More on Ken Blanchards book endorsements from Bud Press

Ken Blanchard Endorses Book 'Inspired' by Hindu Guru

Co-founder of Lead Like Jesus continues down New Age road

by Bud Press, Director

Christian Research Service

www.christianresearchservice.com

November 26, 2007



For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I

striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men,

I would not be a bond-servant of Christ --Galatians 1:10



It was July 2005 when Blanchard admitted publicly that "...some of my endorsements and book forewords are for books written by authors who espouse concepts that are contrary to Christian teachings...I understand why these are problematic and I promise that I will exercise better discernment in the future" (complete statement on file).



The following paragraph was included with Blanchard's statement. It led many to believe in the sincerity of both Blanchard and the staff of Lead Like Jesus:



It is neither Ken's nor the staff of Lead Like Jesus desire to do anything that might cause another to stumble or that might hinder the furtherance of the gospel. We appreciate the excitement and enthusiasm with which Lead Like Jesus is being embraced all over the country. As leaders in this field, we take seriously our responsibility to offer the very best that we are and, as such, we pledge anew to honor God in everything we do.

But now, over two years later, Ken Blanchard has not kept his promise. He continues down the broad New Age road. He is hindering the furtherance of the gospel, and is causing the unwary to stumble along the way.



Leading or worshipping?



The overall theme at Lead Like Jesus (and The Ken Blanchard Companies ), is Leadership-Leadership-Leadership. In the Introduction of the book, Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Role Model of All Time, Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges "...want you to come to trust Jesus as your leadership role model" (2005, p. XII). The "Values" that Lead Like Jesus proclaims on its website states,

Glorify God in all we do

Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time

Build relationships based on trust and respect

Biblically-sound content and teaching

Practice wise stewardship of time, talent, treasure, and influence

But how is it possible for Lead Like Jesus to glorify God, build trusted and respected relationships, maintain Biblically-sound principles, and demonstrate true Christian leadership when Ken Blanchard continues his involvement with New Agers, New Age teachings, New Age organizations, and pagan practices that deny Jesus Christ and the authority of His word?



It isn't possible. Just as one cannot serve God and wealth, one cannot serve paganism and God at the same time (Luke 16:13). One cannot have it both ways.



There is no greater example than Jesus Christ. However, there is a big difference between leading like Jesus and worshipping Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. There is a big difference between talking about Jesus and sharing Him from the heart. There is a big difference between simply quoting verses from the Bible and trusting in God's word as the ultimate and final authority in all matters of the Christian faith.



And, there is a big difference between one who claims to be a Christian and one who has surrendered his or her life to Jesus Christ.



To those who truly love Jesus, nothing within God's vast creation takes authority or precedence over Him. He must increase, but I must decrease, wrote the Apostle John. He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all (John 3:30-31).



Indeed, there is a big difference in "Leading Like Jesus" and loving Him with all of your heart. It is not about "me" or "us" or "him" or "her," it is about the One Who said, You are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me (Isaiah 43:10-11).



Touched by the New Age



Ken Blanchard has established an incredible tract-record of involvement in the New Age Movement. He isn't shy about publicly promoting his participation in New Age practices.



According Darryl Aiken-Afam, "Meridian TouchTM is "the art of letting go" and is "a form of 'Japanese Yoga' that has 'no form'." The exercises, Aiken-Afam, maintains,

...are based on the 5 elements of traditional Japanese medicine; Metal, Earth, Fire, Water, and Wood. Each element has its own exercises designed to stretch the meridians of the body creating and allowing better Ki flow. Meridians are the lines or rivers of energy that run throughout the body. On these Meridians are located the acupuncture/acupressure/shiatsu points used by therapists to treat people for many various reasons. Ki (or Chi in Chinese) energy, is the life-force energy said to flow in everyone and everything in the universe. It is the condition of this Ki that determines one's health, mental well-being, flexibility, emotional make up etc. [ http://www.meridiantouch.com/about.html ]

On the same page, Aiken-Afam also maintains that "The effects of Meridian TouchTM are truly universal as they are based on the philosophy of the universal energy that creates all things, better known as the Tao (Pronounced Dao)."



Among other things, Meridian TouchTM offers Corporate Yoga for businessmen and women during lunch-breaks or after work, along with a "tax write" for businesses ( http://www.meridiantouch.com/corporate.html ).



It is disturbing to note that when Ken Blanchard became a student of Meridian TouchTM he first expressed doubt, then "great enthusiasm" for a New Age practice that taps into the so-called "life-force energy said to flow in everyone and everything in the universe":

When Darryl first demonstrated Meridian TouchTM exercises, I didn't believe they could be effective in relaxing and stretching a stiff body like mine--WRONG! Since then, I've found Meridian Touch to accomplish all of which it claims, and more. Meridian Touch helps relax my body in ways I've never known.

It makes me more flexible, the exercises are comfortable, and mentally, Meridian Touch keeps me centered, focused and primed to meet the day with a better outlook. I love the idea of allowing my body to 'melt' into a position instead of resisting and fighting a stretch. It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Meridian Touch exercises to everyone.

["Student Testimonials," http://www.meridiantouch.com/testimonials.html, emp. theirs]

Equally disturbing is the fact that Ken Blanchard is still a member of the New Age Hoffman Institute

( http://www.hoffmaninstitute.org/ ), and an active member of the Hoffman Advisory Council

( http://tinyurl.com/3683o4 ). And, "The Ken Blanchard Companies," is still listed as one of the Attendees of the Heartland Circle's Thought Leader Gatherings ( http://tinyurl.com/3a25hx ).



A site-search on the Ken Blanchard Companies website resulted in hundreds of references to Thought Leadership, many of which pertain to training and workshops

( http://www.kenblanchard.com/thoughtleadership/ ).



But this is just the tip of the iceberg. As the following will demonstrate, Ken Blanchard's involvement in the New Age is much deeper and more complex than previously reported on Christian Research Service .



Addicted to New Age energy



Jon Gordon is a New Ager, who openly promotes Yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, meditation, and more on his website

( http://tinyurl.com/24tx3j ). On page 8 of his article, "The Energy Addict's 7 Day Plan For Raising Healthy & Positive Kids," Gordon even promotes Yoga for children:



Yoga-cise

Children’s yoga is becoming very popular and it is great to teach them at a young age. Many of the yoga postures are named after animals and this makes yoga fun for children. You can either buy a children’s yoga video or look for a children’s yoga class in your city or town

( http://www.jongordon.com/documents/7DayHealthyandPositivekidsplan.pdf, emp. theirs).

Gordon wrote the books Energy Addict: 101 Mental, Physical, & Spiritual Ways to Energize Your Life (September 2004), and The 10-Minute Energy Solution (December 2005), both of which were endorsed by Ken Blanchard (http://www.jongordon.com/books.html ).



And in Blanchard's latest endorsement of a Jon Gordon book, he leads the reader to get onboard "the right bus;" a bus fueled by New Age "positive energy":

If you want to fuel your family, your career, your team, and your organization with spirit, read this book. Jon’s energy and advice will leap off the page and help you cultivate positive energy in everything you do—and you will make the world a better place for your having been here. Thanks, Jon, for pumping us up and making sure we get on the right bus. [The Energy Bus, January 2007, http://www.jongordon.com/theenergybusbook.html ]

In the Expanded 2nd Edition of his book, A Time of Departing, Christian author and apologist Ray Yungen has this to say about one of Jon Gordon's books and his spirituality:

...in early 2006, a book hit the market called, The 10-Minute Energy Solution by Jon Gordon. The book is filled with suggestions on how to improve energy levels through meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, and other such techniques. Throughout the book, Gordon quotes favorably from the Dalai Lama, meditator Daniel Goleman, Thich Nhat Hanh, New Agers Marilyn Ferguson and Wayne Dyer, and from A Course in Miracles. Gordon promotes panentheism (God in all) by saying things such as: "You came from this source [speaking of God] and you are this source." [Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2006, pp. 164-165]

Gordon's panentheism is further illustrated in his August 1, 2005 The Energy Addict newsletter, where he attempts to reduce the Biblical Creator and Sustainer of the universe to a mere "source and force" or "whatever":

The way I see it, God, the universe, intention, or whatever you wish to call the source and force from which everything emanates and gives everything life is really big and has a lot of energy-perhaps an infinite amount of energy. This energy makes the world go around. It moves our legs, lights up the stars and fuels every living creature on earth. With so much energy in the universe I often wonder why as energy beings many of us expect so little of ourselves and the world around us. As an Energy Addict we must tap our share of infinity. There is so much energy in the universe even if we tap a big share, there will still be plenty of energy for everyone else.

New Agers have a difficult time defining just what and who their gods are. Neale Donald Walsch calls it a "Source." Star Wars calls it a "force." And, when in doubt, a teeny-bopperish "whatever" covers all bases. Yet, the God of the Bible is exclusive to all man-made gods, and can be known personally:



Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39).



You are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is no savior besides Me. It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses, declares the LORD, and I am God. Even from eternity I am He, and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it? (Isaiah 43:10-13).



These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).



And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).



You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).



How terrible it is for someone to live their entire life believing in a "god" that never existed in the first place.



Disciples of deception



Jim Ballard is the author of the Little Wave and Old Swell: A Fable of Life and Its Passing (2007). The book measures about 5 1/4" x 7 1/4" and resembles a book one would find in the child section of a local library. Each page contains short paragraphs and may be easily read in 10-15 minutes.



From a spiritual standpoint, there is more to the book than meets the eye.



On the front cover, the book is "Inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda," deceased Hindu guru and founder of Self Realization Fellowship (or SRF), and is "Lovingly dedicated to the matchless one whose precepts have given birth to this little story" (p. v).



On the inside front cover, Ballard explains the theme of the book, and includes two questions that the book, according to Ballard, may serve to answer:

Little Wave and Old Swell recounts a journey across the sea made by impetuous Little Wave and his sage teacher, Old Swell. Their allegorical adventure points young and old readers toward the enduring questions: What is the nature of life? What happens when I die? [emp. theirs]

Towards the very end of the book, under a picture of Paramahansa Yogananda, Ballard explains that Yogananda arrived in America in 1920, and that prior to his death in 1952 he became a prolific writer and lecturer, and founded Self-Realization Fellowship, "...an organization dedicated to disseminating his scientific techniques of yoga meditation."



Jim Ballard is a disciple of Yogananda, and is a "featured devotee artist" on the SRF Devotee website, of which "...provides communication and support for devotees and friends of SRF" (http://www.srfdevotee.com/ ).



According to the SRF Devotee website, Ballard's Little Wave and Old Swell is a "spiritual fable" which is "based on Paramahansa Yogananda's frequently-used metaphor of human life as a wave on the Ocean of God." Furthermore,



Among other themes, the story illustrates the guru-disciple relationship; dangers of competition, excitement, and negative friendships; meditation on the Om; the nature of delusion, and dealing with life's ending [Devotee Authors, http://www.srfdevotee.com/business/buswrite.html ].

The SRF Devotee website, which claims no formal affiliation with Self Realization Fellowship, contains a biography on Jim Ballard, which includes "Books Co-Authored/Ghost-written with Ken Blanchard" and leadership "Training Program Design" for Ken Blanchard ( http://www.srfdevotee.com/featured/spotlite.html ):

Leadership Training for Supervisors (LTS) Program for Blanchard Training (awarded ASTD's Best Training Tool of 1995)

Designed following training programs for Blanchard Training, still used worldwide: LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR MANAGERS, MANAGING THE JOURNEY, EVERYONE'S A COACH, CHANGECRAFT, QUALITY SERVICE and HIGH PERFORMING PARENTS [emp. theirs]

According to a brief bio on the Small Business Advocate website, Jim Ballard is,

"...a management consultant, leadership trainer, motivational speaker, and consulting partner with the Ken Blanchard Companies, and author of What’s the Rush? He founded Maudala Press, a direct-mail educational publishing firm, and wrote a series of children’s books and books for teachers on humanistic education. After meeting Ken Blanchard at the University of Massachusetts, he began designing training materials for Blanchard Training and Development. He has helped create a number of widely-used Blanchard Training and Development models including Managing the Journey, Leadership Training for Supervisors, Quality-Driven Leadership, and Everyone’s a Coach." [ http://tinyurl.com/2kgmy8 ]

On his website specifically designed for Little Wave and Old Swell, Ballard's "Story of the Little Wave Book Project" leaves no doubt as to who his devotion is directed:

"In 1979 I was unaccountably led to the feet of the great spiritual master, Paramahansa Yogananda. (The series of miraculous events that move me to facetiously use the word 'unaccountably' are too numerous to include here.) Over the years of studying the Master's prolific teachings...I would again and again encounter his metaphor of human life as a wave on the Ocean of God. As the years went by, the image kept coming up, repeating itself to me in an insistent manner. I began to think about writing a story to illustrate it. [ http://littlewave.org/about.htm ]

Again, Ken Blanchard is the Chief Spiritual Officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies. He, like Jim Ballard, knows who Paramahansa Yogananda is. In the Foreword of Franz Metcalf's 2001 book, What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas, Blanchard states that,



As a follower of Jesus, I believe He is the truth and the way. So I look for my inspiration from Him as documented in the Bible. And yet, in our company we have people of all faiths as well as people who center their faith in the goodness of human beings. The Golden Rule is their mantra. As a result, many of our people would delete my morning messages if they thought I was only coming from a Christian perspective. So I look for inspirational messages from a variety of sources besides Jesus. Our folks get to hear words of wisdom from great prophets and spiritual leaders like Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Mahatma Gandhi, Yogananda, and the Dalai Lama, as well as inspirational lay leaders like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Dag Hammarskjöld...



Through this book, Buddha's insights and words help us create a kinder and gentler workplace. Jesus would approve...and so would Moses, Mohammed, and other great prophets and spiritual leaders. And so do I. This is wisdom for the whole world.



Buddha points to the path and invites us to begin our journey to enlightenment. I point to this little jewel of a book and invite you to begin (or continue) your journey to enlightened work. [ http://tinyurl.com/2mefa6, emp. added]



Blanchard's statements are intertwined with truth and falsehood. People who "center their faith in the goodness of human beings" contradict God's holy word. While sin separates people from a relationship with God, Jesus Christ provides people with eternal life in heaven, but only after they are born

again:

Romans 3:10: As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.

Romans 3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

Romans 5:8-9: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ephesians 2:8-9: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Titus 3:5-7: He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15: 1-4: Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...

Luke 5:32: I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Luke 13:3: I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

John 3:3: Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Buddha (founder of Buddhism), Mohammed (founder of Islam), Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu spiritual leader), Paramahansa Yogananda (Hindu guru yogi), and "His Holiness" Dalai Lama (Tibetan Buddhist monk), were and are responsible for deceiving untold numbers of precious souls for whom Jesus Christ suffered and died for on the cross. Ken Blanchard's reverence for and tribute to these so-called "great prophets and spiritual leaders" downplays Jesus Christ and His authority, and must be rejected.



Again, Jim Ballard's Little Wave and Old Swell is "Inspired by Paramahansa Yogananda" and "Lovingly dedicated to the matchless one whose precepts have given birth to this little story." Remember that in the Foreword of What Would Buddha Do at Work (above), Ken Blanchard included Paramahansa Yogananda's "words of wisdom" along with others he claims as "great prophets and spiritual leaders."



And in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell, Blanchard demonstrates how well he knows Paramahansa Yogananda:



"Over the more than thirty years of our friendship, Jim Ballard and I have been inspired and enriched by sharing insights from our separate spiritual journeys. While I have been drawn to the feet of the Master of Galilee, Jim has followed the meditation path taught by Paramahansa Yogananda, the great Indian teacher. In more than one of the books we have coauthored, Jim has tapped the writings of his guru. Now, in a simple folktale-type allegory, he uses Yogananda's metaphor of human life as a wave that rises and falls on the Ocean of God as a means of addressing the most basic questions all of us ask. [p. viii]

But Blanchard's most disturbing statements in the Foreword of Little Wave and Old Swell opens a floodgate of deception for unwary Christians, and serves to cause further distancing between Yogananda devotees and Jesus Christ:

"Some people might ask why a follower of Jesus is writing the foreword for a book inspired by an Indian guru. The fact is, Yogananda loved Jesus, and Jesus would have loved Yogananda. Every year, the Self-Realization Fellowship headquarters in Los Angeles--as well as all its temples and meditation groups throughout the world--hold a full-day Christmas event. It is a time of reverent reflection, with periodic interruptions to listen to taped messages of Yogananda's love for Jesus and his teachings. The way I see it, love is love. [pp. viii-ix]

And on the homepage of Jim Ballard's website, Blanchard encourages the reader to, "Enjoy this story. Read it many times. Let it speak to your heart and reintroduce you to the wonder that breathes from everything in the world" ( http://www.littlewave.org/index.htm ).



At this point, it is imperative that Christians fully understand the difference between the real Jesus and the counterfeit. The Apostle Paul, under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, warned the churches in Galatia and Corinth about the counterfeit Jesus, counterfeit gospel, and counterfeit spirit, all of which are darkened and overshadowed by Satan and his demons, all of which have played a sinister part in leading untold numbers of precious souls into hell.



Study Galatians chapter 1 and 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Study both the Old and New Testaments and become an expert on the real Jesus, and God will bless you with the ability to discern the real Jesus from the counterfeit.



The Apostle Paul knew the real Jesus. While his witness for Jesus was fraught with times of danger, suffering, and imprisonment, he stood courageously for the Lord, and loved God's perfect words over-and-above the imperfect words of man. Indeed, when Paul was weak, he was strong.



The Apostle Peter knew the difference between the real Jesus and the counterfeit, and warned of the false prophets and false teachers who arose among the people and the believers' of his day:



But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you,who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep (2 Peter 2:1-3).



Cautiously and methodically, false teachers tactfully condition the believer with elaborate, but false words. As the conditioning process takes effect, the mind of the believer becomes clouded and confused, resulting in a shipwrecked faith (1 Timothy 1:18-19) or worst, a total denial of Jesus Christ. The conditioning process is deception within deception, and sets the stage for deeper, darker deception, and it paves the way for the non-Christian to walk headfirst into John 3:18-19:



He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.



Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves (Matthew 23:15).



The 'Jesus' of Paramahansa Yogananda



Jesus loved Yogananda, but did Yogananda love Jesus and His teachings as Ken Blanchard maintains? The following Yogananda quotes (limited to one), answers the question:



Jesus Christ: "Christ has been much misinterpreted by the world. Even the most elementary principles of his teachings have been desecrated, and their esoteric depths have been forgotten...How to salvage the immortal teachings from the hands of ignorance? We must know Jesus as an Oriental Christ, a supreme yogi who manifested full mastery of the universal science of God-union, and thus could speak and act as a savior with the voice and authority of God. He has been Westernized too much." [ http://tinyurl.com/2mzlhl ]



The return of Jesus Christ: "'In titling this work The Second Coming of Christ, I am not referring to a literal return of Jesus to earth....A thousand Christs sent to earth would not redeem its people unless they themselves become Christlike by purifying and expanding their individual consciousness to receive therein the second coming of the Christ Consciousness, as was manifested in Jesus.... Contact with this Consciousness, experienced in the ever new joy of meditation, will be the real second coming of Christ--and it will take place right in the devotee's own consciousness'" ( http://tinyurl.com/3xetwn, italics in original).



Salvation: "Worshipping Jesus is not truly meaningful until one can expand his consciousness to receive within himself the Christ Consciousness. That is the second coming of Christ. Unless you do your part, a thousand Christs come on earth would not be able to save you. You have to work for your own salvation. Then Christ can help you" (Man's Eternal Quest, 1988, pp. 292-293).



God: "Everything is God. The very room and universe are floating like a motion picture on the screen of my consciousness. When you look back at the booth, you see only the beam of light that is projecting the pictures on the screen. That this creation is naught but a motion picture, created out of God’s light, seems incredible; but it is true" (Ibid., p. 453).



Sin: "He [God] sees your good and evil thoughts and actions but they do not matter to him. You are His child just the same" (Ibid., p. 480).



The Trinity: "When Spirit manifests creation, It becomes the Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Ghost, or Sat, Tat, Aum. The Father (Sat) is God as the Creator existing beyond creation. The Son (Tat) is God’s omnipresent intelligence existing in creation. The Holy Ghost (Aum) is the vibratory power of God that objectifies or becomes creation" (Ibid., p. 482, emp. theirs).



Death and hell: in this description of the book, One Life Versus Reincarnation, Paramahansa Yogananda "explains that each soul is given innumerable opportunities for salvation in the grand progression of spiritual evolution through many lives: Eternal hades is impossible!" he assures us. Nevertheless, he counsels, it is in our highest interest to make the effort in this present incarnation to attune our free will and actions with the eternal laws of divine happiness. Why wait, when the infinite joy and fulfillment of God-consciousness can be ours in this lifetime?" ( http://tinyurl.com/2upua4 ).



Holy Spirit: "In deepest meditation, as practiced by those who are advanced in the technique of Kriya Yoga, the devotee experiences not only expansion in the Aum vibration 'Voice from Heaven,' but finds himself able also to follow the microcosmic light of Spirit in the 'straight way' of the spine into the light of the spiritual eye 'dove descending from heaven" ( http://tinyurl.com/2sap9r ).


If Yogananda truly loved Jesus, why did he mislead (and continue to mislead through his writings), untold numbers of people? If Yogananda truly loved Jesus, why didn't he accept the fact he was a sinner, repent, renounce his pagan practices, and become a born again Christian?

Yogananda twisted and distorted God's holy word--to his own destruction. His "Jesus" had not the ability or power to save and redeem mankind from eternal damnation and separation from God.

Now, who should be believed? Yogananda and Ken Blanchard, or the real Jesus and the Bible?

When words return to haunt



Whether spoken or written, words are important. Unless care is taken, words will return to haunt the author or speaker. From their 2005 book, Lead Like Jesus, here are words that have returned to haunt Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges:



Page 82: "If you are to lead like Jesus, you must worship God only, depend on God completely, exalt God as your only audience, authority, and judge, and be aware that God is watching you."



Page 107: "The leader's personal purpose must guide and align the efforts of those who are to follow, or their whole relationship is built on a false foundation. Hidden motives and hidden agendas will sabotage trust--the key ingredient in any leader-follower relationship."



Page 181: "We all need trusted truth-tellers, preferably those not directly impacted by what we do, who can help us keep on course. If you can't name any active truth-tellers in your life, or if you have avoided or undervalued the ones you have, it's time to make a change."



Page 209: "One of the problems we see in the lives of leaders today is that they love to tell everyone else how they should serve and act, yet when it comes to their lives, they do not practice what they are preaching. Or as we like to say, they 'stumble the mumble.' Too often there is a real disconnect between what the leader says and what the leader does.



"We believe that the next great movement in Christianity will be demonstration. If we want people to be interested in our faith in the future, we as Christians must practice what we preach. In other words, people need to not only hear Christian leaders talking about the message of Christ, but they need to see us living out this message in the way we lead and serve others."



Page 225: "When You Need to Take Accountability for a Mistake and Repent If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness' (1 John 1:9 NKJV)." [emp. in original]



Ken Blanchard: New Ager



Do the teachings of Jesus Christ make room for warm and fuzzy "inspirational messages" from pagans, false prophets, false teachers, and demonically inspired doctrines? NO! The teachings of Buddha, Mohammed, Dali Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, and Paramahansa Yogananda deny the Christian God and the truth of His word.



In Matthew 7:15-21, Jesus warns the believer to Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.



One cannot be a practicing Christian and practicing New Ager at the same time. One cannot fellowship with Jesus Christ and fellowship with occultic, New Age paganism at the same time. One cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:21).



Ken Blanchard is a false brethren (Galatians 2:4-5), and a wolf in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:28-29). While he honors Jesus Christ with his lips, at the same time he honors New Age organizations, New Age authors and books, New Age practices, and the pagan gods and demonic doctrines the New Age promotes (Matthew 15:7-9).



For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).



Christians need to take a serious look at Ken Blanchard's spirituality. On the outside, Blanchard professes a belief in Jesus Christ. But on the inside, he is a New Ager, and his New Age-ism has the capability of reaching tens of thousands, if not millions, worldwide.



The real Jesus Christ of the Bible is God Himself in human form, second Person of the Trinity. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, was buried, arose bodily from the grave, ascended into heaven, and will return. This is not a simple game where people win or lose and live to play again. Pointing people to those who spew doctrines of demons and cause people to stumble and endanger their spiritual welfare is beyond words; it is sin. This is serious business, and Jesus takes it seriously:



Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:7)



And watchmen on the walls need to cowboy-up and expose those who claim to be Christian, but who are, in reality, New Age wolves clothed as Christians.



Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life (Ezekiel 33:7-9).



Special thanks to Steve Muse, Mike Oppenheimer, Chris Lawson, and Deborah Dombrowski for their valuable assistance in the writing of this article.



Related articles and recommended reading:



-- Letter to Ken Blanchard: With Love and Concern

-- Ken Blanchard returns to Rick Warren's Saddleback Church

-- http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/researchtopics.htm#B

-- http://www.christianresearchservice.com/LeadingLikeJesus.htm



A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen

Faith Undone by Roger Oakland

Yoga and The Body of Christ by Dave Hunt

More on Ken Blanchard at Saddleback from Lighthouse Trails

Source: Lighthouse Trails

Rick Warren has announced both in an interview on Fox News and in an email (see below) to his congregants that New Age sympathizer Ken Blanchard is returning to Saddleback to speak to the congregation this weekend. Below is a copy of the email Warren sent out on Friday October 26th.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: This Weekend At Saddleback!
Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:18:22 -0700
From: Pastor Rick Warren

Dear Saddleback Family,
Below is information about this weekend that I encourage you to forward on to the people you work with. I urge you to attend either the Saturday evening or Sunday evening services. See you!
Pastor Rick

Special Guest
Ken Blanchard saw it all go up in smoke this week. The bestselling business author of "The One Minute Manager" and two dozen other international business and leadership bestsellers watched from a television as his beloved Rancho Bernardo home burned to the ground. What is God's purpose now for those who lost everything this week? How can you look up when your burned out?

Books Written By Ken Blanchard


THIS WEEKEND AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH
* Ken Blanchard sharing his story: "What matters most?"
* Rick Warren speaking on "How to Look Up When You're Burned Out"
BRING YOUR BOSS AND COWORKERS TO HEAR AMERICA'S PREMIER LEADERSHIP TRAINER in a way they've never heard at corporate seminars.
Service Times
Saturday: 4:30, 6:30 p.m.
Sunday: 9:00, 11:15 a.m. & 4:30, 6:30 p.m.
Direction to Saddleback Church
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who may not understand the significance of this bold move by Rick Warren to invite Ken Blanchard back to Saddleback (and to announce it on Fox News), the following information will be vital to read. This is a chronological list of events that have taken place with regard to Rick Warren, Ken Blanchard, and Lighthouse Trails reporting.

In Summary: Rick Warren announced in 2003 that Ken Blanchard would be working together with him on implementing the peace plan and training leaders around the world. However, when it came out that Blanchard had been promoting eastern meditation, Buddhism, and the New Age for over 20 years, Warren denied that Blanchard would be working on the peace plan. Warren contacted Lighthouse Trails regarding this. Because thousands of Christian churches are still following the Purpose Driven program, thinking that they are following a biblical plan, when in fact they are walking toward a dangerous, ecumenical cliff and a false belief that there will be global peace and the kingdom of God here on earth before Christ returns (read Faith Undone), we are reposting this information. Blanchard, who has been a professing Christian since the 80s, has consistently promoted the New Age, and to this day is still endorsing New Age type books and is still on the advisory board of the Hoffman Institute, where New Age practices and beliefs permeate. While Warren denied that Blanchard would be working with him on the peace plan, documentation below shows otherwise including a video of Rick Warren stating such and also a transcript of a conversation at a Lead Like Jesus conference in Alabama between Warren and Blanchard.

Ken Blanchard is back at Saddleback today (October 28th), and while Rick Warren is using the terrible fires in S. California as a reason to bring Blanchard back, there is a lot more to consider than houses being lost. While we sympathize with Blanchard and the many others who have lost their homes to the fires, the spiritual lives of countless people throughout the world could be affected too. For those who may not understand why Rick Warren would bring Blanchard in again, there is an obvious and documented explanation - he resonates with the same spirituality as Blanchard, as is carefully shown in A Time of Departing and Faith Undone.

Note: Rick Warren has sat on Blanchard's national advisory board for many years, along with New Age proponents Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul) and Laurie Beth Jones. When Blanchard's website was revamped, the list of board members was removed. Attempts were made to receive a copy of the current board member list, but Lead Like Jesus would not release it. If you would like to know who is currently on the board at Lead Like Jesus, click here for contact information.

A Chronological List of Events:

Fall 2003, Lead Like Jesus, Birmingham, Alabama: Transcript between Warren and Blanchard

November 2003: Rick Warren Announces Peace Plan (audio, loads slowly)

April 2005 - Lighthouse Trails releases press release exposing Rick Warren's plans to include Ken Blanchard in his global P.E.A.C.E. Plan - Press Release:Rick Warren Teams Up With New-Age Guru Ken Blanchard!

May 23, 2005 - Rick Warren speaks at the Pew Forum on Religion, says anyone, even Muslims can be used to implement his peace plan.

May 31, 2005 - Rick Warren writes to Lighthouse Trails - makes his letter to LT public: Warren's email

June 2005 - Our Response and Analysis (Warren's letter filled with misleading and untrue statements)

Excerpt from June 2006 Special Report by LT: [In 2005], we issued a press release that showed the connection between Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard. In Warren's own words, he acknowledged that Blanchard, a New Age sympathizer, had "signed on" to help implement Warren's global P.E.A.C.E. plan. Warren stated this at a Saddleback service as well as at the 2003 Lead Like Jesus conference in Alabama. However, a month after we issued the press release, Lighthouse Trails received an email from Rick Warren. The email was sent in the middle of the night, and by the following morning, Warren had given permission to a colleague to post his email online. We contacted Saddleback and confirmed this. Needless to say, countless people found out about this email. However, what most who read his email did not realize was that the majority of the statements in his email were not true. We posted a public response but knew that most people would either only read Warren's email to us or refuse to believe that America's pastor was lying and we were speaking the truth.

Lighthouse Trails learned of Rick Warren's connection to Ken Blanchard through a book called A Life With Purpose, written by Hollywood biographer, George Mair. Ray Yungen discusses this in his book, A Time of Departing:
In the spring of 2005, someone handed me a book called A Life with Purpose by George Mair. The book is written as a positive account of Rick Warren's life. In fact, the subtitle on the front cover reads: America's Most Inspiring Pastor. It is clear that the author had a great admiration for Warren. While Mair wrote the book, he spent many Sunday mornings at Saddleback church services, listening to Rick Warren and donating financially. However, after Rick Warren found out about the book, he publicly criticized it. In addition, Saddleback church sent out emails to an undisclosed number of people, discrediting Mair's book.

I personally believe Warren's effort to debunk the book was an attempt to conceal some of its observations. What George Mair didn't realize was that in his candid account of Warren, and in his efforts to offer this testament of praise, some things were revealed about the pastor that might have gone undetected by the average person. For instance, Mair explains how New Age prophet Norman Vincent Peale was at the foundation of the church-growth movement and furthermore "many of Peale's uplifting affirmations originated with an 'obscure teacher of occult science' named Florence Scovel Shinn." Referring to many of the methods that Peale taught and his "unification of psychology and religion," Mair says, "Saddleback distinctly bears the stamp of Reverend Norman Vincent Peale."

In November of 2003, Rick Warren announced to his Saddleback congregation his global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. In the same sermon, Warren introduced the congregation to Ken Blanchard, playing a video clip of Blanchard's visit to Saddleback a few days earlier. Warren informed his large congregation that Blanchard had: "... signed on to help with the P.E.A.C.E. Plan, and he's going to be helping train us in leadership and in how to train others to be leaders all around the world."

In light of the fact that Ken Blanchard has promoted Buddhism and Eastern style meditation for over 20 years, it became very alarming to know that Rick Warren was using Blanchard to train leaders around the world.
The weeks following Rick Warren's email to us, we received phone calls and emails from different men from Saddleback, one of them telling us to stop "lobbing dead cats [and "grenades"] over the wall." It was confirmed also that an email was sent out from Saddleback to an unknown number of people, discussing the Blanchard issue. That email stated that Lighthouse Trails had lied and they should not be listened to.

And then in December of 2005 a very strange thing happened - a woman sent us an email she had received from Rick Warren's personal email address, which stated:
The website you refer to [Lighthouse Trails] below is well-known for publishing lies, which can easily be proven false.... The Bible says "Satan is the father of lies", so those who intentionally spread them are doing Satan's work for him. That is evil. We suggest you avoid listening to evil people who have a habit of lying about ministers of the Gospel. Study the Scriptures every day and flee from those who make their reputation by lying.
We contacted Saddleback about the email, and we received the following reply, suggesting that the email had been written by a computer hacker: "We are sorry that this public mailbox has been shut down due to vandalism and stolen identity. Federal enforcement officers are tracking down the source in either Africa or the Pacific Northwest." At first, we thought this was a joke because we (who live in the Pacific Northwest) had recently issued a press release about an evangelist in Africa who had been opposing Purpose Driven. Hearing that Federal officers had narrowed down an investigation to either our location or the evangelist's location seemed preposterous. We contacted Saddleback by phone requesting the names of these Federal agents because of the threatening nature of the "anonymous" email. A few days later a Saddleback staff member called and told us that Federal agents were doing an investigation on their web server being broken into and that Saddleback suspected Lighthouse Trails. We again asked for the names of the Federal agents as well as the Saddleback communications director that was handling the case. However, we were told they would not give us any names. We have not heard anything from Saddleback since.

We testify of these things, not to distract you from the issues at hand (of exposing contemplative and emerging spirituality within the church), but rather to show that Rick Warren, as well as other leaders, will go to great lengths to preserve their status and to complete their tasks, even to the point of lying, threatening, discrediting and deceiving. While we have postponed releasing this information for several months, because of Rick Warren's continuous brazen remarks against the body of Christ and because Purpose Driven is an avenue through which the New Age is entering the church, we believe it is of utmost importance to relay this documentation to believers who are working so diligently to defend the gospel message of Jesus Christ in a time when a great falling away appears to be at hand.

February 2007: Ken Blanchard to Co-Author Book with Mystical Meditation Proponents

October 28th, 2007: Blanchard Returns to Saddleback

Further Research:

Ken Blanchard's Endorsements of New Age/Buddhist Promoting Books

Other Transcripts, Audios and Videos of Rick Warren

Connections Between Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard

Ken Blanchard and Lead Like Jesus

Other Documentation

Research Database on Blanchard by Christian Research Service

Pertinent Quotes by Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard:

"You've heard me say many times that the greatest thing you can do with your life is tell somebody about Jesus ... if you help somebody secure their eternal destiny, that they spend the rest of their life in Heaven not Hell ...your life counts, your life matters because nothing matters more than helping get a person and their eternal destiny settled. They will be forever eternally grateful....And I've always said that that was the greatest thing you can do with your life. I was wrong. There is one thing you can do greater than share Jesus Christ with somebody, and it is help start a church." —Sermon from 11/2003 when Rick Warren Announced His Global Peace Plan to Saddleback. Hear entire sermon - This portion starts around the 14 minute mark.)

"We come into this Peace Plan with great humility ... We will be like a giant mushroom expanding and exploding around the world. Whatever it takes, it will be a holy moment."—Rick Warren, Christian Examiner, May 2005 (1)

"I look for inspirational messages from a variety of sources besides Jesus. Our folks get to hear words of wisdom from great prophets and spiritual leaders like Buddha, Mohammed ... Yogananda and the Dalai Lama."-Ken Blanchard, foreword What Would Buddha Do at Work? (2001)

"Buddha points to the path and invites us to begin our journey to enlightenment. I ... invite you to begin your journey to enlightened work." -Ken Blanchard, foreword What Would Buddha Do at Work?

"For the stability of a nation, you must have strong healthy government, strong healthy businesses, and strong healthy churches.... A three-legged stool will have stability. So I'm going from country to country teaching business its role, teaching church its role, and teaching government leaders their role-you've got to work together! We cannot solve the problem in your country or in the world if we won't work together." Rick Warren in the Philippines in July 2006

"Who's the man of peace in any village - or it might be a woman of peace - who has the most respect, they're open and they're influential? They don't have to be a Christian. In fact, they could be a Muslim, but they're open and they're influential and you work with them to attack the five giants. And that's going to bring the second Reformation."—Rick Warren, May 2005, Pew Forum on Religion

"Personal computers have brand names. But inside every pc is an Intel chip and an operating system. Windows.... The Purpose Driven paradigm is the Intel chip for the 21st-century church and the Windows system of the 21st-century church." Rick Warren, Christianity Today, Oct. 2005

"[W]e are possibly on the verge of a new reformation in Christianity and another Great Awakening in our nation ... The signs are everywhere, including the popularity of this book." Rick Warren, Baptist Press, Sept. 2004

"I really do feel that these people are brothers and sisters in God's family. I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church, with the Anglican church." Rick Warren at Anglican conference, 11/05

* * * * *

"And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.' But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.'" Genesis 11: 4-6

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." I Timothy 4:1

This article or excerpt was posted on October 28, 2007@ 2:27 pm .

From: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Hot Off The Press-Statement on Accusations and Criticisms

This is a statement from my friend and brother in the Lord Bud Press.
Its well worth reading.There are many clouding the blogosphere with a mass of misinformation and half truths.
I have debated one man in particular who again has rose up after a year or so in time out.
They call themselves by many names and titles.
Some call themselves investigative journalists.
Others are cut and paste authors just trying to keep themselves in the limelight because of the narcisssim that surounds their character.
Ive coined one name for these types.
Excuseoligist.
They seldom use scripture in their defence of guys like Rick Warren just the fact that they personally know Warren should be enough for you.
Plus their research is poor at best.
Some have come to the defence of new age sympathizer Ken Blanchard even though Ken still continues to endorce new age books inspired by guru's and such.
They must do damage control to keep the deception that is all that envelopes purpose driven and Saddleback because Warren continues to invite Blanchard to speak at Saddleback even though Warren himself in Richard Abanes book "Rick Warren and the Purpose that Drives him" called Blanchard a weak Christian.
If that not the pot calling the kettle black what is?
Would you want or allow a weak Christian to speak at the church you attend?
Here is Buds article-Tim




Statement on Accusations and Criticisms

Against Discernment Ministries



Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around

your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart --Proverbs 3:3



The truth behind an accusation rests on the facts of the issue and irrefutable documentation. If the accuser fails in his or her attempt to state and document the facts correctly, then the accuser's motives should be called into question and judged accordingly. The same applies to the one being accused.



Truth isn't up-for-grabs or However it is perceived. Truth is offensive and doesn't change course in mid-stream. Truth shines light in the midst of darkness, and sets the captive free.



Affiliations, associations, and friendships take a back seat to truth. Truth should never be compromised or sacrificed for the sake of unity. Truth is backed by solid, irrefutable documentation, and stands on its own. Truth will stand up to intensive investigation.



Instead of accepting something carte blanche, Christians should investigate what is being said, weigh the evidence carefully and objectively, then rely on God's word for their final authority. If misused, words have a way of returning to haunt the writer.



Christians are under the Scriptural command to: test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1); preach the word (2 Timothy 4:1-2); guard and warn fellow Christians (Acts 20:27-31); boldly defend the faith (1 Timothy 6:12; Jude 3); expose the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11-12; 2 Corinthians 4:4); and tell the truth in love (Ephesians 4:14-15).





No Christian--regardless of their position within the body of Christ--is exclusive to sin or immune to scrutiny. There are times when we, as Christians, must confront our brothers and sisters in love and concern, point out error and sin, and encourage repentance and reconciliation (Matthew 18:15-17; Luke 17:3; John 7:24; James 5:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 6:3-5).



Regarding the rash of public accusations and negative criticisms towards the ministries of Dave and Deborah Dombrowski, Roger Oakland, Jacob Prasch, Dave Hunt, and others, I have spent a considerable amount of time researching and preserving the statements made against these ministries on websites and various internet blogs and forums.



Certainly, while people are free to state their opinions, much of what I have read is consistent, in that poor research and even poorer judgment is under girded by ad hominem and innuendo, for the purpose of smearing the character, integrity, and reputation of solid, Bible-based ministries.





By no means is this to say that Dave and Deborah Dombrowski, Roger Oakland, Jacob Prasch, and Dave Hunt are exclusive and beyond reproach. They aren't. No one is. However, it is to say that for years these ministries have demonstrated a solid, Bible-based track-record of devotion to Jesus Christ, a genuine concern for the spiritual welfare of fellow Christians, and a bold defense of the faith. Theirs is not a ministry of personal gain, 15 minutes of fame, or pats on the back.



On a personal note, I have spent countless hours on the phone with Mrs. Dombrowski who, over the years, has bore much of the brunt of negative criticism over the stand she and her husband have taken on Rick Warren's Purpose Driven delusion, and other critical issues facing the body of Christ. We have laughed together, wept together, and prayed together. Never, not one time, have I heard her say anything derogatory about those who belittle her and rail against her ministry.



Dare we forget that the first person to see the resurrected Christ was a woman? (John chapter 20)



Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:11-12).



As Christians, it is imperative that we test and examine ourselves on a daily basis (2 Corinthians 13:5). We are representatives of the Creator of the universe, the coming King, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we are to conduct ourselves according to His guidelines and specifications, not the warm and fuzzy whims and traditions of man (Colossians 2:8).



The task before us is not a popularity contest. It is not about us, but is about the One Who suffered and died for us and arose victoriously from the grave--Jesus Christ. Sharing His truth in love, exposing error, and defending the faith He established go hand-in-hand. And God commands every Christian--young or old, man or woman--to do just that (Jude 3).



But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these (2 Timothy 3:1-5).



The body of Christ needs to wake-up to the fact that Rick Warren and others are contributing to the apostasy, and are paving the way for the one-world religion. Those who defend and promote Warren and his Purpose Driven delusion are assisting him in accomplishing that goal.



And no amount of false accusations, excuses, lengthy diatribes, and damage-control will change the fact that Rick Warren, Ken Blanchard, and others' continue to commit a grave injustice to the cause of Christ.



Jesus said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me (Luke 9:23). There is a price to pay for standing strong for the Lord and the truth of His word, and I encourage every believer who falls under the heavy-hand of persecution to stand strong for Jesus Christ, and continue telling the truth--no matter what.



Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful (Proverbs 27:6).



Sincerely in Christ,

Bud Press, Director

Christian Research Service

www.christianresearchservice.com

Jude 3

February 13, 2008



--Scripture references taken from the New American Standard Bible and the King James Version

WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE CLUELESS CHRISTIANS?

Great new article by Chuck Baldwin- Peace Tim
WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE CLUELESS CHRISTIANS?





By Pastor Chuck Baldwin

February 12, 2008

NewsWithViews.com

"For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." Mark 13:22 (KJV)

"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." II Thessalonians 2:11 (KJV)

What's with all these clueless Christians? How is it that people who have the benefit of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the warning and insight of the Sacred Scriptures--not to mention a rich Christian heritage here in America--can be so ignorant, blind, and naïve? Yes, the majority of evangelical Christians seem to be all of the above. The problem has passed being serious: it is catastrophic!

How is it that we have drifted away from being an informed, active, knowledgeable, and dedicated group of highly motivated Christian patriots to a group of impotent and anemic sheep? Our Christian forebears must be turning over in their graves, because we are in the process of squandering the greatest human sacrifice--save that of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ--ever made: the sacrifice of America's Founding Fathers.

The problem is manifold, of course. For the most part, our pastors have become glorified politicians and business executives. As attorneys are not schooled in the Constitution, today's ministers are not schooled in the Scriptures. They are motivational speakers, salesmen, and business managers. The Bible is only used as a side reference, if at all. It is not taught or preached literally. Pastors go through the Bible the way people go through a salad bar: gleaning a few sweet-tasting morsels and rejecting everything that appears the least bit distasteful.

Then there is the "fit-in-with-the-brethren" mentality. The politicos in Washington, D.C., have nothing on many pastors' fellowship groups. Fitting in with the denomination seems to be a far greater priority than being an independent man of God. And, of course, let's not forget the importance of not "making waves" with the deacons, elders, or church trustees. In a word, today's pastors have been very effectively neutered.

Another problem is the way our pastors and churches have become "success" driven. Churches used to focus on truth and discipleship. No more. The church-growth movement of the last three decades has produced a generation of Christians much more concerned about crowds, buildings, and activities than they are fidelity to truth. Church has become a numbers game where success is measured by attendance and offerings.

There is yet another problem: today's churches are completely enamored with power. No, not the power of God. They are completely infatuated with the power of men. Rich men. Popular men. Influential men. Celebrities. Politicians. Millionaires. Sports stars, etc.

Yet, listen to what God tells us about rich and powerful men. "Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?" James 2:6 (KJV)

Historically, it has always been the super-wealthy, super-powerful elements of society that have brought tyranny and persecution to God's people. It is the political and business elite who have trampled people's freedoms and liberties, enslaved their children, and ravaged their lands and properties.

Nothing has changed: the super-elite in the United States and Europe are continuing to do what they have always done. Both the Republican and Democrat parties are controlled by those who desire to create a globalistic society in which they will control the world's materials and peoples.

Both George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush have contributed to the tyrannical goals and ambitions of the super-elite. So has Bill Clinton. If John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is elected, they will follow in the globalist footsteps of their predecessors.

The Christian professions of our political leaders mean nothing. Absolutely nothing! Putting an "R" behind his or her name also means nothing. Neither does calling oneself a "conservative" mean anything. Our political leaders are mostly walking in lockstep with the evil designs of the super-wealthy. Ditto for the executives who control our major media.

And our Christians and ministers seem to be absolutely clueless.

James Dobson endorses Mike Huckabee, as does Jerry Falwell, Jr., while Gary Bauer endorses John McCain. Yet, the truth is, one is as bad as the other. In fact, Huckabee is posturing himself to be McCain's running mate after McCain wins the nomination. Does anyone really believe that Mike Huckabee would turn down an invitation from John McCain to be his running mate? Get serious! Mike Huckabee would support the liberal, Big-Government John McCain with all of the enthusiasm he could muster. Why? Because Huckabee, himself, is a Big-Government liberal who has joined ideological forces with the super-elite who run both parties.

And no one within the Religious Right seems to get it. Say you are "pro-life" and "pro-family" and you are "in." Forget the Constitution. Forget national sovereignty and independence. Forget the principles of sound money. Forget the Bill of Rights. Forget "Just War" theory. Forget non-interventionism. Forget protecting American jobs and manufacturing. Forget putting America first. It's all about getting along with the establishment, having a seat at the table, and enjoying the perks of power.

Christians are supposed to be different. We are supposed to think differently. We are clearly commanded to "be not conformed to this world."

In addition, as Americans, our heritage and history is that of being "non-conformist." We loved liberty, freedom, and independence. We recognized no sovereign authority, save that of Jesus Christ. We believed in self-reliance and hard work. We didn't expect government handouts or charity. We believed in disciplining our children and did not expect that they would learn their values from government schools. We viewed human government with deep suspicion and demanded that it be held in check by powerful Bible preaching and by the constraints and restrictions of the U.S. Constitution.



Remember, it was the political and business elite who killed the Old Testament prophets, persecuted the early church, and crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the political and business elite who oppressed our Pilgrim forebears. It was the political and business elite who tried to stamp out liberty and independence from the American colonies. And it is those same political and business elite who are forcing globalism, socialism, and fascism upon the American people today.

And our pastors and churches seem to be absolutely clueless.



Furthermore, when someone appears from outside the elitist mainstream, someone such as Congressman Ron Paul, he is ostracized, ignored, and even lampooned by the very people who should embrace and support him most: evangelical Christians.

The truth is, America is in the doo-doo we are in because of the cluelessness and cowardice of today's Christians. Or, has the elect been deceived? Have they succumbed to delusion? The result is the same either way.


© 2008 Chuck Baldwin - All Rights Reserved

Rick Warren and the false church

This is just a short quote from a recent Christian Post article.

"This year, the prayer event carries the theme "Be With Me Where I Am." In each offered session, guest speakers will take the participants through verses in John 17.

While the annual gathering serves to recharge the Christian leaders, it is also a time for the five boroughs of New York City and the tri-state regions to network for collaborative mission.

That issue will be addressed by Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback Church, who is scheduled to address the crowd Tuesday morning.

Warren will also be introducing The New York City Leadership Center, a new project underway that aims to train regional Christian leaders who will be able to collaborate with global church movements and serve as a model for future leaders abroad. The official launch of the center will take place on Sept. 20, 2008.

According to Pier, New York City is important because of its global influence."

End of quote-
In my opinion and according to how Rick Warren purposly acts against scripture I believe Rick is willigly or unwittingly doing the work of the antichrist and setting up the end time apostate false church scripture speaks of.
Watch out and beware of Rick Warren and the real purpose that drives him.
Rick Warren was recently on Steve Colberts Comedy Central show promoting his new Purpose Driven religion.
Lots of laughing here and as usual Rick forgets to mention Jesus.Now Steve Colbert bought up Jesus but Warren failed here in trying to present any type of the gospel instead showing a God who smiles at all His children (meaning everyone).
I believe that Rick Warren knows the gospel and who Jesus is but purposly chooses to not present the gospel or who Jesus really is.
I also believe accordingly based on Ricks track record that Rick Warren is probably not a saved Christian.
Pretty scary seeing the influence this apostate buffon has on Christianity.
I think the only one laughing besides Rick is our enemy satan.
Im sure God does not believe Rick is funny.
Tim Wirth

Cedarville University Cancels Shane Claiborne Event

From my good friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord Deb and Dave Dombrowski.
This is a local issue for me so I was glad to get this news-Tim

Cedarville University
Cancels Shane Claiborne Event


January 31, 2008 - On January 23rd, Lighthouse Trails reported that Cedarville University had scheduled emerging church leader Shane Claiborne to speak at Cedarville on February 11th. It has now come to our attention that the Claiborne event has been cancelled.

Lighthouse Trails spoke via email with John Davis, Associate Director of Public Relations for Cedarville University, who confirmed that Shane Claiborne would not be speaking there after all. Davis stated: "In light of the concern expressed, both on and off campus, about Shane Claiborne, the university has opted to cancel the event."

The evening with Claiborne that was going to take place was named after Claiborne's book, The Irresistible Revolution. Our Jan. 23rd report pointed out that proceeds from the sale of that book were going to many emerging/contemplative type organizations including Brian McLaren's home church and mystic proponent Tony Campolo. The book's foreword is written by liberal political activist Jim Wallis.

One Cedarville professor wrote to Lighthouse Trails today after hearing of the cancellation and said he was sorry that Claiborne would not be speaking because students need to "become active participants in the world of ideas and to become critical thinkers." He added that perhaps "Claiborne's visit would have sparked a number of interesting and educationally valuable conversations that we so desperately need to have." Another person called us, identifying herself as a student at Cedarville, and said it was "very unfortunate" that Claiborne was cancelled. She said he was a wonderful person and his book had great ideas.

While it is understandable that professors wish for students to have knowledge of various mindsets, it is not so understandable that they would want to use those promoting false doctrine to instruct students, even if they are really nice people. When we asked a Cedarville University personnel last week if he would bring in a New Ager to address the students, he said no. But, as we pointed out, that is what they are doing by bringing in any emerging church leader and/or author. The two philosophies line up very neatly. Thus, while we agree that Christian college students should be informed on the various religions and spiritualities of the world, we disagree that they should learn them from the proponent themselves. Would a university need to bring in a Marxist to teach the students about Communism? No. Neither do they need to bring in an emerging activist to teach the students about mysticism and emerging spirituality.

The problem is most people don't really know what emerging spirituality is all about. Thus, it is difficult for people to see it as anything but a different kind of Christianity but Christianity none the less. While we believe it is for the best that Shane Claiborne will not be speaking at Cedarville this February, our ongoing concern is that if Cedarville faculty, staff, and students do not fully understand the spiritual implications of emerging, then next month or the month after that it will be another name and then another.

We beseech Cedarville students and faculty to learn what the dynamics of the emerging church are. This would include understanding contemplative spirituality because mysticism is the driving force behind emerging. In fact, without mysticism there would be no emerging church movement.

Today, when we told Ray Yungen what had happened at Cedarville, he asked us to convey something he felt was vital. It is from his book A Time of Departing:
Dr. Rodney R. Romney, former Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Seattle is a person frequently quoted as an example of a New Age Christian. He very candidly revealed what was conveyed to him in his contemplative prayer periods. The "source of wisdom" he was in contact with told him the following:
I want you to preach this oneness, to hold it up before the world as my call to unity and togetherness. In the end this witness to the oneness of all people will undermine any barriers that presently exist.1
Could this be a familiar spirit speaking here? Jesus Christ did not teach that all people are one. There are the saved and the unsaved. And Jesus Christ is the catalyst for this distinction. But the spirit who spoke to Dr. Romney also revealed something else of vital importance. It declared, "Silence is that place, that environment where I work."2 Please pay attention to this! God does not work in the silence--but familiar spirits do. Moreover, what makes it so dangerous is that they are very clever. One well-known New Ager revealed what his guiding (familiar) spirit candidly disclosed:
We work with all who are vibrationally sympathetic; simple and sincere people who feel our spirit moving, but for the most part, only within the context of their current belief system.3
The term "vibrationally sympathetic" here means those who suspend thought through word repetition or breath focus--inward mental silence. That is what attracts them. That is their opening. That is why Tilden Edwards called this the "bridge to far Eastern spirituality," and this is what is being injected into the evangelical church!

If Cedarville students and faculty cannot grasp the underlying reality and spiritual framework behind the emerging church, then they could find themselves swept up into a spirituality that is not in harmony with the Gospel of the grace of God.

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

Notes:
1. Rodney R. Romney, Journey to Inner Space (New York, NY: Riverview Press., 1986), p. 132.
2. Ibid., p. 138.
3. Ken Carey, The Starseed Transmissions (A Uni-Sun Book, 1985 4th printing), p. 33.

from the Berean Call

Great information from my friends and brothers and sisters in the Lord at the Berean Call-Tim





Evangelical Mysticism?
T.A. McMahon

I find myself increasingly grieved these days by what I see taking place among those who profess to be evangelicals. I know the term "evangelical" has undergone radical changes regarding its meaning and practice. Yet when I use the term, I'm going by a very simple definition: I'm referring to those who claim to accept the Bible alone as their authority for knowing and receiving God's way of salvation and for living their lives in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Thirty years ago, it was young adult evangelicals who were used wonderfully by the Lord to help open my eyes to the fact that I was eternally separated from God and that the religious system I was depending on to get me to heaven was a false hope. That wasn't easy for me to accept at the time. Although my commitment to the Roman Catholic Church had weakened during my late twenties, the attitude "I was born a Catholic, I'll die a Catholic" was woven into the fabric of my mind.

As I think back on those days, I recognize that I was a young man in bondage. Certainly, I was in bondage to sin, as is everyone who is not born again. But there was another bondage that also gripped me: the bondage of Roman Catholic tradition, with its sacraments, liturgies, rituals, and sacramentals. Not only were such things unbiblical-they were works of the flesh and devices of demons. In my own life, as well as throughout the history of the Church of Rome, they were soul-gripping superstitions advanced under the guise of spirituality.

I trusted in relics of dead so-called Saints; holy water; making the sign of the cross; votive candles; baptism for salvation (infant or otherwise); a "transubstantiated" piece of bread alleged to be Christ; apparitions of Mary; a scapular; a "miraculous medal"; statues and images of Jesus, Mary, and the saints; endless Rosaries, Novenas, the Stations of the Cross; abstaining from meat on Friday; Lenten abstinences; the Last Rites to get me into Purgatory and indulgences to get me out of Purgatory; Mass cards; graces dispensed from Mary; the confessional, with absolution of my sins by a priest; penance and personal suffering to purify me of my sin; worshiping a piece of bread at the Eucharistic Holy Hour; the Holy Father as the Vicar of Christ on earth, etc., etc. Therein lies a bondage that few evangelicals understand.

Many brush these things aside as non-essentials of the Christian faith or minor theological aberrations unique to Catholicism. Not true. They are essential to the gospel that Rome declares-a gospel of meritorious works that the Bible condemns (see Galatians, Romans, Ephesians, et al.) as a rejection of the completed substitutionary atonement of Christ our Savior. Catholicism's Tradition, which is declared to be equal in authority to Scripture, is made up of those things (such as cited above) that are necessary for, or supportive of, a Catholic's entrance into heaven.

According to the Word of God, anything that is added to Christ's finished work on the cross is a denial of the gospel: that Christ paid the full penalty for the sins of humanity.

The Roman Catholic Church, which claims infallibility in its Councils and theological teachings, clearly and emphatically denies the biblical gospel. The Council of Trent declares:


6th Session, Canon 9: If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification...let him be anathema.
6th Session, Canon 12: If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ's sake, or that it is this confidence alone by which we are justified: let him be anathema.
6th Session, Canon 30: If anyone says that after the reception of the grace of justification the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out to every repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be discharged either in this world or in purgatory before the gates of heaven can be opened, let him be anathema.
7th Session, Canon 4: If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law [canons and decrees of the Church] are not necessary for salvation but...without them...men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification...let him be anathema.


"Anathema," in these decrees (which are still in force), damns to hell anyone who rejects the Roman Catholic Church's false gospel of works.

Starting with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, where only superficial changes were made (because infallible dogmas cannot be changed!), Rome launched an ecumenical program aimed at seducing Protestants worldwide and, specifically, evangelicals in the United States. The goal was and is to bring all of Christendom under the rule of the Roman Catholic Church with the pope as its spiritual head. Predictable progress has been made in Europe and the U.S. among liberal denominations that have long abandoned the Scriptures. Astonishing, however, is the success the scheme has had among American evangelicals.

Billy Graham was the first and most notable evangelical to support Catholicism's ecumenical efforts. Others followed, including Bill Bright, Pat Robertson, J. I. Packer, Timothy George, Robert Schuller, Hank Hanegraaff, Benny Hinn, and Jack Van Impe. Evangelicals and Catholics Together, under the leadership of Chuck Colson and Catholic priest Richard John Neuhaus, declared Catholics and evangelicals to be "brothers and sisters in Christ" and exhorted them to work together in spreading the gospel. Obviously, and conveniently, that gospel was never defined.

Although the acceptance of things Roman Catholic among evangelicals grew steadily over the years after Vatican II, it increased exponentially with the popularity of ultra-conservative Catholic Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. His dramatization of one of Catholicism's most sacred rituals, The Stations of the Cross, so captured the hearts of evangelicals that their eagerness to purchase mass quantities of tickets accounted for the movie's great financial success. Following that achievement, Inside the Vatican made this insightful observation: "For evangelicals, the film has given them a glimpse inside the Catholic soul, even the traditional Catholic soul. Many evangelicals, reflecting on what they saw in the movie, say they are beginning to 'get' the whole Catholic thing: Lent...the ashes on the forehead...no meat on Friday...the sorrowful mysteries...the Stations of the Cross...the emphasis on the Eucharist...the devotion to Mary...the enormous crucifix hanging above every Catholic altar. They may not be rushing out to buy rosaries, necessarily, but some of the things no longer seem so strange, so alien."1

What evangelicals also "got," which their leaders enthusiastically endorsed as "biblically accurate," were numerous scenes based upon the imagination of an 18th-century Catholic mystic, the portrayal of Mary as co-redemptrix in the salvation of mankind, and a very Catholic gospel that has Christ atoning for sin by suffering the unrelenting physical tortures of the
Roman soldiers.2

The Passion of the Christ had a stunning effect on evangelical youth and youth pastors. Not only did "[Catholic] things no longer seem so strange, so alien," but they were showing up in the youth ministries of evangelical churches. The Stations of the Cross ritual became popular, although it needed to be downsized from 14 stations to 11, eliminating some stations that were too foreign to Scripture (such as Saint Veronica capturing the image of Christ's bloodied face on her veil). Prayer altars were erected, featuring icons illuminated by candles and fragranced by burning incense, and prayer labyrinths were painted on large tarps placed in church basements or cut into church lawns. For young evangelicals too often raised on empty, repetitive worship choruses little different from secular music, and religious instruction leaning heavily upon entertainment to keep them interested, the Catholic and Orthodox liturgies seemed far more spiritual.

This all became "spiritual" fodder for the Emerging Church Movement (ECM), much of it a reaction against the consumer-oriented marketing approach to church growth popularized by Robert Schuller, Bill Hybels, and Rick Warren. Many ECM leaders, most of whom have evangelical backgrounds, saw Catholic ritual and mysticism as a necessary spiritual ingredient that was lost for evangelicals at the Reformation. Sola Scriptura was a major rallying cry of the Reformers against the abuses stemming from Roman Catholic tradition; the Bible as one's only authority practically shut down the influence of the Catholic mystics known as the Desert Fathers.

Yet Catholic mysticism has returned with a vengeance. Its occult techniques can be found nearly everywhere, from Youth Specialities to Richard Foster's Renovaré organization to Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. "Many Christian leaders started searching for a new approach under the banner of 'spiritual formation.' This new search has led many of them back to Catholic contemplative practices and medieval monastic disciplines," Brian McLaren writes approvingly.

Tony Jones, co-editor of An Emergent Manifesto of Hope has written a manifesto of mysticism for emerging churches titled The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life. Jones's acknowledgement of those who supported his effort reads as a Who's Who of emergent leaders, not to mention the Catholic priests he thanks and the ancient Orthodox and Catholic mystics he quotes. What then is this mysticism they are promoting?

Catholic mysticism is thoroughly subjective and experiential. Like its parent, Eastern mysticism, it claims that God can neither be known nor understood through human reason but only experienced subjectively through various techniques. It is the antithesis of what the Bible teaches: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 1:18); "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7); "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him" (2 Peter 1:3). Furthermore, the goal of mysticism is union with God, i.e., the merging of one's soul into God. This is an impossibility that reveals mysticism's pantheistic and panentheistic roots, that God is everything and is in everything. No. God is infinite and transcendent, absolutely separate from His finite creation.

The Sacred Way endorses numerous mystical techniques that are gaining acceptance among evangelicals today. An awareness and understanding of them is therefore critical for discernment. Centering Prayer utilizes a single word (e.g., "love" or "God") upon which one focuses to clear the mind of all other thoughts. The belief is that the so-called pray-er will hear directly from God in his silence before Him. Tony Campolo declares, "In my case intimacy with Christ has developed gradually over the years, primarily through what Catholic mystics call 'centering prayer.' Each morning, as soon as I wake up, I take time-sometimes as much as a half hour-to center myself on Jesus. I say his name over and over again to drive back the 101 things that begin to clutter up my mind the minute I open my eyes. Jesus is my mantra, as some would say."3

The Jesus Prayer has the pray-er repeat a sentence such as "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me" continuously, hundreds-even thousands-of times. The repetition supposedly fixates one's mind upon Jesus. Yet it blatantly rejects His command not to use vain repetition in prayer as the heathen do (Matthew 6:7). Moreover, its constant repetitions turn prayer as a form of communication with Jesus into an act of nonsense.

Lectio Divina, meaning "sacred reading," is a technique that is far removed from normal reading and studying of the Bible. Its methodology aims at going beyond the objective meaning of the words and the straightforward instructions to that which transcends normal awareness. Jones writes, "As you attend to those deeper meanings, begin to meditate on the feelings and emotions conjured up in your inner self."4 He then summarizes this mystical contemplative technique: "True contemplation moves beyond words and intellect and into that 'thin space' where time and eternity almost touch. It's in moments like these that some of the greatest [Catholic] saints in the history of the [Catholic] church have had a 'mystical union' with Christ."5 It's clear from God's Word that the spirit with which they had a "mystical union" in their contemplative altered state of consciousness was not Jesus.

Ignatian Examen is an occult visualization technique taught by Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Jesuits in the 16th century. His exercise teaches one to visualize oneself in the presence of Jesus and then interact with Him during his earthly events, e.g., "at the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the cross, and laying Jesus' body in the tomb."6 This has one adding content to Scripture from his imagination and opens a person to demonic manipulation (2 Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:8).

Prayer Labyrinths are concentric paths created by the Catholic Church in the 13th century to experience in one's imagination Christ's Via Dolorosa, or "walk of sorrows," when He carried His cross to Calvary's hill. Rather than subject themselves to the dangers of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem during Holy Week, Roman Catholics in Europe could gain the same indulgences (to shorten their time in Purgatory) by walking labyrinths at certain cathedrals while prayerfully meditating upon Christ's crucifixion. Likewise, observing the "sacred" ritual of the Stations of the Cross became a substitute for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

As a former Catholic, it's hard for me to fathom the evangelical church buying into the religious occultism of Roman Catholicism. It makes no sense. Visit any country where that religion is taken seriously. What becomes obvious is a people who are in the bondage of superstition. On the other hand, I shouldn't be surprised. Apostasy is growing rapidly, the religion of the Antichrist is taking shape, and mysticism, whether it's the Catholic variety, the Sufism of Islam, yoga and the gurus of Eastern mysticism, the Shamanism of native religions, or otherwise, is a common yet powerful magnet that draws all religions together.

We need to be watchmen on the wall as we see this evil invading the church, warning especially-should our Lord delay His return-our next generation of believers. They are the clear targets of this mystical seduction. tbc


Quotable

Correction from January 2008 "Quotable": Hugh Latimer, most fruitful evangelist in England at the time, preaching to more than 1,000 sitting on the grass at Whitehall, residence of King Edward VI, the "British Josiah." Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer were among several hundred protestants burned at the stake by Edward's half-sister, "Bloody Mary," awarded the throne in the place of Lady Jane Grey, the previous queen. Mary had Lady Jane Grey beheaded. She then sought to turn England back to Catholicism.

Follow-up Quote:

The last words of Lady Jane Grey, age 16, at her beheading, February 12, 1554, having refused freedom if she embraced Catholicism. From the scaffold she spoke earnestly to the spectators: "Good people, touching the procurement of the crown on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof before God. I did not desire it....Bear me witness...I do look to be saved by no other means, but by the mercy of God in the blood of His only Son Jesus Christ...and I confess when I did know the word of God, I neglected the same, loved myself and the world, and thereby this...punishment is worthily happened to me, and yet I thank God that in His goodness He hath thus given me time to repent."

Kneeling down, she asked permission and quoted all of Psalm 57. It begins, "Be merciful unto me, O God...for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge...."

Laying her head on the block, she said, "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
The British Josiah, N. A. Woychuk, Gen. Ed., 120-22


Q&A

Question: I believe we are born into sin and with a sin nature but are not sinners from birth. Although David said he was conceived in sin, he did not say he was born a sinner. I can tell a group of adults and teenagers that we are all sinners but not a group of small children.

Response: That depends upon what you mean by "small children." Put a plate of cookies on a table in front of a group of children, no matter how small, and watch each of them grab what small hands will hold and push others out of the way to get them! But that innate selfishness (which is a major sign of a sin nature) does not send them to hell when they are still toddlers.
When his baby son born to Bathsheba died, David knew he was with the Lord, not in hell: "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me" (2 Sm 12:22,23). Though a baby's sin nature manifests itself almost from birth, the baby lacks the understanding to make it morally responsible and it will not be punished for what it commits in innocence.

Question: I admire what you've done to silence the awful teachings of Calvin. But in your latest Berean Call you again just cite 1 Corinthians 15:1-3 as the gospel as though one verse will suffice. Paul said that those items were "amongst things of first importance." But what has happened to the gospel as defined and preached by Jesus? Why don't you start by defining the gospel as Jesus did in Mark 1:14-15? Luke 4:43 ought to be our mission statement, since it was Jesus'. For Paul, that same "Kingdom of God" gospel is still the heart of everything (Acts 28:23, 31). Hebrews 2:3 makes Jesus the model preacher of the gospel, but evangelicals have forgotten this.

Response: We've corresponded about this before and we both remain firm in our beliefs. Nevertheless, I'll try once again. I cite 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 because there Paul more clearly and fully spells out the gospel in detail than is done anywhere else in the Bible: "...which I preached unto you...ye received...wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved...that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures...was buried...rose again the third day according to the scriptures...was seen...."
In Mark 1:14-15 Christ offers Himself as king to Israel, "preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God...the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." He certainly does not, however, define or explain the "gospel of the kingdom." Nor does He do so in Luke 4:43.
So we need to define the "gospel of the kingdom," and that is where we differ. Paul says the gospel he preached and declares so clearly in 1 Corinthians 15 is what he "received." From those who were apostles before him? No, but from the Lord himself. The fact that Paul knew what he knew of the gospel, and following Christ by extensive direct contact with the risen Lord, is very clear from Galatians 1:7-9, 11-19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.

The "gospel of the kingdom" that Jesus and the disciples preached at that time and the miracles that He did to confirm it were specifically for Israel. During His time on earth, Christ said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 15:24); "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities [obviously in Israel] also: for therefore am I sent" (Lk 4:43). John chapter 4 indicates that Samaritans were apparently included.

Something changed at the Cross: not the gospel but those to whom it was to be preached. Christ sent His disciples where He had avoided going: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mk 16:15). This is our commission today. With Paul and the other apostles, "we preach Christ crucified" (1 Cor 1:23) to Jew and Gentile.

Christ is the king not only of Israel but also of the universe. We are calling the lost from "every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rv 5:9) to enter the kingdom under the lordship of Christ-a kingdom not headquartered in Jerusalem and pertaining only to Israel but headquartered in heaven and preached worldwide. We preach what Paul preached: "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21) to everyone who will heed the call.

Question: Does God have a distinct role for Gentile and for Jewish believers during the Millennium?

Response: Jewish believers who are not part of the church (i.e., did not believe in Christ until they saw Him in the glory of His Second Coming) will inhabit the complete land of Israel (Gn 15:18-21; 17:7,8; 1 Chr 16:15-18, etc.), where Christ will rule over them and the world from the restored throne of David in Jerusalem.
Gentiles who have become believers will live in the rest of the earth as part of what will still be known even in the eternal "new heaven and...new earth" (Rv 21:1) as "the nations of them which are saved" (21:24).

Question: You have criticized Islam's sponsorship of terrorism and have asked the question, "What kind of God gives entrance into paradise and rewards for killing innocent women and children?"

Unbelievers also could say that the God of the Bible commands murder: Deuteronomy 2:34, 13:12-16; Joshua 8:25; 1 Samuel 27:8; Numbers 31. God commanded destruction of entire populations, cultures, and people. How can you condemn Allah and not Yahweh?

Response: Israel was not commanded to take over the entire world and to kill all who resisted (as Allah commanded Muhammad) but was given a specific land because of the extreme evil and demonization of its people. Israel was not commanded to "convert" them, much less with the sword, but to kill them all because God deemed that necessary and just.

All but one of the scriptures you cite involve the land of Canaan, which God promised to Israel but delayed giving to them because the people were not evil enough to justify their destruction: "The iniquity of the Amorites [i.e. Canaanites] is not yet full" (Gn 15:16). Deuteronomy 2:34 pertains to the destruction of the Amorites. God did not arbitrarily wipe out the Canaanites. The nations who occupied Canaan followed gods, goddesses, serpent worship, lewd fertility cults with prostitute priestesses, and nature religions. The evil of all of these religions is unmentionable. God held back their judgment for many centuries and only released Israel from slavery specifically to wipe them out when he could no longer delay their just punishment.

Deuteronomy 13:15 orders the execution of those who had led Israelites into the worship of false gods, all of whom represented demons. Israel could not be allowed to be seduced into the very thing for which the Canaanites were being destroyed. Joshua 8:25 tells of the destruction of Ai, a Canaanite city, as commanded. In

1 Samuel 27:8, David is slaughtering more Canaanites, all of whom were to be killed by Israel, thus executing God's judgment upon them for their wickedness.

The destruction of the Midianites in Numbers 31 is a different case. They were descendants of Abraham by Keturah, whom he married after Sarah's death. They were not Canaanites, nor were the children of Israel given their land. They had sent their young women to seduce Israel's young men, whom they enticed into immorality and the worship of their gods. God executed this severe punishment to teach His people the seriousness of turning from Him to demonic deities.

Question: I've heard that Awana is drifting toward mysticism in the way they are ministering to children. What do you know about that?

Response: Perspectives on Children's Spiritual Formation is offered by the Rorheim Institute, Awana's leader and parent development network. The book presents four different models on "how faith is cultivated in children," with each author critiquing the three other models. Awana's participation in this "debate" is through Greg Carlson and John Crupper, executives at the Rorheim Institute. They present the "Instructional-Analytical Model," which is basically how Awana goes about teaching children: encouraging them to read, study, and memorize the Scriptures.

Concerns that Awana is "drifting" toward mysticism stem not from what Carlson and Crupper present regarding their organization's approach; that approach is solid and biblical. However, their critique of the "Contemplative-Reflective Model" is far too conciliatory, especially in a book that showcases Catholic mysticism.

In the explanation of the Contemplative-Reflective Model (C-RM), we're told, "This school [of thought] is dominated by contemplative prayer. Centering prayers are typical. Their purpose is to occupy and free the mind so that one can dwell with God"

(p. 37). Wheaton professor Dr. Scottie May, the author of the C-RM, is commended by the editor for "an excellent book [that she co-authored, teaching the] use of contemplation...and guided imagery in programming children's ministry" (p. 38). In Perspectives she writes, "The model seeks to assist them in finding the quiet place within themselves-a place that all children have-where they can sense the presence of God and hear his voice" (p. 46). May recommends "purposefully altering traditional religious education by introducing connatural knowing [i.e., through feelings and intuition] to young children so that they may encounter [emphasis in original] God rather than initially being taught about him" (p. 59).

Although Carlson and Crupper rightly object to some key points in May's mystical model, they naïvely give the impression that the Contemplative-Reflective model has something to offer, even quoting favorably Richard Foster, arguably the foremost advocate of Catholic mysticism in the church. Compounding the confusion, they commend "the Contemplative-Reflective Model [as an] important tool in helping provide a balanced development of the Christian spiritual life" (p. 87). Here they are showing their ignorance of the occultism rooted in mysticism.

Since the Rorheim Institute offers the book to prospective Awana leaders and parents, there's also a grave concern that these leaders and parents will select some of the unbiblical content of the models (including the child-development psychobabble) as helpful to their local programs.

Yet in spite of all of the miscues of Awana's involvement in Perspectives on Children's Spiritual Formation, based upon our correspondence with the organization, we're encouraged that the ministry wants no part of mysticism, other than to be better informed so that it can better defend against it. Hopefully, it will stay true to the Scriptures, which it has done admirably on behalf of our children for six decades.


Endnotes
1. Inside the Vatican, March/April 2004, 24.
2. See T. A. McMahon, Showtime for the Sheep? (The Berean Call, 2004).
3. Tony Campolo, Letters to a Young Evangelical (New York, NY: Perseus Books Group, 2006), 20.
4. Tony Jones, The Sacred Way (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005), 53.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid., 92.


News Alert

The Capital Times 11/08/2007: Kid Contemplatives [excerpts]-If gym class helps children tone the body, what helps them exercise the mind? [R]esearchers suggest the ability to be still and contemplate is what can make a positive difference.

In 2008, local middle school students will be among those who participate in a national pilot project that studies the effects of contemplation in the classroom, says Richard Davidson, a University of Wisconsin researcher/neuroscientist (Time magazine selected him as one of the world's 100 Most Influential People of 2006).

"We're still trying to understand how these practices work" scientifically, in a grade K-12 setting, John Dunne of Atlanta's Emory University says. "It seems likely that there are things that can be done to regulate emotions effectively."

Centering prayer, meditation, breath work, chanting, sitting in silence, extended concentration on an object and focusing on positive thoughts and images are examples of contemplative exercises that can be taught. The level of controversy associated with bringing the concept into classrooms in part depends upon the presence of religious overtones.

"In my view, it's not a religious issue," says [Catholic priest and practicing mystic Thomas] Keating, because of the many forms that contemplation can take. "Silence is not denominational, and it can be practiced in a methodical way."

Sitting in silence for 20 minutes, twice a day, "...introduces us to our deeper self," but the academic world "allows no time or place to pursue this" in an organized manner. That includes seminaries, he says.

Like Buddhist meditation, centering prayer for Christians is an age-old religious practice that has experienced a revival....Keating says both practices "transcend the rational mind."

Some of these exercises, although deeply rooted in Eastern and other religions, can be effective and inoffensive in a secular setting, Dunne says. The effort is about using "mental technologies" that have religious origins, not pushing theology.