EMERGENT is REGURGITANT – Part Five: Emergent Church Matrix

~ By James Fire

The following article is a critique on the chapter “The Existing Church/Emergent Church Matrix” written by Emergent Leader Tim Conder.

Tim Conder is the pastor of Emmaus Way, an emergent community in Durham, North Carolina and remains a standing elder and friend of the Chapel Hill Bible Church, a fellowship he co-pastored for fifteen years. Tim is a member of the coordinating team for Emergent Village, a member of the board of directors of Mars Hill Graduate School, and the author of The Journey of Existing Churches into Emerging Culture (Zondervan, 2006). He is married to Mimi and they have two children Keenan and Kendall.

As has been consistently demonstrated in all of the articles thus far presented, the Emergent philosophy is very ‘horizontal’ in its perspective. Think about the various ‘gospels’ that are promoted today: The Green Gospel, the Social/Social Justice Gospel, the Liberal Gospel, the New Age/Spirituality Gospel, the Dominionist/Kingdom Now/Latter Day Rain Gospel . . . one thing (among others) that they all have in common is that they are all very ‘horizontal’ that is, they deal to a very large degree in focusing on change among human beings rather than change in human beings. 

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EMERGENT is REGURGITANT – Part Four: Loving Evangelism, Emergent Style

By James Fire

The following is a treatment of the article written by Heather Kirk-Davidoff as found in the book An Emergent Manifesto of Hope.

Mrs. Kirk-Davidoff is the Enabling Minister of the Kittamanqundi Community (an independent church) in Columbia, Maryland. She is married to Dan Kirk-Davidoff a climate scientist. Along with writing partner, Nancy Wood-Lyczak she has authored two books, Talking Faith (Chalice Press, 2004) and Dare to Dive In (Abingdon, 2006). She can be reached at kirkwood associates.

Mrs. Davidoff relates an experience at the beginning of her chapter of visiting a bar in an attempt to conduct some “relational evangelism” and encountered a young lady who entered into some casual conversation with her. They spoke of common every day things (work, boyfriend, music, etc.) until the young lady asked her if she saw the stage musical, Rent. Her favorite character in the play was a drum playing homeless gay man who spends most of the show dressed as a drag queen Santa Claus named Angel. She remarks about his love having so “much power in the lives of the other characters. And his love doesn’t stop affecting them even after he dies (of AIDS) . . . it’s like his love is made more perfect in his death.”

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EMERGENT is REGURGITANT – Part Three:

By James Fire 

Scanning Mark Sandrette and his article, “Growing Pains”

1 CORINTHIANS 2:12-14  
¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¹³Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

As mentioned previously, proponents of the ECM seek to dialogue and communicate with others within this movement (and with those of all the world religions) and by mutual consensus, it would seem, seek to discover spiritual wisdom in their ‘horizontal relationship’ rather than seeking that wisdom which is from God above (JAMES 3:14-18).

We know as biblical Christians what the source of ‘worldly wisdom’ is, and no doubt this source is integral to the very spirit of the Emergent Church Movement.

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EMERGENT is REGURGITANT – Part Two:

By James Fire

SECTION ONE -

SAME OL’ SAME OL’ –

The title of this series reveals my view of the Emergent Church Movement (ECM) as being the same old, tired doubt and denigration of God’s Word that has been occurring in our world ever since the garden of Eden when the Serpent first said, “Yea, hath God said . . .?” but has returned in our day with new vigor and ambition.

The Gnostics proposed the same question.
Various esoteric societies revealed in the world for these many centuries have asked the same question.
Religious Institutions that have sought to usurp the authority of God’s Word with their own dogma and traditions have aggressively asked this same question (Like the Roman Catholic religion which we touched on in part One).
The liberal so-called Higher Critics and Bible scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries (we took a brief look at these in part One) have raised this same question.
And now we have the same question regurgitated by these Emergent Church advocates and leaders.
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EMERGENT is REGURGITANT – Part One

By James Fire

PRELIMINARY INTRODUCTION and EXAMINATION –

A few months ago I was perusing the site, Christian Book Distributors (CBD) and discovered an Emergent book (sadly, lots of these on CBD these days) by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones entitled An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Baker Books, 2007. It comprises a series of articles (25 in number) written by various Emergent advocates and leaders.

Realizing that most of all our articles for TTUF and its associate sites that focus on the Emergent Church Movement are based on critiques, evaluations and information provided by other Christian discernment ministries, I decided to ‘go to the horses’ mouth’ as it were and examine one of these books for myself.

I purchased this book (retail price was $16.99, but I got it for a mere $3.99 – so I felt good about spending so little on it) and once it arrived, began to digest it (talk about some serious indigestion!).

Once I started, jotting notes and Scripture references in the margins (a rather easy task as this was a trade paperback with wide margins), I quickly understood that I would have to address a couple of issues before diving into my own critique of these Emergent folk.
~*First of all, we all recognize the fact that this movement didn’t spring up spontaneously, though it seems to have since the mid 90’s, with very little mention of it prior; there were formative influences and factors that led up to it, stretching back to the 19th century. This movement makes the claim that because we live in a ‘post-modern’ world, the church must therefore adapt its methods and means of relating to the world with an equally post-modern approach to the Gospel and Christianity in general. Obviously what preceded the post-modern paradigm was the Modernist movement.

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FALSE TEACHINGS, FALSE PEACE and FALSE CHRIST (Part 1 of 3)

   

~~ By James Fire

A Look at Warren Smith’s Updated Book, “False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care?”
- the above pictures are of Barbara Marx Hubbard (left); Marianne Williamson (middle); and Neil Donald Walsh (right).

After picking up Warren Smith’s updated book (formerly known as “Reinventing Jesus Christ”) and giving it a solemn reading, I quickly decided that this would have to become an article here on TTUF.

This book deals heavily with New Age, Emergent and Last Days issues, as well as crucial ones regarding the veracity of Scripture, as opposed to ‘new revelations’ given to such New Agers as Barbara Marx Hubbard, Marianne Williamson and Neale Donald Walsch.

These three form a triad of sorts and represent the foundation of the Global Peace Alliance, or the Peace Alliance (as of 2005) a New Age organization that’s become so powerful, that they are now able to legitimately lobby to become a Cabinet Level office within our Federal Government (endorsed and fully funded) which has some alarming consequences for those of us who ascribe to a literal perspective of the Holy Bible! This prospective branch is situated to become the Department of Peace with Walsh and Williamson spearheading it as the leaders, and New Age followers inundating its ranks.

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WILL THE OLD BOOK STAND?

By Anne Kisly

THE BIBLE HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME...THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURETH FOREVER!!!

Will the Old Book stand, when the "higher critics" state
That grave errors are discovered on its page?
Will it save the sinful soul? Will it make the wounded whole?
Will its glorious truth abide from age to age?

Will its message still abide, when the scientists decide
That its record of Creation is untrue?
Tell us the ascent of man is by evolution's plan;
Will its principles the sinful heart renew?

When in language wondrous fair, "Christian Scientists" declare
That there is no evil, only mortal mind.
When mental treatment fails, and seeming death prevails,
May we in the Bible consolation find?

When infidels parade the mistakes which Moses made,
When the truth of Revelation they deny,
Will the Ten Commandments still the demands of justice fill?
Will its word support us when we come to die?

Yes, the Word of God shall stand, though assailed on every hand,
Its foundations are eternally secure;
It will bear the critic's test, and the idle scoffer's jest,
Its saving truth forever shall endure.

Author Unknown

Is it me, or does it seem as though there are very few faithful stewards of God’s WORD today? The world’s scorn of the Bible, though unbearable, is not at all surprising. What is surprising is the scorn that’s coming from Christian leadership. Pastors and theologians, who have supposedly dedicated their lives to the study of the Bible, are now criticizing its complete authority in the spiritual lives of the Christian believer. Many of these leaders are embracing outside sources of knowledge and experience, and placing them on equal ground with the authority that God alone has placed upon His word. I’ll just say this, when we disagree with the Bible, we are making God a liar!
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Does God Change, or Do We Need a More "HIPSTER" Faith?

~ by A.M. Kisly 

The following article was published by Christianity Today. To my surprise, the article articulated what most of us have been thinking and trying to convey to the Church.

Though the author brings an honest look at modern Christianity, I have just discovered that his view is not without partiality...Mr. McCracken according to Lighthouse Trails Ministry is managing editor of Biola University’s magazine and regular writer for the emergent Relevant magazine, considers himself a “hipster,” the answer he gives in the introduction of his book is “yes.” 

He is not writing impartially as some may think or assume. With that said, the article does, in my opinion, bring to light just how today's "Hipster" churches developed to what they are today. Just a few words from me, the root of the problem is always the same....questioning God's authority in the life of the believer...

Remember the serpent in the garden..."hath ...God said", it is the same deception today.

Professing ourselves wise, we become fools....not FOR CHRIST but as Enemies of God. Like Lucifer, we think we have a better way, that God's ways are out of date and out of touch with today's society, so we create a New way, the "hipster" way. 

Compromise is now the way that leads to life and Christianity is in a free fall called the snowball effect, consuming every aspect of the Christina life in its way. It swallows up doctrine and worship, and the set-apart life. 

But that's not enough, for now we have to promote our new way. We promote NEW AUTHORS, with new ideas and sell new books, new music and even Create NEW MODERN VERSIONS of the BIBLE, deleting those offensive doctrines which are not appealing to our flesh. 

Disobedience to God is not a new thing....it started in the Garden of Eden and has plagued the world ever since. When the Word of God is no longer considered to be absolute authority and VITAL in the life of the believer....then it is easily replaced by the compromised heart. Jesus is the Way, the only way...the Truth...the only truth....and the Life....that's it! 

He does not change....He is the same yesterday, today and forever! The following article is long...but very worth the read. I hope you will set a few minutes aside to read and consider what the author is trying to convey. Christianity Today - "HIPSTER FAITH" by Brett McCracken

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The MOTHER of HARLOTS EMERGES – Part 4-a

~~ by James Fire

In the previous articles (parts 1-3) we delved into various aspects of the “Mother of Harlots” that is, the one world religious body as prophesied in REVELATION 17, and how different ecclesial forces are melding together. Two of the primary forces that are acting as catalysts for the emergence of the Mother are the Roman Catholic Church and the Emergent Church Movement.

There is a third force as well, one that has been a part of our society for about thirty years, the New Age Movement (more often today referred to as the New Spirituality).You will find that as you read the writings of New Age leaders and their Emergent Church counterparts, what they have to say on particular matters is virtually identical.

Some therefore conclude that the ECM is simply the New Age Movement dressed in evangelical clothes, while still denying the fundamentals of the faith (The New Age Movement is likewise old ‘Babylon-ish’ occult technique dressed up as well as 'cutting edge' spirituality).

The difference is that New Age dogma used to be a fringe element in our society; today Emergent church beliefs and practices are quickly becoming a majority voice: a kind of spiritual tsunami sweeping over the landscape, and it will wreak ruin and destruction for fundamental, biblical Christianity as far as its overt presence and viability where this nation is concerned.
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The MOTHER of HARLOTS EMERGES – Part Two

~~ By James Fire

In the previous segment of this article we examined how evangelical Christianity has allied itself with Roman Catholicism through such agreements as Evangelicals and Catholics Together (E.C.T.) and such movements as Promise Keepers; these were used to unite both in social and moral objectives such as commitment to marriage and family, pro-life, anti-pornography, Drug-free America, etc. To share the common bond of Christian religion for the purpose of evangelizing the lost, but not Roman Catholics (though the RCC has objectives to convert evangelicals, as we shall see).

In more recent times there has emerged another movement that is a bit more covert in its operations, but nonetheless is intent on compromising biblical Christians with the same fundamentals as found in Roman Catholicism; a melding if you will of that which was once faithful to the LORD Jesus Christ and His inerrant Word but has now become increasingly apostate with a consenting conglomeration of ecclesial authority for global religion. Of course the Roman Catholic Church will spear head such a world wide endeavor and consider herself its undisputed leader.

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How EASTERN RELIGION INVADED the WEST - Part 2

By James Fire

As we continue this article please keep in mind that it is not our desire here at T.T.U.F. to create dissention or needless criticisms; rather it is our heartfelt and most sincere desire that all of us walk in truth, pleasing our heavenly Father in all things.

The only standard we have to guide us in this holy endeavor is the Word of God, thus we must examine the scriptures and see what they have to say about any given subject. We must ask pertinent, assertive questions and seek out honest answers to discover the truth

As we turn now and examine further the means of Eastern religious thought penetrating the West, and infiltrating even Christian doctrine and churches, let’s be mindful of the fact that this process is wholly similar in nature to the subtly of the serpent in the Garden of Eden!

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How EASTERN RELIGION INVADED the WEST - Part 1

By James Fire

Where Are We Today?

In an examination of the current situation of the ‘Christian church’ (or might we more aptly refer to it as Christendom?), we see a pervasive mutation occurring.

What started in modernism in the mid 19th century, until the mid 20th century (modernism having to do with so-called higher criticism and skepticism regarding absolute inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; the doubting of anything supernatural, such as creation and miracles; the adoption of an allegorical hermeneutics, rather than a literal view of the Bible, etc.) which brought us the liberalization of most of the denominations and a post-modernistic view, led us to what’s been called “The New Age Movement (N.A.M.) that heavily influenced these aforementioned churches.

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RETURNING TO OUR ROOTS

By: A.M. Kisly

I came upon this wonderful film clip posted by Lighthouse Trails Ministry. It takes us back to the wonderful beginning of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa during this time of the “Jesus Movement”. The teaching of God’s Word was pure and uncompromised. I pray that we not only remember, but that we would return to our roots, where our love for God and His Word was pure and fervent and uncompromised.

Remembering: 1971 - Chuck Smith: Maranatha, Love Song, Baptism

A couple of weeks ago we were stunned at the termination of Paul Smith , brother of Chuck Smith, who is the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement which began in the early 70’s. Paul Smith, fighting the good fight of faith, had been working tirelessly to keep the contemplative and emerging spirituality out of Calvary Chapel, by trying to enforce the Calvary Distinctives (Statement of Faith and What They Teach). Apparently, this was at odds with some of the church’s leadership, and ultimately cost him his position there.

After Paul’s termination, we learned that Calvary Chapel was hosting Rock Harbor pastor, Mike Erre, who is author of the book, “Death by Church: Rescuing Jesus From His Followers, Recapturing God’s Hope for His People”.

Unfortunately, Mike Erre’s theology does not represent the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The "Kingdom of God" theology that Erre presents is very broad. Instead of bringing truth and confidence to our faith, and definitive answers to the reader, he casts a shadow of doubt and uncertainty in his message.

Erre teaches replacement theology, and states in his book that "the people of God are the new and renewed Israel." (p. 96)

Included in his book are strong undertones of "universalism". 

 
He states,
"Our traditional conceptions of salvation are blatantly more individualist, focusing on one's individual reconciliation with God through a personal relationship with Jesus . . .It is more concerned with getting souls to heaven than with bringing heaven to earth. This narrow gospel focuses only on the salvation of the human soul, but the gospel of the kingdom includes salvation of human beings within the context of the larger story of God restoring all of creation.

He states,
"The consummation of the kingdom includes an entirely new creation." He goes on to say, "This new and cosmic salvation is spoken of as the renewal, restoration, or reconciliation of all things."

Another quote from the book, "One of the ways that the kingdom is larger than the church is that the focus on the kingdom is the redemption of all creation.The message of the kingdom of God is cosmic in its proportions . . . it (the kingdom) is ultimately aimed at redeeming and restoriing all that God has made."

You can read the article in its entirety here: Emergent New Paradigm Pastor to Speak at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa

On Rock Harbor's website, I found that they had posted a video put together by the leadership to squelch the rumors going around that they are a part of the “Emergent Church”. After viewing the video, I was not convinced.

When asked if the Emergent Church was good or bad, this pastor answered, "Yes." Huh? He said, "it is very hard to pin down what it means to be apart of an Emergent Church, some parts are really harmful, and some parts are positive contributions." He goes on to explain and to "break down" into different compartments, or three tiers if you will, the groups identified in the Emergent Church movement.

He identifies the first group as "relevance". These are theologically conservative evangelicals who are interested in translating the gospel into culturally relevant concepts, language and ideas.

The second group is identified as "deconstructionists". They are a conservative group but believe the current forms of church are a hindrance to the Gospel. Therefore the "forms" of church need updating.

The third group is identified as "revisionists". These group believes the same as the first and second groups but think that theology needs revising as well.

Rock Harbor's position is the middle one: "We see the need (and the biblical mandate for) fresh expressions/forms/methods of contextualization - that is, new wineskins - while remaining faithful to the revelations of God through the Scriptures."

Deception is subtle and often sounds very good. This is how Satan works, appearing as an angel of light but bringing deception, and drawing attention away from God and His Word.

I find it disheartening that churches feel the need to make the message of the Gospel more “universal, relevant and user friendly”. I think that this is a dangerous path and a misguided vision for the Church. Feeling the need to make the Gospel message "more attractive” to the world is in itself a worldly concept. Churches have become entertainment centers to help us feel like we are relating to God better. The newest versions of the Bible are so culturally relevant that one can't find that literal translation anymore.

Jesus did not come into this world all decked out in the latest apparel, riding in the coolest ride, with all the glitter and glamor of the world. There were no cool bands performing, activities He offered, or ministries for everyone and everything.

He was born in a manger, a cave really, worked as a carpenter. He was meek and lowly, and didn’t stand out as the “big and awesome” coming attraction. The attraction was His Message and who He declared Himself to be.

The focus should not ever be making the Gospel more attractive through culture, style, and fun activities. The attractiveness is in the Gospel message alone.

With that said, pray for our pastors, pray for our churches, pray for the Church as a whole that we would not compromise and that we would stand for truth.The Word of God is relevant to our lives today as it was in the beginning. God does not change! He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

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DOCTRINES OF DEVILS

By: A.M. Kisly

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

In reading some of the statements made by the leading members of the Emergent Church, I have become very perplexed at mans constant drive to find a new path to God other than the one that God Himself laid out for us in His Word.

One would think that God changes with the wind.

News Flash: God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn't change with the wind or with a whim. There isn't a "new" road or "many" roads.

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INVASION OF THE "BODY" SNATCHERS

By: A.M. Kisly

The Unrecognizable Form That The Church Has Taken On... should impel us to examine our ourselves, to see whether or not we are in the faith.

We are living in the age of deceit. The whole world is being driven by the deceit and lies of Satan and those who belong to him. Good is evil and evil is now good, acceptable, politically correct and now thanks to our very own Government forced down our throats.

From the time of our founding Fathers and the shaping of our Constitution, when once we placed high value on liberty and truth and justice for all, our country stood for Faith in the One True God, and lived a lifestyle that was a testament to Him. Our laws were drafted after the laws of the living Word of God. The Declaration of Independence declares our inalienable rights, incapable of being repudiated or forfeited because they were given by God. "In God We Trust" was printed on our currency during the time of the Civil War, but even extends further back to the War of 1812, when Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner...

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