Another Interview

Do you know why the host of It's A New Day picked up and read The Shack? Because Eugene Petersen and Michael W. Smith endorsed the back cover.

Here is today's interview:
http://www.newday.org/ontheair/popupmov.php?program=34122

They are featuring Mr. Young for the rest of the week here:
http://www.newday.org/

The hosts of this Canadian Christian television show may love this book, but it looks like they are in the same boat as the Gaithers, and haven't heard the rest of the story.

By the way, according to William Young, those who are challenging his book base their doctrinal paradigms on fear. Apparently, the pushback is from people who are afraid, because fear and love are opposites. Hmmm...

See these:

The Shack Author Joins the Ranks of Those Who Deny Substitutionary Atonement
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

The Shack Author Rejects Biblical Substitutionary Atonement
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

~ ~ ~

Note:

After watching this interview and hearing the statements Mr. Young made, I suppose those who have 'doctrinal paradigms based on fear' might include the following:

'Feared based': Eric Barger, Brannon Howse, Ken Silva, Berit Kjos, Jan Markell, Norman Geisler, Larry DeBruyn, Mike Oppenheimer, Gary Gilley, Tim Challies, Albert Mohler, Warren Smith, the fine people at Lighthouse Trails, Herescope, Calvary Chapel, and anyone else who “challenges” the book. (See some of their reviews here.)

Not 'fear based':
Mark Lowry, The Gaithers, Michael W. Smith, Eugene Petersen, Steve Brown, the entire Thiessen family of It's a New Day, and anyone else who loves the book.

~ ~ ~

Update: By the way, forgot to mention that Mr. Thiessen, host of It's a New Day, has sadly shown a lack of discernment, and has been gullible on many occasions, not only by having various guests on his show over the years who are missing the mark, but even claiming to have had a gold tooth miracle which he later realized was just a filling. See here:
TV evangelists forced to recant claims of God's divine dentistry
"An honest mistake"
The Canadian Press/May 12, 1999
www.rickross.com

Creation and the Green Bible

This is the latest update from Olive Tree Ministries on the green thing:

What Commandment Tells Us to Recycle?
By Jan Markell

From Sydney, Australia, to San Francisco, nearly 4,000 cities in 88 countries turned off their lights this past weekend for "Earth Hour." The campaign was designed to highlight the threat of climate change. If people want to spend their weekends this way that is fine; however, I have a real problem with the root of their thinking which would be that man is causing a climate catastrophe, and that man is at the root of global warming. So in light of my sentiment, I kept my lights on and chose not to dine by candlelight....

Read the rest HERE.

Q&A of the Day

Can the elect be deceived?

Question about Matthew 24:24
moriel.org

Can the Elect be Deceived?
thebereancall.org

Who are the elect?
gracethrufaith.com

A Thing called The Silence

Brother Lawrence called it practicing the presence. Sixteenth century mystics levitated in it. East Indian Gurus get stuck in it. Tony Campolo calls it the Thin Place where his mind is cleared every morning. Tony Jones calls it a place of utter stillness. It's the aim of the practice of Lectio Divina. New Ager Wayne Dyer says it's where you go to receive guidance. Thomas Merton called it the nothingness, an absence of thought. Dallas Willard says it’s a place for God to break in. Patricia King and Stacey Campbell call it ecstasy. Todd Bentley calls it soaking in the secret place, or "pickling in the presence." Thomas Keating said that God’s first language is there. Richard Foster calls it progress in intimacy with God. Deepak Chopra calls it the great teacher. There are even classes in churches that teach you to get comfortable, practice breathing exercises, and shut the noises out to find it.

The funny thing is that both Christians and New Agers, are telling us that we must practice this thing. This is not just about finding a nice quiet place to think, but quite the opposite. It’s referring to a stillness of the mind called THE SILENCE.

The silence is becoming a very popular thing these days. And now it's being introduced into schools...

"I experience the silence and then when I finish meditation, I take part of that silence with me into the day – and the whole day goes better."
-Quote from a student using meditation on the David Lynch Foundation website

It's a most alarming thing is that The Silence is now being promoted to students as a stress reliever in the form of Transcendental Meditation...

What Scientists, Educators and Students Say

“Here is a program that any student from the age of 10 years and upwards can practice a few minutes twice a day—a technique that promotes more dynamism in activity and yet prevents the accumulation of stress that wreaks havoc on health. This is a key to better health.”

(http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/endorsements.html)

It’s all about health, they say. Meditation reduces stress levels, specially in the inner city schools where students are frisked before they enter the building every morning. So, these doctors of silence say, the benefit created by TM is the experience of “restful alertness.”

Deepak Chopra would agree...

...the stillness experienced in the state of pure consciousness during meditation is even more profound than any silence that is experienced during sleep or dream. The transformative power of the silence in meditation is subtler than sleep, and that is what allows for the changes in our mind-body that support higher states of consciousness.

Love,

Deepak(deepakchopra.com)

What a novel new solution. Change them from within. It all sounds good, but the Bible says that the only way a person can be transformed from within is when a sinner repents and turns from their sins and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord of their life. This new silence thing is nothing more than recycled Eastern religion and ancient mysticism. As we watch these things being [re]introduced into our churches and schools, we can't help but be reminded of King Solomon's wise words, when he said that there is nothing new under the sun.

"Silence is the great teacher, and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it. There is no substitute for the creative inspiration, knowledge, and stability that come from knowing how to contact your core of inner silence. As the great Sufi poet, Rumi, wrote, 'Only let the moving waters calm down, and the sun and moon will be reflected on the surface of your being.'"
~ Deepak Chopra(chopra.com)

The truth is, there is only one safe place for our minds to find true peace...not in the thin place, not in the empty place of higher consciousness, not in your core of inner silence, but in the Lord. Rather than emptying our minds, we need to consciously fill them with truth from the Word of God.

~ ~ ~

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3

~ ~ ~

Related reading:
The Sound of Silence @ Living Journey

More Celebrities Promoting Mysticism in our Schools

There's a group of well known people who, for some reason, want all our children to learn how to meditate in school. It's all got to do with nice sounding things like world peace and 'change' that begins within (aka altered states of consciousness), when in fact it is all about Eastern spirituality. Recently, another 'celebrity' has emerged from the mystical closet to join the cause, one who is so controversial that I don't even want his name on my blog. Can you guess who this might be?

H_____ S____ Joins the Campaign for Transcendental Meditation in Schools
watcherslamp.blogspot.com

You may be alarmed at how quickly this meditation in schools thing is catching on as you check out the links in the article, particularly the David Lynch Foundation, whose goal is to teach one million children to meditate. The way things are looking, they should have no problem reaching it.

Millennial Things

Here's an interesting thing to read on something a lot of people have always wondered about...

Why Literal Sacrifices in the Millennium
bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com

Some More Things about Zeitgeist

Speaking of movies...this is the latest about that 2007 thing called Zeitgeist...

Warning: 'Antichrist' movie tricking Christians
Historian: Believers throwing away real Jesus with pagan bathwater
www.worldnetdaily.com

Related:

Zeitgeist Movie Answers
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com

Do You Know if Your Teens are Watching Nooma DVD's

Do you know how many youth group leaders out there are popping in a nice little DVD they bought from their local Christian book store's best seller section and showing it to the kids instead of taking the time to prepare a Bible study? Well I can pretty much guarantee that it's probably a lot more than most parents are aware of.

Just for fun, ask your kids if they have ever watched a DVD at their youth group from a series called Nooma by Rob Bell. If they have, you might want to look into that.

One particular one that I watched a few years ago just happened to be the one where Rob Bell talks about Peter walking on the water. In this DVD, Bell teaches that God should have faith in us. But that's not what the Bible tells us, in fact, it’s the other way around.

If you haven't seen this, I recommend the following excellent critique on Rob Bell where this young pastor talks about this very DVD:

Rob Bell Nooma Dust Review
www.youtube.com

Rob Bell doesn't only have DVDs. He's also written a few books, in which he says some very unbiblical things. For example, he says the Bible is just a human product, that Jesus didn't talk much about the life that is beyond this one, and that hell is full of forgiven people. According to Bell, Jesus said heaven and hell were simply present realities, and the question isn’t how we can get into heaven but how we can bring heaven here. Bell also writes in one of his books that he "can’t find one place in the teachings of Jesus, or the Bible for that matter, where we are to identify ourselves first and foremost as sinners.”

You can see these actual Rob Bell quotes on this youtube, and God bless Karen Russel, whoever she is, who put this together.

If these are not bad enough, there's the thing about Rob Bell recommending Ken Wilber...and there's Rob Bell with the Dalai Lama at the Seeds of Compassion thing,...never mind the simple fact that he is introducing teens to mysticism. Check it out at these links:

Rob Bell
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Rob Bell and Ken Wilber
www.inplainsite.org

Rob Bell Recommends Ken Wilber?
www.sliceoflaodicea.com

SEEDS OF COMPASSION EVENT: ROB BELL, DOUG PAGITT WITH DALAI LAMA
apprising.org

So parents, you are right to worry about what movies and TV shows your teens are watching, but at the same time, you probably think they are nice and safe when you drop them off at youth where they learn the truth about the Bible. Right? Well, are you sure about that? I hope you are right, but just maybe it's time to do a check. Remember, you can't protect what you don't inspect.

Related:

Doctrines of Spiritism and Rob Bell
apprising.org

Velvet Elvis or False Jesus?
www.gregoryreid.com

Gaithers Tickling Ears in More Ways than One

I know this book has been discussed and addressed ad nauseum, but this is enough to make you even more sick at heart. Click on this title:

Gloria Gaither Endorses “The Shack”
slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com

What next? I'd really hate to have to explain this to my in-laws, who own every Gaither DVD ever made. They would be devastated. Surely not all the Gaither's silver haired fans will be going along with this!

Warning: the speck of respect anyone may have had left for Mr. Lowry may be completely blown away with Windblown Media Publishing.


Related:

Traditional Things are not so Traditional Anymore
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com

GAITHER FAMILY FEST 2009 FEATURES PAUL YOUNG AUTHOR OF “THE SHACK”
apprising.org

Something Tugging at our Universe

I found this thing rather fascinating...

"On the outskirts of creation, unknown, unseen "structures" are tugging on our universe like cosmic magnets, a controversial new study says."

-Unknown "Structures" Tugging at Universe, Study Says, National Geographic News

Wow! Do you know that this is really not such a new or controversial thing at all? Once again, God has said it before the scientists did...

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements?
Surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
To what were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

Job 38:4-7

"It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host."

Isaiah 45:12

"It is He who made the earth by His power,Who established the world by His wisdom,And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens."

Jeremiah 51:15

~ ~ ~

What an awesome God we serve!

Turning their Hearts to the Mother Earth Thing

A friend was over the other night venting frustration over the way our kids are being brainwashed in our government schools. His middle school aged daughter was writing an essay for homework on the environment and my friend was so sickened by it that he told her she wasn't allowed to finish it. Apparently, this generation is not only being taught to clean up after their parents, but that the older generation is to blame for destroying the earth. I realize that might not bother some of you, but the things is, their hearts are being turned against their parents and toward Mother Earth.

It's not just the young, however, who are being led to Gaia. My friend had also just gotten an e-mail from a Christian brother (a highly educated one, to boot), who thought this was a great thing to support:

Earth Hour 2009 has one major aim: to unite the citizens of the world in the fight against climate change in order to convince governments and world leaders that our planet cannot wait any longer. There simply isn’t enough time, and therefore 2009 is a colossally important, if not the most critical year, to take action on climate change. 2009 is the year we decide the future of our planet.

http://www.earthhour.org

Note how this cause started out as global warming, but due to the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, has recently been renamed climate change. If you go to the Earth Hour website, you will see that this global initiative also has quite a bit to do with this guy.

Do you have friends or children who are being turned to the Mother Earth thing? Here are some informative links on the myth of global warming:

Global Warming Hoax New Archive
nwsarchive.wordpress.com

Global Warming Index
prisonplanet.com

The Great Global Warming Swindle
nicenecouncil.com

***Related things on this topic:

Green Lies and Amazing Truths
www.crossroad.to

Transformational Education and the Global Warming Fantasy
www.crossroad.to

Al Gore’s Vision of Global Salvation
Quotations from his 1992 best-seller:
Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/Gore.html

~ ~ ~

~read Job 38 to see who is really in control of the earth's climate~

~ ~ ~

*Possibly related:

Population Control Folks Say Earth's Got Too Many People
www.khouse.org

***And for a great post that goes hand in hand with this topic, check out this one about reducing the population to take the burden off Mother Earth...

Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…
livingjourney.wordpress.com

Rabbi's Son now works on Messianic Prophecy Bible

I like this article about a Rabbi's son who believes in Yeshua (Jesus):

Five years after being raised in a religious home, I had a vision of Yeshua (Jesus) and I accepted him as my Messiah even though I knew I would be disowned from my family. Working in Evangelism is my calling and along with being a part of completing the Messianic Prophecy Bible. Here at Bibles for Israel we continue to share the Good News of Yeshua every day – so I just wanted to give you a peak into a typical day of my life.

Read the rest here:

Rabbi’s Son, Shares Yeshua Daily With Israelis Everywhere He Goes
moriel.org

I just typed out some things I heard...

Sometimes the Lord stirs you up with an urgency to do something that you know you just have to do. And so it was not too long ago that I was listening to a certain interview, and just HAD to write down some things that were being said. Well...

My stats bar graph for this blog used to look much like a nice level forest of tall sturdy trees, with an average of 160 hits or so a day. But then there was 'the interview.'

Now my bar graph looks more like a flat desert with the tower of Dubai rising up to the sky.
Since Lighthouse Trails Research posted an article about THE SHACK author's recent denial of the atonement last week, that interview transcript that I typed out has had over 2100 hits, and is still steadily climbing. The busiest day was last Thursday with over 1600 hits, truly a record for the little brown blog.

I'm just glad that the truth about this deception is getting out, and wanted to mention a special thanks to Lighthouse Trails and John Lanagan for their tireless dedication to shining the light of truth and exposing what is in the dark.

See:

The Shack Author Joins the Ranks of Those Who Deny Substitutionary Atonement
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog

The Shack Author Rejects Biblical Substitutionary Atonement
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog

Was the Sacrifice of Jesus Too Violent a Thing?

Do you think the blood sacrifice of Jesus is a doctrine that is just too violent?

In the light of the recent discussion on this blog regarding the Penal Substitution you might consider checking out this Albert Mohler program from March 17, 2009 called, "Blood Atonement; Why So Many Modern Types Hate it So," for a clear understanding of what Penal Substitution really means.

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered HImself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."
Hebrews 9: 11-15

Twilight DVD Released Today

Here is a caution from 1 John 4:5 about a movie that is out on DVD today...

Today is the day for which many have been waiting — Twilight is released on DVD. Now it will be in homes and available to children of any age.
I am begging parents to not allow their children to watch this movie. Don’t buy it. Guard your homes and take this responsibility seriously!

Read the rest here:

Morning Report: Discerning Christian Reviews, Twilight Movie
firstjohnfourfive.wordpress.com

This movie is based on the very popular Twilight Series written by Stephenie Meyer. See what the Twilight Series is about here:

The Twilight Book Series
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com

Christian Bookstores - Use Caution

Here's another voice warning about books in Christian bookstores...

Visit just about any Christian bookstore (CB) and you'll see display cases and shelves stocked with spiritual merchandise, including jewelry, figurines, framed pictures, greeting cards, calendars, posters, music — you name it they stock it. But what's disconcerting about these stores is that they also stock books that not only attack the fundamentals of the faith, some of the books contain out and out heresy! Christian publishers and storeowners have a responsibility to examine the material they sell!

Read the entire article here:

Be careful what you buy in Christian bookstores
by Marsha West
www.renewamerica.us

Related:

PAGAN BOOKS SOLD THROUGH ONLINE CHRISTIAN OUTLETS
www.emailbrigade.com

A Well Put Thing I Read

This is a a well put thing I just read on a blog that refers to The Shack as The Shed...(you've got to take a look at this picture)...

So, my question to all of you who are googly-eyed over The Shed is this…why have you not thrown this wad of paper in the garbage where it belongs? Why do you insist on calling this a Christian book? Why won’t you pick up your Bible and read the very Word of God Himself? He speaks for Himself quite clearly in the pages of the Bible without the help of Mr. Young’s vividly heretical imagination.

Read the rest at Let us Make God in Our Image @everydaymommy.net

A Sermon to Clarify the Atonement

In light of the recent things this blog has been addressing, such as the doctrine of the Trinity and the Atonement, could it be a mere coincidence that I have received this wonderful sermon today that Pastor Jon Cardwell (of Vayahiy) has just preached on this very topic?

This is the opening quote he used to begin this beautiful sermon:

"The heart of the gospel is redemption and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. They who preach this truth of God preach the gospel in whatever else they may be mistaken - but they who preach not the Atonement, whatever else they declare - have missed the soul & substance of the Divine message."
-Charles Spurgeon 1886

If you would like to listen to the whole sermon, or read the transcript, click here:

The Substitutionary Sacrifice
Prepared and Preached by Jon Cardwell
March 8, 2009
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=3809172209

Let's not forget that there are still shepherds who are staying true to God's Word!

Thank you Pastor Jon Cardwell!

~ ~ ~

Related:

Why Is the Doctrine of Penal Substitution Again Coming Under Attack?
christianresearchnetwork.com

The Alternative Atonement Theory

And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8
~ ~ ~

There is an alternative theory of Christ’s death on the cross that has been brought into the light recently by some popular books and their authors. This view says that Christ's death was not a substitutionary atonement for the sins of the world, but rather, according to men like Marcus Borg, the result of the sins of the world. This theory says that it was the system that killed him, as God would never punish His Son for our sins. This is the opposite meaning of God’s plan of redemption which has been revealed to us through His Word from the beginning of time. The thing about this 'theory' is that it's a lie from the father of lies.

There are many false teachers today who are being used by the enemy to not only challenge and downplay the atonement, but to say all sorts of things to make Jesus seem like just a really great guy who happened to get killed (Jesus minus Deity kind of thing).

For example, read the words of interspiritualist Marcus Borg here...

Jesus was from the peasant class. Clearly, he was brilliant. His use of language was remarkable and poetic, filled with images and stories. He had a metaphoric mind. He was not an ascetic, but world-affirming, with a zest for life. There was a sociopolitical passion to him—like a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King, he challenged the domination system of his day. He was a religious ecstatic, a Jewish mystic, for whom God was an experiential reality. As such, Jesus was also a healer. And there seems to have been a spiritual presence around him, like that of St. Francis or the present Dalai Lama. And as a figure of history, Jesus was an ambiguous figure—you could experience him and conclude that he was insane, as his family did, or that he was simply eccentric or that he was a dangerous threat—or you could conclude that he was filled with the spirit of God. -p164, Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary by Marcus Borg

And here...

“we in the Church have often domesticated the death of Jesus - by speaking of it as the foreordained will of God, as something that had to happen, as a dying for the sins of the world.”
“…I don’t think that Jesus literally died for our sins. I don’t think he thought of his life and purpose that way; I don’t think he thought of that as his divinely given vocation.”
-Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity

Marcus Borg is a prominent member of the Jesus Seminar (see A Brief Rebuttal to
Borg and the Jesus Seminar @ intotruth.org). He is also the author of one of the many essays (see here) in a book recently recommended by William P. Young, author of The Shack, in a recent interview where he himself denies the substitutionary atonement. This book which Young recommended is called Stricken by God?, and is endorsed on the back cover by another author who trivializes the sustitutionary atonement - Brian McLaren. (There is a clip of McLaren denying hell and the atonement HERE.)

As this 'alternative atonement theory' becomes more widespread, you may notice certain names coming together as they unite under this umbrella in common error. So keep your eyes open, and get ready to be told more lies. But more importantly, make sure you know God's Word so you can defend the truth when false teachers start proposing more alternative theories and things to hold together their sticky web of lies.

Related:

Emerging Church Leader, Brian McLaren, Teams Up with Interspiritualist Marcus Borg
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

***Note: One chapter in the book Stricken by God? (the book which William Young highly recommends) was written by Mark D. Baker. To read about his (peculiar) alternative views on the atonement, see here:
Recovering the Scandal of Liberalism:
Disdaining the Cross
www.crossroad.to

Things about the Trinity Doctrine

More than ever today, this is an important thing to get straight...

What is the Trinity Doctrine?
By Walter Martin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4AN2hHk7ws

HT to Bud Press @ Christian Research Service

Finding God in the Shack - Book Review

I hadn't heard of this book before, but apparently it is being advertised at a local book store. It's called Finding God in the Shack: Seeking Truth in a Story of Evil and Redemption by Roger Olsen.

To read a review of this book by Tim Challies, click here:

Finding God in The Shack (I)
www.challies.com

By the way, he does not recommend this book.

If you are searching for a study on finding God, there is good news - you can find Him by studying His Word (remember? The Bible?). I know, it's a foreign concept today, but it's the truth.

Related:

See a review by Tim Challies of a similar book called 'Finding God in the Shack: Conversations on an Unforgettable Weekend' at Discerning Reader HERE.


***Note: For a list of discerning Christian book reviews on The Shack, click HERE.

Update: I just got a flyer in the mail and was sad, but not surprised to see, that our nearest book store is now advertising this Roger Olsen book as well. They have 33 in stock. And they have 35 copies of The Shack in stock.

Some Things Seventh Day Adventists Believe

They are always putting shiny pamphlets in our mailbox advertising their prophecy conferences on the book of Revelation. It doesn't say anywhere on the ad who they are, but if you google the names of the speakers, you will find out that they are Seventh Day Adventists. So before you head out to that prophecy conference, better check this out.

Here are some things that they believe...

Theology of the Seventh-day Adventists
Prof. Johan Malan, Middelburg, South Africa (2 February 2009)
www.bibleguidance.co.za

And if you still want to know more about the book of Revelation, here is a better interpretation than the one you will hear at the SDA prophecy conferences...

The Day of the Lord: A Commentary on Revelation
www.bibleguidance.co.za

~ ~ ~

*Note: For those who read the comment by Living Journey below, here is the link for the poem as explained:
livingjourney.wordpress.com/2006/01/11/imitation-of-christ/

Jesus, Michael or another Angel?

I've had many a conversation with these folks. Their goal is to come into your house and do a "Bible study" with you. Well, their idea of a Bible study is you reading to them from their Watchtower books and materials, and then discussing it. That is NOT a Bible study. And if you do happen to talk with them for any amount of time, it soon becomes evident, although they will not admit it right away, that their Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible, but the arch angel Michael. Or is it...another angel?

Here are some interesting things about that...

Who is Jesus according to the Watchtower? Michael or another angel
http://www.letusreason.org/JW46.htm

Book - The Gospel According to Jesus

John MacArthur has written a new book called The Gospel According to Jesus. He writes...

I am amazed at some of the things that have been said and written in recent years about the gospel. I fear that in many circles a different message is replacing the good news of salvation. I'm not talking about the attacks on the gospel from liberal religion or the theology of the cults, but a skewed message that has sprouted from right within conservative evangelicalism....

Read more about this book here:

Getting the Gospel Right
watcherslamp.blogspot.com

Last Days and Israel

Here's an interesting interview with David Hocking and Jacob Prasch regarding Israel and the last days.

Click here (@ moriel.org) if this interests you.

The Word is Out

Lest some folks think I am the only one saying these things...not so. Looks like the truth is now making the rounds on the internet. These are all brand new from the last few days…

***William Young, Author of The Shack, Outright Denies the Penal Substitutionary Atonement
www.fightingforthefaith.com

***Chris Rosenbrough: March 13
The Biblical Teaching on Baptism. And William Young, Author of the Shack Denies the Penal Substitutionary Atonement
Listen on line now HERE:
www.worldviewradio.com

***The Author of The Shack Denies Penal Substitutionary Atonement
voiceofthesheep.wordpress.com

***William Young, Author of The Shack, Outright Denies the Penal Substitutionary Atonement
christianresearchnetwork.com

***A Little Leaven: William Young, Author of The Shack, Outright ...
www.alittleleaven.com

***William Young, Author of The Shack, Outright Denies the Penal Substitutionary Atonement
www.reformata.org

Sad Thing - Pastors Endorsing 'The Shack'

It’s a sad but extremely important and revealing thing that the author of the besting selling fiction book called The Shack has denied the penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ in a recent interview (see transcript here, listen to 40 minute interview here, short version here). This is important because of the impact this book is having on so many people, some of them sincere Christians. Even more important is the surprising fact that there are many pastors who are endorsing this book and its author. An even SADDER thing is that there are some very influential pastors from Calvary Chapel roots who are backing this book, even though Calvary Distribution (the resource and book venue for the Calvary Chapel movement) issued an "Official Statement" regarding The Shack last summer. See here:

Review of THE SHACK from Calvary Distribution
www.calvaryd.com

Once such pastor is Gayle Erwin, whose teaching DVD's I have watched at my own Calvary Chapel church, and who has this to say about The Shack:

Riveting, with twists that defy your expectations while teaching powerful theological lessons without patronizing. I was crying by page 100. You cannot read it without your heart becoming involved.

Gayle E. Erwin, Author The Jesus Style

Another is Tom Stipe (www.crossroadsdenver.org), who started out as a Calvary Chapel Pastor in Costa Mesa. He is also friends with the author of the book.

He says of The Shack:

If someone were to ask me to draw a picture of the Trinity I would not know where to begin. Yet, Paul Young in The Shack presented through words an open door to me that allowed me to think about what it might be like to be behind the proverbial veil where God can be approached an interacted with. The idea of having a weekend retreat with the Trinity with all my own questions, doubts, frustrations and fears was frightening, intriguing and entertaining all at the same time.

I enjoyed what I experienced as I was challenged and encouraged by the content of The Shack. I wanted the people of my church to have a chance to share the experience and as Bill had done to me, I suggested that many of them read the novel.
-www.smalltownpreacher.com/2008/10/01/tom-stipe-interview/

His church’s website also defends The Shack:

“It has become quite obvious that as responsible shepherds we must reluctantly get involved in the fracas that has erupted as it relates to the controversial book by William P. Young entitled The Shack. While there are literally millions of people who have read the book and feel drawn towards the God of the Bible and the redemption, forgiveness and grace that accompanies such drawing, there is also a small segment of religious people who hold to the extremist and fundamentalist position that this book is heretical and very possibly from the devil himself. We believe the book to be a wonderful and very powerful tool for the purpose towards which Young intended and that is to provide a literary picture for readers to be able to see the sentiments of a loving God towards fallen, ravaged and hurting humanity.”
-www.crossroadsdenver.org

Can you believe that? I must admit, what they have said is then true of me. I am a religious person who holds to the extremist and fundamentalist position. I believe it is called the narrow way. And I religiously believe in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ.

I pray that these shepherds will see the truth.

I am posting these things, not to gossip or slander, and not as an attack, but to show that a great deception is now upon the church here in North America, and even the elect are falling for it. They are also publicly promoting and endorsing these things that are not true to God's Word, as the very heart of the gospel is being challenged and trivialized. There has never been a more important or sobering time for us to know what we believe, and what God's Word says.

Please pray for your pastor. These are incredibly perilous times.

Related info:

“The Shack” and Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale
the8thperson.wordpress.com

Update on the Shack: New Age Similarities, Popularity Continues, and Calvary Chapel Gives Official Statement
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Pastor, consider carefully...
mywordlikefire.wordpress.com

Discernment in an Age of Deception
Defining the Believer's Biblical Call to Judge
by Bob DeWaay
cicministry.org

*Important “trivia” that is not such a trivial thing:
This best selling book that is ‘just fiction’ will soon be appearing in more than 30 languages around the world and also in audio versions in many other countries.

~ ~ ~

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears"
~2 Timothy 4:3~

Update on the Sandwich Thing

Once upon a time, there was a very nice story going around about sandwiches and David Wilkerson's church. It seemed to give more weight to the recent warning that he gave on the weekend. But then, people began arriving at my blog googling "David Wilkerson Sandwich Hoax." So I was wondering what was up with the sandwich thing. It makes sense now. Why would God tell anyone to make sandwiches instead of preach the gospel or warn the authorities to stop the terrorists? Would sandwiches have saved souls? Unfortunately, this nice story is not true, as the editor's note tells us here...

Editor's note: The story in this column about Times Square Church making thousands of sandwiches just prior to 9/11 is false. Janet Porter confirmed the story with a church staff member as she wrote the column, but was given incorrect information. WorldNetDaily regrets the error.

Read the story here:

Heed Wilkerson's warning
worldnetdaily.com

Another reminder to check out everything you hear.

That Old Fashioned Thing No One Believes in Anymore

What does repenting and believing in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ as our subsitution save us from?

Hell

Hell is the future place of eternal punishment of the damned including the devil and his fallen angels. There are several words rendered as Hell: Hades - A Greek word. It is the place of the dead, the location of the person between death and resurrection. (See Matt. 11:23; 16:18; Acts 11:27; 1 Cor. 15:55; Rev. 1:18; 6:8). Gehenna - A Greek word. It was the place where dead bodies were dumped and burned (2 Kings 23:13-14). Jesus used the word to designate the place of eternal torment (Matt. 5:22,29,30; Mark 9:43; Luke 12:5). Sheol - A Hebrew word. It is the place of the dead, not necessarily the grave, but the place the dead go to. It is used of both the righteous (Psalm 16:10; 30:3; Isaiah 38:10) and the wicked (Num. 16:33; Job. 24:19; Psalm 9:17). Hell is a place of eternal fire (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 19:20). It was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41) and will be the abode of the wicked (Rev. 22:8) and the fallen angels (2 Pet. 2:4).
-carm.org

Hell is real. But the question is not how could a loving God throw people into hell, but why does God love people so much that He went to great lengths to make a way to keep us from sending ourselves there?

Here are some helpful and reassuring things to ponder about this...

On Everlasting Destruction
ldolphin.org

Why create life for hell?
paracleteforum.org

How can a God of love send anybody to Hell?
christiananswers.net

Why should God make people knowing they are going to hell forever?
www.carm.org/questions

More things about HELL
christiananswers.net

And finally, who could ever forget that famous CHICK tract...

THIS WAS YOUR LIFE
www.chick.com

Was Christ your Substitute?

Do you believe that Jesus Christ was your substitute? That He took your punishment and died on the cross in your place, for your sins, and for the sins of the world?

A very sad thing is happening today as we see that many people who claim to follow Christ are questioning what He actually did to save us. In essence, they are denying the truth and are being given over to the lie.

Those who believe that Christ was their substitute would agree with this quote...

"The bottom line is this: God does not dismiss his wrath against sin and sinners by a wave of his hand. Mercy is no magical wand that causes the holiness and justice of God to disappear. Either Jesus Christ is my substitute, has endured and suffered in himself and thereby satisfied the wrath of God I deserved, or I must do so forever in Hell." (Sam Storms).

-Orrel Steincamp, The Atonement Wars - There is no Substitute for Substitution (Critical Issues Commentary)

Those who do not believe that Christ was their substitute would agree with this quote...

“No. I don’t, I am not a penal substitution …reformation…point of view...
I'm not saying that I don’t agree with some sense of substitutionary atonement...it’s way broader than that...why would the Father punish His son?
...I don’t see, um, that it’s necessary to have the father, uh, punish, in that sense, the son!”

-William Young, author of The Shack (see interview transcript)

JERZAK Wrath of God?

If you have googled this thing - Brad Jerzak Wrath of God - you have come to the right blog. So many people have been googling this to find Jersak's book that I have made a separate post just for this subject.

William P. Young, author of The Shack, recommended this book in a recent interview, but the actual name of the book which he couldn't remember at the time is called Stricken by God? Young also spelled the editor's name incorrectly. The correct spelling is J-E-R-S-A-K, not J-E-R-Z-A-K.

Listen to the interview where Young recommends this book at the very end HERE.

Read a partial transcript of this same interview where he recommends this book HERE.

The book he recommended is indeed about the alternative theories on the atonement. It is a collection of essays put together by Brad Jersak. See a review of the book HERE.

Related:

Brad Jersak's Argument for Listening Prayer...
thearmchairtheologian.blogspot.com

Transcript of Interview

The following is a partial transcript of the interview on KAYP by Kendall Adams, pastor of the Burlington Baptist church, as he graciously asks the author of "The Shack" some very important questions. The answers may surprise you.

~ ~ ~

1) On the Penal Substitutionary Atonement (that Jesus Christ took the penalty for our sins on the cross):

Adams: "On page 120 where God says, you know, I don’t punish sin, sin is it’s own punishment, you know, this is when Mack , um, is having a hard time with his view of God pouring out wrath, etc. But then when it says, “Mackenzie, I don’t need to punish people for sin. I guess when people read the scripture my question is, doesn’t God…hasn’t God, and doesn’t He…punish sin?"

William Young: "Some of it is semantics, we’re dealing with the concept of the wrath of God and, and here’s an underlying question. “Do you believe that God does anything that is not motivated by love?"

Adams: “Well I think in scripture we have wrath, we have justice, we have mercy-"

Young: “I understand…but…”

Adams: “…we do have love, so…”

Young: “Do you believe that God does anything that is not motivated by love, cuz love is his onthological character, it’s his being, justice is an activity of God, uh, wrath is an activity of God, so…”

Adams: “So you do believe though, that he does punish sin…”

Young: “I..I believe in the wrath of God, absolutely, but, but the wrath of God is, is always couched, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodly (undecipherable word here) and unrighteousness of men, it’s not against the men, it’s against everything that is damaging them, hurting them, causing them to sin against eachother, everything that is contrary to his nature, and um…so…”

Adams: “But-"

Young “I, I absolutely believe in the wrath of God, yes, but I believe it’s motivated by love .”

Adams: “But this love also, and just as you quoted, you know, you mentioned uh the lake of fire, etc., it does say that there is torment day and night, so there is punishment, torment…”

Young: “Ya, and it, it is in the presence of the Lamb.”

Adams: “Here’s my question, if God doesn’t punish sin, what is the cross then, because if Jesus took our punishment on the cross, if he died for our sins, he was taking our punishment. If God doesn’t punish sin it seems like that demeans the whole concept of the cross.”

Young: “Oh, not at all. Look, the cross is, is the plan of God from before the foundation of the world, to redeem us back from being lost, being in the grip of our sin and lostness and idolatry and everything else, it’s absolutely essential. There’s no hope for any human being let alone the human race apart from the cross.”

Adams: “So you do believe that Christ was punished, then, for our sin.”

Young: “I believe that, that Christ became sin for us.”

Adams: “I mean that he was a sacrifice, that he was punished, he took...”

Young: “Uhuh…by who?"

Adams: “The Father.”

Young: “Why…why would the Father punish His son?”

Adams: “Because sin demanded justice, it, it demanded-"

Young: “Oh, it, but it, where was Father when the Son was on the cross?”

Adams: “In your book, when it says, um, Mack had a problem with 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' and God basically says, 'Mack, I never left him'…”

Young: “That’s right.”

Adams: “When Jesus said 'Why have you forsaken me?' it…”

Young: “Ya, he’s quoting, he’s also quoting and doing the cry of David in the Psalms, and in Psalms that’s totally reconciled within the Psalms. The next thing that he says, even though that’s exactly what he feels for the first time as a human being who was born of the spirit, baptized of the spirit, filled with the spirit, for the first time, he doesn’t sense the presence of the Father, and in that he cries out. But Paul the apostle comes up later, and Jesus first says, but into your hands I commit my spirit, so he’s still saying, you’re here. And Paul says, where was God the Father? For God the Father, 2 Cor. 5:19, was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their sins against them. So where was God the Father? You…and where did reconciliation happen? I believe it happened on the cross. And it says that God the Father was in His son reconciling the world to himself.”

Adams: “Ya, many see that as Christ being the agency of our reconciliation but that when, you know, that Christ was taking the wrath of God upon him, I, I take it that you wouldn’t, you wouldn’t agree that the cross was a place of punishment for our sin.”

Young: “No. I don’t, I am not a penal substitution …reformation…point of view.”

Adams: “But isn’t that the heart of the gospel? Is that the heart of the gospel?”

Young: “No! Ha, no! The heart of the gospel is that we are, are so pursued, the heart of the gospel is in Ephesians 1:5. He predestined us before the foundation of the world to be adopted as sons and everything is by, for and through Jesus, and when Jesus dies, all die, all die.”

Adams: “But all the sac- all the sacrifices in the Old Testament, they were for the sins of the person, as they laid the hand on the lamb, or, or the Passover, you know the lamb’s blood was shed and put on the doorposts so when the death angel came it passed over, that way…”

Young: “And, and I understand uh, ya, I'm not saying that I don’t agree with some sense of substitutionary atonement.”

Adams: “But you disagree…”

Young: “But it’s way broader (muffled) than that.”

Adams: “But if you reject a penal substitution that Christ died as a penalty for our sins, it seems like that is the, that is the Christian faith.”

Young: “I don’t know if you’re aware, but that’s a huge debate that’s going on in theology right now within the evangelical community.”

Adams: “It is, and I, and I, and I would say everything hangs on that, I mean, there’s so many scriptures that Christ died for our sins, 1 Corinthians 15:3 -”

Young: “Oh, and, and I, I agree with that, I, he became sin for us..”

Adams: “No, he died for our sins. Romans said, the Father delivered him over for our sin. If he didn’t, if he wasn’t delivered for my sin…”

Young: “I’m not disagreeing with any of those passages at all, it’s just that how do we understand it? And how do we define what exactly took place? And I’m saying, that there is a huuuuuge amount of disagreement among theologians, about what all that means.”

Adams: “Kay.”

Young: “And so there is, you know, a degree of ambiguity there. And uh, what I’m saying everything that happened there, is the purpose of father, son and holy spirit, and that purpose is, our redemption, is salvation, reconciliation, and I don’t see, um, that it’s necessary to have the father, uh, punish, in that sense, the son!”

Adams: “Ya, we could, this is, I think this is an important issue.”

~ ~ ~


2) On Hell and Ultimate Reconciliation (eternal punishment vs. eternal life - no matter what you believe or choose in this life):

Adams: “I believe there’s an eternal hell and once there, always there, and it’s punishment and torment, I guess I believe in the traditional, evangelical view that, you know, the decisions is made before this life is over, God is not going to redeem those, in hell. I mean it’s a, it’s an eternal place that never ends and it’s not good, so if..”

Young: “I understand that.”

Adams: “If in the other view…”

Young: “But going back to your question. Even if there was ultimate reconciliation, which I don’t know, but even if there were, that doesn’t diminish the damage of sin at all. That doesn’t diminish what sin is doing to the people around us and in our lives, at all. So the burden is not any lessened at all, you know, and it’s never been, you know, hell is never used as a motivator for transformation, ever. Not anywhere in the scripture. And you’d think that, you know, if it was, the ultimate evil, that it would at least be used in some of the sermons, but it doesn’t appear in Acts at all. And uh, you know…”

Adams: “Well Jesus did talk about hell a lot.”

Young: “Ya, we…and I know that. I’m very aware, and I do believe that it is real! That’s not the question.”

Adams: "And he did say fear the one who as the power to throw you into hell, to destroy both body and soul, so, um..."

Young: "Absolutely!"

~ ~ ~


3) On the "flaws" in his book:

Young: “Not very many people are getting stuck on that particular, or these particular fine points of theology. What they’re hearing is, that God is about relationship, and desires to be in relationship with us and opens up relationship to us. “

~ ~ ~


4) On other books:

Adams: “Um… Pierced for our Transgressions, a book that I highly recommend, if you haven’t read it, rediscovering the glory of penal substitution, it’s full of the love of the father. Cuz if we..”

Young: “I would, I would recommend Brad Jerzak’s book, um, um…that he just came up that he edited which has got maybe 30 different theologians who are opposed to the penal substitution and uh…what’s it called? Um, uh, the wrath of God is in the title, and it’s a question mark, um”

Adams: "They can google the name."

Young: "Ya. Jersak. J-E-R-Z-A-K"

~ ~ ~

This interview speaks for itself so I'm not going to comment. You are welcome to copy and paste this into your own blogs. The truth must be made known.

Thank you Kendall Adams!

~ ~ ~

*This is the single most viewed post in the history of this blog. Total number of hits this post has had in 2009 is 9490 and still climbing.

UPDATE: On March 17, 2010 this post reached 10,000 hits.

Interview with William Young -ALERT

Listening to this thing...

Interview with William Young
Here is an interview with The Shack author William Young. In it he flatly denies the substitutionary atonement (which was one of the questions many people had as they read the book).
http://rock-life.com/files/shakcomp.mp3

(As I found it on www.challies.com)

My comments as I am listening: The interviewer is very gentle and full of grace. But here is the crux of the matter. In this interview, it comes out that Young does not believe in the penal substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. In other words, he does not believe Jesus was our substitute...punished for our sins. I have just heard him say this with my own ears. This is the huge debate that is going on in the evangelical community right now, says William Young. This is sad but true. He also says he is not sure if there is universal reconciliation (the belief that everyone will be in heaven some day whether they believe in Jesus or not). Is he in the same camp as Brad Jersak and heretic Marcus Borg? It certainly appears that way.

You MUST listen to this revealing interview! They started talking about the atonement just past a third of the way through this interview.

Oh! There you go...he JUST RECOMMENDED BRAD JERSAK'S BOOK (he said "Brad Jerzak," spelling it wrong {J-E-R-Z-A-K} so no one will find it, and he couldn't remember the name of it. He said that "wrath of God" is in the title, but it is actually called Stricken by God? and I have partially reviewed it HERE. I couldn't finish it.)

Over 2 million copies of The Shack have been sold. This is what Eugene Petersen and Michael W. Smith recommend. Oh, but don't worry, it's just fiction.

NOTE: See a partial transcript of this interview HERE.

Related:

The Word is Out
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com

Was Christ Your Substitute?
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com

Sad Thing - Pastors Endorsing 'The Shack'
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com

~ ~ ~

*Update: April:
See latest interview here:

Another Interview
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com
(Note: In day one of this interview on It's a New Day, William P. Young says those who challenge his book do so because of fear based doctrinal paradigms.)

Some Things about that Scary Prophecy by David Wilkerson

“AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE - EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US." ~David Wilkerson

~ ~ ~

Here are just a few things about that scary prophecy that David Wilkerson made this week...

First of all, this is not the first time he has prophesied such things (click anywhere on the following title to read his end time vision):

By David Wilkerson
As Reported in Challenge Weekly, Vol. 59, Issue 46, November 27, 2001
David Wilkerson’s prophetic message, first given in September 7, 1992,
has been repeated since the September 11 tragedy
www.bereanpublishers.com

Now, since I am just a wee blogger who is not a Bible scholar, I don't feel it's my place to analyze the prophecy of a man of God like David Wilkerson, whom I have always respected, and who has always contended for the truth, as far as I have known. I certainly don't mean to downplay the seriousness of such a prophecy. However, I did once own a small book he had written about the vision he had seen quite a few years ago. I read it but ended up giving it away as I thought, at the time, that it was a little over the top. But times have changed.

So what about that prophecy he gave this week? It's downright scary.

Here are some things that might help...I read this short analysis of this by John Piper, which is okay...

Testing David Wilkerson’s Prophecy
www.desiringgod.org

But I think this one is better and much more thorough...

David Wilkerson’s Prophecy of Judgment
by Paul McQuire
www.moriel.org

I tend to agree completely.

*Update:

I just read what Jacob Prasch himself has to say about this...oh my...this certainly sheds a new light on things, doesn't it? Leave it to Jacob Prasch to do that...

Latest David Wilkerson Prophetic Prediction - Is It New?
moriel.org

Also see:

Follow-Up Word by David Wilkerson
moriel.org

Sorry Dave, Your Visions Aren’t Needed
bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com

A Clarion Warning about the Days Ahead
Bill Wilson
www.dailyjot.com

Nutty Thing of the Day

In light of the recent news about the Bentley wedding, here is a bit of a nutty thing someone sent me. Keep in mind, this is where Mr. Bentley is staying right now as he is being 'restored' (back into the fire breathing ministry?)...under the watchful care and support of Mr. Joyner...

RICK JOYNER - CELL PHONE FIRE MINISTRY
www.youtube.com

Hmmm...I wonder if anyone has phoned the newlyweds yet to congratulate them. Might not be such a good idea...

Traditional Things are not so Traditional Anymore

They sing nice hymns and songs that soothe the soul. Thousands of Christians have been blessed by their music DVDs and CDs. The Gaithers are an icon in the gospel music industry.
But wait, what's this we hear? The Gaithers are promoting the author of that book? And what? Gloria Gaither is on the board of what? Where a favored personality is who? Have the Gaithers now been deceived too?

Gaither Family Fest To Include The Shack Author
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Meanwhile, hordes of people each week continue to come to the all time top post on this blog for the last eight months as they google "The Shack heresy," or, "what's wrong with the book called The Shack." To hear that the author of this book, which is about another Jesus than the one in the Bible, is now going to be promoted by the Gaithers is truly disappointing.

Again, I am not blogging this for gossip's sake, but to show that even traditional 'old fashioned' Christians who you think are clinging to the fundamental rock are now being dragged out to sea by the waves of the rising tsunami of apostasy. It isn't bad enough that one of the Gaither's frequent guest vocalists/comedian Mark Lowry hosts Saturdays with Mark and Tony, spreading the promotion of Bono and the One Campaign with Tony Campolo (watch and be astounded here). (BTW, watch those disappearing clips while they are still there...another a clip I was looking for where they discussed centering prayer seems to have disappeared -Tony C. has previously stated that he was born again by centering prayer).
[Note: See Todd Friel on the Gospel According To Tony Campolo]

How crafty of the enemy to take the most traditional thing he can find (soothing hymns and 'feel good' traditional Christian music) and use that as a source to spread his deception (another gospel) throughout North America.

(Don't forget that the most hard to spot and convincing deception is the one which most closely resembles the truth. So, if you choose to watch more of Mark Lowry's chats with Tony Campolo, you may hear lots of very good things. Tony C. is a very intelligent man and a good speaker. But every once in a while, if you are a discerning believer who knows the Word, your antennas should perk up. Please exercise more discernment than Mark Lowry does if you listen to Tony Campolo and Mr. Lowry on the internet.)

I wonder how long it will be before we hear that more traditional Christians, influenced by the Gaither's and friends' promos of popular authors like these, are being washed into the murky depths of contemplative spirituality. An in depth review of The Shack has recently revealed to me, among many other problems, that Mack (the main character) has a New Age enlightenment in a Dark Night of the Soul experience in a cave (see St. John of the Cross), complete with a spine tingling kundalini awakening. This reeks of the process of purgation> illumination>union of the Ignatius Examen (Ignatius of Loyola), and is based in Jesuit/contemplative spirituality and Eastern mysticism.

Tony Campolo, in his very deceiving descriptions of contemplative/centering prayer that you may find on the internet (I will not even post the one I just watched as it is far too misleading and therefore dangerous), has neglected to mention one very important thing regarding centering, and that is the fact that it looks like we are right smack dab in the center of this time...

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2 Timothy 4:3,4

Bentley Wedding?

I am posting the following not for gossip's sake, and not because I want to be one of the first to get this blogged, but because there are still actually people out there who are still fully supporting and defending Todd Bentley and what went on last year in Florida.

I'm not sure if this can be verified or not, but I've heard some uncomfirmed chatter, and now I just read this thing...

Todd Bentley marries woman whom he had extramarital affair with
westernstandard.blogs.com

So for all those who are still defending Mr. Bentley and the false revival of last summer ...is this the kind of thing that you mean when you say that Mr. Bentley is being restored?

Also see:
Todd Bentley and the Nanny Revealed
www.youtube.com
(Update: this video has been removed from youtube, possibly only temporarily)

"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" Philippians 1:27

***Update:

March 9, 2009
Today it has been confirmed that Todd Bentley has indeed been remarried and is undergoing a 'restoration' process with his new wife (formerly the nanny of his children) under the guidance of Rick Joyner (Morning Star Ministries). Does this mean that he will actually be restored back into the ministry? Time will tell.

Also see these...

Todd Bentley The crux of the problem
www.youtube.com
(What it all boils down to - $$$)

Todd Bentley Remarries, Begins Restoration Process
March 10
www.charismamag.com

Todd Bentley Remarries and Re-launches
http://moriel.org

Purim Story - Book of Esther

Since tomorrow marks the remembrance of the story of how God's people were saved from annihilation at the hand of Haman, I thought it would be nice to post this today...

Here is the introduction to the story of Esther at Grace Thru Faith:

March 9. The Feast Of Purim. This year the Jewish Holiday called Purim begins at sundown March 9 and ends at sundown March 11. It commemorates the time when God saved the Israelites in Persia from total annihilation through the courage of a young Jewish woman named Esther. Our 4 part study on The Book of Esther was written as if Esther herself was telling her story. It’s a great way to become familiar with this important Jewish Holiday and discover the hidden message it contains for you as well.

Read Esther’s Story here:

Esther’s Story … Part 1 (Intro and Chapter 1)
gracethrufaith.com

From there you can go on to the next part, all the way to Part 4. It's written in a very beautiful way...I've just read the first two so far, and have found the perspective very refreshing. In fact, you may even learn some things about God (whose name is not really mentioned in the book of Esther - or so you've always thought).

*Here's another study...an on-line book by Ray Stedman...

The Queen and I
Studies in Esther
www.raystedman.org

Meditate on Things, Not on No-thing

Here's a good reminder that the Bible instructs us to meditate on things, not on nothing...

What is Mantra Meditation?
firstjohnfourfive.wordpress.com

Not only does God's Word teach us to 'dwell on these things', 'keep these things', 'meditate on these things' (and take heed) - try as you might, you just won't find a verse that says to meditate on a mantra or find the fluffy cloud of nothingness (Cloud of Unknowing).

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Phil. 4:8 (KJV)

“O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” Isaiah 25:1

~ ~ ~

And by the way, speaking of meditation...have you heard of this thing?

'Change Begins Within' Benefit Concert: 'Teach One Million Kids To Meditate'
filesfromtoni.blogspot.com

It's all thanks once again to The Beatles (or what's left of them), who continue to be instrumental in making Eastern religion mainstream for the West. (If you do not understand this, and have not yet read Caryl Matrisciana's book Out of India, or seen her Yoga Uncoiled DVD, I highly recommend them as excellent resources.)

Atheists Strategize Against Book

What devious lengths a few atheists have gone to regarding this Christian book...

Atheists strategize against book on God
Online plot reveals plan to give Christian writing low rating
www.worldnetdaily.com

The Coming One World Religion

I'm reading a very interesting thing...

The Coming One World Religion - Part 1
by Jim Simmons
bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com

Joy While Chained to a Big Smelly Thing

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
~Phil. 1:9-11~

We started the book of Philippians yesterday. Philippi was a Roman city. There was not even one synagogue in that city, which is why Paul ended up at the river on the Sabbath. This is where they met Lydia, and where the demon possessed girl followed them around (Acts 16). The book of Philippians is the letter Paul wrote to the church he started at Philippi. Only he wrote from a prison in Rome, while chained to a soldier. Even so, the theme of his letter is the joy we can have because of who we are in Christ, in spite of our circumstances. Can you imagine being joyful while chained to a big smelly thing like a Roman soldier for weeks on end? And you think you can’t sleep because your husband snores?

Anyways, he prays that the Christians back in Philippi are growing and bearing fruit. One of the results of being filled with the fruits of righteousness is that is that they will be sincere and blameless.

So what comes to your mind when you think of sincerity?

*sincere: Greek: eilikrinēs

-pure, sincere, unsullied, found pure when unfolded and examined by the sun’s light

As our pastor was explaining, in Roman times, people would make sculptures and sell them. If a sculpture was damaged - let’s say, the nose fell off - they would melt some wax and patch it up and smooth it over, and no one would know. So imagine if one such unsuspecting buyer would bring one such statue home and prop it up in a prominent place in his lovely Roman courtyard by the fountain in the midday Mediterranean sun. What would happen? The wax would begin to melt…and then…oops. Bye bye runny nose. (And you thought your cold was bad.)

So then, there became a need to have “made without wax” signs above the quality work, so prospective buyers would know that these sculptures would stand up in the sun. In other words, ‘what you see is what you get.’

So when Paul prays that we should not only be sincere, but also without offense, or blameless, what does that look like to you? [Blameless means “having nothing for one to strike against, not causing to stumble, not leading others into sin by one’s mode of life."]

This is what it looks like to me…

• To me, to be sincere and blameless means making sure I live in such a way that I will NOT give cause for someone to point a finger at me and say "hypocrite."
• To me it looks like living ‘as is’, in a way that shows people that what they see is what they get.
• To me it means, if people have put me up on a pedestal, I’d better have shown them first that I have a few cracks and missing parts, or they will be disappointed, and might even stumble.
• To me it means showing others my squished and blemished fruit - and the joy I have because of who I am in Christ, even when my situation is not very joyful.
• To me it means being joyful while being chained to a big fat smelly thing, like a Roman soldier (or a family situation you can't escape, or a valley you are walking through that is very scary, or something huge the Lord has allowed in your life that is overwhelming you).
• To me it means not melting in the heat of day to day situations, and not having to worry about my life being examined by the light.
  
• To me it looks like a very humbling thing. To me it's giving it all to God and trusting Him. It’s the opposite of what I want to do. It goes against my old nature. Who can do it without the Lord’s help?

~ ~ ~

Lord, I fall so short every day. Help me to be sincere and blameless, and walk in a manner worthy of my calling, because it's all about You, not me. Fill me to overflowing with joy that the world cannot understand, for Your glory.

~ ~ ~

Note: It also means admitting to some very bad grammatical errors you made in your latest post. I just fixed them. Sorry about that, that was pretty bad!