It looks like a huge thing. There are lots of good speakers who are going to be speaking, and what Kay Arthur will be sharing looks great.
Now here are some of the other presenters who will be there besides the ones we are already concerned about. (See previous Break Forth post.)
I’m looking at Eric Bryant, elder, speaker and overseer at Erwin McManus’s Mosaic in Los Angeles, and promoter of the Rethink Conference. He is one of the presenters but I don’t know what he’ll be teaching.
Another one I just checked is David Nasser...I must say, he has the coolest fun website ever. I almost thought he was okay...but then I saw his recommended books, which are for the most part good, but it's the old, bad with the good thing again. Seems he is part of The Edge, the conference part that is for 18-30 year olds. He’s teaching about hearing God, and prayer as 'the oxygen in the Christian’s lungs'. Come and learn to breath, the flyer says. Also taught by him is Biblical meditation, where God reveals His utmost to our innermost. Sounds rather Rob Bellish if you ask me.
Then there’s some guy named Dan Webster, who’s been on the staff of Willow Creek and Crystal Cathedral. The write up says “As Ken Blanchard says, “I’m a raving fan of Dan Webster.”” As if this is a good thing to be recommended by a New Age Buddhist/smiling wolf in sheeps' clothing.
But the others in this flyer seemed benign at a glance. Other than this being a breeding ground for emerging church bacterium via the McManus and Seay 'McCulture', the rest was looking okay to me. Maybe the good fruit will outshine the bad fruit, thought I. But wait…one more thing to check out…like, what or who is behind this whole conference.
Arlen Salte is the founder of Break Forth Ministries (that used to be called New Creation) and Break Forth Canada. So I found their main site...and under Worship Ministry Articles & Devotionals clicked on Helpful Ministry Links (PDF). And this is where I found the jackpot:
Bible Studies: Ancient Future Worship (Dr. Robert Webber):
www.ancientfutureworship.com
And so...since it is THE ONLY link that Break Forth has for Bible study on this document, I believe it is here that we have the heart of Break Forth’s view.This is where it’s at...so listen up.
It’s the call of the emerging church to spiritual formation, meaning contemplative spirutality:
Quote (from here):
“we call Evangelicals to return to a historic spirituality like that taught and practiced in the ancient catechumenate.”
And so here we have the massive list of those who have signed the call to this return.
You may recognize some emerging church leaders’ names, if your eyeballs shall be gracious unto you and scan the long list. No, you won’t find Brian McLaren’s name, but you will find it on this next page here. This is the update on this 'call to an ancient evangelical future'. The first conference on the Call was last December, and yours truly was there (spelled Brain McLaren by the way, a common mistake that alot of people make, which I think is quite appropriate as he seems to be the brain behind this whole thing).
You can read Robert Webber’s newsletters here about worship, including this carefully worded entry about the Eucharist:
www.ancientfutureworship.com/newsletter/200405h.html
So what's the big deal with Robert Webber? (He is no longer alive by the way.) Well, Roger Oakland says that “Dr. Webber is one of the chief promoters of the emerging church. He has written a number of books on the topic including Ancient-Future Evangelism: Making Your Church a Faith-Forming Community and Ancient-Future Faith: Rethinking Evangelicalism for a Postmodern World.”
(Read about Webber in the last paragraph in the article called ‘The Emerging Church, Revival Or Return To Darkness?’, here.)
Brian McLaren agreed with that statement in his infamous 2005 PBS interview where he said:
"Another really important author in this whole emergent conversation has been Dr. Robert E. Webber. A term that he has used is "ancient-future." Ironically, as we move into the future, we find ourselves reaching back for more of these elements of our deep Christian tradition, and I see that as a very healthy thing."
- www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week846/interview.html
Now this has GOT to make you wonder…is Roger Oakland right? Is the emerging church influence through Break Forth another bridge to Rome and the Eucharist?
Me thinks something stinks. Can you see how hard it is to track this stuff down? It's almost unbelievable when exposed, but boggling that so many in the church cannot and will not see.
Related reading:
The Emerging Church: Another Road to Rome
http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c46.shtml
2 comments:
Thanks for the expanded view on Breakforth. I will be sure to ask my daughter to read it, since her(likely soon to be ex)church is planning on sending delegates there. It sure takes a lot of time and research to find out what is really behind a lot of these movements. I've been discovering this is also the case with the New Perspective on Paul which is being promoted by professors at the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary and Bethany Bible College in the MB Herald. I have been researching it for the last six months, ever since it first came up in the In Touch insert in the MB Herald this summer. This too appears to be a road to ecumenism and the Roman Catholic Church. Why is it that all these movements seem to head in the same direction? Could it be that she really is the Mother of Harlots (said tongue-in-cheek)?
I guess I will have to prepare to be turned out on my ear for making such comments by those who promote these teachings.
Oh well, an alien and a stranger am I. A pilgrim in a weary land.
Praise God, the solid Rock on which we stand, to whom we cling, and in whom we hide is ever faithful to the end! To Him be the glory forever. Amen!
Hi fellow pilgrim Bonnie,
Oh ya, that's all that NT Wright stuff about what Paul did and did not say. Oh brother. The MBBS is steeped in false teaching...seems to be getting worser and worser. Well good for you for researching it! Ya, as they say, all roads lead to Rome. (Except that narrow one.)
Keep hangin' on to that Rock.
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