The Shack: Father-goddess Rising

Many are crediting The Shack, the novel by William P. Young, with revolutionizing their faith. With themes of overcoming loss, working through anger, and restored relationship between man and God, Young’s novel has excited many within the Body of Christ.

Young has appeared on CBN, and has garnered fans across the country. The Shack continues to sell briskly. Yet, in the midst of such enthusiasm, does The Shack glorify Jesus Christ–or contradict the Bible with a false image of the Lord our God?

The novel’s main character, Mack Philips, has lost his daughter. She has been murdered, her bloodied dress found in an isolated shack. Four years later Mack receives an invitation from God to spend time with the Trinity in the very shack where the dress was found.

Nowhere in the Bible do Father, Son, and Holy Spirit simultaneously assume physical forms on earth. The Shack, however, portrays Jesus as a carpenter, the Holy Spirit as an Asian woman, and God the Father as a large black woman named … Papa.

Much like AA’s “higher power,” The Shack’s deity comes to Mack in a form he is willing to accept. While the novel’s feminization of the Lord is as trendy as it is Babylonian, the reader rapidly becomes used to descriptions of God as “she” and “her.” At one point the book’s version of Jesus praises the fictional Father-goddess, exclaiming, “Isn’t she great?”

Malachi 3:6 states, “For I, the Lord, do not change.” God is Spirit. In the entire Bible there is not one single reference to Father, Son, or Holy Spirit–or to any of His angels–as female. It is probably not wise, then, to go beyond what has been presented in Scripture.

Unfortunately, this seems a frequent occurrence in The Shack. The Father-goddess character tells Mack she appears in female form “to help keep you from falling back so easily into your religious conditioning.” The author and his publishing team apparently assume Christians believe the Lord is an old white man with a beard, and have produced the book in part to help straighten us out.

There is an apparent dismissal of the importance of Scripture, which is reflected in slippery theology found throughout the novel. Young writes, “Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?” Guilt edges?

The Father-goddess of The Shack, it seems, is never about guilt or punishment. She benignly informs Mack, “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring people from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.”

That sounds wonderful. And, yes, sin enslaves. However, the novel’s deity contradicts the Bible. Jesus will “be dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction…” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)

Although most sermons these days skirt the issue, Christians receive punishment during our time on earth. “For those whom the Lord loves he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:6-7)

But, this is not the message of the Father-goddess, simply because this is not the God of Scripture. An excellent writer, Young plays to emotion and touches on legitimate hurts and concerns. The author excels at imbuing his deity with attributes of love, forgiveness, and mercy, and this is what many people have responded to.

Increasingly in novels and movies the Lord is blithely used as one of the characters, and given words from the mouth of man. In this sense, the author of The Shack, is simply following the culture.

But something else is going on here.

Universal Reconciliation (UR) is the belief that Jesus’ sacrifice allows Christians and non-Christians to spend eternity with God. In other words, in UR theology, everybody goes to heaven, not just followers of Jesus. Some in this camp even believe this includes the devil and his demons.

Publisher Wayne Jacobsen acknowledges that UR was included in earlier versions of The Shack. Jacobsen explains:

While some of that was in earlier versions because of the author’s partiality at the time to some aspects of what people call UR, I made it clear at the outset that I didn’t embrace UR and didn’t want to be part of a project that promoted it.

So why did Jacobsen proceed to join forces with Young? He writes:

To me that was the beauty of the collaboration … the author would say that some of that dialogue significantly affected his views. … Holding him to the conclusions he may have embraced years earlier would be unfair to the ongoing process of God in his life and theology.

Perhaps, but this allegedly former theology even now seems to explain some of the content of the book.

The Bible clearly teaches the only way to God the Father is through Jesus, who loved us enough to die for us. Early in The Shack, Mack’s daughter asks if the Great Spirit, the Native American god, is another name for the Father of Jesus. Mack tells her … yes. He may as well have told her that Allah (or any other false patriarchal god) is also the Father of Jesus.

Of course, if everybody is going to heaven because of UR, what does it matter? God, Great Spirit, Allah, what’s the difference?

His daughter asks the question because Mack tells the story of an Indian princess who willingly died so her people could be delivered of an illness. According to an Indian prophecy, it could be ended only through her sacrifice. The author states, “After praying and giving herself to the Great Spirit, she fulfilled the prophecy by jumping without hesitation to her death on the rocks below.”

When his daughter calls the Great Spirit “mean” for making both Jesus and the princess die, Mack never clarifies that Jesus’ Father is not the Great Spirit, or that God the Father has nothing to do with this pagan legend.

Does the author still have UR leanings? In his article, ‘The Beauty of Ambiguity,’ it is not his character Mack, but Young himself, who speaks to the Father-goddess. He denies being a universalist, and proclaims “faith in Jesus is the only way into your embrace.”

She asks, “I take it that it wouldn’t bother you if I decided to save every human being that ever lived?”

“Nope. I actually hope you’ve figured a way to do just that,” he replies.

Wait a minute. If Young is still hoping God somehow ends up saving everybody, well, that is Universal Reconciliation. And hoping UR might happen directly contradicts Jesus Christ:

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Although Young then proceeds to voice acceptance of the reality of hell, he complains to his fictional Father-goddess:

…why couldn’t you have made things clear? People go to the Bible and find all these ways to disagree with each other … Everybody seems to want to acquire their little piece of doctrinal territory … Some find support for Universal Reconciliation; some find proofs for eternal torment in hell…

Young continues with his list. Issues run the gamut from Calvinism to eschatology and, having inserted Universal Reconciliation into the mix, his fictional Father-goddess never corrects him. No surprise there. Is this perhaps an attempt to at least infer valid consideration of UR by including it amongst a hodge-podge of doctrinal concerns?

Incredibly, Young’s Father-goddess clarifies (?) that she made much of the Bible ambiguous on purpose! That the author, or any person, would dare present doctrinal confusion as the intended plan of God–and via a fictional character at that–is chilling. But, that’s the way it is these days.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3)

It’s going to get worse. Goddess worship, false christs, and many other heresies will continue to rise. Movies, novels, and TV will become increasingly blasphemous.

Readers of this novel would do well to examine Biblical teaching about the Trinity, sin, repentance, communication with the dead, and much else.

Many in the Body of Christ have run to get a copy of The Shack. Far better, brothers and sisters, to just run.

Endnotes:
1. William P. Young, The Shack pg.88
2. Ibid. pg.93
3. Ibid. pg.66
4. Ibid. pg.120
5. Wayne Jacobsen, “Is The Shack Heresy?”
6. Ibid.
7. The Shack pg. 31
8. Ibid. pg. 28
9. Ibid. pg. 31
10. William P. Young, “The Beauty of Ambiguity”
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.

Reader Comments About Those Mean A.A. Articles

(Thanks to T. Whyman for passing along these comments about A.A. related articles on this site.)

 Comment: Balderdash, as my Mo.-in-Law would say. You can’t believe everything you hear.

Response: No, you sure can’t. For many decades we have been hearing that A.A. and the 12 Steps are from, or are compatible with Jesus Christ. They are not. We are in perilous times. The Lord is calling His people out of false belief systems such as Alcoholics Anonymous–systems Blood-bought people should not be in. Since when does Jesus become but one “god” among many?–yet this is what A.A. teaches. It is time believers took an honest look at Alcoholics Anonymous. It is a mission field where many fine people are perishing because they do not know the Lord. Our time is short.

Comment: Dr. Bob and Bill W. were simply “two drunks trying to help each other.” Have you ever read the Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous)? If so, you’d know they do not try to fawn Christianity onto
 anyone, realizing that people come from many walks of life. ”If it works, work it!”

Response: At the risk of offending you even more, Alcoholics Anonymous has never been about treatment of alcoholism. Rather is it an all-gods religion designed to point unbelievers away from Christ, and to water down the theology of Christians who attend A.A. This has been a major spiritual success for the enemy.

Comment: I found NO spiritualism whatsoever in the 12-step program; neither did my husband.

Response: http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/3537/Brannon-Howse/John-Lanagan

Comment: Please, there are much worse things happening in this earth right now.

Response: There is nothing worse than spending eternity in hell because we have denied the One True God. Jesus Christ came and died for you and for me, so that we would not receive the punishment we deserve. Alcoholics Anonymous is a false gospel, and its false message has sent many into eternal flames. There are many good and caring people in A.A. who need to hear the Truth. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Our hope is in Christ and Christ alone.

False god of ‘The Shack’ is the A.A. ‘higher power’

“See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.” (Matthew 24:4-5)

 The novel The Shack, by William P. Young, has sold well over two million copies. The author is in high demand as a speaker. Reportedly, Oprah and her staff have made reading the book a top priority. Studios are competing to secure rights to produce the film version. A pastor of a large church recently told his congregation, “If The Shack doesn’t change your life, you need to have your pulse checked.”

Despite such growing mainstream appeal, The Shack neither honors, nor portrays, the Biblical God. Instead it introduces people to a customized version of “christ.” Remarkable similarities exist between the false god of The Shack and the “higher power” and theology of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bluntly stated, the god of The Shack is essentially the A.A. higher power with a Christian veneer.

The Hindus have 10,000 deities in their religion—Alcoholics Anonymous has millions. In A.A., one can choose to worship St. Jerome, the divinity of man, the sub-atomic universe, or anything else. One can worship vegetable, animal, or mineral—or a particular spirit.

One can also give the chosen “higher power” any trait, tendency, or characteristic that seems fitting in a god (and benefits the person.) Most decide the higher power is kind, forgiving, patient, full of love, nonjudgmental, and so on. This is just what author William Young has done with the god of The Shack. The world loves the novel’s remade “trinity” for precisely the reason it loves A.A.’s higher power—it is the choice of a deity unconcerned with sin, repentance, or holiness.

The god of The Shack, unlike the God of the Bible, does not mete out eternal punishment. This is always a draw for sinful mankind. The novel’s deity states, “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.”[1] In these brief sentences, the author has presented an altered gospel. If there is no eternal punishment for sinners separated from God, what purpose did the Lord’s death on the cross serve? 

We have an incomprehensibly gentle and faithful God. “But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.” (Psalm 86: 15)

But He is also holy. (Isaiah 41:14) There are consequences for sin and unbelief. (John 8:34-36, Rev 21:8) There is judgement. (John 5:21-24) It is a great disservice to present a book, read by seekers and new believers, where “god” claims to have nothing to do with punishment.

The false god of The Shack will be warmly welcomed into Alcoholics Anonymous, which has always been hostile to the real Jesus Christ. A.A.’s 12 Steps encourage the alcoholic to correct “wrongs,” “shortcomings,” and “defects of character” but make no mention of sin or of a holy God who hates sin.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, members can be divided into three groups:

1) Followers of the Biblical Jesus (who are generally silent about their faith due to A.A. hostility, or because A.A. is an idol)[2]

2) Those who bow to whatever higher power they individually envision—be it a tree, a spirit, or anything else.

3) Unsaved people who believe their higher power is “christ.”

There has always been a smattering of false deities designated “christ” by unsaved individuals swimming the black seas of A.A. spirituality. But this “smattering” may be about to increase significantly. The Shack is beginning to seem far more than your simple, run-of-the-mill heresy. As sales continue to skyrocket, as a movie is inevitably made, as Oprah gives the book her approval, many in AA may find themselves redesigning their deities. In other words, many a “higher power” will come to be understood as “christ.” We seem on the doorstep of that time when many—MANY—are going to be drawn to false versions of “jesus.”

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

When The Shack was originally submitted for publication, the manuscript proclaimed universal reconciliation (also known as ultimate reconciliation.) [3] Universal reconciliation holds that Christ’s sacrifice enables all people to go to heaven. Not just Christians, but every Hindu, atheist, Mormon, Muslim, and all nonbelievers that have ever lived. The novel’s editor, Wayne Jacobsen, claims all elements of universal reconciliation have been removed from the book and that author William Young now accepts Biblical doctrine.[4]

Yet, as James De Young notes in ‘Revisiting The Shack and Universal Reconciliation,’  this remains a constant, subtle theme of The Shack.[5] A.A., with its any-and-all-gods theology, also has strong universalist tendencies. While viewed benevolently by many, both A.A. and The Shack serve as vehicles to undermine Biblical understanding of the Lord our God. Of course, Alcoholics Anonymous has been around much, much longer, and is second to none in terms of subverting the gospel.

In ‘The Fall of the Evangelical Nation,’ secular author Christine Wicker credits Alcoholics Anonymous with “hastening the fall of the evangelical church.”[6] Indeed, The Shack could not be so joyfully received had not decades of exposure to A.A. (and other 12 Step groups) watered down understanding and reverence for the Biblical God.

Wicker states A.A.’s 12 Step program “slowly exposed people to the notion that they could get the [higher power] without the dogma, the doctrine, and the outdated rules. Without the church in fact.”[7] This has removed the authority and influence of “the preacher and the Bible and tradition.”[8] After all, why bow to a God that always holds you accountable for sin? Why not cobble together a deity of your own?

“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…” (1 Timothy 4:2)

In the Bible, Jesus never understood God the Father in the form of a goddess. He never referred to the Father as “she” or “her.” Such references are not found anywhere in the Old or New Testaments. The Shack’s Trinity is a black woman named Papa (supposedly god the father), a short Jewish carpenter (“jesus”), and an Asian woman called Sarayu (holy spirit). Mack Philips, the main character, is angry with “god the father” for the death of his daughter, and angry with his own father over his upbringing. Mack meets with the trinity in a remote shack in Oregon and the healing begins.

The Father-goddess tells him, “Hasn’t it always been a problem to embrace me as your father? And after what you’ve been through, you couldn’t very well handle a father right now, could you?”[9]

This, on the surface, seems very kind and merciful—a god conforming to a likeness a person will tolerate. Author William Young has stated Mack needed “for god to come to him in a way that’s accessible.”[10] But acceptable is a far more accurate word.

The author has essentially applied A.A.’s higher power concept to the God of the Bible. As if taking scissors to the Word of God, William Young has cut out and removed His righteousness, judgement, wrath, holiness, and much else. He has piled on grace, love, forgiveness, and kindness—and who, after all, does not want to hear about these things? The author has remade the Biblical God the Father into a goddess seemingly out of one of the ancient pagan religions. This, in a time of spiritual and cultural breakdown, attracts the world.

But it’s not just the world. Incredibly, some leading pastors and high profile Christians are defending this higher power/trinity. Where the Apostle Paul, or Spurgeon, or A.W. Tozier would have called out to God in horror, the Father-goddess is increasingly welcomed into the church. A generation raised on movies such as “Oh, God” and “Bruce Almighty,” is perhaps already conditioned for such a change to be made.

It seems the Holy God of Isaiah 6 is no longer welcomed by many of His people. Perhaps, since entertainment takes up so much Bible Study time, some are simply ignorant of this aspect of our God. We prefer our Ancient of Days as human as possible. The book’s attempt to replace our King is not something Christians should celebrate. This Father-goddess, this queen of heaven, has fangs.

“As for the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her…” (Jeremiah 44: 16-17)

In the novel, “sin” and “salvation” do not seem to have the Biblical meaning one would naturally assume. In fact, “relationship” seems to be presented as if it were salvation. Yet, Biblically speaking, there can be no relationship without salvation.

In one of the most incredible statements in the book, the “christ” of The Shack fails to proclaim salvation is exclusively through him. The “christ” states, “I am the best way any human can relate to Papa or Sarayu [holy spirit].”[11] The best way? Young does not have his “jesus” say he is the only way, simply that he is the best way. This is no minor point.

Let’s use the phrase “best way” in some sentences: “The best way to eat pancakes is with maple syrup.” Yet that is not the only way to eat them. “The best way to Oregon from California is the I-5 highway.” Yet that is not the only way to get to Oregon from California. “The best way to see the Super Bowl is to be there live and in person.” Yet this is not the only way to see the game.[12]

When the book’s “christ” informs readers he is the “best way” to “relate” to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we should not simply nod our heads in agreement and move on.

Jesus tells us, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:16) No one! In Acts, Peter testifies of Jesus, “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

We find the same “shack theology” in the A.A. belief system. It is entirely about growing in relationship with the higher power of one’s choice. Biblical repentance and salvation is an alien concept, unless one wants to place it within the context of an individual’s 12 Step/higher power worship.

Martin and Deidre Bobgan state Alcoholics Anonymous and other “12 Step programs are in essence New Age religions and archetypical precursors of a one-world religion.”[13] Indeed, Alcoholics Anonymous will continue to play a key role in the spiritual nightmare that is to come. It has been doing so for seventy years, eating away at Biblical certainty, often with the help of Christian allies.

During one of his many presentations, The Shack author William Young stated, “God is embedded in all of us.”[14] His novel instructs, “God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things, ultimately emerging as the real—and any appearances that mask that reality will fall away.”[15]

But God does not dwell in all people. According to the Bible, sin has separated us from God. (Romans 3:23) Upon Salvation, God is not activated or, as Young claims, “emerging.” The Holy Spirit comes to dwell only in those who know Christ. Writing to believers, Paul states,

“Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16)

Concerning The Shack’s theology, Warren Smith writes, “This false teaching about a ‘God’ who ‘dwells in, around, and through all things’ is the kind of New Age leaven that left unchallenged could leaven the church into the New Age/New Spirituality of the proposed New World Religion.”[16] Smith emphasizes “this leaven alone contaminates the whole book.”[17]

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book—the A.A. “bible”—also proclaims divinity abides within. The Big Book states, “Sometimes we had to search fearlessly but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis, it is only there that He may be found.”[18]

Let’s stop and review. According to the author, the god of The Shack dwells in everybody, and apparently does not condemn any to eternal punishment—or, as The Shack would address this, “She does not punish anyone.” The novel’s “christ” is the “best way” to salvation, but apparently not the only way.

What about Alcoholics Anonymous? The A.A. Big Book states, “We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men. When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God.”[19] According to the A.A. Big Book, God is “deep down within us.”

Thus are the seeds of the New Age planted in the soil of both The Shack and Alcoholics Anonymous. The tentacles of various heresies are reaching out and linking. The false “christ” of The Shack seems poised to be welcomed into, or serve as a catalyst for, emergent/contemplative/12 Step Spirituality. 

Many Christians have superimposed their beliefs upon The Shack, supposing it a novel written by a Biblical Christian. As James De Young and others have pointed out, this is not necessarily the case. Over the decades, many Christians have also jackhammered their God into AA’s anti-Biblical system—and their love has effectively been divided between Christ and Alcoholics Anonymous. (2 Corinthians 6:14-17, Galatians 1:8-9)

For those who have heard how The Shack draws people closer to God, please, be cautious. “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:14)

The Shack will not bring you spiritually closer to the God of the Bible. You will not find the Holy God within its pages. It is the Father-goddess who revels in stolen adoration, and while its fangs may sparkle, the Father-goddess beckons from utter and total darkness.

Endnotes:

1.       William P. Young, ‘The Shack,’ pg. 120 

2.       John Lanagan, ‘Missionaries Into Darkest Alcoholics Anonymous,’ http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/3574/Brannon-Howse/John-Lanagan

3.       Wayne Jacobsen, ‘Is The Shack Heresy?’

4.       Ibid.

5.       James De Young, ‘Revisiting The Shack and Universal Reconciliation’ (pdf version online)

6.       Christine Wicker, ‘The Fall of the Evangelical Nation,’ pg. 134-138

7.       Ibid. pg. 134-138

8.       Ibid. pg. 134-138

9.       William P. Young, ‘The Shack,’ pg. 93

10.    William P. Young presentation 8/02/08

11.    William P. Young, ‘The Shack,’ pg. 110

12.    Examples based on hearing about a pastor, whose name I do not know, who noted it’s far different saying “This is the best road to the mountain” as opposed to “This is the only road to the mountain.”

13.    Martin and Deidre Bobgan, ‘12 Steps To Destruction,’ pg. 116

14. William P. Young presentation 8/02/08

15. William P. Young, ‘The Shack,’ pg. 112

16. Warren Smith, ‘The Shack and its New Age Leaven: God IN Everything?’ http://deceivedonpurpose.com

17. Ibid.

18. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS pg. 55, Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

19. Ibid. pg.46-47

 

Faith Noles: Is America The Modern Sodom?

Because of the economic crisis and countless other events, millions of Americans at this very moment are wondering if God is pouring out His judgment upon America. And if He is, will it get worse? Let’s look at two cities that were destroyed by God’s judgment and find out why they were destroyed.We have all heard the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord said of these two cities that “the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great” and “their sin is very grievous”. (Genesis 18:20) What were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah? Some might think that it was just the sin of homosexuality. It’s true that homosexuality was a prevalent sin –so prevalent in fact, that even the youth of the city Sodom were involved in this sin. Genesis 19:4, 5 “But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them”. The word ‘youth’ refers to the age of infancy to adolescence. The word ‘old’ indicates that even the aged seniors were involved in this heinous sin.

Our country has been invaded by homosexual ideology. For rest of article: http://www.raptureready.com/soap/noles6.html

(You can find other Faith Noles articles at: http://www.raptureready.com )

 

His Missionaries in deepest, darkest Alcoholics Anonymous

Mama and Papa,    We are in America at last. The Lord has sent us into the strangest belief system. The men and women here seem impervious to the Gospel, but the Lord has given us great love for them. This religion teaches that virtually anything can be defined as a god. During their meetings these people gather and pray in unity, but the “god” each individual prays to can be as varied and unique as particles of sand in our African desert. It is unsettling watching them join in the Lord’s Prayer, because most do not know Jesus, and therefore cannot know the Father. This religion was founded here in America in the 1930s. It is a very American system of belief and worship. Very democratic, one might say. In this belief system, it is not important what one worships, only that one must worship something. In fact, initiates who come seeking help, but who have trouble inventing or envisioning a god, are often told they can worship a “doorknob,” or even the group itself to begin their spiritual journey. The first time we heard this we thought it was a joke—some form of esoteric humor. But it is not. It truly is not. We have heard the “doorknob-deity” speech a number of times now. It apparently serves as their starter-god. Like the training wheels on a bike—only there until the child is ready for the next big step. Believe in something, newcomers are told; believe in anything; just believe. We have been documenting the various deities the members describe as their gods. One worships nature; another an unseen force; several pray to the universe, others to diverse spiritual entities. Some claim to worship the divinity in man. A woman in this sect recently proclaimed we are all part of God! We pray hard for her. In this sect one can also find Mormons, non-Christian deists, Wiccans (modern day witches, very popular in America), and many who follow heretical versions of Jesus Christ. There is simply no limit to the gods that can be revered in this belief system. Here it doesn’t matter whether the god you worship is an ant—or an avalanche—or an avocado. It has been ferocious spiritual warfare. Mama and Papa, we are tired. This mission field…it is like living, not in a Christian nation, but in the pages of the Old Testament. This seems virtually the same to us as Jeremiah 2:27. These are people, “Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their backs to Me, and not their face.’” We fear most of these people will go to their deaths rejecting Jesus Christ. Our daily prayer is that the Lord will bring other missionaries to share the gospel with them. Here is where it gets complicated, for in the midst of this paganism, some that worship the Jesus of the Bible are also present! There are Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and Lutherans. Sadly, most haven’t come to share the gospel. They are not here to testify. They are here as participants of this multi-god religion. These saints attend their churches, acknowledge the Bible as the Word of God, but nevertheless belong to this undeniably anti-Biblical religion. This made us angry at first. But the Lord has begun to reveal how deceptive and seductive this religion is. So seductive, in fact, that these Christians don’t believe this to be a religion at all. They believe this to be a “spiritual program,” a distinction that has no validity. In their minds this simple phrase, “spiritual program,” allows them to attend these meetings, despite what their Bible proclaims. They have turned to this belief system because it promises freedom from the bondage of sin they were (or are) trapped in. Mama and Papa, they come to this religion to free themselves from alcohol! It is hard to understand. Somehow they have learned to come here rather than submitting to Jesus and seeking help within Bible believing churches. What about prayer meetings? What about Bible study? What about falling on one’s face before a holy, all-powerful, compassionate Christ? These Christians believe only through attending this all-gods religion can they be free. But it is a strange sort of “free,” because they have to attend these meetings for life. In fairness, they have been encouraged to participate by their own pastors, family members, and by other Christians who already attend. For seventy years Christians have been part of this movement. In their churches on Sunday they call God by that Name above all names: Jesus Christ the Savior. But here, in their all-gods sect, they call Jesus by the term all members use for their various gods. So Jesus becomes a “higher power.” Thus has the Savior been placed in the pantheon, the temple of the gods. In addition to this, when Jesus is mentioned (which is rare), the pagan people in this movement often get upset. Responses have included anger, sarcasm, and a general unease. The enemy is very active in this place. It is obviously an anti-Biblical belief system, yet Christian after Christian has testified how wonderful this spiritual organization is. On the positive side, it has been encouraging to see Christians occasionally seek out non-believers after the meetings and invite them to church—but, as for boldness in the actual meetings, there is little of it. Members carry around this religion’s “bible,” which they call the Big Book. There are actually Christians here who read it more frequently than the Word of God. You will have difficulty believing what we are now going to tell you. A Christian man who belongs to this all-gods religion invited us to attend church with him last Sunday. Badly needing fellowship with believers, we gladly accepted. The service was wonderful. The Word was preached. Right after church our friend asked if we wanted to go back to the all-gods sect (he of course does not call it that.) We agreed, knowing the Lord would have us pray or proclaim the Gospel, or come alongside one of these lost and hurting souls.   Mama and Papa, the all-gods meeting was held right in his church after service. His pastor has allowed this! Since when does a pastor open the House of God to a non-Christian religion? Yet here in America, it seems a common practice. In America it is very important to be “nice.” The Bible does tell us to be kind and loving—but also holy. Holiness, it seems, has been lost here. In Deuteronomy 16:21 our Lord is commands: “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God, which you shall make up yourself. You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates.”   The Lord does not want false gods worshiped alongside Him. But because the reality of a Holy God seems obscure to these Americans, they think nothing of planting an all-gods belief system right in the Sanctuary. Pray for Fear of the Lord among these people. Last week we had an exchange with a Christian woman after her all-gods sect had finished meeting. We asked her point blank how she could Biblically justify belonging to this movement. We asked her to read Galatians 1:6-8 to us: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!” Does this not concern you, we asked, that Christians are sending people into a religion where Christ is but one god among many? Is not Paul’s warning clear? She rolled her eyes. “This is a spiritual program, not a religion.”    Clearly the enemy uses this all-gods movement to dull Christians down, and to point the unsaved anywhere but Christ. This strategy has been marvelously effective. Please pray that our Lord raise up other missionaries to send to these people in Alcoholics Anonymous. There are so many lost people here. This hurts to say, but many of the Christians, who love this all-gods sect, need missionaries almost as badly as the unsaved.               Pray the Lord of the Harvest sends laborers,               His missionaries Into Deepest, Darkest A.A. .

Pastor/Teacher Ken Silva on Contemplative Spirituality

MEDITATION AS “COMMON GROUND”

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

What Are We Actually Talking About Concerning “Common Ground” Among Religions?

This piece from Apprising Ministries is designed to give you a little better understanding as to why “Progressive Christians” ala Marcus Borg or “Progressive Evangelicals” ala Tony Campolo or quasi-Christians involved with the Emerging Church like Guru Brian McLaren and Roshi Richard Foster are all excited about meditation pow wows with other “faith traditions” aka interspiritual “dialogues.” Here you’ll see from the words of those involved with antibiblical Contemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP), which is truly transcendental meditation-lite for the Christian, that they are coming to believe God is working even within these other world religions.

Essentially we’re witnessing a reimagined version of liberalism’s ficticious Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of Man, and social reform of whatever neighborhood you live in; it is a new form of liberalism, a postliberalism. But the real role of the actual Body of Christ has exactly zero to do with the bringing together of the world’s religions for the LORD God Almighty of the Bible. As I’ve said before you may find the following a little bit startling because this uniting of religions does happen to be the goal of the god of this age; at least for a time. Which brings us full circle to the vehicle with which Satan will eventually temporarily accomplish his unity among religions—Mystical Encounters.

From my studies concerning the amazing influx lately of corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) right into mainstream evangelicalism itself, and CSM has already been an intregral part of dead mainline denominations for years, I can tell you that the one common thread I’ve seen in their interspiritual dialogues is the practice of meditation. However, no matter how many times those like Borg or Campolo repeat their mystic mantra these neo-Gnostics simply cannot establish any actual evidence whatsoever that this quasi-transcendental mediation was ever a part of Christ’s doctrine aka the Apostles’ teaching (see—Acts 2:42). This is because it’s beyond question that Jesus Himself never practiced or taught CSM and therefore neither did His Apostles.

If AM can survive financially, Lord willing, in forthcoming articles you’ll come to see from their own books that this supposedly Christian version of CSM, with its prime practice of CCP, is really the same numbing of the conscious mind in a vain attempt to “journey inward” down into the supposed “true” or “authentic” self such as that found in the meditation of pagan religions. Now, you can see more documentation on the following in John Main: Indian Swami A Holy Man of God so here I’ll just say that both Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker Guru of Contemplation Richard Foster and Emergent Church anti-theologian Tony Jones highly recommend the late Roman Catholic monk “Dom” John Main as a good source for learning how to practice the so-called “Christian” meditation of CCP.

However, in his Christian Meditation:The Gethsemani Talks (CMTGT) Main himself tells us that he actually learned how to meditate from a Hindu Swami. If meditation truly was a part of the “Christian tradition” as these mystic wannabes keep telling us, then don’t you find it a just a little bit odd that CCP had to be “corrected” by someone the Bible tells us is performing his religious “disciplines” to demons and not to God (see—1 Corinthians 10:20)? Yet Main informs us:

My teacher was an Indian swami… I was deeply impressed by his peacefulness and calm wisdom… For the swami, the aim of meditation was the coming to awareness of the Spirit of the Universe who dwells in our hearts and he recited these verses from the Upanishads: “He contains all things,…and, in silence, is loving to all. This is the Spirit that is in my heart. This is Brahman.” The swami read this passage with such devotion and such meaning I asked him if he would accept me as a pupil to teach me how to meditate in his way…

He said: “To meditate you must become silent… In our tradition we know only one way in which you can arrive at that stillness,…a word that we call a mantra. To meditate, what you must do is to choose this word and then repeat it, faithfully, lovingly, and continually… And during the time of your meditation there must be in your mind no thoughts,… The sole sound will be the sound of your mantra, your word.

The mantra…is like a harmonic…within ourselves as we begin to build up a resonance…[which] leads us forward to our own wholeness… We begin to experience the deep unity we all possess in our own being. And then the harmonic begins to build up a resonance between you and all creatures and all creation and a unity between you and your Creator.” I would often ask the swami: “How long will this take? How long will it take me to achieve enlightenment?” But the swami would either ignore my crassness or else would reply with the words that really sum up his teaching and wisdom: “Say your mantra.” 
(11, 12, 13, italics his)

Amazingly Main, allegedly a Christian, is accepting that this unregenerate master teacher of a pagan religion is indwelt by the Holy Spirit because he read a passage of “the Upanishads” with “such meaning and such devotion.” And not only that but Main is later asked in CMTGT by a fellow Benedictine monk, “How important was it to meditate in the first instance with your teacher, your guru, the holy Hindu Swami?” Yep, you read that right; a Roman Catholic priest, which in apostate Roman Catholicism is supposedly a type of “holy man” himself, just called an unsaved pagan teacher of a false polytheistic religion ”the holy Hindu Swami.”

So for argument’s sake right now let’s just say that Roman Catholic priests like Main really are Christians. Here now is the answer from his Christian brother John Main:

It was certainly a very great help to me. He was a man of very deep and very evident holiness and power, and just to be with him was to know you were in the presence of the power of a really radiant human being… I learned to meditate with a man who was not a Christian but he certainly believed in God—Knew God—and, as I read to you from The Upanishads the other night, he had a deeply vital sense of God dwelling within him. Now it may be significant that it was not until 15 years later after I learned to meditate with him that I began dimly to understand what my master had taught me and to understand the incredible richness of its full expression in the Christian. (46, 47, italics his).

There you can also see the rotten root of the idea currently perpretrated by the Emergent Church about experiencing God in “the Other.” Leaving that aside for now, it serves our purposes here for me to draw to your attention exactly what the above now would mean. We’d have a Christian entrusted as an ambassador of Jesus Christ to preach His exclusive Gospel who has just told us someone so deeply immersed in a false religion that he was in fact a Swami teaching this religion actually ”knows” God. Men and women, what is more we’d now have a child of the living God groveling at the feet of someone sacrificing to demons—who ultimately worships Satan—and referring to him, instead of Jesus Christ, as “my master.”

Now statements like, “It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts” by Brian McLaren or, “there’s going to be no difference between the way God going to interact with you when you die and the way God’s going to interact with a Muslim when a Muslim dies” by Doug Pagitt should begin to make more sense to you. In fact it’s all pretty much along the same lines as the following from the late “Spiritual Master” M. Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating—yet another of these Living Spiritual Teachers, both heroes of those practicing CSM and who are also renowned for their supposed ”expertise” in teaching CCP:

In the course of the years, sitting in silent prayer, beyond where words can interfere, men and women of many diverse traditions have come together. In that deeper place a oneness is experienced that gives assurance and heart to our feeble ecumenical efforts and interreligious dialogues. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has said that if one percent of the people would meditate we will have peace. Jesus spoke of the leaven that will leaven the whole. (Finding Grace at the Center: The Beginning of Centering Prayer, 10,11, emphasis mine)

Meditation Will Transform [Transcend] Mankind’s Various Religious Beliefs Into “Unity”

Can you imagine the sheer absurdity and thick spiritual blindness in attempting to make Jesus agree with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi!? Yikes fellas come back to earth, even the stoned out Beatles could see through his mystic mumbo jumbo. But what do all of the men mentioned above have in common; the practice of so-called “Christian” meditation. In closing this for now I’ll give you one more quite contemporary example of the rotten universal fruit produced through prolonged practice of this spurious CSM masquerading as Christian Spiritual Formation (SF). The very same SF, I will add, as currently espoused in The Cult of Guru Richard Foster e.g. by Southern Baptist minister Dallas Willard. 

In the following we will clearly see an obvious bias in favor of Islam by Tony Campolo, which you’ll be able to note below from his book Speaking My Mind (SMM). And in addition you can also notice that Emergent Evangelical Prophet Tony Campolo will prophesy about how CSM, and most specifically Contemplative/Centering Prayer, will be an instrument of coming unity between the many religions:

a theology of mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam. Both religions have within their histories examples of ecstatic union with God, which seem at odds with their own spiritual traditionsbut have much in common with each other. (149)

Men and women with this spurious CSM, which is really a neo-Gnostic New Spirituality, now slithering into your churches and youth groups you really need to begin to recognize the language of the theological agenda behind it. As I have warned you many times before this reimagined so-called “Christian” Mysticism is itself a form of transcendental meditation. What practioners of CSM are excited about is this experience some call “ecstatic union”—allegedly with God—while others use terms like “transformation” or “enlightenment.” And this transformation through meditation is what these mystic wannabes see as the “common ground” within the various “faith traditions,” which is their rather nebulous term encompassing other world religions. Mystics all believe at some level that their particular brand of meditation—whatever name they ascribe to it—is the necessary tool to journey down inside themselves to find the divine, or God, within.

It’s often referred to a “a divine spark” in classic mysticism but “Christian” mysticism-lite usually calls this the “true self.” Whichever way you slice it the goal is to accomplish further inward transformation aka the enlightenment of man. Just think back to what you read above from “Christian” Guru Main above. You see, many in the New Age version of transcendental meditation feel that eventually through meditation man is going to come to see that we’re really all worshiping the same “God.” Hopefully now you should begin to understand why it is that these people are laboring so hard to try and get people to put aside their “differnces” to instead be willing to learn from each “religious tradition.” And this is because—in their dead wrong view—every religion contains at least some vestiges of truth left from mankind’s original knowledge of the Reality; the Sacred, the mysteries of God etc., etc., blah, blah.

The question you’d better start asking your church leaders is: What in the world are these types of wrong teachings completely counter to the historic orthodox Christian faith doing in our evangelical churches? Or as you can see in Tony Campolo to Enlighten Southern Baptists in Virginia whole state conventions of the pretending to be Protestant Southern Baptist Convention. So with all of this in mind now let’s consider what Tony Campolo is going to tell you in SMM: 

I don’t know what to make of the Muslim mystics, especially those who have come to be known as the Sufis. What do they experience in their mystic experiences? Could they have encountered the same God we do in our Christian mysticism?… The founder of this movement was Hasan Al Basri (A.D. 642-728)… [Basri's] attempt to bring about religious reform very much paralleled the path of Francis [of Assisi], both in style and spiritual direction. Both men sensed a sacred presence in everything and claimed to have experienced a mystical union with God. (149, 150)

As I pointed out in Tony Campolo: “Christian Mysticism” Trumps the Bible (Part 2) it really shouldn’t be too hard at this point to realize here Campolo is suggesting that subjective mystic encounters are indeed valid expressions of experiencing God. We note that on the next page of SMM, in true mystic fashion, Campolo says, “we will never know in this life who has this mystical involvement with the resurrected Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit, and who does not” (151). Well, I suggest Tony ought to skip his next CCP session and actually read the Bible for a change because if he does, for example, Campolo could see:

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:11-13)

While everyone has a right to believe whatever they want to about God, and that right—to believe not the belief itself—should be respected, those practicing religions which deny Who Jesus is cannot be indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. However, in spite of the Biblical truth I just taught you as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in Speaking My Mind Tony Campolo simply goes on with his futile and completely subjective speculation that, “It may also be the case that many who never would have called themselves Christians were truly possessed by Christ and will be invited into the eternal kingdom.” Men and women, now you have seen why people who share this belief are more interested in getting “faith-based” religious people working together to “solve Global problems” while performing acts of social reform than they are in seeing souls saved.

This becomes crystal clear for those who have eyes to see as Tony Campolo tells sleepy evangelicals, doing their fabulous impression of Rip Van Winkle, a little bed-time story as they drift deeper into their spiritual coma:

A leading evangelist told me about an encounter he had with a non-Christian during a trip through China that raised the possibility. While there, he visited a monastery, and as he entered the walled-in gardens of the place, he noticed one of the monks in deep meditation. At the prompting of the Spirit, he went over to talk to the man, and with his translator, he explained the story of Jesus. He opened the New Testament and showed him what the Bible taught about salvation.

As he spoke, he noticed the monk was visibilty moved. Actually, there were tears in the monk’s eyes. My friend, the evangelist, then asked, “Won’t you accept this Jesus into your heart and let Him be your personal Savior?” The monk answered with surprise, “Accept Him? How can I accept Him into my life when He is already there? All the vine you were telling me about Him, His Spirit within me was affiming the truth of what you were saying. Constantly I heard His Spirit say, “He’s is talking of Me! He is talking of Me!” I do not need to accept Him. He is already in me, affirming the message of your Bible. I have known Him for a very long time.”

My friend asked me, “Was this man possessed by Jesus before I ever arrived? Was he a Christian before he knew the name of Jesus? And, if I had not come with the gospel message, would God accept him on the Day of Judgment?” I don’t know how to answer the questions my friend posed, but I do know this: we should preach the gospel to every living creature and let the judgment of who is saved and who is lost fall into the hands of the Judge of the universe. (151, 152) 

Sounds very pious; and there is an element of truth in what Campolo has been saying: No, we human beings cannot “know” precisely “who has had this mystical involvement” with the Lord. However, the Holy Spirit Who inspired the Scriptures has already told us who cannot “be possessed by Jesus.” For example, speaking by this Spirit Jesus Himself says to a practicing Buddhist monk who denies Christ’s true nature — “if you do not believe that I Am [the Eternal God] you will die in your sins”(John  8:24, Greek). But by now you should be able to see what’s been going on with contemplatives e.g. like Rob Bell who openly attack Sola Scriptura—and does so from the sanctity of your youth groups.

In the end, the result of the mystic musings of those like Campolo et al actually negates the text of the Bible in favor of the existential “feelings” of their own highly subjective imaginations. Prayerfully another time I’ll show you in more detail that they feel those who are also involved with the practice of meditation can also come to know God even though they may not know Jesus because of their wrong belief that within all of mankind there’s already a spark of the divine. But it’s not like they’re hiding this; don’t you remember the Nooma DVD “Breathe” by Rob Bell where he says, “this divine breath [i.e. Spirit] is in every single human being” [booklet, 015]?

And the sad fact is, this spiritually mortal musing really is as old as mystic delusion itself:

“I will make myself like the Most High.”  Isaiah

Setting Captives Free Courses

My wife and I have lost twenty pounds (or more) while participating in The Lord’s Table, one of the courses offered by Setting Captives Free. We are full of wonder, and awe, at the power of God’s Word. Since beginning, I have not committed the sin of gluttony, and because of that, the Lord can use me.

I have congestive heart failure. I had lost weight, gained it back, and taken back up with my old eating habits. One morning I realized I COULD NOT STOP my gluttony. I was in bondage to sin, a place no Christian should ever be.

My wife and I started The Lord’s Table. Now, my wife, who was already beautiful, is glowing with the love of the Lord. The Lord’s Table is not a diet plan; it is not a gimmick; it is the Word of God applied to the lives of people.

Through ministries like Setting Captives Free, and churches where the Word of God is truly preached, we can be free. Here are the various courses. http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/home/our_courses.php

11 Reasons To Teach Biblical Doctrine by Brannon Howse

(Ever wondered why so much is askew in the world? Having just left a site where people love The Shack, despite it’s clearly anti-Biblical nature, I thought I would share this, taken from a book by Brannon Howse) 

11 Reasons To Teach Biblical Doctrine

By Brannon Howse

 This is an excerpt from ‘Building A Biblical Worldview Verse by Verse,’ by Brannon Howse:  

Besides the all-important reason of keeping people from having to hear Jesus say “depart from me,” there are 11 benefits here and now of teaching Biblical doctrine.

 1.      Biblical doctrine builds discernment and reveals the will of God for our lives.

•  Discernment-What parent does not want their children to have discernment to make Godly decisions? Discernment and sound judgment are a by-products of teaching Biblical doctrine.

 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, “but test everything, hold fast what is good.”

 And Romans 12:2 commands, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

 • Revealing the will of God for our lives

In John 7:17 Jesus said, “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.

2.      Biblical doctrine prepares us for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17:  “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 

3.      There has been a vast falling away from Biblical truth.

The Bible describes this great apostasy or this falling away from Biblical truth in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ear away from truth and be turned aside to fables.”

4.      False teaching is destroying lives.

Enemies of the truth know exactly how to encourage false teaching: “Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism.  What can the theistic Sunday schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?”

 —1933, Charles Francis Potter, Humanism: A New Religion ¹

And Colossians 2:8 prescribes the antidote: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.”

5. Biblical doctrine is not boring but a strong mooring.

As I said earlier, most self-professing Christians cannot articulate, much less defend, the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, but why is it that we spend so much time on things that will not last and that do not matter? Adults as well as teens can tell you all about pop culture, about sports teams and superstars but can these same teens and adults tell you how we know Jesus is God, how we know the Bible is true, or how we know Jesus rose from the dead?

Biblical doctrine is the Gospel, the will of God for our lives. It is what Jesus talked about during his earthly ministry. In spite of how it’s sometimes been presented, the real picture of Jesus and His teachings is riveting. Jesus commanded respect, inspired commitment, and renewed lives in ruin.

6. Biblical doctrine taught early and consistently builds a faith that lasts.

In 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul, speaking about Timothy, says, “And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

Who was it that taught Timothy the scriptures from such an early age? 2 Timothy 1:5 answers the question: “When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice which I am persuaded is in you also.”

Timothy’s mother and grandmother taught him early, and he became one of the most powerful leaders in the first century church. 

Deuteronomy 6:7 also reminds us to always be teaching God’s truth to our children: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

7. Biblical doctrine stirs the heart and mind.

 “Heart” refers to the core of a person’s being, and it is significant that the Bible mentions the heart 826 times.

Proverbs 4:23 explains that out of the heart “spring the issues of life.”

From the heart proceed our good and bad thoughts, emotions, and behavior. So preparing the soil of a child’s or teen’s heart is crucial if we want to plant the seeds of Biblical truth and see them grow to maturity.

The Bible also commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. And Romans 10:10 makes the point: “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Because there is no application without acquisition.

If we want to see our children, friends and family apply Biblical truth to all areas of life, they must first know what the truth is. Knowledge means the acquisition of truth; wisdom means the application of truth.

So where do we find knowledge and wisdom?

Proverbs 2: 6 explains, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding”

Proverbs 9:10: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

And Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

If adults and teens are to acquire wisdom and knowledge, we must encourage them to study Biblical doctrine and come to understand the character and nature of God it reveals.

Biblical doctrine convicts those that contradict.

Titus 1:9 says: “Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.” The scriptures are great at setting the record straight—whether in theology, doctrine, or lifestyle.

Remember, too, what 2 Timothy 3: 16 says: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

10. Biblical doctrine will last forever.

The Bible says that grass withers and the flower fades but the Word of God stands forever. The reason is, as John 1:1 tells us, the Word of God is God: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”

So, when we commit ourselves to teaching and training hearts and minds with the Word of God, we are planting in the lives of others something that will last through all eternity.

11. Because lives are at stake, and it is appointed unto every man to die once and then face judgment.

Pay close attention to James 5:19-20: “Brethren, if any among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

Marching Orders

Would a fireman ignore a fire alarm, lean back in his recliner and watch the rest of the ballgame as hundreds of souls perish in a burning office building? Would an emergency room doctor sip coffee in the break room, reading the latest fishing magazine and ignore the Code Blue alert over the hospital P.A. system? Yet today, Christian school administrators, Sunday School teachers, youth pastors, senior pastors, Christian college professors and presidents, deacons, elders, and parents are just as culpable as they ignore the warnings, the cultural flashing lights, and all the social sirens that scream a spiritual Code Blue—the warning of imminent spiritual and eternal death.

Many of them won’t be disturbed because they are busy entertaining and being entertained. They won’t be distracted because they caught up giving adults and teens what they want, not what they need. They rally to be inclusive, not offensive. They’re committed to consensus more than truth, customers over converts, donors over disciples, a big tent over the narrow way, and self-actualization over self-sacrifice. They will not be awakened from their malaise because they don’t want to change their priorities or practice. The Christian life they falsely conjure offers everything and requires nothing.

Yet we should not be discouraged. God has seldom, if ever, moved among the majority, but He has historically and providentially worked among a remnant. And believe me, there is a remnant. It’s thrilling to see how many and how strong they are who flock to Worldview Weekends because they know their need.  As you read this book and share it with your children, you are part of that vestige of hope.

I thank God someone once spoke doctrine into my life, revealed the true condition of my heart and mind, and declared Code Blue for my soul. It’s time we declare Code Blue for the American church and return to teaching sound Biblical doctrine before any more step unwittingly into eternity. I pray that this little book will be used by thousands of parents and grandparents to teach their children Christian doctrine. If we remain faithful to teaching a Biblical worldview and teaching sound theology, we will see lives saved for Christ.

This is an excerpt from Brannon’s new book: Building A Biblical Worldview Verse by Verse. Click here for more information or to order your copy:
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/secure/store/product.php?ProductID=483

 

 

Pastor/Teacher Ken Silva Warns About Contemplative Spirituality

The Clear And Present Danger Of Contemplative Spirituality   By Ken Silva Apprising Ministries Christ Jesus Himself Is The One Who First Taught Us Sola Scriptura Though some take exception to what I have been writing concerning corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) no one credible writing concerning this spurious CSM masquerading as so-called Spiritual Formation, as espoused by Dallas Willard along with his friend Richard Foster, is trying to say that worshiping God in spirit and in truth isn’t…well, spiritual. The issue is: How in the Bible did God say we are to approach Him spiritually? Pastor Bob DeWaay gets to the heart of the matter when he says: There are ordained means in the New Testament, by which the Christian grows in the grace and knowledge of the Lord: the Word, ordinances, and prayer… If by faith we avail ourselves of God’s ordained means, we are assured that Christ will thereby convey the benefits of His redemption to His people… We not only need God’s ordained means, but we need to avail ourselves of them on His terms. [1] Gary Gilley sheds additional light upon the very grave danger at the rotten root of this spirituality of the self as well as the current rebellion in the visible church against Sola Scriptura: I fear that [the market-driven church and the closely related “Purpose Driven Life”] will be remembered by future generations for their undermining of the authority of Scripture…the authority for what the church now believes has shifted…from the infallible Scriptures to psychological and sociological experts, opinions of the masses, trends of the moment and the philosophy of pragmatism…  The affect of all of this scriptural manipulation is to both erode the authority of God’s Word and to give the appearance that what Scripture has to say isn’t really important. It is only a short step from here to a Christian community that no longer has much use for the Bible. [2] This is precisely where the evangelicalism itself has now headed; because in order to follow Foster’s quasi-Christian mysticism-lite one must first abandon Sola Scriptura. Case in point being Rick Warren, arguably the most famous minister in the Southern Baptist Convention—itself the largest allegedly “Protestant” denomination in the US—openly embracing apostate Roman Catholicism as a legitimate expression of the Christian faith. Look for yourself in SBC Protestant Pastor Rick Warren Double-Minded on the Reformation and Roman Catholicism, and he’s hardly alone in this completely subjective reversal of the Reformation. As it concerns pretending to be Protestant evangelicalism’s sordid lust affair with self-centered CSM it’s vital that you come to know that in reality this is simply a reimagined version of the so-called “Christian” mysticism originating with heretical hermits in the desert and which would later flower in the also antibiblical monastic traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Carefully consider the following by Dr. John MacArthur from 1994. Keep in mind this was also three years before the birth of the extremely ecumenical Emerging Church—the Trojan Horse of the Devil—through which Foster et al would unload corrupt Quaker mysticism along with his own brand of neo-pietism into your local evangelical churches. Actually what MacArthur wrote below has turned out to be quite prophetic as to why we are only now beginning to pay a very heavy price in forthcoming 1 Peter 4:17 judgments for years of  “what does that verse mean to you” Bible teaching. And in addition MacArthur enlightens you as to why I have so often been discussing the subject of neo-orthodoxy: Neo-orthodoxy is the term used to identify an existentialist variety of Christianity. Because it denies the essential objective basis of truth—the absolute truth and authority of Scripture—neo-orthodoxy must be understood as pseudo-Christianity… Thus while neo-orthodox theologians often sound as if they affirming traditional beliefs, their actual system differs radically from the historic understanding of the Christian faith. By denying the objectivity of truth, they relegate all theology to the realm of subjective relativism. It is a theology perfectly suited for the age in which we live. And that is precisely why it is so deadly… [Contemplative Spirituality aka] Mysticism is perfectly suited for religious existentialism; indeed, it is the inevitable consequence. The mystic disdains rational understanding and seeks truth instead through the feelings, the imagination, personal visions, inner voices, private illumination, of other purely subjective means. Objective truth becomes practically superfluous. [3] And so we come around here as to why men such as Emerging Church icon Rob Bell and his friend Emergent Church leader Doug Pagitt have laid spiritual landmines at the base of Sola Scriptura in an attempt to blow away this foundational pillar of the Protestant Reformation. For God’s Word cuts straight across their flawed inclusive and “Progressive” postliberal delusions concerning a repainted Fatherhood of God, Brotherhood of man, and the social reform of the neighborhood where you live.  Now can you see why Sola Scriptura was, and is, the foundational principle for the Church of Jesus Christ? For it is in the Bible that God gives us the way He wants us to approach Him spiritually. In closing, I will say tragically evangelicalism, with its own reimagined version of apostate Roman Catholic mysticism, has right now foolishly placed itself right back onto the very same wrong road leading to the very same religious bondage which would finally cause God to raise up His Reformers in the first place. And the Lord has already warned us: What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ”See, this is new”? [1] http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue82.htm, 10/14/08. [2] http://www.svchapel.org/Resources/Articles/read_articles.asp?ID=106, 10/14/08. [3] John MacArthur, Reckless Faith, (Crossway: Wheaton, IL, 1994), 25, 26, 27).   By Ken Silva

Was Oxford Group really a Christian root of A.A.???

Here is great preacher H.A. Ironside’s assessment of the swiss-cheese theology of the Oxford Group. http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-Ironside.html