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Joel’s Purpose Driven Army Derek Gilbert (August 25, 2008) - TWO EVENTS took place the weekend of August 16-17, 2008 that Christians should mark well. They herald nothing less than the march of American evangelicals down a road that culminates in the ascendancy of the Antichrist. The first event was the televised “Saddleback Civil Forum”, hosted by Rick Warren, arguably the most recognizable and popular evangelical pastor in America. Warren, author of the best-selling The Purpose-Driven Life, managed to bring presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain together for a nationally televised (on two cable news networks) forum. Many evangelicals watched the event to see how the candidates responded to Warren’s questions on faith and politics and a sea of virtual ink has been spilled debating the candidates’ answers. However, the most important question of the night was never asked: Doesn’t a minister of the gospel, especially one responsible for the 22,000 souls who attend his church, have anything better to do than inject himself into a political campaign? The answer should be clear: Yes, he does. That the question hasn’t crossed the minds of most evangelicals is the real story of the Saddleback Civil Forum. Jesus called His disciples to be in the world, not of it. In fact, He made it clear that being in, not of, the world was not the way to win friends and influence people:

John 15:18-20 (ESV)
If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you…

Jesus was crucified for his preaching. Rick Warren is a New York Times best-selling author who gets a couple hours of live simultaneous prime-time coverage on two competing cable news networks. Think on that. The political realm is familiar territory for Pastor Warren, who hobnobbed with the rich and famous at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2006 and again this year. He’s addressed the United Nations, the African Union, the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, TED (the Technology Entertainment Design conference), and TIME’s Global Health Summit. Warren has recently signed on as a member of the Advisory Council to Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation, an ecumenical organization that intends to unite the Abrahamic faiths — Muslim, Christian, and Jew — in advancing the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. Those eight goals are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

Noble goals, to be sure, but we followers of Christ must remember that the Great Commission was to preach the gospel to the ends of the Earth. We were never commanded to partner with earthly governments to redistribute wealth. And let’s be honest: all eight of the MDGs ultimately involve taking money from taxpayers and giving them to government. To achieve these noble goals, Warren has launched his global PEACE plan, which aspires to:

• Promote reconciliation
• Equip servant leaders
• Assist the poor
• Care for the sick
• Educate the next generation

Does God Sanction Mystical Experiences? Lighthouse Trails Research (June 16, 2008) - For many years during my research, I would come across the term contemplative prayer. Immediately I would dismiss any thought that it had a New Age connotation because I thought it meant to ponder while praying--which would be the logical association with that term. But in the New Age disciplines, things are not always what they seem to be to untrained ears. What contemplative prayer actually entails is described very clearly by the following writer:

Are Emerging Church Critics Too Critical? Understanding The Times - Not every Christian is called to be a watchman. This is understandable. The body of Christ is made up of men, women and children with a variety of gifts and callings all important for the body of Christ to be healthy. The watchman or watchwoman is a person called by God to warn about the dangers of departing from the truth and being led astray. This calling is not without problems and difficulties. The watchman, even though his or her voice may be biblical, is almost always considered by the majority to be too critical. This is especially true today when so many Christian leaders are embracing a Christianity that is more seeker-friendly and purpose-driven rather than God-fearing and Spirit-led. A person who attempts to exhort stray sheep back to the fold is considered negative, judgmental, and unloving. Further, when someone has departed from the Word of God, they are not always grateful to someone who tells them they have departed. If a person knew they were being deceived, they wouldn’t have been seduced by the deception. It is also a fact there are many who profess to have faith in Christ but have very little faith in His Word. It is God’s Word that must be our plumb line in bringing us back to the truth. Following a man and his ideas may well lead us astray, especially if his ideas do not line up with God’s revelation as recorded in God’s Word. I have been attempting to sound a spiritual alarm by documenting facts associated with various ideas and trends that are sweeping the world in the name of Christ. We are living at a time in Church history when a new reformation is supposedly underway and Christianity is being reinvented so that it will be more relevant for the twenty-first century, but a Christianity that is not consistent with the Scriptures in not Christianity. Answering the Critics There are those who will read this and will not come to the conclusion that we are living in an age of apostasy before the return of our Lord. There will be those who accuse me of presenting an unbalanced view of the emerging church, in spite of the facts. There will be those who say that I concentrate only on the negative and that I have avoided all the good things about the Emerging Church. For example, I anticipate there will be statements similar to the following one made by Emerging Church supporter Darren King in an article he wrote titled “A Response to Reactionism Against the Emerging Church”:

It is clear that while those of us engaged in the Emerging Church conversation might find new perspectives a helpful thing, there are others, within the larger Christian community, who find these fresh perspectives not only unhelpful, but actually threatening. These people tend to operate under very circular, rigid belief systems. And for these people, any idea that infringes on any one corner of the “faith infrastructure” causes what amounts to a fight or flight response. [1]

This statement illustrates how someone with a rigid perspective (biblical perspective) is perceived by someone with an Emerging Church perspective (“fresh perspective”). From Darren King’s viewpoint, if someone is not willing to abandon their “faith infrastructure,” (the Bible) for the “fresh perspective,” (ideas that are unbiblical or anti-biblical) the person is considered a dangerous crackpot. Further, King, the editor of Precipice Magazine, states that he has a plan to deal with resistors who refuse to leave their “faith infrastructure” for the “fresh perspective”.

What I am interested in is a discussion of the knee-jerk reactions; the critical responses that arise out of a spirit of superiority, disdain, fear, etc. It is with that aim in mind that we at Precipice launch a new feature called: “A Critique of Criticism: A Response to Reactionism Against the Emerging Church”. Over the next few weeks we’ll be directly addressing these particularly ungracious, destructive and dismissive examples of criticism, one by one. [2]

Following this article some examples of Emerging Church criticism were posted along with a response by Precipice Magazine. For example, as an answer to the criticism—“I feel like you can never pin down the Emerging Church on what they actually believe. That kind of slippery theology seems dangerous, cowardly, and way too convenient in our politically correct culture”—the following statement is made:

There is a very good reason why it’s difficult to pin the Emerging Church down on certain issues. Simply put, the Emerging Church is an evolving movement, a fluid conversation. It is not a denomination with an official doctrinal statement to refer to. In these kinds of conversations it’s usually helpful to differentiate Emergent, a specific group, from the larger Emerging Church conversation. Emergent is one community within the larger context of the Emerging Church…

The EC crowd is not nervous when grey areas linger. Mystery is newly embraced in the EC. And this shift away from a blind emphasis on propositional truth seems, to me anyway, much more in line with early Christian faith and practice. Faith is a process. The Christian experience is a journey. We would do well to remember that for the early followers of Christ, faith was commonly referred to as “the Way”—not the destination. [3]

If Christianity is evolving, as this writer suggests, what is it evolving into? Whether or not one names this trend a “church” or a “conversation” is not the issue. What is important is whether or not the trend is based on sound Christian doctrine. As we have discussed in previous commentaries, faith in the Bible is not the basis for this “New Reformation”. Faith in the Bible is not being promoted; it is it under attack. Faith is being undone. Yes, it is true that the early church was called “The Way.” However, the church was called “The Way” because the members of the church were following Jesus, who said He was “The Way.” John 17:17 Jesus also said the “Way” is a “narrow way” Matthew 7:13 and the “only way” John 14:6 to get into heaven. The Emerging Church way or emergent conversation or whatever name is used to describe this so-called New Reformation, in my view is a wide way that many are traveling and heading in the wrong direction. more...
| Apostasy |

More on the "emerging church" here.

Lessen focus on eternity, McLaren says at Willow Creek student ministries conference Baptist Press (April 18, 2008) - The emphasis Christians place on the traditional Christian doctrines of hell and the second coming of Jesus inhibits believers from living effective lives of service in this world, according to speaker and author Brian McLaren. McLaren explained his views April 9-10 at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., as a featured speaker during the Willow Creek Association's annual Shift student ministries conference. During the conference's opening session, Bo Boshers, executive director of student ministries for the Willow Creek Association, said he does not agree with all McLaren's views but that all youth ministers should consider his thoughts. In his most recent book, "Everything Must Change" (Thomas Nelson), McLaren commends Willow Creek pastor Bill Hybels as one of only a handful of evangelical leaders properly addressing global poverty and equity for the world's population. "Some of us came from a religious tradition or a religious background where our main role was to recruit kids to go to heaven," said McLaren, a controversial leader within the emerging church movement. "And that's a good thing. Mortality rates are still pretty high, and we all have to face that decision. But I'm here to challenge you to think bigger and deeper and in more layers and dimensions about your role." In a later conference breakout session, McLaren elaborated, "There are some ideas that are not truly ideas of the Gospel but are ideas of the modern understanding of the Gospel. The problem isn't the Bible. The problem is modern rings that we put around the Bible. And what we need to do -- some of us in our thinking -- is to find the courage to snip the ring so that our faith ... can really have a future." Though he did not specify at Willow Creek which traditional doctrines need revision, McLaren wrote in his 2007 book "Everything Must Change" that the doctrine of hell needs radical rethinking. He argues that people who believe in hell may be inclined to dominate and take advantage of other people, rather than help them. "Many of us have been increasingly critical in recent years of popular American eschatology in general, and conventional views of hell in particular," he wrote. "Simply put, if we believe that God will ultimately enforce his will by forceful domination, and will eternally torture all who resist that domination, then torture and domination become not only permissible but in some way godly." The orthodox understanding that Jesus will return at a future date and forcefully conquer all His enemies also needs rethinking, according to McLaren. "This eschatological understanding of a violent second coming leads us to believe (as we've said before) that in the end, even God finds it impossible to fix the world apart from violence and coercion; no one should be surprised when those shaped by this theology behave accordingly," McLaren wrote. The book of Revelation does not actually teach that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, he wrote, but that a new way of living is possible within this universe if humans will follow Jesus' example... Citing the Lord's Prayer, he told conference attendees that youth ministers must shift their thinking and teach teens that involvement in earthly matters is more pressing than focus on eternal matters. "As youth workers, a shift is happening and a shift is needed," he said, "that you become agents of recruiting people, young people, to consider devoting their entire lives to living not just for themselves and their own selfish interests, not just for their nation and their own national interests, but to work as agents of the Kingdom of God, joining with Jesus Christ in His good news of the Kingdom of God." In the breakout session, McLaren said the world is moving from an era of modern thinking to an era of postmodern thinking and youth ministers must transition their teaching accordingly. While modern thinking emphasizes analysis, postmodern thinking moves beyond reason and analysis to a focus on larger realities, he said. "We're in a period of profound shift in our world today," he said. "And what has been familiar to us and our churches is in some ways shaking and crumbling and being reconfigured." more...
| Apostasy |

I must say that hell and the second coming are central to truly understanding reality as events continue to unfold to the prophetic fulfillment written in the Word of God. The idea of "kingdom now" theology where we must bring the kingdom of God prior to the second coming misses what the Bible says about the future when the man of sin will be given power by Lucifer to rule the earth for 3 1/2 years. This is the "New Age" kingdom where a "New Age Christ" will rule with signs and lying wonders deceiving the whole world. Without the foundation of scripture regarding this, how easy would it be for someone without understanding to be deceived to believe the lies? The truth doesn't change to accommodate the people listening, God tells it like it is and will be as a warning to not be deceived. To be honest, I don't know McLaren's position in detail, but from this article, it sounds like he supports ignoring plain scripture to appease the audience, something the Bible warned would happen.

2 Timothy 4:1-5
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

The Gospel has never changed and we don't need to change the message to get God's point across. If people don't accept the message as given, that is their choice. It is not our place to shift the message for the hearer and the Bible is God's message, complete with the warning of hell (eternal separation from God, who is Love) and the second coming of Christ who will judge the quick and the dead at His appearing with sudden destruction like the days of Noah and Lot. Matthew 24:36-39 | Luke 17:24-33 I think this understanding is central for Christians to be aware of, especially since we are most likely living in the generation of His return! We were warned to watch, so I think its best to understand what we're watching and be aware of the signs of the times.

At the same time, realizing the times in which we live, it is important to share the hope that is in us through the salvation freely given so that we may live. Freely we have received, freely let us give! Do you know someone who could use the hope we have in Christ through His sacrifice for our sins? Let us watch and have an answer for the hope that is within us. 1 Peter 3:15

Mobilising People and Actions for War A Time, Times, And Half A Time (April 13, 2008) - This article is the second of a three part series which compares the legal and cultural changes being made by today’s global government to those made by the Nazis. Part I, Ghost of Nazi Past, Ghost of Nazi Present focused on cultural, media, parliamentary, and judicial manipulations while this part focuses on science, religion, religious education, and spiritual mobilization. The format of this post is as follows: texts in bold font are citations from Richard Evans’ book The Third Reich in Power. Italicized texts that follow Evens’ citations are quotations from global governance actors along with some of my commentary. Writing of the hostilities between the Nazis and the Catholic Church, Evans explains “…the German government repeatedly told the Vatican that its fight against Marxism and Communism demanded the unity of the German people through the ending of confessional divisions.” (pg. 241) Today, we see the identical argument being advanced by the Alliance of Civilizations, the World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality, et al. In the interest of combating extremism and terrorism we are told a global code of conduct which embraces only common spiritual and political ideologies must be adopted. Contributors to this code of conduct are groups such as the World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality which will “activate” the evolutionary process of global consciousness; the Alliance of Civilizations which is currently developing guidelines for how religions must interpret scripture; Religions for Peace which is advancing A Common Word, an initiative designed to undermine religious doctrines and hijack religion; etc. Orchestrated efforts to incite violence against those who refuse to set aside their doctrines—particularly against the monotheistic faiths – have intensified on multiple fronts. Evans writes “Nazism imbued the German language with the metaphors of battle: the battle for jobs, the struggle for existence, the fight for culture…The language itself began to be mobilized for war.” (pg. 214) We are in this same place today. Christians who dare voice an unpopular opinion are accused of having a violent ethos. The existence of the new civilization is threatened if the egocentric are permitted to continue with their “defective disconnection”. It is, as they say, a fight for civilization. Setting the stage for the new religious ethos is Karen Armstrong, Alliance of Civilizations High Level Group member. **Video at link** See use doctrine. The full version of the Karen Armstrong presentation can be found here.

Science
One criticism consistently launched against the adherents of the Abrahamic faiths’ is that the doctrines cannot be scientifically proven and the faithful have abandoned rational scientific inquiry. Yet many of the same critics who claim superiority have no problem advancing unproven occult doctrines such as notions of a “planetary spiritual hierarchy”; the existence of the Aryans and Atlantis; evolutionary advancement through Luciferic initiations; etc., etc.

“The real core of Nazi beliefs lay in the faith Hitler proclaimed in his speech of September 1938 in science – a Nazi view of science – as the basis for action.” Pg 259

“But humanity has hitherto lacked an adequate global grammar and a global lens to fully activate this integral/holistic/dialogic technology of mind; and since our living realities are co-created by out patterns of minding, the supreme technological advance in the human condition is this advance to the integral technology of minding.” – World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality

Religion
Here the comparisons I draw are between the Third Reich’s attempts to control Christianity and the global government’s plans to control the three monotheistic faiths. The below World Commission citations that refer to the egocentric mind refer to individuals who believe their religious texts to be true and are not prepared to abandon their convictions for a new revelation. The egocentric mind also pertains to political dissenters of the globalization process.

“National Socialism is not only a political doctrine, it is a total and all-encompassing general perspective on all public matters. So our entire life has to be based on it as a matter of natural assumption. We hope that the day will come when nobody needs to talk about National Socialism any more…One day, the spiritual awakening of our time will emerge from this will to culture.” - Joseph Goebbels Pg 211

“Our great spiritual traditions and teachers were all in diverse ways fostering and opening the way to the awakening of global consciousness.” – World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality

“One striking result of the general global law – we are as we mind…But humanity has hitherto lacked an adequate global grammar and a global lens to fully activate this integral/holistic/ dialogic technology of mind; and since our living realities are co-created by our patterns of minding,, the supreme technological advance in the human condition is this advance to the integral technology of minding.” – World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality

“As an SS plan put it in 1937: ‘We live in the age of the final confrontation with Christianity. It is part of the mission of the SS to give to the German people over the next fifty years the non-Christian ideological foundations for a way of life appropriate to their own character.’…Christianity, Himmler was to declare on 9 June 1942, was ‘the greatest of plagues’; true morality consisted not in exalting the spirit of the individual but in abnegating oneself in the service of the race. Moral values could be derived only from consciousness of one’s place in, and duty to, the chain of ‘valuable’ heredity.” Pg 252

“Perhaps the single most powerful event facing humanity today is a great awakening on a planetary scale that has been millennia in the making. We humans are in the midst of a profound advance as a species to a higher form of global consciousness that has been emerging across cultures, religions and worldviews through the centuries. This awakening…is nothing less than a shift…from more egocentric patterns of life to a higher form of integral and dialogic patterns of life.” – World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality

“…it should now be apparent that global spirituality is precisely this crossing from egocentric life into the deep–dialogic life of global consciousness: this is the highest telos and consensus of our great planetary spiritual endowment…True Spirituality is the highest expression of our rational essence and is not to be confused with egocentric religious life. Spirituality is the awakening of our highest being, bringing us into direct relation with Reality as the Logosphere; it is the process of self–transformation from ego life to the awakened life of mature Integral Natural Reason and flowing in harmony with the Lawlike Moral Energy of the Logosphere. And Global Spirituality is this awakening of the Global Mind, the highest mature form of spirituality in its global power. Global Spirituality then is Awakened Critical Reason and is thus free of all ego ideology and ego dogma. Now, hopefully, the direct link between global consciousness and global spirituality should be more manifest.” – World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality

“By 1937 the Protestant Church was either deeply divided between the German Christians and the Confession Church…biblical fundamentalism and Nazified Christianity were equally repellent.” Pg 228

“The egocentric… mind is a stage in our human development (evolution) which tends to separate and objectify the thinking subject from the objects of though, and to remain centered in and privileging its particular worldview (religion, ideology, cultural lens) as the exclusive measure of reality (meaning, truth, fact, value, experience, existence). The egocentric mind is broken off from the Integral Field of Reality and packages, constructs, separates, divides, polarizes, fragments all its touches….ego minding is the primary cause of the spectrum of human pathologies. And the consensus prescription is that to change this mentality is the single most important factor in transforming the human condition.” - World Commission on Global Consciousness & Spirituality

“Anti-Christian writings of the Nazi ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, who publicly rejected such central doctrines as the immortality of the soul and Christ’s redemption of humankind from original sin. In his book The Myth of the Twentieth Century, Rosenberg excoriated Catholicism as the creation of the Jewish clericalism” pg 238

“Robert Ley, leader of the Labour Front, went even further than Rosenberg in his disdain for Christianity and his rejection of the Divinity of Christ…” pg 251

“Jesus, whom the Muslims regard as a prophet, as in fact do many of the New Testament writers. Luke’s gospel calls Jesus a prophet from start to finish; the idea that Jesus was divine was a later development, often misunderstood by Christians.” Karen Armstrong, Alliance of Civilizations

Karen Armstrong, a apostate and former Catholic nun, is certainly aware that this is considered heresy by the Catholic church and that her words were intended to attack an entire religion. At least the Alliance of Civilizations is no longer attempting to pretend to be something they are not.

Religious Education
“Remoulding the educational system would create a new generation of young Germans who had known no alternative source of values to Nazism. Yet there was of course one area in which such values did persist…That was religion. For reasons of political expediency and caution, the Third Reich had stopped short in 1933 of attacking the Churches and their dependent secular institutions. As it became more self-confident, however, it began to turn its attention to Christianity too, and to seek a means of either converting it to a form more suitable to the new Germany, or, if that did not work, of doing away with it altogether.” Pg 218

“Nazis now launched a sustained campaign to close denominational schools and replace them with non-religious ‘community schools’…Parents were forced to sign prepared statements declaring that they ‘did not want the education of my child at school to be misused by stirring up religious unrest’ Pg 246

“By the summer of 1939, all denominational schools in Germany had been turned into community schools, and all private schools run by the Churches had been closed down or nationalized…By 1939 religious instruction in vocational schools had been reduced to half an hour a week, and in many areas it had to follow guidelines…Parents who objected to these moves…were obliged by the local authorities to withdraw their objection, summoned to special meetings at the school to pressure them to sign their children up for ideological instruction instead of religious education…” pgs 246-247

“The German Christian’s attempt to create a synthesis between German Protestantism and Nazi racism had effectively collapsed…Hitler reluctantly abandoned his ambition of convereting it into the official state Church of the Third Reich. Instead, he ordered the creation of a new Ministry for Church Affairs, established in July 1935 under the 48-year-old Hanns Kerrl…The new Ministry was given wide-ranging powers, which Kerrl did not hesitate to deploy in order to bring refractory pastors to heel…Pastors were banned from preaching, or had their pay stopped. They were forbidden to teach in schools. All theological students were ordered to join Nazi organizations.” Pg 230

Such measures are most likely to succeed if supported by religious education that is based upon a sound interpretation of religious teachings. – Alliance of Civilizations High Level Group

“Education as we understand it here makes it possible to view with equanimity the completion of the process of secularisation, first of structures, then of society itself, as just one of several possible reflections of a modern way of life. School should give children a clearer understanding of the psychosocial, cultural and sometimes political functions of religion. This sort of approach would undoubtedly help to sharpen and challenge their critical faculties and combat the wilder excesses of particularism. This has fundamental consequences for the educational system, particularly as regards the teaching of religious education. Who should teach religion? Who can make a valid comparison between the different doctrinal elements of religions? We must beware of confusion here. A clear distinction needs to be drawn between religious education in the sense understood by adherents of a faith, which consists of transmitting the values, teachings and liturgy of their religion with a view to the proper practice of that religion (e.g. the Catholic catechism), and the teaching of comparative religion which aims only to instil knowledge about religion and the history of religion. Only the latter forms one of the bases of learning for the intercultural dialogue through education. Religious education of the first kind is perfectly legitimate, but is not relevant to the objective under discussion. Comparative religion should therefore be taught by professional teachers capable of providing a comparative analysis of religions, regardless of their own religious choice, with the objectivity of an expert, not the passion of a devotee. This is an essential choice that will determine the success of the dialogue through education. The difficulty of the exercise lies in integrating religion, which is such a sensitive issue in the Euro-Mediterranean area, into the field of education, taking into account its irreducibility and its mission to provide absolute truth, but without altering the educational philosophy of mutual knowledge based on curiosity, self-respect and openness to the Other.” - Dialogue Between Peoples and Cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean Area more...
| NewWorldOrder | Apostasy |

It's a little easier to see the repetition of the New Age ideology and how the use of governments to harmonize belief will lead to a persecution of those that refuse to conform to it. Keep watching!

Here A "Christ," There A "Christ," Everywhere A "Christ-Christ"! Pastor Larry DeBruyn (March 31, 2008) - Throughout this inter-advent age--the time between Jesus' Incarnation and Second Coming, or Parousia--Jesus and John warned that false prophets would arise preaching the doctrine of replacement christs (Matthew 24:5, 23-24; 1 John 2:18). As Jesus' coming draws nearer, and as pictured by the image of Messiah's birth pangs, we can expect that oracular announcements of anti-christs by the false prophets will multiply and proliferate. Some of these false messiahs will even work deceptive "signs and wonders" (Mark 13:8, 21-22). During this age Jesus warned: "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not" (Matthew 24:23-26, KJV). There can be no greater proliferation of the anti-christ doctrine than belief systems which teach everybody's a christ. Among a host of others, Eckhart Tolle, bestselling author whose writings Oprah Winfrey highly recommends, teaches that all humanity is indwelt by an immanent christ-spirit. He has stated, "Jesus speaks of the innermost I am, the essence identity of every man and woman . . . Some Christian mystics have called it the Christ within . . ."[1] In an earlier writing, he also stated: "In you, as in each human being, there is a consciousness far deeper than thought. It is the very essence of who you are. . . . it is the Christ within, or your Buddha nature."[2] Statements like Tolle's are all over the Internet. Everybody's a christ--they just haven't realized it. To experience "christness," New Age prophets tell us that a shift in consciousness is needed. So we ask, what would Jesus think (WWJT) about such teaching? Before attending to "WWJT," we should know something of the overall New Testament presentation of Christ. In contrast to the plethora of christs advocated by proponents of mystical spirituality, Peter designated, and John affirmed, that Jesus is " the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Emphasis mine, Matthew 16:16; Compare 1 John 2:22-23; 5:1.)[3] The one God has one Son, and the one Son is the one Christ. There can be no other "christs"! Jesus is as John says, "the only begotten from the Father" (John 1:14,18; 3:16, 18; See Hebrews 11:17; 1 John 4:9.), and "only begotten" (Greek, monogenes) means "unique, only one of His kind" (Compare Philippians 2:9-11.). Given the Gnosticism, Immanentism, and Messianism of the new spirituality of the New Age[4], Christ's prophetic warning becomes relevant. He stated, "Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not" (Matthew 24:26). Jesus warned His disciples not to look for the Messiah in two places: either "in the desert" or "in the secret chambers." So in light of the popular rise of mystic religion in America during the last half-century, and when compared to the Bible's teaching there's but "one" Christ, the two places where Jesus predicted Christ could not be found become most interesting.

First, disciples are not to think that Christ is hidden somewhere in "the desert." He will not be found, or experienced, by engaging the disciplines, solitude, and silence of ascetic monks who choose, like the Essenes and Desert Fathers, to separate themselves from the corrupting and distracting influences of a worldly civilization and church. Christ will not be found in some personal-mystical experience in a barren desert. Jesus Christ told His disciples, "Don't look for Me there."

Second, He, that is Christ, will not be discovered in "the secret chambers." The two words in the English Bible, translated "secret chambers" (KJV and ASV) or "inner rooms" (NASB, NIV, NKJV, and NRSV), are one word in the Greek text (tameiois). In the New Testament the word is rare (See Matthew 6:6; Luke 12:3.) As a plural noun, the word literally reads, "the secrets." So we can understand Jesus to have warned the disciples: "Don't believe it when the false prophets tell you, 'Look, Christ is in the secrets!'" (Matthew 24:26). About "the secrets," one scholar wrote that Jesus was warning people that false prophets would attempt to lead them astray by, "claiming that they [i.e. the false prophets] have special knowledge; whereas ordinary people do not know where the Messiah is, they do. If people will only trust them, they will lead them to him."[5] Thus, we can see that Jesus' warning is relevant to the spiritual gnosticism (i.e., "knowing") which advocates that there resides a secret christ within, "far deeper than thought," as Tolle puts it, awaiting the awakening of the new consciousness. These days, many peddle a secret Jesus lost in history and shrouded in mystery. This christ, the popular notion goes, is waiting to be revealed, exposed, and unwrapped via some new historical evidence, innovative spiritual program, or radical shift of consciousness. Of such consciousness, Eckhart Tolle also wrote, "The 'second coming' of Christ is a transformation of human consciousness, a shift from time to presence, from thinking to pure consciousness, not the arrival of some man or woman. If 'Christ' were to return tomorrow in some externalized form, what could he or she say to you other than this: 'I am the Truth. I am divine presence. I am eternal life. I am within you. I am here. I am now.'"[6] Guess what? Jesus tells us that we won't find Christ "in the secrets." Messiah is not mentalist. By human imagining, He cannot be reproduced over and over and over again in billions of human minds and hearts. About the deception that Christ can be found in the secret recesses of human consciousness, Jesus says, "Don't you believe it!" As He first warned in His prophetic sermon, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many " (Matthew 24-4b-5).

The Messiah's coming was not, is not, and will not be secreted. Rather, in contradiction to Tolle's dictum, His coming will be "externalized."[7] His coming will not be realized by internally developing a consensus of christ-consciousness on earth below. But as described by the apostle John, Christ will come externally from heaven above. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him" (Revelation 1:7). The Christ will come openly and publicly for all to see, and this after true believers have already met "the Lord in the air" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). So in the meantime, and as ordered by Jesus, believers are not to go about looking for Christ in "deserts" or "secrets."
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More on the topic of the harpazo (catching away). Is there a single coming of Christ, or does He come once and then return after His wrath is poured out? I believe scripture answers this question in the mutually exclusive descriptions of His coming I go into here.

Oprah's new Easter WorldNet Daily (March 3, 2008) - Today, a live ten-week webinar hosted by Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle, author of "A New Earth," will begin on the Internet. Both the book and the online course purport to be able to awaken you and our world to life's grand purpose. Since Oprah's endorsement of Tolle's book a month ago, 3.5 million copies of his spiritual self-help guide have been sent out to enlighten the minds of people around the globe. And more than 500,000 people in 125 countries have already signed up for the worldwide web seminar. Other celebrities have also chimed their endorsements of the book, like Guy Ritchie, Russel Simmons, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey, who said, "I think one of the most important questions that people ask in life is who am I and why am I here? This book gets as close to an answer as any book could ever get." "A New Earth" has even been labeled "a spiritual classic" by one of today's leading spiritual thinkers. But will this religious text and its subsequent Internet church-like gathering really lead you and our world to God's gates of splendor? I completely respect everyone's First Amendment rights to choose their religion of choice. But I also recognize the First Amendment rights to speak freely against what I and so many others deem as errant and spiritually unsafe. We can all agree to disagree agreeably, but that doesn't turn an aberrant spiritual opinion into almighty religious truth. With this live webcast running through the very heart of one of Christendom's most sacred seasons of the year (including Lent, Palm Sunday, Easter and Pentecost), the queen of daytime talk is preaching from a primetime pulpit, from which she is heralding to the world community, "Get ready to be awakened!" But is it merely a coincidence that Winfrey's and Tolle's spiritual quest aligns with this special religious time of year? It is yet one more evidence of the paradigm shift in our culture from its moral absolute and Judeo-Christian basis to a relativistic worldview in which anything goes and everything is tolerated. The fact is: Tolle's "A New Earth" is being adopted and transformed into Oprah's new Easter. Like most self-help spiritual texts of this type, it is a blend of half truths and half fabrications. One could easily save the purchase price of "A New Earth" and subsequently avoid misleading remarks by reading a Bible, which gives a much more thorough and accurate picture of life's purpose and methods for overcoming its obstacles. For example, Tolle advocates that the chief obstacle to awakening is our ego, and that fear is the basis of ego. (Is that a revelation to anyone?) The Bible declared more than two millennia ago, "With pride comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom" and "perfect love drives out all fear." Tolle newly advocates "being in the now," while the Bible admonished long ago, "Be still and know that I am God." Before Tolle even conceived "A New Earth," the Bible described "a new heaven and a new Earth" and shows us exactly how we can inherit them in the future. Tolle concludes, "This book is about you. It will change your state of consciousness or it will be meaningless." On the other hand, the Bible emphatically assures its contents are "able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation." Tolle himself doesn't align with any one religion, but blends tenets of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sufism, Christianity and other faiths. One reviewer from the Vancouver Sun said of Tolle:

His spiritual outlook has become more complex since [his former book] "The Power of Now," when he dismissed external reality as an illusion and made it sound as if "living in the now" was a panacea for all the world's problems. … In addition, Tolle believes outer realities – including politics, war, poverty and even the climate – will magically be transformed when individuals change their inner consciousness. This may be true, but only to an extent.

The reason Tolle's psychology and spirituality is marketed so easy is that it is an eclectic mix of conventional and unconventional wisdom, and Western and Eastern beliefs, presented in a tolerant, non-threatening, and non-sectarian way. In other words, it's "Religion Light," in which one can be spiritual with "little down and no credit." Is anyone else growing weary of light, quick fix, pop-a-pill-and-you'll-feel-better schemes in society and self-help? Have you ever found that the most valuable lessons in life have come easy? If we're ever to discover the truth and purpose for life, we must be liberated from our fixations with easy roads – and then model and teach the same to our children and grandchildren. That is why I'm endorsing, and even written the foreword for, an upcoming (April 15 release) revolutionary book, "Do Hard Things," written by Alex and Brett Harris. It offers real insights and rewards for life by commendably calling us to rebel against the low expectations of culture and choose to "do hard things." Even Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to follow me, you must take up your cross and follow me." Tolle, however, only quotes relatively benign sayings of Jesus, while avoiding the more difficult ones. For example, he notes that Jesus taught that the "kingdom of heaven" was already present on Earth and can be experienced right now, but overlooks Jesus' teaching that one must be born again by believing in him as the Son of God and Savior to see that kingdom in the future. When will we learn? Our pursuit and obtainment of truth is hindered most by our subjective (or à la carte) selections of religion and refusal to consider tougher commandments that call us to higher accountability and our true purpose. more...
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Survey: Americans freely change, or drop, their religions USA Today (February 28, 2008) - A new map of faith in the USA shows a nation constantly shifting amid religious choices, unaware or unconcerned with doctrinal distinctions. Unbelief is on the rise. And immigration is introducing new faces in the pews, new cultural concerns, new forces in the public square. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, documents new peaks, deepening valleys and fast-running rivers of change in American religiosity. Based on interviews with 35,556 adults in the continental United States, it shows so much diversity and dynamism that a co-author sums it up simply. "Churn. Churn. Churn. The biggest news here is change," says Pew Forum research fellow Gregory Smith. "It's not that religion won't matter in the future, but that it will matter in new and less predictable ways," says co-author John Green, a political scientist and Pew Forum senior fellow. Key findings from the survey:

• Faith is fluid: 44% say they're no longer tied to the religious or secular upbringing of their childhood. They've changed religions or denominations, adopted a faith for the first time or abandoned any affiliation altogether.
• "Nothing" matters: 12.1% say their religious identity is "nothing in particular," outranking every denomination and tradition except Catholics (23.9%) and all groups of Baptists (17.2%).
• Protestants are fading: 51.3% call themselves Protestant, but roughly one-third of this group were "unable or unwilling" to describe their denomination.
• Immigrants sustain Catholic numbers: 46% of foreign-born U.S. adults are Catholics, compared with only 21% of native-born adults. Latinos are now 45% of all U.S. Catholics ages 18-29.

Like the Catholic Church, other public institutions will have to accommodate the impact of immigration. Already, more than 34 million of the nation's 225 million adults are foreign-born, and half of these are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census. "The Catholic Church may be a microcosm of what's going to happen to the country in the next 40 years," says Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum. The Pew survey was based on random telephone interviews conducted in English and Spanish, May 8 through Aug. 13. Another 1,050 interviews were added from an earlier 2007 Pew-sponsored survey of Muslims in the USA, which included interviews in Arabic, Farsi and Urdu. The margin of error is plus or minus 0.6 percentage points for the full sample, higher for subgroups. The findings are being presented in two segments. One looks at religious affiliation (here used to mean identity) and demographic characteristics. The other, to be released in late spring, delves into beliefs, behavior and political views. Today's report (online at www.Pewforum.org) sorts people into major groupings: Christian (78.4%); other religions (4.7%) including Jewish (1.7%) and Muslim (0.7%); and "unaffiliated" (16.1%), which includes atheist (1.6%), agnostic (2.4%) and "nothing in particular." Protestants also are subdivided into three groups: evangelical (26.3%) with shared strict ideas on salvation and common historic origins; mainline (18.1%), which share "a less exclusionary view of salvation and a strong emphasis on social reform"; and historically black churches (6.9%) with traditions "shaped by experiences of slavery and segregation." These overall findings are parsed to a fine degree by being broken down into nearly 250 faiths and traditions and examined by demographic characteristics. more...
| Apostasy | America |

This covers more than Christianity of course, but the fluid nature of belief evident is the whole point. Absolute Truth is not a common bond and this fits into the mold of the Babylonian system of mixing beliefs that the Bible says will lead to acceptance of the antichrist as God because he will have lying signs and wonders. Society today needs to see to believe, which I believe stems from the history of the mystery of iniquity at work today and being indoctrinated taught in our public schools today. The destruction of faith is the goal and it is working amazingly well.

Romans 10:14-17
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

But how many in the world today trust the Bible? Faith isn't blind either. This website is my attempt to make the clarity of scripture obvious and to build the faith in what the Bible says through the testimony of fulfilled prophecy so that believing what the Bible says isn't based on blindness, but rather in seeing the Truth and being set free by it.

James 1:2-8
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Please take the time to listen to this message by Dr. Charles Stanley:
Surviving Our Present Culture - More In Touch Ministries audio

'Earth worship' on the rise among evangelical youth OneNewsNow (February 25, 2008) - Janice Crouse, a senior fellow with Concerned Women for America, says it's disturbing that many young people in evangelical churches are experimenting with the Wiccan religion. Church leaders and Christian parents, she warns, must be ready to counter that growing interest among their youth. Crouse cites an article in Religion Journal which said youth pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention were worried about large numbers of evangelicals taking part in Wicca, a religion that involves nature worship, stresses moral autonomy, and includes remedies and spells -- beliefs that Crouse points out are distinctly different from orthodox Christianity, not to mention incompatible with the Bible. "... Wiccans believe in moral autonomy -- [that] 'nobody can tell me what to do.' And I think particularly with young people ... that's a very desirable thing; they don't want the church telling them that there are boundaries, [that] there are things that they can't do," she explains. "Another one is that they don't believe in having authorities beyond human constructs; that we as individuals have the responsibility to shape our own beliefs and there's no evil beyond that." Crouse, who directs Concerned Women for America's Beverly LaHaye Institute, says the interest in Wicca can be traced to recent books featuring witchcraft and similar topics. "Some people think this goes back to the books that were so popular up until recently, and so many of the games and television programs that feature witchcraft and magic and fairy tales that have a dimension to it that if you just pull out some kind of spell you can make anything happen," she says. "This has really become quite entrenched in many of the young people's groups and in evangelicals in particular." According to Crouse, "earth worship" -- as she describes Wicca -- appeals to people who do not want to be bound by any book of authority or have imposed on them any requirements to be "believers."
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The Fuzzy-Wuzzy World of Charismatic Morality Charisma Magazine (February 22, 2008) - Christian leaders who flippantly divorce without adequate explanation are confusing young believers and mocking biblical standards. In an era when evangelical ministers are endorsing pro-abortion candidates and an Episcopal bishop is marrying his gay lover, I guess it is no surprise that our own charismatic church leaders are sending out confusing signals about morality these days. It seems that in 2008, up is down, right is wrong and biblical absolutes are up for grabs. This is especially true when it comes to marriage, an institution that once was considered sacred by all Christians. Nowadays, many preachers and even famous evangelical authors have created a new trend: Throwaway wedding vows. Christian divorce today is cheap, easy and not that much more expensive than a facelift. And some of our superstar preachers have figured out a way to use Bible verses to support their moral failures. Take Paula White, for example. The high-powered preacher announced last August that her marriage to Randy White was over, with no clear explanation why, and she continued on her whirlwind ministry circuit without skipping a beat. The Whites said adultery was not the reason for their breakup, although Randy said the whole mess was his fault. We were all left scratching our heads. Paula teaches people all over the nation how to live “a life by design,” which is also the official name of her trademark success seminars. But I am left questioning what kind of design she’s promoting—especially when she joined the staff of San Antonio pastor Rick Hawkins, who divorced his wife last year. By partnering with him in ministry, Paula is legitimizing his questionable choices. When a local news reporter in Tampa, Fla., asked Paula about how she reconciles her faith with her decision to divorce, she quoted a verse from Ecclesiastes and implied that, just as there is “a time for everything under heaven,” her divorce was just an unfortunate moment in her spiritual journey. She also glibly suggested that one day she and Randy might get back together since they are good friends. Huh? What kind of talk is this, and what garbled message does it send to immature believers who don’t know yet how to discern God’s will for themselves? Many of them will take Paula’s confusing words as license to do whatever they feel like doing. If there is a time for divorce, then there might as well be a time for binge drinking, a time for a porn movie or a time to steal from an employer. Morality gets morphed into an ooey-gooey concept that you shape for yourself. I wish that Paula had said this: “Divorce is not God’s will. It destroys families. If anyone out there is thinking about divorce, please don’t choose that path until you have tried every avenue for restoration.” But she didn’t sound a clear trumpet. She gave us mishmash. more...
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Christianity Today Proclaims Ancient Future Church At Hand Lighthouse Trails (February 11, 2008) - In the February issue of Christianity Today, the cover article titled  "The Future Lies in the Past" proclaims that the "ancient future" church is now a reality. The cover photo shows a young man kneeling in a pile of sand (shovel sitting next to him), and he has just dug up a medieval looking Christian cross. The caption reads "Lost Secrets of the Ancient Church: How evangelicals started looking back to move forward." The article begins:

The article states that the new evangelicalism must learn the "ascetic disciplines" from "Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and living, practicing monks and nuns." For those who understand the spirituality of Richard Foster and those who resonate with him like Dallas Willard and Brennan Manning, this article confirms all that Ray Yungen and Roger Oakland have been trying to warn fellow believers about. One, that the evangelical church is embracing contemplative spirituality, and two, it is an ecumenical drift toward Catholicism (and eventually a broader one world body of all religions). That is not a sweeping and exaggerated statement. It is happening before our very eyes, and Christianity Today has just acknowledged it. more...
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Cardinals Hoping for a 5th Marian Dogma Zenit (February 11, 2008) - Five cardinals have sent a letter inviting prelates worldwide to join them in petitioning Benedict XVI to declare a fifth Marian dogma they said would "proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary." The text, released last week, includes the petition that asks the Pope to proclaim Mary as "the Spiritual Mother of All Humanity, the co-redemptrix with Jesus the redeemer, mediatrix of all graces with Jesus the one mediator, and advocate with Jesus Christ on behalf of the human race." The signatories of the letter are five of the six cardinal co-sponsors of the 2005 International Symposium on Marian Coredemption, held in Fatima: Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, archbishop of Ranchi, India; Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, retired archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, India; Cardinal Riccardo Vidal, archbishop of Cebu, Philippines; and Cardinal Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, retired archbishop of Mexico City. Cardinal Edouard Gagnon, who died last August, was the sixth cardinal co-sponsor of the 2005 conference. He was the president of the Pontifical Council of the Family from 1974 until he resigned in 1990. The secretariat of the five cardinal co-patrons released the English translation of the letter, which includes a translation and the original Latin text of the "votum," or petition, that was formulated in 2005 and presented formally to the Pope by Cardinal Telesphore in 2006. The petition states: "We believe the time opportune for a solemn definition of clarification regarding the constant teaching of the Church concerning the Mother of the Redeemer and her unique cooperation in the work of Redemption, as well as her subsequent roles in the distribution of grace and intercession for the human family." Ecumenism: Pointing to ecumenical concerns, the petition continues: "It is of great importance [...] that people of other religious traditions receive the clarification on the highest level of authentic doctrinal certainty that we can provide, that the Catholic Church essentially distinguishes between the sole role of Jesus Christ, divine and human Redeemer of the world, and the unique though secondary and dependent human participation of the Mother of Christ in the great work of Redemption." The text adds that the move would be "the ultimate expression of doctrinal clarity at the service of our Christian and non-Christian brothers and sisters who are not in communion with Rome." In a press statement released along with the letter, the cardinal co-sponsors reiterated the same ecumenical concern and said the proclamation of a fifth Marian dogma would be a "service of clarification to other religious traditions and to proclaim the full Christian truth about Mary." The statement added, "This initiative also intends to start an in-depth worldwide dialogue on Mary's role in salvation for our time. [...] Should this effort prove successful, a proclamation would constitute a historical event for the Church as only the fifth Marian dogma defined in its 2,000-year history." Cardinal Aponte Martínez, one of the cardinal co-patrons said: "I believe the time is now for the papal definition of the relationship of the Mother of Jesus to the each one of us, her earthly children, in her roles as co-redemptrix, mediatrix of all graces and advocate. "To solemnly proclaim Mary as the spiritual mother of all peoples is to fully and officially recognize her titles, and consequently to activate, to bring to new life the spiritual, intercessory functions they offer the Church for the new evangelization, and for humanity in our serious present world situation."
| RCC | Apostasy |

Re-Thinking Revised Understand the Times International (February 2, 2008) - Over the 30 years I have traveled the road of life as a born-again, Bible-believing Christian, I have experienced a number of significant events that have provided inspiration and direction for the ministry God has given me. The Rethink Conference held at Robert Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral, January 17-19, 2008 can now be listed as one of those watershed events. While I was not able to attend the entire conference because of a missionary trip scheduled to the Philippines, the opening day of Rethink: new perspectives from global influences provided ample evidence to evaluate the significance of the event. For nearly two thousand years, most professing Christians have seen the Bible as the foundation for the Christian faith. The overall view at the Rethink Conference, however, is that Christianity, as we have known it, has run its course and must be replaced. Co-hosted by Erwin Mc Manus and Robert Schuller, the conference declared that a paradigm shift is now underway. Speakers insisted that Christianity must be re-thought and re-invented if the name of Jesus Christ is going to survive here on planet earth now that we are in the twenty-first century. The Observable Evidence With the risk of being labeled a negative divisive critic who is against everything, I am compelled to tell you what I witnessed at this conference. This commentary will paraphrase the actual statements made by the speakers as I took extensive notes. The conference opened with an on-stage dialogue between Schuller and McManus. Schuller gave a brief overview of his accomplishments through his many years of ministry. He explained how pleased he was to be able to look back at the tremendous leaders he had mentored over the years, which include Willow Creek’s seeker-friendly pioneer pastor Bill Hybels, the six million member Church of God in Christ’s Bishop Charles Blake, and Rick Warren who has pioneered the purpose driven church and the purpose driven life. While Schuller said he was very pleased with all the great accomplishments of the past, his vision to impact the world in the future is even bigger and better. He told the audience that even though he is now over 80 years old, he believes there is even a greater potential to succeed now at a time in his life when he is no longer subject to “temptation.” Erwin Mc Manus, a much younger version of Robert Schuller, offered a solution to anyone in the audience that might have that problem. He mentioned there were “pills” available on the market to curb “temptation.” Schuller quickly retorted that he knew there were other pills available for those who were supposedly over the hill. While some of the people sitting around me were noticeably bothered by such out-of-place comments, the majority of the people in the auditorium seemed to enjoy these opening remarks. Re-thinking Think Tank Following this brief introduction by the two hosts, Bishop Blake was scheduled to speak. For reasons not announced to the attendees, Bishop Blake did not appear on the platform when his name was announced. Schuller then reappeared, joking that he was Schuller and not Bishop Blake. It was difficult to know whether this was a pre-planned moment of silliness or not. A moment later, Mc Manus reappeared on the platform and told the audience there would be a slight change in the schedule. At this point a coat rack was brought out on the platform with three hats hanging on it. A skit was performed which involved an off- screen person asking questions of an onstage actor. I later found out the talent for this drama was provided by Mc Manus. The drama was obviously designed to set the tone of the conference and was of professional quality. The actor played three characters who represented different well-known men throughout history. The first was Copernicus. The second was Christopher Columbus, and the third was Martin Luther. These three men were revolutionary in their thinking at that particular time in history, and each was going up stream against the mainstream of society. The actor who played the three different characters finally appeared as himself. He announced to the audience that he was a new Christian. However, he said he had a problem with Christianity now that he was a Christian and was disgusted with how hypocritical traditional Christianity had become. He suggested that the church as we know it today needs to be re-thought. Of course, we know the Bible teaches that the traditions of man are a hindrance to faith when they are not based on the Word of God. Jesus made it clear that when tradition supersedes the truth of the Word, it is imperative to toss away tradition and get back to the Word. The actor in the drama left the impression that Jesus was referring to our present generation when he spoke these words. I am reminded of the ecumenical nature of the emerging church, which is driven by contemplative spirituality that traces back to ancient Roman Catholic mystical practices. Contemplative spirituality provides a mystical formula also known as “spiritual formation” in order to get closer to Jesus. The problem is that this state of silence achieved is similar to that which is reached through eastern meditation, and the realm reached is not the presence of God but the possible presence of demons. The Bible is very clear in its warning against practicing divination, which uses mystical methods to conjure up the spirit world. Yet, a growing number of evangelical churches are incorporating contemplative into their church body. During my day at Rethink, I interviewed a number of men and women. I was often amazed at their comments. Most of them had no idea what the term emerging church meant (even though they were right smack in the center of it), and they had no idea why the conference was called “Rethink.” When I asked them what they thought about the fact that President Bush senior (a member of a secret society), Rupert Murdoch (a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and who profits from pornographic tabloids) and Larry King (I was told Schuller has been witnessing to him and he is almost a Christian) had been enlisted to provide input to help Christians re-think, they were not able to answer why this would have been so. more...
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Global government, mankind's gravest need - Ahmadinejad IRNA (January 22, 2008) - IRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here Monday evening at the inauguration ceremony of new head of National Center for Globalization Studies, "mankind's gravest need today is a global government." Appreciating the services rendered by the former head of that center (formerly called the International Center for Dialogue among Civilizations), Dr. Mohammad Nahavandian, the President said that choosing Esfandiar Rahim-Masha'ie was "based on precise calculations, and in accordance with a plan for the center." The president added, "The Center for Globalization Studies must be a very dynamic center, able to take long studies forward, thanks to the presence of thinkers and intellectuals from various academic fields, able to pursue globalization discussions throughout the world." Pointing out that God has definitely been pursuing objectives in creation of man, he stressed, "Almighty Allah has drawn the horizons of man's blessed life in this world and how to achieve that objective, based on man's innate desires and in the framework of his social relations with the others." The President emphasized, "Man is created to be a global creature, as all divine religions are global, and if he would be deprived of this aspect of his personality, neither anything would remain of his humanity, nor any of his potentials and talents would find a proper ground for manifestation." Proposing that the rule of single law in the entire world is a bare necessity for the mankind, he said, "The existence of a thousand laws in the world, and then expecting that the global society would reach a status of equilibrium, justice, and tranquility is wishing for the impossible." He added, "It is not possible to observe global justice under such conditions that each country is ruled based on a different set of laws." Ahmadinejad said, "The entire monotheist Arch-Prophets (PBUT) were leaders for the whole mankind, and accordingly, so long as a single law would not be put to effect globally, and a single perfect, and noble human being would not take the charge of a global government, the God given talents of the people would not be materialized, and there would be no sign of divine justice in the world." He considered mankind's progress throughout history "a constant move towards perfection", reiterating, "Today, globalization has become an issue for daily talk of even ordinary folks, under such conditions that signs for accelerating move of the mankind towards the peaks of perfection are countless, and ever increasing." The IRI President stressed that pure Mohamedan Islam has answers to modern man's entire questions, adding, "World nations would accept Islam in large groups if pure Islam would one day be presented to them free from all non-Islamic attachments." Ahmadinejad said, "The entire developments in the world are pieces of a puzzle, being fit in their place in order to complete God's general scheme for a perfect world for the mankind, but in the process of this completion some people achieve perfection, while others fall in the abbeys of annihilation, and nowhere is ever devoid of God's will and Divine Rule, nor of his Caliph on earth." He said that the era for drawing border lines between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism is now over, reiterating, "Unadulterated Christianity and Judaism are the same as they are entirely manifestations of the same Divine Truth." The President stressed, "The single and solid plan and order that we should present for the lives of the world people should be in a way to be acceptable by the pure innate nature of the entire mankind, and such laws need to be based on divine teachings."
| Iran | NewWorldOrder | Apostasy |

If the studies pointing to the 12th Mahdi as the false prophet are accurate, then it makes sense that someone like Ahmadinejad who views himself as preparing the way for the Mahdi's re-emergence to speak for global government because his Imam will be demanding the world worship the antichrist and enforcing his policies. One of Islam's goals is a world under Muslim rule. If they are directed to worship the antichrist and view him as their leader, then his global control will be viewed as that fulfillment. Remember also that the Magog invasion comes before the antichrist is revealed so there could be a shift in perspective once the radical attackers are wiped out in the mountains of Israel. In all religions though, we are going to see an alignment with the Alliance of Civilizations and the "we all worship the same God" lie. The proof is in the holy books of the various religions. Because many elements of Judaism and Christianity are combined into the Koran, there will be elements of similarity, but the messages are clearly polar opposite between Judaism/Christianity and Islam.

The Cruise Indoctrination Video Scientology Tried To Suppress Gawker.com - You have to watch this video. It shows Tom Cruise, with all the wide-eyed fervor that he brings to the promotion of a movie, making the argument for Scientology, the bizarre 20th-century religion. Making the argument is an understatement. The Hollywood actor, star of movies such as Mission Impossible, is a complete fanatic. "When you're a Scientologist, and you drive by an accident, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one who can really help... We are the way to happiness. We can bring peace and unite cultures." more...
| Apostasy |

Personally, I thought Tom came across as sparatic. He seemed to be talking a lot about nothing really and throwing out abbreviations that I guess you have to be initiated in order to understand. This certainly doesn't sell me on Scientology, especially when I have learned the Truth about reality, not wishfully thought my own beliefs into existence. All who do that will be crushed by the reality that figments of imagination, no matter how convincing, do not trump reality. God is and He is coming for those that love Him. He spelled out reality very clearly in the Bible, much more clearly than this, if one takes the time to read about it.