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The Massive
shift of Christianity
This page is a collection of articles and links
regarding the massive shift of the Christian Church, what is
happening and how it's happening and who are the players
involved.
More information,
links and articles here on our Bible studies and Christian
Church and Culture page
2006: A Time mag article and
a series of articles keep swirling around in my thoughts. So...
this blog's about the church---what's happening to the church? To
me, it's not so much about where or when believers gather as why they do
and how they do... and who is the head of the church.
There's a multi-part series on how
to change the purpose of a church. Gripping, really and sickening,
too. I say sickening advisedly and with caution, too, bcz I
hate to sound brash and I also know these comments or this
topic will throw up a blazing red flag. I read the series of
articles on
Pastors.com
and was left with a sickened or grief stricken feeling bcz of determined
and deliberate manipulation of people who are treated as pawns in a
person's (often the pastor's) hand. I am not saying this is
occurring in every 'church' certainly, or that this is the action or
intention of every pastor---no, no, no. I am, however,
saying that this *is* going on---and it must be going on in a whole
lotta churches and it is appalling.
Think
you're not a chess piece in a
well "strategized" game???
These quotes, from a multi part series of articles by
Chuck McAlister,
How to Transition an Established
Church:
Become
an Expert on the Process of Change (Hebrews 6:1-3;
Psalm 48:14; Isaiah 42:16; John 16:13; Psalm 27:11)
Read
everything you can get your hands on about leading an
organization through change. Use the knowledge you gain to keep
evaluating, not only the stages of your process, but also the
methods you're using to implement change."
Take the time to read the
articles---really, let them sink in. What do you think of what
he's saying? Then... perhaps dare to ask yourself: Am I being
manipulated? When you're sitting there listening to a message, are
you being targeted for a particular response or action and is the
message a part of a series of messages on a well determined track that
is designed to assuage your doubts and manipulate your reactions?
I know, I know, this sounds like a hyper-sensitive, conspiracy laced
hyperbole.
This, from
part three:
For that reason, you must
wait to construct the new facility only after you have
sufficiently transitioned the church, so that it is a
new church occupying a new facility. It does no good to build a
new facility if you're still doing church as usual. You will not
be able to retain the people who come to check out the new
building."
Then, from
part four:
Simultaneously Transition
Your Worship Style as you change(Psalm 150; Psalm
100; Psalm 96:1-3) This will be, by far, the most
controversial part of the transition process. People have strong
preferences in regard to worship styles to which they assign
spiritual significance. This part of the transition process must
be handled delicately over an extended period of time or you
could sabotage the whole process."
And this:
Introduce Drama, Video Illustrations, and
Testimonies into the Service - This transition will be
easy for the church family and tougher on the pastor and worship
planning team. At this step, the pastor must prepare
sermons far enough in advance to allow the worship
planning team more time to prepare dramas, find video
illustrations or enlist testimonies. At this point, additional
ministries can be birthed that offer direct input into the
worship service, for example, a drama ministry."
Start Praise Teams and Worship Training with
Your Children and Youth - This will ensure that the
worship legacy continues in your church. We have children praise
teams, as well as junior high and senior high praise teams and
praise bands."
Throughout that whole series of articles,
there *are* definite admonitions to stay in line with God, to
pray for God's wisdom, to not go it alone---but then,
there's still the disturbing current throughout. Like
this, for example:
Preaching Change - Begin the
transition with your preaching. Preach the Bible in such a way
as to demonstrate how the Scriptures can meet people's needs.
Stay at this step for one year before moving to the next step to
allow for an influx of new people who are drawn by the relevant
teaching."
Or this:
We are currently engaged in the construction
of a church facility that, honestly, will require God to
complete. If God doesn't come through on this, we are sunk. This
is the largest risk that our church has ever undertaken. Believe
me; it is being approached with much prayer."
I dunno... it just might be residual medication...
too much morphine; or it might just be my new sedentary lifestyle... but
something's
just not right here... and I can't help but be certain that
I'm not the only one who sees that the Emperor Has No Clothes.
Then, this week's (March 2006) Time Magazine features an article
about the "house-church" or "simple church" movement and why people are
leaving "traditional churches" to gather in homes with other believers.
It's an interesting article---even has some very accurate points.
The article is entitled: " There's
No Pulpit Like Home" and
points to a few of the reasons people leave conventional churches.
I am beginning to wonder... are people not also
leaving bcz of the big biz of the church industry---the
mega-church-machine? Will the rejection that some are expressing
regarding the big box stores like Home Depot or Walmart happen to the
big box churches? It ought to be sobering to every believer:
what's going on in the 'church' today and it ought to be cause for some
reflection: what're we doing here and why? I don't mean the
PDL "What on Earth am I Here For" question, I mean the bigger question
about the whole shift... the whole "conversation" movement, the whole
contemplation and emergent movement. Is this *really* in line with
the Word of God? Will people just start reading the Word again and
start saying, hey, the Bible says that it's the work of the LORD to
build His church.
It's very simple, really. The church---Jesus is
the Head of His church; He will build His church.
Acts 2.42 "And they continued stedfastly in the
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in
prayers."
46 "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the
temple, and breaking bread from house to house,
did eat their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart, 47 Praising God, and having favour
with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily such as
should be saved."
2007
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From Lighthouse Trails Research Project |
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Erwin McManus: "A Secret Behind The Secret"
February 28, 2007
When David Jeremiah
endorsed Erwin McManus' 2002 book,
Seizing Your Divine Moment, there should
have been reason for concern. Then when Jeremiah
made reference
to McManus in his own 2003 book Life Wide
Open, that should have sent up red flags.
But Jeremiah also quoted New Ager Sue Monk Kidd
in the book as well as a Buddhist sympathizer, a
couple mystics, and Rick Warren.
This was a turn around for Jeremiah - for
just about a decade earlier he wrote a book
exposing the New Age (Invasion of Other Gods).
It didn't seem possible that both books were
written by the same person. But in 2001 Jeremiah
was quoting mystic proponent Henri Nouwen, and
in 2003 his church, Shadow Mountain, was
recommending its men read Richard Foster's
contemplative book,
Celebration of Discipline.
Then in 2005, things seemed to go from bad to
worse. After
Ken Blanchard
had been exposed as a New Age sympathizer,
having promoted Buddhism and mantra meditation
for twenty years, David Jeremiah became part of
a speaking team (which included New Age
sympathizer
Laurie Beth Jones)
for Ken Blanchard's
Lead Like Jesus conference.
It was about that time that Jeremiah
contacted Lighthouse Trails when he heard us
mention him on a radio program. In his letter to
us, he defended Ken Blanchard and insisted he
was a new Christian, which he wasn't, and
reprimanded us for saying Blanchard was
promoting the New Age. What seemed odd though
was that after it was brought out that Jeremiah
favorably quoted New Agers like Sue Monk Kidd in
Life Wide Open, he didn't pull the book from
the market and give some public explanation and
caution. On the contrary, his 2006 book,
Captured by Grace, discussed (not
critically)
Henri Nouwen
and carried an endorsement by Ken Blanchard.
And then something very strange happened. In
the fall of 2006, Jeremiah
sent out an email
to subscribers which favorably quoted and
discussed
Erwin McManus and his book,
The Barbarian Way. Jeremiah said he would
use the book in his upcoming Sunday sermon to
help prepare the congregation for what he called
"a major paradigm shift." Since that email, we
know of at least two occasions where Jeremiah
has favorably referred to McManus again.
Erwin McManus is a promoter of the New Age.
He admits himself that his book (The
Barbarian Way) has a message that is the " core
of mysticism,"
(which is the heart of the New Age). After
studying McManus' books and evaluating his
Awaken website
as well as his other writings and websites, it
is the conclusion of Lighthouse Trails that
Erwin McManus has New Age proclivities. But it
wasn't until Tuesday morning (February 27th)
that we truly became alarmed by the acceptance
of leaders like David Jeremiah (and many others)
towards the spirituality of Erwin McManus.
Jon Gordon is the author of a book called
The 10-Minute Energy Solution. Ironically
enough, Ray Yungen wrote about Gordon and his
book in
A Time of Departing.
He wrote about it to show further proof of Ken
Blanchard's embracing of the New Age, for you
see Blanchard had endorsed Gordon's book. Listen
to what Yungen said:
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."
Jon Gordon is as New Age as it gets. On Tuesday
morning we read an article from Gordon's
recent newsletter.
The article is titled "The Secret Behind the
Secret." In discussing the
new film,
The Secret,
Gordon states:
The law of attraction [what The Secret
is based on] is important to share and it's
a big part of my new book, "The Energy Bus,"
which tells the story of a man who uses the
law of attraction to help turn around the
negativity, fear, adversity, and challenges
in his life. In understanding the law of
attraction many are now realizing that they
are involved in the creation of their lives;
that their energetic thoughts, beliefs and
actions have an impact on the world and in
imprint on the energy fabric of the
universe.
You see, Gordon likes The Secret
because he believes that God is in all creation.
And The Secret teaches that God is in
everyone; actually it teaches that we are
God. Listen to The Secret:
We are the creators not only of our own
destiny but also of the Universe ... We are
all connected, and we are all One (p. 175).
No matter who you thought you were, now
you know the Truth of Who You Really Are.
You are the master of the Universe. You are
the heir to the kingdom. You are the
perfection of Life ( p. 183).
You are God in a physical body ... You
are all power ... You are all intelligence
... You are the creator ( p. 164).
Few could deny, after hearing these
statements, that The Secret is pure
occultism, especially when we realize that the
author of the book is a disciple of "the
teachings of Abraham,"
1
which is a group of spirit guides (demons). But
listen now to what Jon Gordon says next
in his article.
To him who has ears, let him hear:
While having dinner the other night with
Erwin McManus, author of "Soul Cravings" and
a person who has had a profound impact on my
life, we discussed The Secret and
Erwin made a great point that we need
to explain there is a secret behind The
Secret.
God gave us free will and the power to
choose. In choosing to have faith and
believing in a brighter and better future,
cultivating a grateful and appreciative
heart, and practicing forgiveness we open
ourselves up to amazing possibilities. We
become a vessel God can use to mold into the
people we were born to be... who share the
love we were meant to share.
We are co-creators of our life with God.
We are both creating and being created at
the same time. The universe is not some
magic genie that's says, "Your wish is my
command," bringing you any car, house, or
amount of money you desire. The Secret
does not exist to satisfy your every wish
but to help us become the kind of people God
can use to make His ultimate wish come true
- Heaven on Earth and inside each one of
us.
Erwin McManus resonates with The Secret
and with Jon Gordon. And there is a simple
explanation for this -- he agrees with the same
spirituality. The following is taken from
McManus' website, Awaken:
Awaken is a collaboration between a team
of dreamers and innovators who specialize in
the field of developing and unleashing
personal and organizational creativity.
Awaken is committed to creating environments
that expand imagination and unleash
creativity. Convinced that the world is
changed by dreamers and visionaries, Awaken
serves humanity through its commitment to
maximize the creative potential in every
individual and organization. Awaken emerges
out of the unique ministry of Mosaic and
reflects Mosaic’s commitment to creativity,
uniqueness, innovation and diversity.
McManus further reveals his spirituality: "My
goal is to destroy Christianity as a world
religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of
Jesus Christ," (said in a telephone interview)
"Some people are upset with me because it sounds
like I'm anti-Christian. I think they might be
right." (from The Barbarian Way)
We would propose that the "Jesus" McManus
refers to is another Jesus, and the gospel he
proclaims is a different gospel (II Corinthians
11:4).
The Secret has the potential to
prepare the world for such delusion as it has
never seen before. And now countless Christian
leaders will help to take Christendom into the
same spiritual deception through mysticism and
the contemplative prayer movement. When we see
leaders like David Jeremiah promoting Erwin
McManus and Sue Monk Kidd, Josh McDowell
endorsing Dan Kimball's new book and sharing a
platform (twice now) with meditation promoter
Tony Campolo, Charles Stanley authoring an audio
series called Meditation: The Power of
Silence, Southern Baptist Convention
embracing the emerging church through their
partnership with Leadership Network (the
organization that launched the emerging church),
Beth Moore being part of the Be Still DVD and
later saying
she sees nothing wrong
with contemplative spirituality, Focus on the
Family
promoting a man
who tells his readers to repeat a word for
twenty minutes, Erwin Lutzer
endorsing Larry Crabb's book,
The Papa Prayer which outright promotes
contemplative and centering prayer, and Chuck
Swindoll
exalting the name of Henri Nouwen
and saying we can't really know God without the
silence ... when we see the massive shift by
Christian leaders, we know there will be a
convergence where millions will come together
unified through meditation and exalting man as
God.
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits,
and doctrines of devils. (I Timothy 4:1)
Let no man deceive you by any means: for
that day shall not come, except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition. (II
Thessalonians 2:3)
[T]o them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in
every place call upon the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord, both their's and our's:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our
Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (I
Corinthians 1:2-3)
Learn more ....
Lighthouse Trails Research Project
Editors - Lighthouse Trails
Publishing
503/873-9092
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