The Mega Christian Book Store

The wave of the future - first it was the mega church, now it is the mega Christian book store...

Christian bookstores find success by trying something new
www.canadianchristianity.com

I can't speak for the Toronto based book store as their new website isn't fully up and running yet, but while business may be good for the other mega Christian book stores mentioned in the article, it is often thanks to best sellers by contemplative and emerging church authors that are leading many astray.

See this list of authors to look for when choosing which book store to support:

Master List of Books and Authors
www.christianresearchservice.com

CMA Guest Speaker is Author Erwin McManus

This month, the biennial Canadian Pacific Christian Missionary Alliance District Conference is coming up (May 19-21, 2009). Here is their featured speaker:

A Day with Erwin McManus
http://www.cmacpd.bc.ca/events/a-day-with-erwin-mcmanus

Evening with Erwin
http://www.cmacpd.bc.ca/node/752

Hmmm, I wonder if the CMA realizes what Erwin's message and goal is? Here are just a few things that discerning Christians are saying about his books and the things he teaches:

Erwin McManus - His Goal is to "Destroy Christianity"
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Erwin McManus and the Emergent Church
wholecounsel.blogspot.com

The Barbarian Way by Erwin R. McManus
by Gary Gilley

Soul Cravings by Erwin Raphael McManus
www.svchapel.org

Erwin McManus Plays Dominoes with God's Sovereignty
by Ron Foster
www.worldviewtimes.com

The Christian Hordes?
A review of "The Barbarian Way"
by Erwin Raphael McManus
By Kevin Reeves
www.theothersideoftheriver.com

Erwin McManus & the Five Elements
herescope.blogspot.com

Erwin McManus: The New Face of Southern Baptist
herescope.blogspot.com

CFC Belfast invite Erwin McManus
This visit by Erwin McManus should be a matter of grave concern to all true believers in and disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ .
www.takeheed.net

The Book of Jasher

Ever wonder what the book of Jasher is that is quoted twice in the Old Testament (Joshua 10:13 and 2 Sam. 1:18.)?

See here:

The Book of Jasher
gracethrufaith.com

Busted over a 2000 year old Hebrew Scroll

Aha!

Palestinians busted trying to sell 2,000 year-old Hebrew scroll
www.inthedays.com

Rotten Fruit

Remember this guy?

Todd Bentley and his "DARK ANGELS"
www.youtube.com

~Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:20~

Could it be any more obvious?

Related:

Heal or heel?
www.worldmag.com
(Note: This article shows how the claimed miracles from last year's Florida revival are documented to be false. After reading this article once you may be required to subcribe in order to read it again, so if you want to save it, copy it the first time.)

Learn more about The Shack Book and upcoming Film

Here's a new interview:

Jan Markell: May 7
God Can't be Found in "The Shack" Eric Barger and Jan respond to those who say you can find God in "The Shack." While this book and forthcoming film minister to those who are hurting, feelings must trump doctrine as the doctrine in the book is seriously flawed. Nonetheless, the book made the number one position on most best-sellers' lists in 2008 and remains in 2009. Sermons and Bible studies are based around the book. The book is both hailed and condemned by many Christian leaders.

Listen HERE.

More Tough Bible Questions

Dr. Ron Rhodes, founder and director of Reasoning From the Scriptures Ministries, specializes in answering difficult questions about the Bible. Here are some tough ones he recently answered:

• Do you believe we are in the season of the Lord's return?
• When is the Rapture going to occur?
• What would the one-world religion be?

Find out the answers to these things, and more, here...

Tough Bible Questions: Part 3
bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com

Also at Bible Prophecy Today, the lastest update from Jan Markell:

For Such a Time as This
bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com

Be fruitful and multiply - or lose our heritage!

A thought provoking thing to read here:

BROKEN ARROWS

By Coach Dave Daubenmire
April 30, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

“As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Psalm 127

Americans had better start having babies and we better start having them fast. The “battle for the culture” is in danger of being lost for lack of ammunition. Apart from absolute Truth, the greatest weapon or asset any civilization will ever have is children. They are the guarantor of our American heritage.

But somewhere along the line, children became a commodity, a luxury if you will, similar to a plasma TV, or a hot tub. Instead of appreciating them as a gift from God, (the first purpose of our existence was to “be fruitful and multiply”) we have treated them as a burden. When President Obama referred to his potential future grandchildren as “punishment” he was merely reflecting the humanistic view that children were not really “an heritage of the Lord,” but rather a burden to be borne as a duty to marriage....

Read the rest HERE @ www.newswithviews.com.

Reading This Thing about Mysticism

Currently reading...

A fascinating article I happened to stumble upon while searching for something totally unrelated...it's called Mysticism in America, and is an 8 page read (but after the first page, the others are all relatively short). Starts out like this...

Mysticism In America


"The main fight, make no mistake," said theologian Nels Ferre in 1961, "is between the Christian faith in its inner, classical meaning and the new Orientalized versions whether they come via Neo-platonism or in modern forms ... The supernatural, personalistic, classical Christian faith is now being undermined by an ultimately non-dualistic, impersonal or transpersonal faith. The winds are blowing gale-strong out of the Orient."

Prof. Ferre's meteorological metaphor may have seemed an overstatement in 1961, but today we see its accuracy. Indeed, one of the startling things that has happened in recent history is the penetration of Western society by mysticism and occult philosophy, and the various forms of Eastern meditation which are frequently associated with them. In ten years, the counter-cultural daydream of a society unified around the experience of the "divine within" has begun to take on an uncomfortably concrete reality. It is no longer possible to dismiss interest in the philosophy of eastern religions as a kind of fringe fanaticism which is beneath the concern of the Christian community....

Sounds like a tough read at first, but it's really not. For anyone who is interested in studying this important topic, read the rest here:

Mysticism in America
www.culthelp.info

The Urantia Book

I always thought Samir was a very interesting man. He had come to Canada from Egypt, and when he wasn't volunteering at the soup kitchen, he sold interesting packages of whole grain concoctions with middle eastern spices. One day while we were bagging day old bread together, he smiled as he told me about a wonderful book he was reading. It was a very fascinating book, and contained the answers to life...had I ever heard of it? No, I said, but I would like it if he could show it to me next time. Unfortunately, I never saw him again. Had I known there would never be a next time, I would have said that there was only one Book where we can find the answers to life. The name of this book he was reading? The Urantia Book.

This is what it is about (and I wish I would have known this back then)...

Unlike most channeled writings, THE URANTIA BOOK rejects the teachings of reincarnation and astrology. However, in line with other mediumistic revelations, it is dead-set against traditional Christian doctrines, including the inerrancy of Scripture, simple Trinitarianism, the Fall of man, original sin, the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ, faith and repentance for salvation, the resurrection of the flesh, and eternal punishment.

Come to think of it, I wonder if some of today's emergent church leaders are reading this book. Anyways, that's from here:

The Urantia Book
www.culthelp.info

Please read the article and find out what it is about. You just never know when someone will ask you about the Urantia book, and maybe you will know enough to warn them and guide them to a better Book called the Bible.

*NOTE: To find out more about Urantia, go here (for research purposes only):

http://www.urantia.org/

Update: More about Urantia here:

*The Urantia Book
www.letusreason.org

*Urantia
withchrist.org

Takin' what to the Street?

You may remember seeing the "new mystics" getting sloshed in drunken, holy ghost glory, or tokin' the ghost, in front of their web cams, or in their cars or churches. Well now they have taken their spiritual inebriation, bizarre manifestations (or demonic infestations) and false representations of the Holy Spirit to the streets. Sadly, this is their idea of street ministry. Come and get some? No thanks...

The New Mystics Turn to Street Evangelism
slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com

Soldier's Bibles Destroyed

Now this is a crummy thing...

U.S. military destroys soldier's Bibles
www.onenewsnow.com

Don't cha think?

Update:

Destruction of Bibles reflects poorly on U.S. military
persecutedchurch.blogspot.com

New On-line Book - Law and Grace

I've just noticed a new on-line book about Law and Grace on Bible Guidance. From what I have seen, this is a very important topic. Here's what it's about:

Summary: Many questions are in these days asked on the relationship between law and grace. Some Christians are strongly convinced that aspects of the Old Testament law, e.g. Sabbath observance on Saturdays, still apply in the New Testament. It is not only the Seventh-day Adventists who hold this view, but also various other groups of Christians who wrongly pursue their “spiritual roots” in Israel and then become entangled with Israel’s Old Testament laws and feasts. It is important to realise the full implications of efforts by Christians who, contrary to the Bible, try to live under grace and under law.

It can be read here:

The Old Testament Law and the New Testament Grace
By Prof. Johan Malan, Middelburg, South Africa (March 2009)
www.bibleguidance.co.za

Emerging Hymn

As I listened to a music clip this morning I was completely shocked...this was such raw talent. Why had Bob Dylan been discovered, but never this musician? But alas, the longer I watched, the more I wondered what was missing from this picture...where was the long hair, beads, tie dyed shirt, and the peace pipe? Then it dawned on me...this is not a song from the 60's or 70's afterall! It's...

The new kind of peace song
christianresearchnetwork.com

So...is this the kind of song that the new kind of Christian pastor sings? A new song that is not about Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and our only hope for peace? And what else does the new kind of Christian pastor not like besides the old kind of worship music unto the Lord? Has an intolerant element begun to emerge from the new kind of pastor, who does not like the old kind of Christian now either?

Related:

Things They Cannot Sing
morebooksandthings.blogspot.com

*Find out what Brian McLaren believes (or doesn't believe) HERE.

Guess what Book is #4 Best Seller in One New Age Store?

Quote from Lighthouse Trails:

Interestingly, on the best-seller list of a major New Age bookstore in Portland, Oregon, The Shack is number four. Ironically, this bookstore also has a whole section devoted to Thomas Merton. Would The Shack be at the top of the best seller list of a prominent New Age bookstore if it had a biblical message of the Gospel that rejects the notion that all paths lead to God? Definitely not.

More here:

Thomas Merton and The Shack
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Some Things about that Flu (updated)

Here's some interesting things about the latest flu scare...

Swine Flu—Cause for Concern?
The latest influenza outbreak has people in a panic. What should Christians think?
Stories of “swine flu” have dominated news outlets this week, hearkening back to outbreaks of SARS and bird flu in years past. Are we in for a pandemic?

Read this very interesting and updated article from Answers in Genesis HERE.

Also of interest from Kjos Ministries...
some quotes and things regarding the World Health Organization (WHO).
And from the same website, some Health links regarding the pandemic thing.

Related updates:

Swine Flu and Everyone Goes Oink
bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com

There are Pestilences and then there are Pestilences
by Ron Graham

From Pandemics to Loose Nukes, the World's Out of Control
by Jan Markell

Flu Symptoms? Don't Take Aspirin
filesfromtoni.blogspot.com

Lower Mexico flu death toll heartens nervous world
www.inthedays.com

Plague: The Third Major Birth Pang of 2009
bible-prophecy-today.blogspot.com