was going on and wanted to leave," Osment said. "They formed a circle around him and prayed over him." Osment said the secrecy surrounding the retreat has caused division in their congregation.
"It's very sad," he said.
Said Davis: "Anything that involves a measure of secrecy sends up a red flag. There's no need for anybody in a Christian church to keep anything secret. Everything should be out in the open."
Davis said the Cursillo movement is intent on getting as many people out of the church to attend as possible. "There is an elitist mind-set and that can become divisive. It's a problem," he said.
And while Davis stressed that he doesn't believe the Cursillo movement intentionally tries to undermine the local church pastor, he warned that even some pastors have been blinded by the retreats. "Their focus is no longer on the gospel or evangelism, rather the experiences they've had." Mason noted that the Cursillo movement does good work. "However," he said, "There are points at which Cursillo and Southern Baptists clash. Let me stress that before any member of a Southern Baptist church goes to a Cursillo, the pastor needs to go first."
One area of concern, Mason said, is the potential for participants to manifest charismatic tendencies. All participants are recruited by those already in the movement, and thus it does not appear to be open to everyone, he said.
Jean Johnson Green, the international assistant director for the Walk to Emmaus, said that while the retreat may have some problems, the intentions are pure. "Our purpose and vision is to create Christian pilgrims who can go back and strengthen local congregations," she said. People attending the retreats are called pilgrims and the retreat locations are called communities.
The Walk to Emmaus was created in 1977 as the Upper Room Cursillo. It was licensed with the Roman Catholic Cursillo. In 1982, the United Methodists broke from the Catholics and created a retreat that would steer away from Catholic theology, Green said.
Tres Dies was actually a Methodist Cursillo that broke off in the 1980s. And while it is a separate Cursillo, the structure is similar to the Walk to Emmaus.
Green admitted there have been some problems with the retreats-specifically the veil of secrecy. "We are doing everything we can to change that policy," Green said. "The secrecy is part of the tradition of the Cursillo. "I suppose people were more trusting back in the early days of the retreats," she said. "We have moved into the ages of the cults and it [the secrecy] has become problematic for us."
Green stressed there isn't anyone keeping the participants from revealing what happened on the retreat.
As for the accusations of forcibly keeping participants from leaving, Green said it is not a widespread problem. "Yes, there have been those instances, but I want to stress there are very few. Our motive is if we can just keep them at the retreat, they will be changed," she said. "Again, this is another tradition that needs to be changed. It was a bad decision on the part of the local Cursillo leadership."
Davis said it's important for churches to be alert. "The other side of this is that our churches need to be aware and concerned about the spiritual training of the membership," he said.
Out of 78,000 pilgrims attending 370 Emmaus Walk and Chrysalis retreats annually, Green said only one person has left the weekend retreat. Green said she was also aware of local church concerns. "We stress to our pilgrims that we aren't better than anyone else. The world is still the same. Our hearts are different. We encourage the pilgrims to go back to their congregations lovingly," she said.
"There are some people, who are baptized by the Holy Spirit, who think they are on a higher plane. When we find out about this, we immediately contact the community leaders and tell the pilgrim this is inappropriate behavior," she added.
As for Southern Baptists, Davis said the best method of spiritual renewal is through discipleship. "We have some wonderful materials, from 'Experiencing God' to 'MasterLife,'" Davis said. "A balanced approach to spiritual growth involves discipleship over a period of time, using sound, biblical principles and materials."

New article by Marsha West

GNOSTICISM, CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER & OTHER CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS


By Marsha West
March 30, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
Christians are being exhorted to put their minds on hold through meditation and take a step into the supernatural realm. Is it biblical to connect with the supernatural realm? In an interview with Emergent leader Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI, he made the following comment: "Central to the Christian tradition, for thousands of years, have been disciplines of meditation, reflection, silence, and breathing. It was understood that to be a healthy person, to be fully connected with God, and fully centered you would spend significant parts of your day in silence–breathing, meditating–praying allowing the Spirit of of God to transform you and touch you." So ordinary people spent significant parts of their day in silence, meditating?
Even if it were true, nowhere in the Bible are God's people encouraged to stop using their minds and to connect with the supernatural world. Believers are to worship God with their heart, strength, mind and soul. In an altered state of consciousness the mind is not engaged, it's blank!
For over two thousand years (not "thousands of years") Christians have followed a whole host of unbiblical practices that God regards evil. But that hasn't stopped untold numbers from participating. Example: Even though God forbids fortune telling (divination) countless people, including Christians, have visited mediums to "look into the future."
For over 5,000 years meditation has been practiced by Eastern religions and has become mainstream in Western culture. It's true, as Bell says, that Christian's have been practicing meditation for centuries. Christian meditation came about when monks began reading the Bible slowly. As they read they would ponder the deeper meaning of each verse. This is called "divine reading," or lectio divina. As a result of their Scripture meditation the monks found themselves spontaneously praying. Their prayer would move them to a wordless focus on God. They called this "wordless love for God" contemplation. More on contemplative prayer later.
Lacking a biblical worldview and an understanding of Scripture is the main reason Christians are dipping into the forbidden waters of Eastern meditation to "know the unknowable."
Contemporary Christianity is following "every wind of doctrine." Believers are listening to what their "itching ears want to hear." Regrettably, their itching ears are tuned to neo-gnostic heresy. One of the obstacles the Apostles faced were false teachers, the Gnostics being the most prevalent of the bunch. Gnosticism was condemned as a heresy in the first century church. Here's the crux of Gnosticism:
"Christian Gnosticism is the belief that one must have a "gnosis" (from Greek "Gnosko," to know) or inner knowledge which is mystical knowledge obtained only after one has been properly initiated. Only a few can possess this mystical knowledge, limiting the number of those "in the know". … Gnosticism today seems to provide a lot of the form and color for the New Age portrait of Jesus where Jesus is seen as the illumined Illuminator: one who serves as a cosmic catalyst for others' awakening. As such it is as false and heretical as the Gnosticism of the first century and needs to be roundly condemned for the heresy that it is."[1]
Most of us think it's cool to have inside information. Makes one feel important. Even special. Who wouldn't want to cultivate a special experience with God that no one else has?
Sadly, Christians involve themselves in New Age practices like yoga meditation so they'll "be in the know."
You say, "My church isn't into any of that New Age stuff." No, but you'll read about the New Age stuff in books purchased in your local or online Christian bookstores. You'll also see an abundance of false teaching on Christian blogs all over the Internet.
Or you'll hear name it and claim it prosperity preachers on TV acting as if the Almighty is actually whispering into their ear as they impart their false teaching to millions of viewers.
You can't even escape Gnostic heresy in modern Christian music. You could be singing it in church! Listen to the lyrics of so-called worship songs and be amazed! And be sickened.
Last, but not least, the Oprah Winfrey Show if rife with Gnosticism. Those who tune into Oprah's program (a number of gullible Christians do) will hear her guest's share their esoteric mystical experiences.
It's all about experience. "The Gnostics thought that one must directly experience the spirit to learn the truth, this being apart from the word. Stepping over into the supernatural, experience becomes the teacher and gives them real knowledge. What was and is now being taught is spirit to spirit communication that is completely outside the Biblical revelation given by the apostles."[2]
This fits liberal "Christianity" to a tee. The Word of God is out of date so experience becomes the teacher. In his essay "What are we talking about?" DA Carson points out that some leaders in the Emergent Church movement claim "changing times demand that fresh questions be asked of Scripture, and then fresh answers will be heard. What was an appropriate use of Scripture under modernism is no longer an appropriate use of Scripture under postmodernism." This is a classic case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater! But I digress.
The "knower" believes that the masses are not in possession of spiritual knowledge, and only the truly "enlightened" can experience God. Thus the reintroduction of contemplative, aka centering, prayer into the Church.
How is centering prayer different from biblical prayer? Centering prayer is a meditative practice where the focus is on having a mystical experience with God. Individuals choose a sacred word or symbol (such as God, Jesus, Father) and repeat it over and over during the twenty-minute exercise. Sitting comfortably in a meditative posture, with back straight and eyes closed, the sacred word is introduced as the symbol of consent to God's presence within. Should outside thoughts emerge in your mind, you must return "ever-so-gently" to your sacred word. At the end of your prayer time you're to remain in silence with eyes closed for a few minutes.
Sounds like a good way to relax, doesn't it? Trouble is, contemplative prayer has no Scriptural support whatsoever. Moreover, it's the exact opposite of how the Bible instructs believers to pray. Read the prayer of Jesus in Luke 11:1-4 below.[3]
"In that day you will no longer ask me anything," said Jesus to the apostles. "I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete" (John 16:23-24).
Paul says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6, NLT).; "Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured" (Col. 4:12).
Biblical prayer advocates engaging your mind, even wrestling in your mind, as did Epaphras, not emptying your mind! Yet Pastor Rob Bell encourages Zachary Lind to do just that. Following is a snip of an interview Lind did with Bell. (For clarity I edited out phrases like "like," "you know" and "I mean."):
Interviewer Lind: … the book you recommended to me a few weeks ago [by] Richard Rohrr…talked about contemplative prayer … [I read] half of the bo book and still don't really know what his definition of that is. But he starts getting into it. And he says … you have to at least sit … past 20 minutes.
Bell: Yeah, yes.
Lind: It takes a certain amount of time before you're sort of selfish things get aired out. Like you might be all about you for 20 minutes, but then after that it's like, you're kind of a blank slate. You know…
Bell: Uh-huh.
Lind: You're kind of ready to intake anything. He talks a lot in that book about a beginners mind and … being kind of like a child and coming up to Jesus, and really just ready to be written on. And … maybe I'm wrong but I kind of feel like from what I hear … there's a lot of that going on …
Bell: Yeah, well you have to essentially discipline your life around forming the depths, and that takes just phenomenal discipline that I don't even pretend to have.[4]
At this point the conversation drifts away from contemplative prayer. Bell gave no warning with regard to the dangers of meditation even though Lind admits that he's ready to take anything, "Ready to be written on." Written on by whom? The Bible warns of deceiving spirits! "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 Thess. 2:9-10).
After listening to the interview what you will come away with is that Rob Bell is leading Christians into dangerous Eastern religious beliefs and rituals. Convinced they're having an esoteric experience with "God," many Christians are actually embracing Hinduism.
Biblical prayer is comprehendible communication with God. Prayer is not an esoteric, yoga meditation. Granted, many contemplatives are ignorant of the true nature of meditation—but such ignorance is inexcusable and indefensible! The truth about the dangers of meditation is readily available in books and on the Internet. Contemplative spirituality, like Gnosticism, promotes pursuing a magical mystical experience with "God."
Overlooked are passages such as Joshua 1:8: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." This command is from God! He wants His people to meditate on Scripture; He doesn't want them emptying their minds. Leaders in the Emergent movement have succeeded in persuading those who practice centering prayer to put aside God's Word and focus on a blank wall!

Will practicing Eastern mysticism really help to open you up to a greater spiritual experience with God, or just the opposite? Since God opposes mysticism in any form, perhaps contemplatives are really experiencing visits from demonic spirits. Meditate on that!
In 1 Cor. 2:15-18 Paul informs us that we have "the mind of Christ." In Romans 12:2 he reminds us that God's people are not to kowtow to this world, "but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In the words of William Hendrickson, "Even if we or a holy angel must be the object of God's righteous curse, were any of us to preach a gospel contrary to the one we humans previously preached to you, then all the more divine wrath must be poured out on those self-appointed nobodies who are now making themselves guilty of this crime."
Footnotes:
1, What is Christian Gnosticism? - Got Questtions website2, The Gnostic Jesus, a Gnostic Christianity - Let Us Reason website3, Luke 11:1-4 - Bible Gateway website4, Interview With Rob Bell - Finding Rhythm website
© 2007 Marsha West - All Rights Reserved

Consider these passages of scripture

As we study the movements of those who are bringing new age practices into the church lets consider the following passages of scripture.

Colossians 2:16-22
"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations. which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

The new age rituals I speak of are the so called spiritual disciplines many of which are recycled Catholic rituals.Catholics do promote the traditions of their church to the level and authority of scripture.
These occult rituals are being promoted by men such as Dan Kimball. Tony Jones, Erwin McManus and a host of others who have wormed their way in unaware into our midst. They deceive a host of undiscerning, deceived Christians.
As well as deceiving once solid Bible teachers such as David Jeremiah and Josh Mcdowell both contributors to Christan Worldview Network. An organization lead by Brannon Howse.

We really need to be on alert these days and be faithful Bereans test the spirits and check everything taught against the light of scripture.

Study your Bibles-
Tim

Being Steadfast in a Mad Mad World

Being Steadfast in a Mad Mad World


Many today see faith as a single event for salvation or a set of beliefs that makes one orthodox. It is these and more. The concept presented in the Scripture is God’s work in the believer producing faithfulness toward Him through a lifetime. It is development of our growth in trusting God and His work in our lives. This faithfulness begins by building our life on a foundation that cannot be moved, shifted or crumble. It is a continuance of what is first given as a seed that has germinated to life, which is to be nurtured, cared for and fed correctly so that it will one day stand on its own and produce abundant fruit. ( Jn.15). This is why Paul says: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:12-13)

The principle that is found in the Old Testament is certainly is developed in the New--

Ps 112:7: “He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
The Hebrew word kuwn means established or fixed.

In Col.1:22-23 Paul speaks of reconciliation “in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight--if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Steadfast -Greek- hedraios- firm, immovable, steadfast. When people believe another gospel they are no longer steadfast in what was known to them as the truth.
This has become a problem in our day as so many are pursuing an improvement of their spirituality, to grow buy other means than what god has given.

1 Cor 15:1-2 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-- unless you believed in vain.”
Paul makes it clear how important this all is to continue and finish the race in the faith- in the gospel.

Paul even uses two words that mean nearly the same thing to convey an even stronger meaning 1 Cor 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Heb. 3:14: “For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end” and this is said for good reason, because we have an enemies, three of them specifically- the world the flesh and the Devil; and we are the targets of that enemy-

1 Pet. 5:8-9:“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”

We all share being targets of his assaults, he is the grand master of disguise, an invisible terrorist who waits for an opportune moment. In the meantime he works powerfully in the sons of disobedience as he moves the world unbeknown to him to the grand finale. And we are watching this play out today on the world scene and inside the church.

Prophecy, both generally ands specifically is being fulfilled right before our eyes: (Mt.24:4-5,11,24)
The cult Growing in Grace (hardly indicative of what these people believe) members are following the example of their leader, Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, who first had claimed to be John the Baptist reincarnated, then Jesus and changed his mind; now he wants to be something more important – so he recently declared himself the Antichrist. He has gotten the stylish tattoo of 666 and SSS on him and his thousands of followers are following this pied piper as their stairway to heaven. But it will really be leading them to the pit.
No one in recent history has been this bold or twisted. We can only imagine what it will be like when the real one appears. This man claims to prove he is not false by not do miracles (an argument of the opposite side) but the real antichrist will do miracles to wow the people to believe he is the genuine article.
(Col.2:23; 2 Pt.2:1; 2 Thess. 3:13) We have a rash of visions and trips of people claiming to go to heaven and hell. Not likely, not even biblical but it certainly tickles the ears of those who care less for the truth already written in the word. So the deception deepens in the churches that already have the foot to the floor with an alternate Christianity. The Devil is brainwashing people with counterfeit supernatural stories and experiences. From this are false prophecies about His return, about what will take place in the end. It is silly and stupid at the same time yet you can’t laugh when so many people follow the call of these false prophets.

The we have had a media attack on the faith by discovery channel-“the burial tomb of Jesus”. Wrong Jesus and wrong address.
(1 Pt.3:15 Jude 4-5As the church becomes more dumbed down with its experiences of supernatural counterfeits we have lost the ability and inclination to think and be ready for this massive attack by Gnostics skeptics and haters of the message of Jesus.
Now who is there to stand against this intellectually, biblically, historically and archeologically? Only a few can because so few are equipped.

Nothing got Jesus angrier than seeing the leaders abuse the people and make money off them from their worship and sacrifice. Twice he turned over the tables to show his disgust, once in the beginning of his ministry and once at the end.

Ministrywatch criticizes 28 Christian groups, including some of the most successful televangelists in America, all for having little or no financial transparency. to see the full list- (http://www.ministrywatch.com/mw2.1/pdf/tw1102.pdf in contrast to 500 Christian charities and ministries.

In response to a life of sacrifice Paul Crouch, however, disagrees. In the past, he has fired back, charging that "these critics want us to be humble and poor like Jesus. … Let me tell you how subtle that is from Satan himself. If God's people are poor as Job's turkey, who's going to pay to send the gospel to the ends of the earth?"
(http://www.abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2976684&page=1
Philanthropic Donations Come From Your Heart, but Where Do They End Up? Ex-Money Manager Says 'Enough!' to Secretive Christian Ministry Spending)
The fact is that TBN get just as much money, if not more, from the poor than the wealthy. Many elderly give a portion of their social security checks to them. They take advantage of the widows and orphans despite anything they say or do otherwise.
The apostles turned the world upside down without money. Peter said, silver and gold I have not but what I do have I give to you” and the man got up and walked. There fact that they think TV is the means for the gospel when we are told to all go as teach and disciple people wherever we are. The lie is that we must be rich or poor to preach the gospel. It doesn’t matter. Paul was in jail preaching and seeing results, so Crouch’s argument for the rich is moot. We need workers willing to live sacrificial lioves not send in their funds to TBN and its TV programming.
AUnity made on earth by man
Thirty-six churches and national Christian organizations representing over 100 million Christians will be the founding members of Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A. (CCT), which is said to be the only venue where all the major groupings of churches come together and also the most extensive ecumenical effort in U.S. History.

They are willing to set aside differences over theology and other issues to strengthen their Christian witness in the world. Have we heard this before?
Enslin echoed a similar belief in the power of unity. "When people of different denominations pray together and work beside each other, differences lose the power to divide," he said.

The inauguration service is scheduled for, where else, Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070123/25360_Broadest_Faith_Groups_to_Inaugurate_Christian_Churches_Together.htm
Yes, differences lose the power to divide is certainly the point -- especially when the differences are not in the Bible and neither is their unity. Unity without correct Bible doctrine is a mix of dangerous proportions. Babel’s spiritual unity can be used as a powerful force for the world, but not for God.
And this unity extends often outside the church-i.e. Rick Warren’s global peace plan which is to solve the worlds greatest problems by uniting the secular with religions to accomplish its goals. A bed of nails made with good intentions, yet they do not get the point.

Religious multi-culturalism is the flavor of the day –
Interfaith seems to be the answer to our conflicts. A unity based on a God they have all agreed upon despite their religious differences. This semblance of unity is more important then the substance by which it is held. The world unites to worship God- the problem- he is not the true God. If these peoples God is the same God – then there are no false gods. This is not what Gods says?

(Mt.24:6,7) The Muslims are fighting a religious war and we are still fighting a conventional one. Yet politics and weapons are not sufficient to overcome this enemy. This is a spiritual war, a war that I have no doubt will enter the tribulation period and run through it to its end.
Time to wake up- we are fighting Islam, a religion and ideology not just terrorism, all the terrorism is from Muslims. In al Quaida films we see them training the terrorists to shoot a people being represented by a cross. But we are told this is not a religious war.

We all know what the news media portrays the religion of Islam as peaceful and would not think of doing such atrocities, but their history proves otherwise.

Considering all the attacks on American soil I find it amusing that the media can they tie in violence with video games but they see no violence with the religion of Islam. It is a matter of how blind one wants to make themselves to the facts. During the period from 1981 to 2001 there were 7,500 terrorist attacks worldwide, all brought to us by the religion of peace.
This is a snippet of the last five years- here in America.

9/11/01
Washington, DC
184
53
Nearly 200 people are killed when Islamic hijackers steer a plane full of people into the Pentagon.
9/11/01
Shanksville, PA
40
0
Forty passengers are killed after Islamic radicals hijack the plane in an attempt to steer it into the U.S. Capitol building.
9/11/01
New York, NY
2772
251
Islamic hijackers steer two planes packed with fuel and passengers into the World Trade Center, killing hundreds on impact and eventually killing thousands when the towers collapsed. At least 200 are seriously injured.
3/19/02
Tuscon, AZ
1
0
A 60-year-old man is gunned down by Muslim snipers on a golf course.
5/27/02
Denton, TX
1
0
Muslim snipers kill a man as he works in his yard.
7/4/02
Los Angeles, CA
2
0
Muslim man pulls out a gun at the counter of an Israeli airline and kills two people.
9/5/02
Clinton, MD
1
0
A 55-year-old pizzaria owner is shot six times in the back by Muslims at close range.
9/21/02
Montgomery, AL
1
1
Muslim snipers shoot two women, killing one.
9/23/02
Baton Rouge, LA
1
0
A Korean mother is shot in the back by Muslim snipers.
10/2/02
Wheaton, MD
1
0
Muslim snipers gun down a program analyst in a store parking lot.
10/3/02
Montgomery County, MD
5
0
Muslim snipers kill three men and two women in separate attacks over a 15-hour period.
10/9/02
Manassas, VA
1
1
A man is killed by Muslim snipers while pumping gas two days after a 13-year-old is wounded by the same team.
10/11/02
Fredericksburg, VA
1
0
Another man is killed by Muslim snipers while pumping gas.
10/14/02
Arlington, VA
1
0
A woman is killed by Muslim snipers in a Home Depot parking lot.
10/22/02
Aspen Hill, MD
1
0
A bus driver is killed by Muslim snipers.
8/6/03
Houston, TX
1
0
After undergoing a religious revival, a Saudi college student slashes the throat of a Jewish student with a 4" butterfly knife, nearly decapitating the young man.
4/13/04
Raleigh, NC
1
4
A Muslim man runs down five strangers with a car.
4/15/04
Scottsville, NY
1
2
In an honor killing, a Muslim father kills his wife and attacks his two daughters with a knife and hammer because he feared that they had been sexually molested.
6/25/06
Denver, CO
1
5
Saying that it was 'Allah's choice', a Muslim shoots four of his co-workers and a police officer.
7/28/06
Seattle, WA
1
5
An 'angry' Muslim-American barges into a local Jewish center and shoots six women, one of whom dies. The Media makes it seem that he has mental problems.
10/6/06
Louisville, KY
4
1
In an 'honor' attack, a Muslim man rapes and beats his estranged wife, leaving her for dead, then savagely murders their four children.

Besides 9/11,What do all these have in common besides a certain religion- they were downplayed by the media as not having anything to do with the religion. That there was some other cause at work that had these Muslims attack people viciously.
Wake up America, this is how it begins (not to mention all the attacks on other countries). We may have prevented explosions like in England but make no mistake about it- we are under attack by those who are in the Muslim religion. And it will only increase.

The Bible says "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service’ (John 16:2). They did this to the early Christians and it will increase in the end. Think of what you hear from the Imams, they must rid the earth of the infidels and unbelievers. Is this their opinion? No it is written in the Qu’ran, it is their religious duty.

But God never said to kill his own people (Jews or Christian) as Islam says. This religion is being used to remove the people of God from the earth and from the land of Israel, thus trying to prevent specific prophecies from coming to pass on the end times (i.e. the temple, Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel--and to present a false Christ to the nations, their Mahdi who will make the world an Islamic government.
Now we have a new hostage crises not unlike the Iran Embassy Hostages in 1979. Mahmoud Ahamdinejad has stated many times that he can start a war or escalate one this will hasten the appearance of the Mahdi – their Messiah.

See what they say behind closed doors http://www.shoebat.com/movie.html


While we have time left let’s focus on the big picture without ignoring the details—as Paul asked the church:
“meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one”( Col. 4:3-6).

God's blessing to all His saints
In Christ's service,Mike Oppenheimer
Let Us Reason ministries

Special Report from Lighthouse Trail

This ties in with the series-


Mar 31, 2007

Right before our very eyes mainstream Christendom is converging with the New Age movement. In 2007, two events are scheduled, and if they occur without a strong public response by Christian leaders, then we will have entered into a full-fledged paradigm shift, and a line will have been crossed that will very likely mean no turning back. The first event will take place in August. It is the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It is no news that Willow Creek has been plunging head first into mystical spirituality (known also as spiritual formation or contemplative spirituality) for some time. Ruth Haley Barton's and John Ortberg's spiritual formation curriculum for Willow Creek has helped to immerse thousands in contemplative spirituality. Willow Creek has also been a catalyst for the emerging church movement. But by all outward appearances they have at least worn a cloak of evangelical Christianity. That might be changing. While the speaker line up for the Leadership Summit this year includes contemplative proponent John Ortberg (that's indicting enough), it also includes former president Jimmy Carter. Carter's message for the event is "Building Humanity." According to an interview, Carter believes that everyone will be saved, with or without faith in Christ, so "building humanity" has an interspiritual premise for Carter. In other talks, he has stated things like:
There is an intense hunger among Christians around the world for a healing of the differences that now separate us from one another.I think the main impediment is not knowing each other, not understanding each other, not recognizing that basic truth ... that every religion emphasizes truth and justice and benevolence and compassion and generosity and love.1In the past, Willow Creek has not hesitated in lining itself up with those who promote mystical spirituality. In their 2005 Leadership Summit, speakers included Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard. Warren promotes contemplative spirituality as well as the emerging church (not to mention his interspiritual efforts 2, 3 ), and Blanchard has been consistently endorsing and promoting eastern meditation for over twenty years.4 At last year's Leadership Summit, Willow Creek invited meditation promoter Jim Collins (who incidentally teamed up with Mikhail Gorbachev, Peter Drucker, and Ken Blanchard a few years ago for a global peace conference). Collins wrote the foreword for a 2005 book called My Highest Goal (by Michael Ray). Here is an excerpt from that book:
I attended a meditation-intensive day at an ashram [Hindu spiritual center] to support a friend. As I sat in meditation in what was for me an unfamiliar environment, I suddenly felt and saw a bolt of lightning shoot up from the base of my spine out the top of my head. It forced me to recognize something great within me ... this awareness of my own divinity. (p. 28) And it is this very notion of "the awareness of my own divinity" that should cause any discerning Christian great concern. It is the heart of both New Ageism and contemplative spirituality, and it is the belief that divinity (or a divine spark as some refer to it) is within every human being, and he or she just must realize it.

Speaking of a divine spark, the second line-crossing event will take place in September, and the theme is: "It Only Takes a Spark." It is Ken Blanchard's Lead Like Jesus conference. Why is this one so significant? Well, since 2005 when it came out that Blanchard was a New Age sympathizer,5 leaders who were teaming up with him (like Rick Warren and David Jeremiah) backed right off and halted their public appearances with Blanchard. It may have looked to many that Warren and Jeremiah saw the fallacy of Blanchard's spirituality and decided to remove themselves from such influence. But neither Warren nor Jeremiah made any public stance against Blanchard's spiritual affinities. In fact, both of them defended Blanchard (and incidentally publicly scorned Lighthouse Trails at the same time). Now, two years have passed, and this year's Lead Like Jesus will be including Erwin McManus. What's the big deal about that, some may ask? Isn't McManus an emerging church leader? Wouldn't such a teaming up be expected? Yes, but must we also expect major Christian leaders to promote McManus when his spiritual proclivities are so obvious? Laurie Beth Jones is also one of the speakers at the 2007 Lead Like Jesus event. Jones, who has participated in the very New Age Business and Consciousness conference promotes New Age ideologies. Listen to a few of her statements:
My personal mission and vision is to Recognize, Promote and Inspire Divine Connection in Myself and Others. ( *) Jesus regularly visualized the success of his efforts ... "I always do what pleases God." ... Was this conceit? Or was it enlightened creativity and self- knowledge? ... Jesus was full of self-knowledge and self-love. His "I am" statements were what he became. (p. 7 & 8 of Jesus CEO) I proudly say I AM. I shape my own destiny. What I believe, I become. What I believe, I can do. (From back of Jesus CEO)Today, two years after our report that Blanchard was teaming up with Rick Warren yet was heavily promoting the New Age, Blanchard is still endorsing New Age authors and teachers (like his recent foreword for Jon Gordon's new book), and he is still part of the Hoffman Institute (a think tank for New Age thought). And yet, Erwin McManus sees nothing wrong with speaking at Blanchard's conference, and Christian leaders (such as the Assemblies of God Southeastern University and CCN) see nothing wrong with promoting McManus. But McManus by his own admission says that his spirituality is based on mysticism. Of his book, The Barbarian Way, he says it has a core of mysticism. And according to McManus' friend, Jon Gordon, McManus had some positive things to say about The Secret, which is a film based on the channeled works of spirit guides. In truth, it makes sense that McManus is part of Blanchard's conference. But it makes no sense that Christian leaders are promoting Erwin McManus. Thus, 2007 is a significant year. With Willow Creek's Leadership Summit and Blanchard's Lead Like Jesus, bold steps are being taken to help bring about a convergence that will lead many people down an interspiritual road, which will ultimately deny the gospel message of Jesus Christ.And in case you are wondering (like we are) how such delusion could take place within Christendom, perhaps the words of New Ager Wayne Dyer are right:

When enough of us align in a certain way, reaching a critical mass, then the rest of us will begin to be affected and align that way also. (Interview from Science of Mind magazine, 01/93) And perhaps the words of Alice Bailey (who personified the New Age movement) were right also when she said that the Age of enlightenment (when everyone realizes they are one with each other and God) will come, not around the Christian church but rather through it (see chapter 6, A Time of Departing).Whether the predictions of these New Agers are right or not, the words of the following man are absolutely right. With courage and humility (knowing we are saved by grace and walk in His strength), let us take heed to these words below and warn others of the present spiritual danger:

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie. (The apostle Paul, II Thessalonians 2:1-11)

Contemplate This

Please Contemplate This
by T.A. McMahon,
The Berean Call Newsletter, 03/00
Suppose you were introduced to a promotion promising a direct line of communication with the Creator of the universe.
Let's say you're initially skeptical, but you also find the idea appealing. After all, who wouldn't want to be able to hear from and speak with God as though He were on one's cell phone? As you listen to the deal being pitched and peruse some of the literature, you realize that the key to this is the use of a ouija board. You push the literature aside and head for the exit.
Virtually every evangelical Christian would quickly reject the proposal, especially if he were aware that a ouija board is an instrument of divination, a device for contacting spirit entities, which the Bible explicitly condemns (Dt 18:10). The basic problem with divination is that, even though the diviner is sincerely attempting to contact God, the entities with which one ends up communicating are demons (posing as Jesus, God, angels, departed loved ones, aliens, gods, etc.).
Discernment regarding the above example is for the most part, as my kids would say, "a no brainer!" However, that's rarely the case in today's spiritual marketplace. In particular, the "new and improved" or "revived" ways of communicating with God promoted among evangelicals are highly deceptive and very seductive. God has given His Word and His Holy Spirit to help us discern what is of Him and what is not. It's particularly disturbing that a lethal portion of the "what is not" has entered the arena of our evangelical youth. Under the guise of "spiritual exercises that invite direct experiences with God," and with the assurance that they are "classical forms of biblical meditation," growing numbers of our "church" kids are being led unwittingly into the occult.
As I researched what I consider to be an extremely dangerous "spiritual" trend in the body of Christ, my empathy and concern deepened for the young people and youth pastors involved. I have little doubt that the motivation common to most of them arises from a desire to know God more intimately. That is not only what every biblical believer wants but, more importantly, that's what the Lord wants for us. Furthermore, no truly born-again Christian can deny the experiential aspect of his personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So what exactly is the problem? God's way is being forsaken for man's way—and worse.
Programs and practices rife with occult methodologies and techniques have been in the works at churches and youth ministries around the country: Taizé, Lectio Divina, The Labyrinth (prayer walk), Renovaré, guided imagery, Walk to Emmaus, Cursillo, Centering Prayer, Ignatian Awareness Examen, The Jesus Prayer, and The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, to name but a handful. Two significant reasons for the appalling growth of these and other similar activities are that 1) they have an inside track with established parachurch organizations, and 2) increasing numbers of evangelicals are acquiring a taste for things Catholic.
Mark Yaconelli is co-director of the Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project (YMSP), an Eli Lilly (makers of Prozac) endowed program which is introducing contemplative spirituality to young people throughout the country. He is also an adjunct professor of youth ministries at San Francisco Theological Seminary. His father is Mike Yaconelli, head of Youth Specialities, a major evangelical organization serving "more than 80,000 youth workers worldwide through training seminars, conventions, videos, magazines, and resource products."
One Youth Specialities seminar is "Sabbath: A [Contemplative] Spiritual Retreat for Youth Workers," which Mark Yaconelli leads. In an article for the popular, youth-oriented Group magazine, Mark states, "The YMSP approach to youth ministry pushes for a return to God-awareness...[noting] that middle school and senior high kids are hungry to encounter God directly and eager to learn contemplative spiritual practices."1
In another article subtitled "How Spiritual Exercises Can Change Your Kids," he tells of implementing contemplative methods he first learned at "a weeklong retreat at a nearby [Roman Catholic] convent":
Our [YMSP] project churches were introduced to a number of classical exercises from the Christian tradition: Biblical meditation forms like Lectio Divina and Ignatian contemplation; icon prayers and other visualization prayers; chanting; guided imagery; biblical imagination...centering prayer; and prayers of discernment.2
While I'm not questioning Yaconelli's sincerity or integrity, nevertheless his statement needs both clarification and correction for accuracy's sake. By "Christian tradition" he cannot mean biblical Christianity; these are exercises from "ancient" Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. And, as will become clear, the "biblical meditation forms" he refers to are the antithesis of the meditation presented in God's Word.
Let's begin with the term "contemplative," which is the prevalent name for the movement. Whereas contemplation normally means to think about something intently or to study it carefully, practitioners of the various contemplative methods do the opposite. The movement's goal is to get people beyond thinking and understanding and into the realm of experiencing. Adherents are taught that while reason has some value, truly knowing God can only come through experiencing Him. This approach is, at best, a corruption of what the Bible says both about reason and how a believer's personal relationship with Jesus Christ is developed. At worst, the contemplative exercises lead to the false Eastern mystical belief that man can achieve literal union with God, i.e., be absorbed into Him or It.
Lectio Divina (or "holy reading") is one of the basic exercises of these disciplines. A phrase or single word is chosen from the Bible. However, rather than aiding understanding through one's dwelling on its plain meaning, the word or words become mediumistic devices for hearing directly from God. The word or phrase is then "meditated upon" (meditatio) by being slowly repeated again and again in the fashion of a mantra (Jesus condemns as heathen "vain repetitions" in prayer [Mt 6:7]). It is then prayed (oratio) as an incantation, thereby allegedly healing painful thoughts or emotions. Finally, the repeated word is used to help clear one's thoughts (contemplatio), supposedly making one an open receptacle for personally hearing God's voice.
These biblical words are selected not for the purpose of attaining objective understanding—the "contemplator" has almost no interest in the meaning, grammatical use or context of the verses, which simply become a mechanism to aid in listening for subjective communication from God. It should be obvious (especially for evangelicals!) that this is not how the Bible instructs us to learn or teach the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. Furthermore, classic contemplative concepts reject doctrine as a basis for knowing God and for receiving His salvation. Many of the movement's "spiritual masters" blame western rationalism (with its penchant for reason and emphasis upon words) for nearly destroying "our ability to intuitively experience our Creator."
While the contemplative movement is troubling in its antibiblical philosophies, it is downright alarming in its potential for demon involvement. Its methodologies have been the very stuff of occultism throughout the ages. A tutorial of this movement is The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a primer for learning occult visualization (hailed by shamans as the most potent method for contacting spirit entities). In one of dozens of such exercises Ignatius instructs the reader "to picture...Christ our Lord....standing in a lowly place in a great plain about the region of Jerusalem, His appearance beautiful and attractive."3 Though this may seem innocent, even spiritually gratifying, in reality it's impossible. No one knows what Jesus looks like. Morever, this is visual idolatry (Ex 20:4-5), and a divination technique that opens the door to demonic spirits. We personally know former Jesuit priests (Ignatius founded the Jesuits) who report that they had been demonized by this method. The real Jesus will not respond, no matter how sincere the practitioner. Through the imagination the visualized Jesus (or any other personage) often takes on a life of its own and brings the practitioner into occult bondage. (See The Seduction of Christianity or Occult Invasion for more information on shamanic visualization.)
Centering prayer, a foundational contemplative technique, is a "Christianized" version of Eastern mystical meditation. Stripped of its deceptively biblical sounding terminology, it's no different from that which yogis have practiced for millennia; neither are its occult effects. For example, an instructor in the movement (who mentors two Catholic priests) tells of his recurring problem with his meditation breathing exercise:
The Spirit would flow into my heart and start burning and I couldn't get it to stop. The burning would proceed into my lungs and I could not take a deep breath for days, let alone do the breathing exercises....Do not get the idea that I was doing the exercises too forcefully. I wasn't. It was just that the Spirit had become unleashed and I was encouraging it to flow more forcefully than my nervous system could handle. I sought medical help but the doctor couldn't find any reason for the problem. How do you tell a doctor that the Spirit has really been rough on you lately and you want to learn how to cope with it?4Rough "Spirit"? Not the Holy Spirit! Still needing help, he wrote to a renowned Catholic monk, author of many books on contemplative exercises. The reply was revealing though not surprising. "He graciously wrote back explaining that although the end in God is the same....he had not felt the heat or the flowing of the Spirit exactly as I did but that he had read about these experiences when reading of the kundalini (what [Western] yogis call the fire of the Holy Spirit [Hindus actually call it the "Serpent force!"]) experiences...."5 Similar "rough" manifestationswhich wouldn't go awayhave been reported at the alleged revivals of Pensacola and Toronto, causing young people and their parents to seek medical counsel.
If our small, central-Oregon town of Bend is any indication, the pied pipers of this movement are everywhere. Some of our local churches recently had Taizé meetings (repetitive chanting, meditative silences, candlelit rooms, etc.) for their youth. Walk to Emmaus has its local adherents. Richard Foster, who introduced shamanic visualization to evangelicals in his bestselling Celebration of Discipline, came to town with his contemplative spirituality-promoting organization, Renovaré. Its board of reference and speakers have included Jack Hayford, Lloyd John Ogilvie, Don Moomaw, Robert Seiple, David and Karen Mains, Martin Marty, C. Peter Wagner, Ron Sider, J.I. Packer, Calvin Miller, Fr. Henri Nouwen, Ted Engstrom, Fr. Michael Scanlon, Eugene Peterson, John Wimber, and Tony Campolo.
Not far from here, Eastern mystical guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had his massive ashram/ranch, which the Lord graciously turned over to Young Life, the evangelical parachurch ministry. So it's grievously ironic that the speaker for their pre-opening leadership conference at the 60,000-plus-acres Wild Horse Canyon complex was former Catholic priest/present Catholic mystic Brennan Manning. His book The Signature of Jesus advances the philosophies and methodologies of the contemplative mystical/New Age pundits. It is Jesus to whom he attributes the occult technique of centering prayer: "The hunger I encounter across the land for silence, solitude, and centering prayer is the Spirit of Christ calling us from the shadows to the deep."6 His most influential admirers (and promoters among our youth) are some of the biggest names in Christian music, among them the late Rich Mullins, Michael Card, D.C. Talk, and A Ragamuffin Band—named after Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel (endorsed by Eugene Peterson and Max Lucado). His contemplative and "unconditional love" gospel (see Q&A this issue), however, is not the biblical gospel of salvation; therefore, neither can the Jesus who he claims appears to him be the biblical Jesus.
The problems with this bogus spiritual approach to God are too many to fit into this brief article. Nevertheless, my prayer is that those youth leaders and pastors involved, or thinking about getting involved, would contemplate (in the biblical sense!) the following:
Where do you find any of these methods or techniques in the Bible? Did any prophet or apostle, New Testament or Old, practice any of these "spiritual" exercises? No. Then how can these exercises be considered God's way of knowing Him?
How much of this movement with its mystical saints and classic works is Catholic, advancing the Catholic way of salvation? Are you interested in having your youth group follow the "check your mind at the door" teachings of St. Ignatius found in his spiritual exercises—such as, "If we wish to proceed securely in all things, we must hold fast to the following principle: What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical [Roman Catholic] Church so defines"?7
Have you ever found the biblical gospel in any of the classic or modern contemplative materials? Could there be any significance in the fact that this movement practically died out after the Reformation, only to be revived today! How does one discern whether or not the God being "heard" through the subjective, experiential mode of communication is truly our Lord speaking—especially if the authority and sufficiency of His Word is downplayed, even rejected?
Finally, if you truly love those young souls whom Christ also loved and for whom He died, will you be a Berean, carefully checking these things in the light of Scripture—for their sake (Acts 20:28)? TBC

The Great Falling Away and The Great Deception

We are going to be covering a lot of ground here folks and a lot of information.
We will cover businessmen Rick Warren created a new religion and uses non-biblical church building methods.
We will also cover a local church here Ginghamsburg Church ran by businessman Mike Slaughter.
Im pretty sure the phrase "multi sensory worship" started at this church by Kim Miller.
This method is basically how to make people think they are having a god experience.
Nothing real all just smoke and mirrors.
Artificial worship that the Lord Jesus does not honor.
We will also talk about the occult rituals guys like Dan Kimball promote.
We will also be talking about Emmaus Walks, Labyrinth etc..
You need to know that the definition of the very word occult is this-
Available only to the initiate; secret:
Is that how you want to practice your faith?
And we will talk about hypocrisy and how many Christians who are in the business of selling Christianity want to make money off heresy but want to speak out against it to.

So what does the Bible state about all this?
I want you to study and read these verses and really understand what I believe is happening right now.

You really need to ask your self why every pastor in America is not warning the congregations of the deception and delusion thats going on right now.

Pastors have been going crazy talking about the endtimes and a mythical pretrib rapture but are not speaking about the new age deception taking place across the world even as I write this.

2 Thess 2:3 states "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.

2 Thess 2:9-12 "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

Jesus Himself stated in Matt 24:4- 5 "And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you, For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many.

Hebrews 10:25 states why we meet together "not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another , and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Im going to cover a lot of ground here but the very best resource I think thats out there in Ray Yungen "A Time of Departing".
We are going to hold a study group at my home as I write this very important series of article to warn you of whats going on around us now in America.

I love America deeply but I love God more.
Could America be the great whore spoken of in Rev 17?
I would encourage you to go and read Revelation 17-18 the entire chapters.
I pray through this all that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.
Its sad to say but most Christianity and many of our TV preachers have to compromise to keep on making money at what they do.
And what a pulpit they are given.
A whore perverts what is pure and does it just for the money.
Its sad to say but I believe a large majority of American preachers have sold out for the sake of a pay check.
And those who are not in it for a paycheck are exposing many to New Age ideas such as those in the Emergent or Emerging Church. (no difference in the churches).
Many solid preachers such as David Jeremiah and even Josh McDowell have seemed to fallen away from the truth.
Lots to talk about.
But the bottom line is if what I say doesnt stack up with scripture you need to regect it totally.

Please study the above verses and I will have the first article done in a couple days.
Peace
Tim

New series to start today

I originally started doing my research on multi sensory worship but I think I want to broaden the series.
I asked my pastor on Sunday why everyone is talking about the end times and not talking about the great falling away (in 2 Thess)?
He could not answer me.

So I will do a series on the great falling away.
Now a lot of other great discernment ministries like Lighthouse Trails, Bud Press and so on have been talking about this subject.

This will be my take on things.
I will be talking about.
1.Multi sensory worship and how this is used to create a false god experience that is not of the Lord.

2.I will also talk about the ongoing hypocrisy and confusion from some in Christian media such as Brannon Howse-Christian Worldview Network.

3.We will also speak of the great deception being put forth through the regurgitation of old Catholic rituals as well as occult rituals being used to deceive many.
The formation of the false church-Mystery Babylon.
Lots to talk about -
Stay tuned-
Tim

Great article on breath prayers

BREATH PRAYERS

Are "breath prayers" a method by which we can become best friends with God?To direct people on a spiritual journey for 40 days, Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Life. The bestselling book has impacted millions of persons. Some of Pastor Warren's purpose involves recommendations for "Becoming Best Friends with God." To become God's friends, the author shares six secrets, one of which is practicing God's presence by being in "constant conversation" with him. After quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ("pray without ceasing"), Warren asks how a Christian can practice unceasing prayer to which he answers, "One way is to use 'breath prayers' throughout the day, as many Christians have done for centuries. You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated in one breath." Then after providing ten examples of short biblical phrases that could work as breath prayers, Warren advises "Pray it as often as possible so it is rooted deep in your heart."[1] In this context Warren also cites the book of Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, who advocated experiencing God's presence in the most menial of circumstances by praying short conversational prayers throughout the day. The Roman Catholic practice of praying the rosary is akin to breath prayers.
In the course of our waking hours, think of how many times we breathe--hundreds and hundreds, even thousands per day. So to pray "breath prayers" means that like breathing, I am to intermittently say the same short prayer over and over again during the course of a day.
Advocates of breath prayers recommend the discipline of repeatedly breathing out a short biblical phrase of prayer. For example, in the parable of The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14), Jesus portrayed a tax collector who in repentance and humility, cried out, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'" Out of this parable The Desert Fathers, a monastic group in Egypt circa the 5th century, created the "Kyrie Eleison" prayer (i.e., "Lord have mercy.") which became known as the "Jesus Prayer."[2] The prayer became a favorite of these fathers who later expanded it to be, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner."[3] This prayer as well as others, they chanted over and over again.
As one advocate of contemplative spirituality summarizes, "One of the beautiful things that emerged from the disciplined life of the Desert Fathers was their soul-full practice of contemplative prayer, including the use of 'Breath Prayers.' The Desert Fathers preferred short, one breath prayers offered in a receptive stillness before God . . . To focus their minds simply on Christ and to descend with Christ into their hearts these monks slowly repeated their short holy prayers over and over with each breath. Many of these prayers were a perfect body rhythm of seven syllables that easily could be whispered in one breath."[4] As linked to The Desert Fathers, this helps account for Warren's advice to pray breath prayers as, "many Christians have done for centuries."[5] If in the context of Christendom those fathers originated breath praying, then a question arises, did The Desert Fathers borrow the method from someone else? Might they have adopted the method from the monastic and mystic practices of other ancient religions?[6]
In light of this background and contemporary recommendation to practice breath prayers, an important question arises. Can short biblical phrases be employed to pray in a wrong way? To answer this and other questions, we should first analyze the message of 1 Thessalonians 5:17, and then consider breath prayers in the broader context of Jesus' teaching and example of prayer as well as that of the apostles and prophets. Scripture must determine whether or not believers should employ breath prayers in their devotional lives. For Protestants, the Bible ought to be our authority in all matters of faith and practice.
First, we must note that English translations consider 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to be one sentence consisting of three present imperative verbs. Considered as related and coordinate commands by the translators, the verses are separated by either semi-colons or commas (see NKJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, 1901 ASV). The text reads, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:16-18, NASB).
Therefore, what did Paul mean when he commanded the Thessalonians to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17, NASB, KJV, NKJV, NRSV, etc.; "pray continually," NIV; "Keep on praying," NLT)? We can understand that Paul's admonition to continually pray lies in combination with his parallel commands to rejoice ("Rejoice always," v. 16) and to be thankful ("in everything give thanks," v. 18). In other words, a believer's day-to-day walk with the Lord ought to be consistently joyful, prayerful and thankful. In fact, Paul's epistles reveal rejoicing and thanksgiving were constant themes of his consistent prayer life (See Rom. 1:9-10a; 1 Cor. 1:4; 2 Cor. 6:10; Eph. 5:20; Phil. 1:4; 4:4; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess 1:3; Philemon 4).
Second the word to "pray" (proseuchomai) includes all types of praying (i.e., thanksgiving, petitions, praise, etc.). In that Paul used the comprehensive word for prayer we may infer that he was not directing the Thessalonians to pray in a certain way by employing a certain phrase to be repeated over and over throughout the day. That reads far too much into the command. Low and Nida advise that when translating this word for prayer into various languages, "It is normally best to avoid an expression which means primarily 'to recite'."[7] In contrast to the free spontaneity of prayer, breath prayers are recitative and repetitive.
Third, other than it is to be "without ceasing," Paul leaves the manner and method of prayer undefined. Elsewhere the New Testament describes prayer to have been "earnestly" (James 5:17), directs it to be with head covered (1 Cor. 11:4) and orders it to be "in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18; Jude 20). Given that under the Holy Spirit's guidance Paul left out advice on how to pray, why should spiritual directors then proceed to recommend a method of prayer based upon this verse? Where in his providence the Holy Spirit left a blank, why do spiritual directors attempt to fill in the blank?
Fourth, the command "pray without ceasing" is a present iterative imperative, the sense of the tense being that believers ought to maintain a spirit of prayer throughout their waking hours.[8] Prayer should be a constant part of Christian consciousness. As defined by the surrounding commands to rejoice and give thanks, "pray without ceasing" defines more the attitude of vigilance that ought to characterize a believers' prayer life than a particular technique of prayer. Just as the attitude of a believer is to be continuously joyful and thankful, so also their attitude is to be continuously prayerful. Though there is no indication that the apostle practiced or taught breath praying, Leon Morris noted that "Prayer was as natural to Paul as breathing. At any time he was likely to break off his argument or to sum it up by some prayer of greater or less length. In the same way our lives can be lived in such an attitude of dependence on God that we will easily and naturally move into the words of prayer on all sorts of occasions . . ."[9]
As the record shows, Jesus never practiced or taught breath praying. Attempts by contemplative spiritualists to associate breath prayers with the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13), Jesus' dying words (i.e., "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit," Luke 23:46) or Jesus' commissioning of his disciples ("Receive the Holy Spirit," John 20:22) intrude upon Jesus' teaching and the Gospel narrative (i.e., eisegesis).[10] There's a ditty that goes, "Wonderful things in the Bible I see, Things that are put there by you and by me." Attempts to find breath prayers in the Bible are just that kind of reading into the text. In brief, here's why.
First, as contemplative spiritualists define them, the Lord's Prayer is not a breath prayer. It's too long. It takes a person with great lung capacity to fit the Lord's Prayer into one breath. If you don't think so, try saying it in one breath. Furthermore, trying to fit the Lord's Prayer into a person's natural breathing rhythm is unnatural. Second, Jesus committed his spirit to the Father one time. He did not pray repeatedly, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit." Third, the words Jesus addressed to the disciples ("Receive the Holy Spirit") were not a prayer, unless we would contrive it to mean that Jesus was praying to the disciples! By his instruction and practice, it cannot be discerned that Jesus either taught or practiced breath prayers.
Praying a short sentence over and over bears too much resemblance to the mantra praying of eastern religions (i.e., a word recited or sung repeatedly to induce an altered state of consciousness within the practitioner). In praying breath prayers, Christian devotion becomes indistinct from that of the eastern mystical religions. So the question for the Christian becomes, am I going to engage in a form of praying that does not fit, but in fact contradicts the New Testament model of prayer? Even though Rick Warren recommends saying breath prayers, I will choose not to disobey when I pray .
Now to the question, can right words be used to pray a wrong way? To me this becomes the subtlety of the spiritual directors' recommendation to incorporate Bible sayings into breath prayers. So at this juncture we ask: Even if it masquerades and parades itself as pious and devotional, can such a practice be wrong? I think so. Words of Scripture can be employed for means other than what God intended.
Take for example, the temptation of Jesus Christ. Satan came at Jesus with a biblical text to entice him to disobey his Father. In fact Satan quoted from the Old Testament book that many Bible students consider to have been Jesus' favorite--Deuteronomy (see Matthew 4:6). Right words can be employed for a wrong purpose. What I am suggesting is that using short scriptural phrases does not sanctify saying breath prayers. Something can be wrong even though it might seem and feel right. Contemplative spiritual directors are deceptive when they attempt to provide sanctity to an unbiblical practice by recommending using biblical phrases for breath prayers.
In their contest with Elijah the prophets of Baal prayed a "breath prayer" until they were out of breath. "O Baal, answer us", they prayed. They prayed it over and over again from early in the morning until high noon (1 Kings 18:26). But Jesus directly instructed his disciples not to pray like that. He warned, "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition, as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them" (Matt. 6:7-8a). The direct command of Jesus our Spiritual Director is enough for me to avoid any resemblance of pagan praying. As a pastor and in submission to the Lord's and the apostles' teaching on prayer, I cannot in good conscience recommend the practice of praying breath prayers.
TV sitcoms and reality shows constantly picture people vainly praying breath prayers. They go something like, "Oh, God!" or "Oh, My God!" In their repetition and in the trite situations in which these words are uttered, such expressions are meaningless, vain and even hypocritical. The Law commands, "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain" (Ex. 20:7). If in their repetition breath prayers become boring and therefore meaningless to the practitioner, then praying them is vanity, especially if in their personal lives the practitioners are disobedient to God. As regarding breath prayers being a spiritual discipline to draw us into the circle of God's friends, they could, if uttered in hypocrisy, drive us farther away from him! As Isaiah and Jesus evaluated the prayers among Israel, the Lord's ancient people, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me" (Matt. 15:8, NKJV; compare Is. 29:13).
Can we become "best friends" with God without practicing his presence by praying breath prayers? Jesus admitted to this potential when he told the disciples, "You are My friends, if you do what I command you" (Jn. 15:14). Though in Scripture Jesus has commanded us to do many things that pertain to holiness and godliness, he never commanded us to pray breath prayers. In fact, his teaching on prayer implies just the opposite, that we should not pray repeated and recitative prayers like the heathen. The Lord called Abraham "My friend" (Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23), but there is no record that first, he prayed constantly, or second, used breath prayers. Yet because Abraham obeyed God he was a friend of God. In the same way we become God's friends through obedience. Trust and obey, for there's no other way.
By Pastor Larry DeBruyn
________________
[1] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002) pp. 87-89. Based upon 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "pray without ceasing", Richard Foster also recommends the practice of breath prayer. See his Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home (SanFrancisco: HarperCollinisPublishers, 1992) pp. 122-124.
[2] "In Christianity the chanting of the name of Jesus in prayer was recommended by Diadochus of Photice in the middle of the fifth century, and by John Climacus in the early seventh century." See Rosemary Ellen Guiley, "Chanting," Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991) p.92.
[3] It must be noted that the Publican's prayer was not a breath prayer. In his parable Jesus stated that in humility and contrition of heart the "tax gatherer" prayed this sinner's prayer one time and then "went down to his house justified" (Lk. 18:10-14). In the Christian life the Jesus Prayer is an entry level or salvation prayer. After a sincere one-time utterance of that prayer or one like it, the believer enters into a secure and justified standing before God based upon the merits of Christ. Before God they are "Not guilty!" Repeated recitation of the Jesus Prayer is unnecessary for reason of the believer's justified standing before God. Based upon the verity of the Scriptures, upon Jesus' merits and upon being "in Christ," a believer's justification before God is a done deal (Rom. 8:28-30). In spite of their sinful state and because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, believers possess a standing before God like unto that which God has with himself! (2 Cor. 5:21). This standing in Christ before God makes the Jesus Prayer an unnecessary form of self-flagellation. Personally, with the security of my soul in the hands of the Father and the Son (Jn. 10:27-30), I have applied the Jesus Prayer to my spiritual life in the following way: Frequently I will think or say, "Thank you Lord for having been merciful to me, a great sinner, through the merits of Jesus Christ."
[4] William Gaultiere, "Spiritual Disciplines for the Soul: Breath Prayers," ChristianSoulCare.com, http://www.christiansoulcare.com/spiritualdisciplinebreathprayers.htm
[5] Warren, PDL, p.89.
[6] "Chanting is an ancient, universal practice, and is often done in conjunction with drumming, hand-clapping, dancing, or fingering of beads on a rosary. Rosaries are widely used in chanting in Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity." See Guiley, "Chanting."
[7] Louw, Johannes P. and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, 2nd Edition (New York: United Bible Societies, 1989) Vol. I, 33:178, p. 409.
[8] Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1996) 521. The command is a present iterative present, the idea being, "not that believers are to pray every minute of every day, but that we should offer prayers to God repeatedly."
[9] Leon Morris, The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1959) 173.
[10] Gaultiere, "Spiritual Disciplines." Eisegesis is reading our thoughts into the Bible.

New article from Paul Proctor

This is from my friend and brother in the Lord Paul Proctor.
I want tostate I do love the country I live in though I have never thought of America as a Christian nation. And I think history proves that even though we have had many good leaders who are Christians. We should also rmember not only to pray for our country but the people within our country that they would find Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Here is Pauls article-

WHEN AMERICA IS GONE...



By Paul Proctor
March 21, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
Country singer, Lee Greenwood wrote and recorded a very powerful and inspiring song many years ago that has all but become the new unofficial national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics to God Bless The USA begin this way:
If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life, And I had to start again with just my children and my wife, I'd thank my lucky stars to be living here today, 'Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can't take that away…
Now, I'm not sure why Mr. Greenwood would thank his "lucky stars" for the privilege of living in the USA, right before calling on Almighty God to bless it - but the words do make one pause and think about the unthinkable, hopefully to reassess what is treasured most in this country. Our flag indeed still stands for freedom, but I'm not so sure that the freedom for which it stands can't be taken away.
Many today believe America is God's modern day Ark, where those who reside within her are protected by Divine providence. But even Noah's Ark had its time.
At this writing, its deteriorating remains, according to experts, rests amid the mountains of Ararat. In its present state, were God's judgment to again come upon the Earth, I doubt seriously it would provide much protection for anyone. And, I dare say, what remains of America in 2007, in its present and deteriorating state, isn't all that reassuring either. Even many of our nation's elected officials seem hell-bent on legislating away the very freedoms God has given us under the guise of "national security." With countrymen like these, who needs enemies?
Unless you consider America to be "Mystery Babylon," there's really nothing specific I can find in bible prophesy about its existence in the last days, much less, it being a world superpower. So, with that in mind, for just a few uncomfortable moments, let's think about the unthinkable.
When America is gone, to whom will you pledge allegiance?
Will it be to the Democratic, Republican or Independent party?
Will it be to some political action committee, social organization, charity, faction or militia?
When the stock market crashes and money becomes as worthless as your property and portfolio, will you pledge your allegiance to those who initiate martial law, close the banks and promise a new financial system, electronic currency and National ID?
Or, will your allegiance be to a foreign nation that rises from the ruins of a global financial meltdown to take ownership of our bankrupt nation and its assets?
Will it be to the commanding officer of an invading army that storms our shores to plant his flag on our fruited plain after some nuclear event?
Will it be to doctors, emergency personnel or pharmaceutical suppliers that have the necessary treatments, vaccines and antidotes on hand to sustain you when a biological war or pandemic threatens the population?
Maybe your allegiance will be to some charming and charismatic leader who emerges from the chaos and confusion brought on by a combination of catastrophes working wonders before your eyes and offering inspiring words and grandiose plans for peace and prosperity when all hope seems lost?
Or, will you simply pledge allegiance to your local church or pastor when America is gone, because they've always been there for you in time of need?
Maybe your allegiance will be to your friends because you know they'd give you the shirt off their back.
Or, is it to family, because they're flesh and blood and the only ones you can really trust?
But then, it might be you're convinced there's no one you can trust but yourself - and to you, survival is all that really matters. So, as far as you're concerned, it's every man for himself.
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." - Jeremiah 17:5
Before that terrible day comes, if indeed it does, perhaps we should consider someone from the past whose allegiance never wavered even after he lost everything but his own life?
As Job sat in the dust scraping his sores and remembering all of the health, wealth, family and dignity that had been taken away while a handful of friends tormented him with innuendo and bad counsel, where was his allegiance and did it waver with the terrible turn of events that were allowed to happen by the very One in whom he trusted?
Even his own wife told him to "curse God and die." (Job 2:9)
Fortunately, Job didn't take that advise.
No, he said: "What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10) adding later, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…" - Job 13:15a
In good times and in bad, Job's allegiance never changed.
During Jesus' earthly ministry, He found the Jew's allegiance to be toward their temple and their homeland.
And, what did He tell them?

"And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." - Matthew 24:2
And who was ultimately responsible for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and the Jews' exile from the Promised Land?
Was it not the same One who told His disciples: "…lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world?" - Matthew 28:20b

And, was He not justified in relieving them of both?
So, where is your allegiance; and will it change when America, as we know it, is gone?
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:13
© 2007 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserve

Confusion in the camp- Part 2

This fits in with what was stated in the first article in this series-
This is from Lighthouse Trails.

Emergent Leaders? Paving the Way to Apostasy

Some say that some emerging church leaders (like Dan Kimball and Mark Driscoll) are not part of the Emergent movement and that the terms Emergent and emerging church mean two different things. However, according to one of the strongest catalysts for the emerging church movement, Zondervan Publishing, Kimball and Driscoll are indeed part of the "Emergent movement."
Zondervan describes its 2007 book, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches as: "Five of the emergent movement's most prominent leaders debate their views on Scripture, Christ, atonement, and more." Those five are Dan Kimball, Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Karen Ward and Doug Pagitt. Be that as it may, emergent and emerging are just words, but those who adhere to either of the concepts are going in the same direction, and as we stated in our article, Emerging Church Confusion: What Does it Really Mean?, emergent leaders are feeding the emerging church movement and making it what it is and will become. Incidentally, in Zondervan's book, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, Robert Webber, the editor of the book, says that "traditionalists have been out of touch with cultural changes, and the contemporaries who have become so thoroughly enmeshed with and catechized by culture are out of touch with the traditions. This reality has created what seems to be an unalterable division between devoted Christians" (p. 213).
This is a scary statement, and here is why: In Dan Kimball's book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church, he makes it clear that "traditionalists" are those who take the Bible literally. Webber says those kind of Christians are out of touch with today's culture (in other words they don't wear hip looking eye glasses or wear slicked back hair or drink beer at the pubs with gays, or cuss in public). That makes them abnormal and oblivious to the world around them according to Kimball. Webber would like to see the two types of Christians (those literalists who believe everything the Bible says and those emergents) come together. He states: "What are we to do? Should we encourage the split? Or is there a new direction for us all? ... What will it take to create an Ancient-Future faith (Webber's name for the emerging church)?" (p. 213) He goes on and tells the solution: "First, an Ancient-Future faith calls us to return to our ancient roots in the first centuries of the church." He explains that these "ancient roots" include "spiritual formation" (contemplative mysticism) and he says that while there have been reforms throughout history (such as the Reformation), we do not need to be divided over them (he includes Catholicism) and says we are "connected to the same family.

This ecumenical conviction is central to an Ancient-Future Vision" (p. 214).Dan Kimball and Robert Webber have laid out what will be a persuasive argument to many who have not really taken a close look at what these emergent leaders are proposing, but take heed, if this "ecumenical conviction" comes to pass then evangelical Christians will all be practicing mantra meditation, walking through labyrinths, practicing lectio divina and doing the sign of the Cross ... and it will have far greater implications and results than just thick glasses, slicked back hair and sitting in pubs sipping beer. It will be disastrous for those who have yet to hear the true gospel message of Jesus Christ, which can save their souls.

In emerging church leader, Scot McKnight's book, The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus, McKnight says that Protestant Christians are the only Christians who do not honor Mary. He recommends that Protestant churches all practice an "Honor Mary Day" (p. 144), saying she "leads us to a Jesus who brings redemption ... To listen to Mary is to hear the message of Jesus' death and resurrection as a mega-event whereby God established a new kind of power, a new kind of family, and a new kind of kingdom" (p. 145). McKnight describes this great event as a time when the world will come together and worship Mary.

Today, Christendom has become filled with leaders who have lost their way. If Christian leaders like David Jeremiah and Josh McDowell, who are now promoting emerging leaders, continue in their present direction, they will be responsible for countless lives losing their chances for hearing the true gospel, and these leaders will be helping pave the way for an interspiritual, mystical, apostate religion.

Confusion in the camp-A Review of Brannon Howse Christian Worldview Network and a word of caution

This will be a long post because I have a lot to say so here goes.-
When I first stumbled on Brannon Howse Christian Worldview Network I was actually happy to see what seemed to be a bevy of writers with discernment all gathered together in one place.
Bob DeWaay has some great articles on exposing things Emergent as well as Purpose Driven. Ken Silva as well has been a friend and a brother in the Lord and writes some very good article's. Ken actually wrote the forward to my book as well.
Im starting to see a shift at Christian Worldview Network and I know longer use them as a reliable source of discernment article's.
Here's why-

First lets start with a article from my friends at Lighthouse Trails which will set this up.
Here is the article-

Emerging Church Confusion - What Does it Really Mean?

When it comes to the emerging church, Christian leaders seem to lack understanding and discernment. Some books and several articles have now been written about the emerging church, and interestingly, nearly all of them lack the most important element -the emerging church (which incorporates the teachings of the Emergent leaders: McLaren, Pagitt, Kimball, etc.) is a conduit for mysticism and is heading right into the arms of Catholicism and eventually a universal interfaith church. Many feel that the real problems with the emerging church are centered around methodology (e.g., how much lighting to have, where to hold church services, and what to wear while attending them, etc.) Such distraction from the true concerns is like telling a neighbor that his dog is tearing up the garden when his house is burning down and his children are inside.The emerging church is fundamentally mystical as can easily be seen by the leaders who feed the emerging movement a steady diet of contemplative spirituality. Leonard Sweet, one of the emerging church movement's most prolific leaders explains the role of mysticism in the emerging church:
Mysticism, once cast to the sidelines of the Christian tradition, is now situated in postmodernist culture near the center.... In the words of one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Jesuit philosopher of religion/dogmatist Karl Rahner, "The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will be nothing." [Mysticism] is metaphysics arrived at through mindbody experiences. Mysticism begins in experience; it ends in theology. (p. 160, ATOD)Another influential emerging church leader is Spencer Burke, director of The Ooze. He explains his views on mysticism as well:
I was struck by the incredible wisdom that could be found apart from the "approved" evangelical reading list. A Trappist monk, [Thomas] Merton gave me a new appreciation for the meaning of community. His New Man and New Seeds of Contemplation touched my heart in ways other religious books had not. Not long afterward my thinking was stretched again, this time by Thich Nhat Hanh--a Buddhist monk ... Hanh's Living Buddha, Living Christ gave me insight into Jesus from an Eastern perspective. (p. 157. ATOD) While many try to minimize the seriousness of the emerging church movement, we hope you can see where this is all going. Some say that Emergent has some problems, but emerging church is ok for the most part. But here is how it works. Emerging spirituality (which ultimately proclaims the divinity of man) has been around since the Garden of Eden when the serpent said to Eve, ye shall be as gods, and later when Lucifer said, I will be like the most High God. Emergent came on the scene when some business men (i.e., Leadership Network) launched Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Mark Driscoll and some others and capsulated emerging spirituality within the confines of these young leaders. Leadership Network teamed up with business guru Peter Drucker and a successful publishing house, and wham, a formula for success - the Emergent movement was birthed. These new young leaders (then called the Young Leaders Network) in turn produced books, seminars, websites, blogs, and "conversations" that bore the fruit of the current emerging church movement. And because the true premise of this movement is grounded in mysticism and Ancient Wisdom, many are grasping hold of something that has been here all along. Emergent or emerging, whatever term you want to use ... it's heading in the same direction, and that is away from the Cross. Some may say, "But there are positive attributes to the emerging church movement." Yet would you drink a glass of mountain spring water if it had only a drop or two of cyanide? Not if you didn't want to get very, very sick. Jesus Christ made it clear in Scripture that we are to cling to truth. HE is truth, and He is the only way to salvation. Divination (doing a ritual or performing some method in order to gain some information or "hear God"), which is the same premise as contemplative mysticism, is forbidden by God in the Bible. Salvation, and a relationship with Jesus Christ, is free. He already paid the price for us with His blood. When we accept His gift, we will have eternal life. If we reject it, we will not. And that is something to think about.
end of article-

Now I will be adding links from Christian Worldview Network for you to make up your own minds but I do not endorse that site or suggest anyone go there for solid information.

Compare the above article with this article from CWN-
this article is from Jason Carlson-
http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/1645/Jason_Carlson

Josh McDowell recently endorsed Dan Kimbals new book " I Like Jesus but not the Church:: (coming out in November 2007).

Dan is Emergent and promotes occult rituals such as the labyrinth.
But yet doesn't CWN speak out against Emergent??

I know it can be very confusing.
Here is a solid review of Dans new book.
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/theylikejesus.htm

Now here is a review (kinda) of Dans new book.
Or is this perhaps Shawn doing damage control?.
You decide.
Keep in mind Seans statement here "You may disagree with parts of They Like Jesus but not the Church, but this is a provocative book that must not be ignored"
Here is the review
http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/1687/Sean_McDowell

It is also well documented that David Jeremiah once a very solid Bible teacher now promotes and continues to promote Emergent teachers like Erwin McManus among others and receives endorsements by new age sympathizer's such as Ken Blanchard.

Captured by Grace Discusses Henri Nouwen and includes endorsement by Ken Blanchard
Documentation is here.
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/misguidedshepherds.htm

Erwin McManus who by the way CWN writer Ken Silva speaks out against on a regular basis.

Confused?

How can you both partner with Emergents and new agers and then speak out on them as well.
Its well documented as well that AFA Tim Wildmon continues to sell Emergent books in his bookstore.
Here is the documentation.
http://www.christianresearchservice.com/bookstores7.htm
I actually found Dans Kimballs new book here its just not for sale yet.

Ive thought a lot about the confusion here at this organization and as I searched scripture I wondered if they had fallen into a trap because of the money involved in selling Christian stuff?
Do you ever wonder why Paul had a regular job?
And no it wasnt selling holy hankies.
Paul made tents.

Lets look at some scripture.
1 Corinthians 9:19 "This means I am not bound to obey people just because they pay me, yet I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ."

Actually read the entire chapter Paul gave up his rights and worked a regular job so that he wouldnt have to itch some ears and could still preach with boldness. He was not bound by supporting himself by preaching.
We also know that Paul helped support those with him as well with his job

Now lets look at Acts 20:30
""Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves."

When we make a living selling Christian things we are at the mercy of a very waining and fickle audience.
Why is this?
2 Thess 2:3 states "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,"

The great falling away as we know is happening now.
People are going to be confronted with some very hard choices, perhaps losing all their audience if they continue to preach the truth of the word of God.

Will they get other jobs?

Or will they fall away?

Only time can tell.

Not that my endorsement means anything but I would suggest you really think about using Christian Worldview Network as a source of reliable information in these end times.

Pray for them that they would not continue to be deceived and compromise for what seems to be for money.