Babylonian Books

Here's a timely thing I found that I guess you could say kind of sums up what these past few years of blogging has been about for me...

The Babylonian Books of Today

from The Greatest Fight in the World by Charles Spurgeon:

The history of that human ignorance which calls itself “philosophy”, is absolutely identical with the history of fools! If ones were to write the history of folly, he would have to give several chapters to philosophy, and those chapters would be more revealing than any others.

Beware of the Babylonian books of the present day! The truth of God is the only treasure for which we seek, and the Scripture is the only field in which we dig for it! If you keep close to the inspired book, you can suffer no harm; you are at the fountain-head of all moral and spiritual good. This is fit food for the people of God–this is the bread which nourishes the highest life.

The prayerful study of the Word is not only a means of instruction–but an act of devotion wherein the transforming power of grace is often exercised, changing us into the image of Christ, of whom the Word is a mirror.

Within the Scripture, there is a balm for every wound, a salve for every sore. Oh, the wondrous power in the Scripture to create a heart of hope, within the ribs of despair! Amidst sharp and strong temptations, and fierce and bitter trials, the Word of the Lord has preserved us. Amidst discouragements which damped our hopes, and disappointments which wounded our hearts, our Bibles have brought us a secret, unconquerable consolation….

I found that HERE over @ firstjohnfourfive.wordpress.com.

And I have nothing to add to that.

Once again, thanks to all of the faithful readers, bloggers, and soldiers of the gospel whom I have had the privelege of knowing since I wandered into blog land. May God bless you and give you a fruitful New Year as you continue to serve Him!

On the lighter side...

Amidst all the serious stuff, here's some fluff...

US man finds apartment filled with Christmas gifts, but packages aren't what they seem

CHICAGO - A Chicago man could be unwrapping the hundreds of Christmas gifts spread around his apartment for days, even weeks.

Trouble is, they aren't really presents. They're his own belongings meticulously wrapped by friends as a prank while he was out of town....

More HERE @ ca.news.yahoo.com.

The Meditation and Mysticism Thing is Everywhere!

This year will certainly go down as the year that we saw the mystical meditation thing creep farther into evangelical Christianity faster than we ever imagined. So about this mass infiltration of meditation and mysticism into church denominations everywhere. Still think it's a rumour? Still don't believe it? Still think it's not a big deal? If it isn't enough that Tony Campolo is teaching it, the Calvinists are spreading it, Willow Creek is recommending it, Focus on the Family Canada is using it, the Seventh Day Adventists are integrating it, and RW is promoting it...well, here is what was sent out from the International Center of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod this morning....

Encouragement for Busy Church Leaders, Sleep During Meditation
“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” Psalm 42:8 (ESV)

There are times during meditation and extended prayer such as Centering Prayer that we can lose awareness. When we regain awareness, it is as if we are waking up from a period of sleep. We have no recollection of what happened during the period of unconsciousness. This experience initially was of concern to St. Teresa of Avila, 17th century Christian mystic. She wondered what might have happened while she was not able to consciously monitor her experience. Was the blank time a result of being too undisciplined? Was it sleep? Was it of God, or was it a time when her mind was taken over by the Devil?

Teresa discussed her concerns with her spiritual mentor, none other than St. John of the Cross. Their standard became, “You shall know them by their fruits”. Her experience, and that of the nuns in her care, was that the result of these times seemed to be spiritually and mentally beneficial. Teresa came to understand these periods as one stage of prayer, which she described in her classic roadmap of prayerful experience, The Interior Castle…

SOURCE: apprising.org

Okay hold on a minute here. Do you know what they are saying? No? I don't think they even know what they are saying. These Lutherans really need to get a hold of a little book that recently came out explaining pretty clearly what happened to this same Teresa of Avila during those times when her body was taken over by a strange force and she was raised off the ground (levitated). She had no control over this, and it left her exhausted for days. She also wrote about the terror she had of these experiences and how she absolutely dreaded them. Her 'roadmap of prayerful experience' is certainly not something that any Christian should try to follow. Our roadmap is the Bible. Follow it, and it's words will lead you to life, not hair raising, frightening experiences of demonic possession.

~ ~ ~

For further enlightenment, here's an excerpt from Teresa of Avila: The Book of My Life:

"After that, when I felt that the Lord was about to enrapture me again, I would stretch out on the floor and ask the other nuns to hold me down. This occurred recently during a sermon on Saint Joseph’s feast day. Even though we tried to hide it, some noble ladies who were visiting saw the whole thing. I implored the Lord not to give me any more favors that involved an outward show. I was getting tired of being considered special. It seems that God in his mercy acknowledge my prayer. Although that last incident was not very long ago, I have not experienced another levitation since that day.

Whenever I have tried to resist the onset of a rapture, it has felt like a powerful force was lifting me from the soles of my feet. I don’t know what to compare this force to. It is far more cataclysmic than anything I’ve experienced in the previous stages of prayer. The struggle is so ferocious that it utterly wears me out. But in the end, fighting is futile…

Still, I confess that this particular favor terrified me. If you don’t resist, the same force that carries your soul away in rapture will elevate your body with equal gentleness. Yet when you see yourself lifted off the ground and remain conscious enough to witness the event, the majesty of the One who can cause such a thing is enough to make your hair stand on end. And the fear of offending such an awesome God stays with you."

-Teresa of Avila

-pp. 138-139, Prayer of Pain, Teresa of Avila: The Book of My Life, translated from Spanish into English by Mirabai Starr

Looking back at some good things

Some interesting things to look back on...

Thirty Good Things About 2009

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." –James 1:17

A variety of consequential things occurred in 2009. The swine flu spread around the globe. Businesses failed and people lost their jobs and the governments of the world tried to spend their way out of recession. The world dealt with slaughter, nuclear proliferation and dead celebrities. However, 2009 offered us more than tragedy. There were excellent things too, things worthy of a second glance as we celebrate the successful completion of one more year on the planet.

More HERE @ khouse.org.


And this is an interesting article, although I'm not so sure these are all good things, but they certainly have changed our culture. For example, did you know there are more than 100 million blogs out there in cyberspace? Check it out here:

Fifty things that changed our lives this decade
By Jocelyn Noveck, The Associated Press
lifewise.canoe.ca

As the World Turns - a Round Table Discussion

I plan on listening to this interesting looking interview before the year is over - it's about the way things are going in the world...

December 28, 2009
This is part one of a two part round table discussion on the state of the world in the area of politics, religion, economics and global governance. How did we get here, where are we going and how should we respond? Sadly, few Americans and few talk show hosts understand what is discussed in this broadcast. John Loeffler moderated the discussion for his radio program and was kind enough to allow us to broadcast what turned out to be an incredible discussion. The round table members consisted of Dr. Dennis Cuddy, Brannon Howse, Carl Teichrib and Gary Kah. We will play part two tomorrow. This is an excellent program to alert your family and friends about.

Listen HERE @ www.worldviewradio.com.

Part 2 is HERE.

This discussion may help bring into balance some scary things we've been reading about lately, like these:

Hollywood and Howard Zinn’s Marxist Education Project – by Michelle Malkin
frontpagemag.com

The new socialism
www.jpost.com

There'll be nowhere to run from the new world government
www.telegraph.co.uk

Also related:

Welfare Earth: Copenhagen and the Game of Global Management
by Carl-Teichrib

Campolo's Prayer Advice - Not a Good Thing

Today as I was searching for a really good testimony I had watched last month on 100 Huntley Street’s website, I noticed that they had a link promoting Tony Campolo. So I clicked on it and found a series of clips on Prayer, some of which I listened to. I was not at all shocked to discover that he was (very subtly) teaching contemplative prayer. While listening, I typed out a few partial transcripts, because sometimes it’s easy to not catch what a person is really saying unless you write it down and read it over, slowly…

In "Praying the Scriptures", Tony Campolo describes centering prayer and Lectio Divina:

“It takes me, I gotta tell you, about 10-15 minutes to become inwardly still totally focused on Jesus, driving everything else out of my mind, I say His name over and over cuz I don’t want anything to interfere with His presence.
That’s one kind of prayer, centering prayer, but there’s another kind of praying, um, it’s a strange thing, but I…do it often. I take a passage of scripture and I recite the scripture, I read it, and then I say it, and then I start meditating upon it. And then…and this is prayer… I say alright Lord, I’ve read these verses, I’ve recited them several times now, these three verses, two or three verses of scripture, now, teach me. What do you want me to learn from these verses…”

In "Patience in Prayer", he explains how to be still in prayer, and quotes Blaise Pascal who writes fire, fire, fire, after his prayer awakening experience. Then - I hoped I was imagining it, but after listening again I realized my first impression was accurate - Campolo mocked the prayer method of bringing our requests to God, comparing it to the prayers of the Pharisees! He then says that…

“we need quietly to get ourselves into that state of stillness
…it takes me 10-15 minutes to become still
…still is more than quiet…
…stillness is an inner condition of the mind and the heart and the soul in which everything else goes away…”

This is not about biblical prayer - rather, he has just described how to empty your mind and go into the inner stillness where your mind reaches an altered state of consciousness. (See
The Altered State of Silence - Promoted by Both New Agers and Christian Leaders.)

It appears that Blaise Pascal (17th century mathematician) whom Campolo quotes knew this stillness very well, and said:

All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room.

The eternal silence of these infinite spaces frightens me.
-Blaise Pascal

Was Pascal’s fire in the frightening silence (that Campolo raves about) the same fire that so many mystics from the past have experienced? If so, this is not a good thing. In fact, this interior fire is none other than the fire of kundalini awakening...

“The Polish Catholic nun, Sister Maria Faustina also wrote of her own kundalini experiences, saying, "I was all afire, but without burning up ? I felt some kind of fire in my heart ? I was so enveloped in the great interior fire of God's love ? I feel I am all aflame. ? Today, a living flame of divine love entered my soul." These, too, she also associated with the wordlessness of silence…Fire, warmth and heat - often interpreted as mystical love, divine warmth, or incendium amoris - was also reported by Macarius, Symeon the New Theologian, Theophan the Recluse, Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard of Bingen, John Tauler, Angela of Foligno, Catherine of Genoa, Francisco de Osuna, Margery Kempe, Marie of the Incarnation, Madame Guyon, George Fox, William Law, and even Blaise Pascal. It's such a rudimentary stage of the path that its common occurrence often goes without mention.”

-Kundalini and Samadhi Cultivation in Christianity is Accomplished Through Prayer and Practice That Achieves a State of No-Thought
http://www.meditationexpert.com/comparative-religion/
c_kundalini_experiences_of_christian_mystics.htm

We read more about Pascal’s experience of fire here:

“But Pascal was not just a mathematical genius; he was a Catholic whose faith grew in fits and starts before finally emerging in full maturity on November 23, 1654. It was on that evening that he had a "definite conversion," the result of a mystical vision that lasted two hours and which he called a "night of fire." In this powerful event, known as the "Memorial," Pascal experienced "Fire. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, The God of Jacob. Not of the philosophers and intellectuals.… The God of Jesus Christ." Not long after this mysterious encounter with God, Pascal began writing notes for what he planned to be a thorough apologetic for Christianity. However, he started to experience serious physical ailments and was often unable to sleep for long periods of time or consume much food or drink. He died at the age of thirty-nine, his body ravaged by illness.”

-Blaise Pascal
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/catholic_stories/cs0011.html

[Note: these physical ailments are symptoms of the Kundalini effect.]

Here are some more Pascal quotes:

Oh God, if there is a God, fill my soul, if I have a soul (Blaise Pascal in 1650)

Fire. God of Abraham, not of philosophers. Certainty, heartfelt joy, peace.
(Blaise Pascal in 1654, text found sewn inside his clothing after his death)

-Meditation Tips
http://www.worthabbey.net/bbc/meditate.htm

What Campolo is teaching here is not true prayer, but finding the 'stillness' where he says everything else goes away.

The last 100 Huntely Street Prayer series clip I listened to was “Positive Prayers”, where at the very end, Campolo makes this statement:

“Prayer should be a time where you come away feeling good about yourself”

Prayer is about us feeling good? Really? Isn't prayer about bringing ourselves into allignment with God's will? That doesn't always make us feel good about ourselves, but it does make us feel content to trust that God's ways are higher than ours when we pray in His will according to His Word.

Once again it's sad to see 100 Huntley Street promoting this kind of thing amidst all their other guests and testimonies. Last month it was Rob Bell they interviewed...kind of makes you wonder whose false teaching they are going to be giving air time to next.

~ ~ ~

*Further reading on true prayer:

GEMS ON PRAYER
by C H Spurgeon

Calvinists Promoting Contemplative Books and Things

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship describes themselves as an organization that promotes the study and renewal of Christian worship around the world. Their intended target is a wide ecumenical audience, while respecting and cultivating "the strengths of the Reformed, evangelical tradition in which Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary stand, as well as to engage Christians in other traditions." They work in close partnership with Calvin Theological Seminary, and have also partnered with professional organizations, parachurch organizations, colleges and seminaries via publishing and educational events. Through their programs they claim to have mentored over 50 students at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary.

But what the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW) has not mentioned in their description of themselves is the fact that they are also leading Christians straight into the emergent/contemplative spiritual formation movement.

For example, some of the things that CICW has promoted, or is promoting, include the following:

*Tenebrae worship services (Roman Catholic service of darkness from the middle ages [1]), under Holy Week Worship Services, at the following links:
http://www.calvin.edu/worship/services/holy_week/1-10-03t.php
http://www.calvin.edu/worship/services/holy_week/4_08_04.php

*The ecumenical Taize [2] (www.taize.fr), under Worship - LOFT - Resources here:
http://www.calvin.edu/faith/worship/loft/resources/

*Then there's 'Silence's Scintillating Divine Speech' by Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S. who teaches on the benefits of silence [3], here:
http://www.calvin.edu/worship/worshipers/particip/zimmerman_silence.php

*Dallas Willard resources, under Worship and Spiritual Formation, here:
http://www.calvin.edu/worship/worshipers/formation/

*Also on the same Worship and Spiritual Formation page at CICW is a link to A Spiritual Formation Matrix (www.riverrockchurch.org) from River Rock Church, Folsom, California. Those who click on the Matrix link will not only learn about the spiritual formation system of River Rock Church (affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church in North America), they will also learn how to connect in sacred space at monthly cistercian trappist Monastery retreats at the Abbey of New Clairvaux (www.newclairvaux.org/).

*Ancient contemplative practices for teens is another thing that CICW is recommending for teens under Resources, at the bottom of the page here ('Way to Live' link):
http://www.calvin.edu/worship/worshipers/youth/richter.php

Those teens or youth leaders who click on the 'Way to Live' link will be directed to a website (www.waytolive.org) that promotes "Way to Live - Christian Practices for Teens," which is also a book by Dorothy Bass and Don C. Richter. This Upper Room book (2002) is described on the Upper Room [4] website as follows:

“...Some ancient Christian practices turn up as ways to deepen awareness of God's presence in our lives today. Discover how to use your imagination when reading the Bible — á la Saint Ignatius — and practice tuning in to God like Brother Lawrence of the 17th century.

This fun graphics-filled book will start teens on the spiritual journey of a lifetime!”

-http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/description.asp?item_id=88439

Author Dorothy Bass directs the Valparaiso Project, which is all about the education and formation of people in faith (www.practicingourfaith.org). This is a Lilly Endowment project based at Valparaiso University. (Bass is also on the board of Holden Village,[5] a Lutheran retreat center in the North Cascades Mountains.)

The goal of the Valparaiso Project, in a nutshell, is to teach Christian practices through seminars, books, interactive resources (to adults and youth), using new strategies to get them involved in doing spiritual practices in their daily lives. The project launched PracticingOurFaith.org as an extension of the 1997 book Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People. The book and website both explore twelve ancient practices used by the Christian community over the centuries. They even provide a grant to support activities that help communities integrate such Christian practices into their way of life. The Valparaiso Project is funded by Lilly Endowment and is based at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana.

These emerging contemplative leanings among the Calvinists that we are now seeing may be the result of the Calvin Symposium on Worship that was held a few years ago (January 26, 2006), but most likely they were already headed that way when Brian McLaren and Eugene Petersen were among the speakers at The Last Thirty Years: What We've Learned along the Way. It also comes as no surprise to discover that the supporting foundations of the CICW include the Lilly Endowment and The Henry Luce Foundation. (Note: The Lilly Endowment [6] is notorious for funding ecumenical, contemplative projects. Henry Luce, founder of Time magazine, was reported to have been a member of a secret society [7].)

Regardless of the source of this repackaged ancient spirituality, there is no doubt that many students coming through the Calvin Theological Seminary and College today are being subtly influenced towards contemplative spiritual mysticism.

Endnotes:

[1] See A Thing Called Tenebrae.
[2] See Understanding Taize Worship.
[3] See The Silence.
[4] Find out more about Upper Room here.
[5] One of the blogs listed or related to Holden's community members is that of Nadia Bolz-Weber (Sarcastic Lutheran).
[6] See There's Something about Lilly.
[7] Source: Bonesman vs. Bonesman by Gary Kah and Skull And Bones Secret Yale Society Includes America's Power Elite (60 Minutes, CBS News).

~ ~ ~

Related reading:

CALVINIST CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM?
apprising.org

Also see:

*See what other colleges promote contemplative spiritual formation...
Christian Colleges that Promote Contemplative
(i.e., Spiritual Formation)
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

*An older but good article on the steps of ecumenism... ECUMENISM ... Where do you draw the line?
by Sandy Simpson (1998)
www.deceptioninthechurch.com

Some Seasonal Things to Read

Thought I'd share just a few things I've been reading lately...




Happy Birthday Lord Jesus -
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
gracethrufaith.com

"Hanukkah - Part 1"
by James Jacob Prasch
www.moriel.org

"Hanukkah - Part 2"
by James Jacob Prasch
www.moriel.org

Christmas -Was Jesus Really Born on December 25th?
by John J. Parsons
www.hebrew4christians.net

Messiahmas? On the Birth Date of Jesus of Nazareth
by Uri Marcus
ldolphin.org

THE FEAST OF CHANNUKAH
www.letusreason.org

On What Day Was Jesus Born?
biblelight.net

The ''New Testament'' Holiday: Happy Hanukkah
www.khouse.org

Hanukkah
biblicalholidays.com

Hanukkah: The Eight-Day Party in Praise of God
www.chosenpeople.com

Hanukkah - What is it? Where is it in the Bible? How does it relate to Christianity?
www.lamblion.com

Mysteries of the Star of Bethlehem
What was it? Comet? Supernova? Alignment of Planets?
by Dr. David R. Reagan
www.lamblion.com

Who Was Judah Maccabee Anyway?
by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf
www.torah.org

What am I saying? I'm saying that these are a few things I've been reading lately. Oh yes, and I'm taking a blogging break. Be back before the month is over...

A Book about the Religion of Environmentalism

Sounds like a revealing book...

"Dr. James Wanliss, Associate Professor of Physics at Presbyterian College, has written The Green Dragon, a book about how environmentalism is actually committed to “the reconstruction of a pagan world order” and “rejection of Christian spirituality.” Wanliss argues that the environmental movement “is a religion with a vision of sin and repentance, heaven and hell. It even has a special vocabulary, with words like ‘sustainability’ and ‘carbon neutral.’ Its communion is organic food. Its sacraments are sex, abortion, and when all else fails, sterilization. Its saints are Al Gore and the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”

“Both professing Protestants and Roman Catholics bear a burden of guilt for the current political mess we are in with the global warming and other hysterias,” he argues. “If the church had not turned from the gospel of Jesus Christ it is unlikely the Green Dragon would have been able to so deeply sink its fangs into our lives.”"

More here:

Climate: The new god of left-wing Christianity
www.worldtribune.com

Original article:
ClimateGate, the Green Dragon, and the End of Christianity - Special Report (Accuracy in Media)
www.aim.org

Related news:

Famous weather scientist: Climategate 'tip of iceberg'
www.wnd.com

Another Thing He Bore for Us

I watched an interesting movie the other night. Okay, I'm not a big fan of Bible movies that don't stick to the Bible accounts, but overall, it was good in spite of the extras that were added to the story. Here's something it made me think about. If His earthly parents were shunned and looked upon differently…

The Nativity Story (part 6)
www.youtube.com

...how much more so was He?

Jesus came to earth to bear our sins and take our shame. But part of the reproach Jesus bore for us while he lived among us was the rumor that he was illegitimate.

7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face. 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother’s children; 9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. 10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach. 11 I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them. 12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards. ~ Psalm 69

Consider this...

The drunkards at the local bar made up dirty little ditties about Him and His mother. Those who are “sitting in the gate” are the high officials of the town, the judges. The best people in Nazareth also spoke against Him. (You know how forgiving small towns are!) His life in Nazareth was not nice.

Why did He endure all of this? He was raised in a town where He was called illegitimate in order that I might be a legitimate son of God. The Son of God bore that for me on the cross; He paid the penalty for my sins. We have no idea what He endured for 30 years in order that we might have a clear title as a legitimate son of God. What is your Christmas gift to Him?

-Missler, The Christmas Story

He came knowing the reproach He would have to endure in our place. What a Saviour!

What Christmas is all about according to RW

It's that time of year again when authors are driven to sell their books...no matter what it takes.
Okay, so the message of Christmas, according to RW, is teach and learn about other religions, celebrate their holidays so they celebrate yours (i.e. Ramadan), and oh yes, the three main points of Christmas are good times, good news, good will, and 'can't we all just get along'. See it to believe it here:

RW: Your God Is Ok, My God Is Ok, Let's Party
watcherslamp.blogspot.com

***Note: This video might explain further where RW is lacking when it comes to the gospel presentation:

MacArthur on the Purpose Driven Life
www.youtube.com

RW Promotes the Contemplative Scazzero

Oh brother...

Warren has an upcoming conference at his Saddleback Church in February called Radicalis that will also be featuring Perry Noble and Mark Driscoll in addition to himself.

In the latest email promoting this conference entitled Chat Live with Radicalis Speaker, Pete Scazzero, Wednesday, December 9 at 11 am pst Warren writes:

Chat live with Pete Scazzero, tomorrow, Wednesday, December 9 at 11 am pst (2 pm est). Pete will be teaching how to develop emotionally healthy leadership in churches at Radicalis this February.

Pete, along with his wife, Geri, are co-founders of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a groundbreaking ministry that integrates emotional health and contemplative spirituality to pastors, leaders and local churches.

I just read it here:

RICK WARREN NOW OPENLY PROMOTING CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM
apprising.org

So now there is no longer any doubt about whether or not RW promotes this kind of spirituality. If he is promoting Scazerro (like Willow Creek and Focus on the Family recently have), then he is also promoting the Daily Office (fixed hours of prayer), the Rule of Life, and a kazillion other very contemplative things, not to mention practicing Lent, being true to your authentic self, and stopping and 'centering' at certain intervals during the day (see what Scazzero's book which RW has just promoted, called Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, is about HERE.)

Related:

Focus on the Family Canada and Contemplative Spirituality

Is 'Back to God' going Emergent?

As more and more Christian ministries are becoming infected with the seeker friendly, emergent, contemplative virus, it has almost become an expected thing to hear about the latest one that has headed down that path. And so it was was not much of a surprise to open up my e-mail this morning and hear about this one.

Some of you may be familiar with the Today devotional booklet of Back to God Ministries, a ministry of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. In this December's Today daily devotional is a quote by Eugene Petersen (Dec. 4), and a reference to Michael Yaconelli (Dec. 23) and his book Messy Spirituality. (Yaconelli, father of Mark Yaconelli, was the co-founder of the very contemplative Youth Specialties.) Throughout the next months in the Today devotional, there appear more references to things that make you wonder, like more of Mr. Petersen, various monks, and even Richard Foster.

So has this ministry gone emergent? Contemplative?

Well, Back to God also recommends (here) a web-based program produced by ReFrame Media, the English language ministry of Back to God Ministries International (BTGMI). Part of this program is something called the ThinkChristian community (thinkchristian.net), another ReFrame Media website sponsored by BTGMI, which is all about faith, culture, and what it means to be a Christian in today's society.

The blogroll for Think Christian lists some very emergent websites, including Emergent Village, Missio Dei, Tall Skinny Kiwi and Crunchy Con (a Belief Net blog). Another link in their blogroll is Out of Ur, which links to Soul Care, the very contemplative ministry of Mindy Caliguire (see here).

So, is going emergent what it means to be a Christian in today's society? Sadly, Back to God Ministries is showing all the signs that it seems to think so.

*Note: Also see how Radio Bible Class has taken steps in this direction as well:

Radio Bible Class and New Ager M. Scott Peck
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Related:

Now Ready for Prime Time Players
Reinventing Christianity for our day
www.letusreason.org

Bible not the final authority?

Oh brother. Here's a thing that's becoming far too common these days...

Evangelical Lutheran (ELCA) leader suggests Bible not the final authority
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

If the Bible is not your final authority, then why believe or teach ANY of it?

Power to Change - into an Awakened Mystic Barbarian?

Wow, looks like Power to Change, along with the Christian & Missionary Alliance (last May here), has really taken a liking to Erwin McManus and his plans to awaken humanity. Click here to see how much:

http://powertochange.com/crave/erwinmcmanus/

They are also promoting all his books and things (videos, website, resources, etc.) on their website now. Have they stopped relying on the power of God to change people?

Related:

Erwin McManus' False Teachings
www.worldviewtimes.com

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

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

~ ~ ~

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Cor. 2

The battle for truth in Bible translation

Not another one! Another battle, another Bible version...

~ ~ ~

The battle for truth in Bible translation
Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Not so fast, say contributors to the Conservative Bible Project. The project, an online effort to create a Bible suitable for contemporary, conservative sensibilities, claims Jesus' quote is a disputed addition abetted by liberal biblical scholars, even if it appears in some form in almost every translation of the Bible.

The project's authors argue that contemporary scholars have inserted liberal views and ahistorical passages into the Bible, turning Jesus into little more than a well-meaning social worker with a store of watered-down platitudes....

To read more about this, click HERE (onenewsnow.com).

Waterproof Bible

Here's one for that certain someone who likes to read their Bible in jungles, rainforests, and swamps...or here in beautiful rainy British Columbia. Amazingly, it's completely waterproof, can be written in with a ballpoint pen or a dry highlighter, and it's KJV ( New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs - the only thing missing is the the other half of the Bible).

Saw it here at The Berean Call and thought the video ad was rather interesting.

Some things about Unity, Diversity and Division

This is a very good article from Moriel Ministries that speaks to the current 'common ground' issues of the day...

There is a unity that glorifies God. There is a diversity that glorifies God. There is a division that glorifies God. God is clear on what unity, diversity and division is acceptable to Him and brings glory to Him. The Bible reveals that in the Last Days there will be a one world religion. This religion of unity is referred to as Mystery Babylon and has its roots at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). This false religious system will ultimately be brought down by God (cf. Revelation 17). The unity of Mystery Babylon is not glorifying to God but opposes God with all deception and rebellion against Him and His word. This false unity is on the rise today. That is a unity true Christians do not want to be a part of. Having a Biblical God ordained understanding of how unity, diversity and division relate to one another is critical to glorifying God by both what we participate in and what we separate from....

Read the whole thing here:

Unity, Diversity and Division that Glorifies God
moriel.org

Latest Ecumenical Thing

I'm sure they have their reasons, but I'm not so sure that some of these leaders should have signed this thing...especially after seeing all the contemplative books and things being promoted by this ecumenical group. It may be a good cause, but where might this common ground lead?

Manhattan Declaration: “Perhaps Millions” Being Led Toward the New Age/New Spirituality
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

Not the Book of the Month, the Book of the Ages

An amazing truth...

Not the Book of the Month, the Book of the Ages

The Bible is not the book of the month. It is the book of the ages.

No book has ever had as much opposition as the Bible. Men have laughed at it, scorned it, ridiculed it, burned it, and made laws against it. Many a man has preached the funeral for the Bible. The only problem is that the corpse has outlived the pallbearers.

The Bible has survived and it is applicable today. Any child of God can open the Bible and know more about what is going on in this world than all those in the Pentagon and White House put together.

Psalm 119:89 says, “For ever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven.” I have preached this book long enough to know it’s not like any other book. We read other books, but this book reads us.

The Bible has power in it. What kind of power? Saving power for the sinner. You will not be saved and you will not get anybody else saved apart from the Word of God, because we are “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23).

--Adrian Rodgers

~ ~ ~

Found it here at The Berean Call.

His Grace

I love this amazing testimony...

"By His Grace"
www.youtube.com

And the beautiful song that's in the background...

"Grace"
www.youtube.com

We all need His grace.

[Thanks to Bud Press for posting this testimony on his website.]

Forgetting the Most Important Thing

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Some days I forget, as we so often do when things get back to normal. We may have at one time taken for granted what is the most precious gift to us...how often we learn that the hard way. But God, who has a miraculous way of taking back what the enemy has intended for evil, refreshes our short memories now and then. And so every once in a while I end up watching this powerful thing which always reminds me to tears that He saved me, and how He saved my firstborn, not very long ago...and He can save you, and your loved ones from the evil clutches of the enemy and his plans for your destruction! This is the power that is found only in Jesus Christ!

This is why seemingly obsessed people like me have blogs like this that defend the truth about our Lord and His Word, because we know His power, we know His truth, and we know what we are saved from. But there are people today who claim to know Jesus but are so obviously not walking in that power. They are writing influential books and saying strange new things - that we can't know the answers, and that hell and heaven are not places. And they are teaching people that to be relevant to the world is to be like the world, and that to live a good Christian life of unity means doing lots of good things, like trying to end poverty and sickness, partnering with the world, and joining hands with those who deny the gospel of grace instead of telling them the truth that will save their eternal souls. Some are even teaching that anyone can experience God's presence within by practicing certain very spiritual techniques - no repentance necessary - and that Jesus was not THE sacrificial substitute for our sins, once for all. But they are preaching a powerless gospel, because they have forgotten, ignored, and even denied the most important thing, if in fact they even knew to begin with...

Our first love...Jesus Christ.

Now to all the faithful who work tirelessly around the clock to expose the lies and defend the truth, don't forget the things that Jesus said in the letter to the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7). Take some time out to spend with Him today.