Herescope Archives

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

Transformation has become one of the most popular buzzwords of modern religious movements. The problem is that the way this word is used these days has nothing to do with the way the Bible uses it, even though the impression is created that it is the same. “This word now refers to an orchestrated, systemic and revolutionary overhaul of the global church, including the 'transformation' of cities, societies, cultures, marketplaces, and more.”[1]

It is based on the mistaken idea that we are to build God’s kingdom in a physical and social way, here on earth, in order that we may invite Jesus to return once the world is in proper shape to receive Him. This underlying principle is, of course, pure error. We will not prepare the world for Him nor will we build His Kingdom in a socio-political way. Jesus will establish His physical Kingdom after He has subdued the kingdoms of this world after they take up arms against Him at the battle of Armageddon. (1Corinthians 15, Revelation 20 etc).

Of course the idea that we will change and transform the world is a very arrogant and presumptuous one. The church has been in the world for two thousand years and the state of the world is getting worse and worse rather than better. Anyone can see that we are not doing a very good job of getting this world and its systems ready for the Lord’s return.

But more serious than the delusion that the church is commissioned to transform, and will transform this world and it’s systems, are the methods that are employed. These methods are often loosely based on the Bible and often appear to be very close to the teachings of Scripture. Millions of Christians are drawn into a process that is only superficially Christian but in reality is devoid of the most central aspects of Christianity – Jesus Christ and the Cross.

“Transformation,” as the term is now used, is aimed at transformation at three levels – individuals, churches and societies. In order to create an environment in which people will embrace “transformation” there has been a steady attack devaluing our traditional Christian values and beliefs and an erosion of the absolutes of Scripture. This has created an atmosphere of discontent with our values and openness to new methods.

We can go about trying to “transform” people and societies, their “worldview,” values and behavior, using these methods and still not get near the true transformation that the Bible teaches. Of course this is not a new phenomenon. The Scribes and Pharisees had developed a very intricate system of routines and rules in order to transform their society into a better one. On the surface they seemed to succeed but the problem then was, and now is, that the real issue was not being addressed – the heart of man. By managing change, implementing new systems and behavior modeling we can but change the outside but the heart will remain as evil as ever. In fact, if these methods have any impact on the heart, it is to gender arrogance, pride and even less need for the Cross and for Jesus Christ and thus reduce even more, the chances that such a one will cast themselves on the mercy of God.

There are many people in the world who outwardly have all the attributes of a Christian. Some unbelievers live better, more moral and more righteous lives than believers, but they are not saved and all their good deeds are a waste of time. On the surface, countries under Muslim law do not have a lot of crime, drunkenness and immorality but does that make those societies “good”? Will those people be saved? Obviously not. Many churches are filled with people who live good lives, believe the Bible (or some of it), attend church and give money to the church yet, these people are as unsaved and as sinful as the worst criminal.

What we need is the transformation that comes from giving up our attempts at self-reformation and from casting ourselves totally on the completed work of the Cross. Speaking to Nicodemus, who was very religious, kept all the laws and tried very hard to transform his society, Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Only the new birth can bring people into the Kingdom and only the new birth can change and transform a life. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2Corinthians 5:17). There is only one thing that can save, change and deliver and that is the Cross of Calvary.

While the modern methods are weak and ineffectual to bring about any permanent, real or substantial transformation, the Gospel is able to change those who will believe, not just on the outside but on the inside and that is where the change is most needed. Once the inside has been transformed by the Gospel, the Holy Spirit begins to work on the outside and begins to change our actions and deeds. This transformation has to be from the inside out and can never happen from the outside in. This is what the learned people call sanctification. This is an ongoing change and transformation which will only be complete when we see Him face to face. In the mean time “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2Corinthians 3:18).

This real transformation is so powerful and deep that it is able to change our nature and even our personalities. It is able to turn sinners into saints, drunkards into preachers and murderers into apostles. None of these modern methods are able to do any more than provide some temporary and shallow transformation. Worst of all, they cannot save. No wonder Paul was able to shout “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

So how do we know the difference between the real and the fake. (And I am sure that some are questioning why I have not listed the methods and systems.) The difference is not in the results, because the placebo will produce similar results as the real, but only for a while. (Remember the magicians who withstood Moses before Pharaoh). The difference is easy to spot. The genuine article is marked by a Cross! Yes, if the method or message does not contain the Cross, it is not the real thing. Avoid it! Let me illustrate. Many churches are filled to overflowing because they have become seeker sensitive, serve good coffee, have focus groups and show a real interest in people. Yet, the preachers in these churches avoid the Cross. Has that church and the people been transformed? I do not think so.

I can understand why many people would want a fake Rolex. It is simple: they cannot afford the real thing. But why would anyone want fake transformation when the real thing is free and has been fully paid for at the Cross?

Endnote:
[1] Leslie, Lynn & Sarah. "What Is Transformation?" Newswithviews.com. 2005

[Today's edifying message was reprinted with permission of Anton Bosch.]

The Truth:

"Be not carried about with divers and strange docrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." (Hebrews 13:9)

"For the manifestation of the Spirit among men will lessen the egotism of nationalism, will weaken the hold of despotic political creeds and pagan philosophies, and will substitute brotherly love and trust for envy, hatred, greed, and suspicion in international relations, both political and economic. It will mean a transformed human nature in which men and nations will not only feel their unity but will be able to trust one another because they act on the same just and honourable and unselfish standards. When this Christian transformation of man through love and understanding of the One True God has gone far enough, the nature and purposes of mankind will be so changed that it will be natural, easy, indeed inevitable, to bring into being institutions which will deal with international problems from the standpoint of the well-being of humanity as a whole, and whereby the legislative, executive, and judicial functions of the world federation will be exercised under some kind of democratic control, and in accordance with moral and spiritual law, and without any of the despotic, repressive, illiberal features which would necessarily characterize a world state today. For the Spirit of the Lord will inform its policy and its acts, and 'where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.'" [emphasis added]
(See citation in "The Quote" below)

Many good-hearted Christian Right activists get sucked into dominion theology because of their patriotism for America and because of their strong moral ethics. The appeal to patriotism is an emotional one, attached to an ideology which motivates people towards social action. The leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation use patriotism when it suits their purposes. But the "Kingdom" that they are talking about building is a global one -- a new international order.

This is most evident in Rick Joyner's latest post, "Taking the Land--The Coming Kingdom," April 1, 2006, put out on the Elijah List [http://tinyurl.com/oxq9p] . In the selected excerpts below notice the switch from patriotism to international globalism. Joyner introduces the global concept at the very beginning:

"Our Promised Land in Christ is the nations, the very ends of the earth. . . . The Lord is coming back to restore the entire earth, and we are now laying the foundation for the coming of His Kingdom to do this."

Joyner explains: "Many who are considered 'the founding fathers' of America had a theology that they were establishing the Kingdom of God on earth in what they called 'the new world.'" Joyner then asked "where did they go wrong?" His answer is very illuminating. He states:

"The theology that was generally shared by many of America's founding fathers is what is called 'Reconstructionist Theology.' A form of it has been more recently called 'Kingdom Now' theology. There are actually many variations of this doctrine, but it was the basic theology of the Puritans and greatly influenced most of the colonies in due time. These people really thought that America was a new Promised Land, and it was to be a representative of the Kingdom of God."

". . . However, let us be clear that America is not the Kingdom of God. . . . it is not the Promised Land."

Joyner then explains how this "Kingdom" will be ruled. The following material may be a rude awakening for many patriotic American Christians who have been led to believe that they are working on implementing the best of American ideals around the world.

"The coming Kingdom is going to be just that, a Kingdom, not a democracy."

Joyner prefaces his next remarks with the claim that ". . . the coming Kingdom will actually promote freedom and choice. There will be no question about who the Sovereign is. . . ." But he then explains just the opposite in the very alarming statements below:

"Almost every doctrine about the Kingdom has basically been about how to control people. . . .

"Restraints and controls are a good thing for this age and will actually be how the Kingdom age begins. However, the goal of the Kingdom is to not need any restraints. Everyone will have it in their hearts to do the right thing because all will be ruled by love. It will take a thousand years to get there. The Lord will rule with a rod of iron at first, even smashing many things that nations have been built on. Some of that smashing will have taken place before His return when everything that can be shaken will be shaken in preparation for the coming Kingdom."

Joyner applies his Gnostic worldview to this statement: "We must also keep in mind that for the immature, control and dictating is essential." The "immature" to this Gnostic are those who aren't yet elevated to higher levels of spirituality. This particular leader teaches a form of elitism and spiritual control.

Finally, Joyner disingenuously concludes that "There is authority in the Kingdom, and for a time it will seem most severe to the nations that have not been built on the principles of the Kingdom, but its goal is always liberty. " [All emphases added in above quotations]

The quotation in the paragraph at the top of this page is from Lord Lothian (Philip Kerr), a leading member of the Round Table Group (Rhodes Trust) which began work nearly 100 years ago on founding a new international order. The title of this speech is "The Demonic Influence of National Sovereignty," published as a preparatory paper prior to the 1937 Oxford Conference on Church and State. This particular conference laid the groundwork for the formation of a new world order, in which churches would be utilized to create the necessary "ethos" of "brotherhood." Working in tandem with this agenda at the time was the liberal church denominations under the auspices of the FCC.

The idea of using churches to create an international new world order (done in the name of building the "kingdom of God" on earth) is not a new one at all. For fascinating reading on historical nature of this concept see Dr. Martin Erdmann's Building the Kingdom of God on Earth: The Churches' Contribution to Marshall Public Support for World Order and Peace, 1919-1945 (Wipf and Stock Publ, 2005). [http://tinyurl.com/n842f] (The above quotation is found on page 109, fully cited in footnote 180 as published in Joseph H. Oldham, Church, Community, and State, Vol. 7: The Universal Church and the World of Nations (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1938 20).

"Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?" (Job 38:33)

From a March 30th, Elijah List post comes yet another indication that the spiritual warfare rhetoric is heating up. In this instance, there is a ominous connection to actual war.

In a posting entitled, "JOEL'S ARMY" we learn of a May 4-7th conference at the Albany Vineyard Church in Albany, Oregon. This church is a hot-bed of Latter Rain dominionism teachings.

"This is a crucial hour! The trumpet is sounding, calling on-fire, revolutionary believers to enlist in Joel’s Army. God has been raising up an army of radical warriors from the younger generation for years. These ones, referred to by many as 'Joel’s Army,' are tired of religious and church programs; they want to do the works of Jesus. This end-time army has one common purpose—to aggressively take ground for the Kingdom of God under the authority of Jesus Christ, the Dread Champion. The Captain of the Hosts is calling out a revival army of fierce spiritual warriors who won’t break rank and whose lifestyle is marked by obedience, holiness and God’s supernatural power. These ones have been in training for years and many are now ready to be mobilized to establish and advance God’s Kingdom on earth.

"Just for Youth? No Way! Joel’s Army is a trumpet call to a generation of young and old who would wholeheartedly want to pursue the Lord! Are you one of those? Then you can enlist in this Army." [http://tinyurl.com/pvoxs] [all emphases above added]

This same Elijah List post indicates that several weeks prior to this "Joel's Army" conference, Bobby Conner will be "ministering" at this same church. Interestingly, Bobby Conner has been engaged in actual high levels of geo-political activities along with other key Kansas City "prophets" Rick Joyner (see yesterday's post) and Paul Cain (currently out of the picture for his homosexual activities).

According to a 1999 report by Dr. Joseph Chambers, "The New World Order: How Close?" posted at http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/ditc210.html [http://tinyurl.com/om3ah] , these prophetic Joel's Army leaders have previously been hobnobbing with the likes of Saddam Hussein, Kurt Waldheim, and the Knights of Malta.

This fact, in combination with Rick Joyner's statements quoted yesterday in Herescope, raised some disturbing questions about the nature of this "kingdom building." So which is this? A kingdom of peace, or a kingdom of war? More on this topic tomorrow. . . .

For more understanding on the nature of this "Joel's Army" concept, be sure to read the recently re-issued booklet by Discernment Ministries entitled Joel's Army at http://www.discernment-ministries.org or http://tinyurl.com/bwfhs.

The Truth:

"And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." (Col. 1:20)

Even during Jesus’ ministry the question of the role of the Kingdom in society was a hot issue. Both Jesus’ disciples and the Jews wanted Him to transform their society to one that was just, liberated from Roman oppression and free of poverty. Satan tried to convince Him to build His kingdom on feeding the hungry (Matthew 4:3); Judas argued that the precious ointment could have been used to feed the poor and the other disciples could not wait for Him to set up His Kingdom and chase the Romans into the sea.

Eventually Constantine merged church and state and Christians thought that utopia had finally arrived. But, rather than the church transform the government, the state began to degrade the church and eventually plunged it into the dark ages and Catholicism. Much later Calvin thought he could legislate righteousness as he in vain tried to beat the citizens of Geneva into submission by setting up a “Christian” city-state. Even as I write Mr Thomas Monaghan is working towards building a city in Florida, to be called Ave Maria, which will be run on Roman Catholic laws and norms.

In the meantime millions of dollars have been spent by churches trying to eradicate poverty, disease, moral decay and social injustice. While many have done good work and use the feeding schemes as an opportunity to preach the Gospel, most have been sidetracked as the Gospel became the side issue and the social program became the main focus. (The Salvation Army is but one example.)

Then there are those who adopt a more spiritual tack and try by “spiritual” means to change entire communities, cities and states. The methods they use range from the bizarre to the devious. There are those who in vain have tried to bind the demons, gone on prayer marches, visited the high places and done “spiritual warfare.” The Transformation Videos [by George Otis] claim to show entire villages that have been “transformed” by these methods. None of these claims have ever been verified.

In Pensacola, Florida, where the Brownsville Assembly claimed crime had declined as a result of the church doing weird and crazy things, the police chief insisted that the contrary was true. In the last few months Bruce Wilkinson admitted failure and beat a hasty retreat from Swaziland when his "prayer of Jabez" failed to fix that country's problems. And right now Rwanda is Rick Warren’s purpose-driven nation prototype.

The bottom line is we have no mandate from Jesus Christ to “transform” society by any of these means. That does not mean that the church will, and should not, have any impact on our societies. There are countless examples of how revival in the church changed society. During the Welsh revival pubs and bars closed down because there were no patrons any longer. As a young boy I remember the pictures in the newspaper of literal mountains of weapons, drugs and demonic paraphernalia being burnt in Duncan Village in South Africa as a result of thousands being saved under the ministry of Nicholas Bhengu. Many missionaries have provided proof of dramatic social change as entire villages turned to Christ in many parts of the world.

The difference between true social transformation and the pseudo kind is that the true works from the inside out, one believer at a time. The false kind tries to work from the outside in and vainly attempts to change entire societies by either mystical means or political maneuvering.

Underlying all these methods is the false notion that the church will set up the Kingdom of God.
Communities can only be transformed when the individual people that make up those communities are changed through the power of the Gospel. When a man is dramatically changed, and stops doing all the wrong things and begins to do the right things because his heart has been changed, that does have an effect. First it affects the family, as families are transformed by the working of the Holy Spirit, their neighbors are impacted and so it spreads. Unfortunately the number of true Christians in most societies, is so small that the impact is often imperceptible to the human eye.

We are called to be salt and light and even though the percentage of salt in food is minute, its presence or absence makes a real difference. Jesus said that “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14). One candle in a dark world does make a difference, even though it cannot totally dispel all darkness.

But these changes cannot be brought about by rules, laws and governments. As the transformation of the individual can only come as a result of a changed heart, the change of a community can only happen as those true believers begin to put their lights on a lamp stand instead of under buckets. This does not mean bigger advertising budgets. It means that Christians need to begin to live the lives that please the Lord. The world are not interested in our message as long as our lifestyles contradict the message of the Bible. When we begin to live holy lives, exhibit a zeal for the things of God, act righteously in all our dealings, order our families in a Godly way, and begin to manifest the fruit of the Spirit, then our neighbors may begin to listen to our message and be drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the meantime we can sign every petition we can find, wear our shoes out on prayer marches and claim the city for God all we like, none of that will not make any difference. Are you tired of a dysfunctional world? Well it has to begin with you. Only once you become the person the Lord wants, will you be able to have an impact on your family. Once your family begins to reflect God, then you may begin to have an impact on your church and your neighbors. Will we ever change out city, country or continent? I very much doubt that but that is not your and my concern. Charity must begin at home. There are more than enough politicians out there who are trying to run the world when they cannot even run their own lives. You get right with the Lord. Everything else will flow from there.

The Truth:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

[Reprinted with permission of Anton Bosch]

Part of the whole transformation process that is going on today has to do with the transformation of churches. Already in the '70s the environment was being created to prepare churches and leaders for radical change. One of the war cries of the early charismatic movement was “new wine in new wineskins,” meaning that the church has to be changed or transformed in order to accept the “new wine.” New wine was interpreted to mean “the new thing that God is doing.” This is of course not what Jesus meant at all when He said those words as recorded in Matthew 9:17.

This emphasis on “new things” suggested that the old things are obsolete and of no value. Leading this “new move” are “prophets” who are constantly trying to project the church into the future. This vision for the future church has no similarity to God’s design for the church and is contrary to the Bible’s predictions of what the church in the end times would look like.

Unfortunately, they are also willfully ignorant of the fact that the true ministry of prophets, both Old and New Testament, is not to focus on the future and new things. Yes, a small portion of the prophetic ministry has to do with the future, but this may be less than ten percent of their total function. The true function of prophets is to call people back to the Word. The prophets in the Old Testament were constantly calling Israel to return to her roots, to her God and to the Law. Isaiah said: “And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:19,20).

What the church needs today is not to be transformed into some seek-sensitive, marketing driven, politically powerful business. It needs to return to its roots. It needs to seek out the old paths. (Jeremiah 6:16).

The true church does not need to be transformed. By definition it is made up of those who are true believers, walking in obedience to the Head of the Church. If that is true then each of those members will be doing what Christ expects of them and will be functioning in the Church according to His will. To say that the true Church needs to be transformed is to say that Christ is making a mess and is a bad workman. After all, it is He who is building the Church. (Matthew 16:18).

But now we have become so arrogant to want to tell the Head of the Church that He did not know what He was doing throughout the last 2,000 years, and that we are going to fix what He messed up and improve on the principles He established in His Word! May the Lord be merciful.
The false church cannot be transformed. It is false and anti-Christ and will never, and can never be anything else. The future of the pseudo religious system is not one of greatness but of calamity. “Therefore her plagues will come in one day – death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, `Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore” (Revelation 18:8-11). (Babylon and the Great Harlot does not only refer to Rome, but to every false religious system.)

Our only hope for those who are true believers are that the ones and twos will come out of the false systems and be separate and holy to the Lord. “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4)

This does not mean that preachers should not call people to a deeper walk, more holiness, more commitment, etc. But to suggest that the true church needs to be transformed or that the false church can be transformed is simply not true. There certainly are many individual churches that need to be changed. But this change is not to some new paradigm or any of the new formats, worship styles or worldviews that are being promoted today. Those churches that are not where they ought to be, need to repent and to return to their first love, the pure doctrine, a simplicity of worship and a right relationship with one another and the Lord Jesus.

The kind of transformation of churches that is being promoted is certainly a transformative process. I am not arguing that it is bringing about change. The question is whether that change is for the better or for the worse. Since the promoters of the process are clearly scornful of the old values, it is obvious that the change then has to be further away from the Lord, the Bible and Truth.

Also to suggest that by adopting a new marketing strategy, new worship style and new hierarchy, that a church can be transformed is a delusion. The church is made up of individuals and unless those individuals are, or become, the people God wants them to be, the church cannot be improved.

If your church is in need of change in the sense that it is not what the Lord in His Word expects it to be, then the change better begin with you and I. Anything else will lead to a whitewashing of the tomb while the inside is still filled with dead bones and uncleanness (Matthew 23:27). If you long for a change in your church there is only one thing you can do. Pray that the Lord will change you and transform you into His likeness. That is all. You cannot change others or the system. Once you get to be whom the Lord wants you to be, He will direct you and use you but it has to begin with you and I.

Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me oh Lord
Standing in the need of prayer

Not the preacher, not the sinner, but it's me oh Lord
Standing in the need of prayer

[Reprinted with the permission of Anton Bosch]

The Truth:

"Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil." (Prov. 3:7)

From Dennis Peacocke's promotional material on his "Discipling the Nations: A practical path to obedience" seminars can be found the following blurb:

"If Martin Luther and the fellow leaders of the Reformation birthed for us 'the Priesthood of all believers,' the Holy Spirit's global focus on the centrality of life and the message of the Kingdom of God will surely catapult the church and her people in 'the ministry of all believers.'

"The purpose of this event is to equip God's people to bring transformation to our local communities. As God's people are equipped and released to make a difference where they live, God will also release and commission His Elders to return to the gates of the city as servant leaders, resource mobilizers, and culture shapers. Learn how you can practically fit into obeying the great commission (Matt. 8:18-20) by getting involved locally to bring transformation to your community." [http://newne.net/BostonReg06.pdf emphasis added]

To understand this gobbledygook requires that one immerses oneself in Peacocke's aberrant theologies and ideologies, which is not recommended. However, this quotation is instructive in illustrating the dominionist worldview. Dennis Peacocke multi-pronged ministries' focus is on changing worldviews, global economic and governance structures -- particularly through marketplace ministries.

In the first paragraph above there is a reference to a Kingdom-focused new Reformation. This is the same call for the "New Apostolic Reformation" (C. Peter Wagner) or the "Second Reformation" (Rick Warren). This new Reformation calls for a radical restructuring of theology for a global transformation of church and society. It requires that believers be engaged in "works" -- As Rick Warren has stated: "The first Reformation was about belief; this one's going to be about behavior." [http://tinyurl.com/rh3hs emphasis added]

Re-Shaping Minds, Re-shaping Culture

In order to change people's behavior, it is first necessary to change the WORLDVIEW, i.e., believers must be inculcated in a new mindset with new values and practices. In his 2003 article, Co-Managing the Earth," Peacocke has explained this further:

"As I have said repeatedly, Martin Luther helped usher in the understanding of the 'priesthood of all believers." This present move of God to have believers praying and acting so as refocusing upon the call to see God's 'Kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven' will press upon us all the reality of the 'ministry of all believers.' Calling all believers to discover their God-given passion for Christ touching every sector of human life and culture goes far beyond just the marketplace ministry movement. It calls believers everywhere up to the challenge of seeing their spirit-driven passions lived out as unto the Lord, and to the benefit of surrounding people and institutions currently living outside of His values and motivations." ("Co-Managing the Earth: The Foundational Work of the Christian Marketplace Ministry," Business Reform, Nov/Dec 2003 [http://tinyurl.com/p5phk emphasis added])

Peacocke outlined 3 phases of this "movement" to "co-manage" the Earth by shifting worldviews:

"Phase One: The Affirmation of Christian Ministry in the Marketplace
"What is now beginning in the church worldwide is the first stage of the Holy Spirit’s 'invasion' of the marketplace world of economics and workplace service. "

Note the description of phase 1 below, which talks about the need for a new global economic paradigm:

". . .However, without believers beginning to practice the systemic deeper values of God’s Kingdom in the realm of marketplace economics, it leaves the world’s value systems unchanged at a core level. The world’s two basic paradigms of capitalism-socialism are neither fundamentally addressed biblically nor challenged. We as Christians are being edified, but the marketplace is only marginally changed because we are still not engaged in its redemption until we self-consciously, by faith, engage that 'public' dimension of our marketplace ministry."

Phase 2 discusses ethics and values. These work in the affective domain (emotions, feelings, attitudes) of humanity -- re-shaping values of "Transition" leading toward "Transformation," a process mentioned in many previous Herescope posts this past month. One cannot presume that "Christian ethics" or "Christ's values" mean true Tradition (Bible-based). As this quote below shows, these phrases are now imbued with dominionist connotations:

"Phase Two: Evangelism through Service
"As we all know, service to God and others is the most basic of Christian ethics. The ultimate service is to empower others by helping to lead them to Christ as the source of life and truth. Evangelism in the marketplace will therefore become the second mark of the movement following the legitimizing of marketplace ministry as a valid form of Christian service. . .

"Our witness, however, must be one of ethics, attitude, and actions rather than simply Bible verses or religious platitudes. Evangelistic 'programs' must give way to lives that demonstrate a difference. For years I have taught two things: One) Whoever creates capital will lead the 21st century, and Two) The marketplace and Christian economics will lead to the world’s largest evangelistic harvest in the 21st century. Both of these inter-related phenomena will be led by the motivation to empower people by demonstrating the superiority of Christ’s values in every dimension of human life."

Notice how Phase 3 below leads to a "Systemic Reformation," i.e. "Transformation" of all of society:

"Phase Three: The Systemic Reformation of Christian Economics and Business Practices
"Christ came to save souls and redeem God-given institutions such as the family; the role of civil government; ecclesiastic life; and commercial and work-related enterprises. Work was ordained by God before the Fall. It is His idea, just like marriage, and Christ came to restore for God what sin and the world system claimed falsely as their own domain.

This paragraph above is key for two reasons. First, Dennise Peacocke was on the original editorial committee for the Coalition on Revival along with leading Reconstructionists like Gary DeMar, Calvin Beisner, and Jay Grimstead. (Al Dager, Vengeance is Ours, p. 237) These men outlined the dominionist objective to change society, one "sphere" ("domain") at a time, and particularly began to work on transforming the modern evangelical mindset to a dominionist worldview.

Second, Dennis Peacocke is listed among C. Peter Wagner's leading "apostles" of the earth on the International Coalition of Apostles [http://www.apostlesnet.net/index.asp?action=members]. Peacocke has always spanned both the dominionist (and patriotic) Reconstructionists as well as the Latter Rain (NAR) dominionists. This quotation above is very significant because it reveals the new interpretation of Genesis 1, which is to restore work to its pre-Fall condition! This is what marketplace ministry is all about. This is congruent with James Rutz, George Otis, Jeremy Rifkin, and a host of New Apostolic leaders are claiming -- the heresy that the Church can restore the Garden of Eden condition.

Finally, in the paragraph below, continuing with a description of Phase 3, note Peacocke's emphasis on changing (transforming) the values of believers:

"Kingdom economics, on the other hand, is driven by obedience to God and a recognition that His goals and motivation for mankind are to drive our spiritual life in all areas as we, like Christ, only seek to do 'what we see the Father doing.' God, our Father and pattern, is motivated by the systemic values flowing through His Kingdom of empowering others through gift discovery and development; character formation; power and resource sharing as faith and initiative progressively reveal the ability to handle power; relationally-driven organizations. . . ." [all emphasis in above quotations are added]

We cannot locate any Scriptures to back this claim that "God is motivated by the systemic values flowing through His Kingdom. . . . "

More tomorrow, Lord willing. . . .

The Truth:

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." (1 Corinthians 15:50)

"Releasing Kings!" is a recurrent theme of marketplace ministries, and it is blatantly proclaimed at http://www.releasing-kings.com/. Releasing Kings for Ministry in the Marketplace by John Garfield and Harold Eberle is a popular new book telling men "how you can be part of the next global revival that is beginning in the marketplace."

This book is connected with the marketplace transformation movement of C. Peter Wagner, Ed Silvoso, Kent Humphreys, Os Hillman, Dennis Peacocke (see yesterday's post) and others in the International Coalition of Apostles. It is the latest example of dominionism -- taking over the workplace to "advance" the Kingdom.

"Imagine an army of Kings (or just one good one) that can take on projects to advance God’s Kingdom. Just as David’s mighty men, they would take on battles or projects outside the normal influence of their local church and bring home great victories. What kind of feats would they undertake?" [http://tinyurl.com/pkz4p emphasis added]

Promotional material for the book describes this seductive concept of Christian businessmen becoming "kings."

"What’s a King? 'Kings' is the term we use to describe men and women who harness wealth and influence in the marketplace…in business, government, communication, education, entertainment, finance, the arts…to expand God's Kingdom. . . . a movement of God’s people into their ministry and their dreams. It provides a Scriptural basis for the expansion of the Kingdom of God into all areas of society. It paints a picture of Kings who are naturally bold, competitive, creative, and decisive, who are being used to fulfill the Great Commission. God is going to use an entrepreneurial people to fill the whole Earth with His Glory."

Under the title "7 Reasons You'll Find Yourself in love with Marketplace Ministry":

1. "Finding purpose. . . ."

2. "You don’t have to wait for heaven to experience God’s blessings (Psalm 16:11). The Kingdom of God has come upon you (Matt. 12:28)."

3. "Kings are people who have healthy self-concepts. They sense permission from God to be bold, creative, competitive, decisive, and willing to take risks. . . . Christians have rights. Kings think its normal to ask God for the desires of their heart."

4. "Kings cannot be content to live the typical, month-to-month, barely-get-by lifestyle. For Kings, it represents a poverty mentality that denies the abundance that God has for them. . .. "

5. "God has prepared a generation of Joshua's who are hungry for a tangible expression of their purpose (ministry) and receptive to the revelation of God’s Spirit Who will escort them (theology)."

6. "Kings are willing to ask for the desires of their hearts. Servants never trust their hearts (or God) enough to ask and they live out their lives working for someone else’s dream."

7. "Until you activate the real desires of your heart, you never will be fully passionate about God or anything you do for Him. You’ll just be a servant going through the motions looking for a wage, a retirement, and an eternal pension." [All emphases above are added]

Dominionism isn't just a spiritual concept. It is obviously one that appeals to the flesh. Particularly when accompanied with enticements for worldly riches, significance and power! It was a flash of evil brilliance for these new apostolic leaders to merge the doctrines of dominionism with material motivations, particularly as a mechanism to corrupt Christian men into adopting this worldview.

The Truth:

'Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou are old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." (1 Samuel 8:4-7)

"[M]any of today's Christian businessmen continue to say that the Word of God does not speak on how to explicitly run a business. They say, 'The Word of God calls us to preach the gospel, not to take dominion. Don't you know that the world is going to get worse and worse, then Christ will come to rescue us?' If we want godly businesses to take dominion, we must help churches correct these doctrines. . .

"These will be people who have a biblical view of wealth and know how to use it, and who are faithful with the resources God has given them, providing a good inheritance for the coming generations. These will be people who are the best at running businesses in our culture, people like Joseph and Daniel, who were raised-up by God to positions of dominion because they did all things well. These will be people who will destroy every speculation and lofty thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and will take every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). These people will no longer conceal, but proclaim and set the standard in pagan cultures, as Jeremiah did in the land of the Chaldeans (Jer. 50:2). They will begin to lead our business culture in conforming to the standards of God.

"Then one day our society will be dominated by godly businesses."
(N.C. Kuyper, "Reformation in Business," 1/1/01, Business Reform, http://tinyurl.com/ru4uy) [emphases added]

"We have promoted vigorously what has been seen as a 'radical' Christian worldview that brings Christ's life-giving blessings to all spheres of human life and culture. In each phase of our journey and growth, God's plan and use for our ministry has become clearer and clearer. Strategic Christian Services is called to serve and train God's people as they seek to fulfill the dominion mandate of Genesis 1:26-28 and Matthew 28:18-20. That mandate calls upon all believers as disciples, to fill the earth with God's love, wisdom, and truth as ambassadors of Christ's Kingdom." (Dennis Peacocke, "The Journey" promotional brochure, http://tinyurl.com/rc8dx) [emphasis added]

Dominionism always appeals to a higher cause -- an ideology that sounds so good. Dennis Peacocke begins his "Discipling Our Nation" seminars with an appeal to patriotic dominionism. But he quickly shifts gears in his program to a "discipling our nations" seminar -- with an emphasis on the plural "nations." The agenda to restore a Christian America, which appeals to many patriotic Christians and brings them to his conferences, turns into an international kingdom-building "mandate." Peacocke is adept at this bait and switch. The goal to restore America to a moral country, suddenly switches gears to a "dominion mandate" to transform the nations of the world, sphere by sphere, culture by culture, nation by nation -- until an international order is built.

As Herescope mentioned in Monday's post (4/10/06), Dennis Peacocke has uniquely positioned himself the past twenty years as a bridge between the charismatic and the patriotic dominionists. He is a high level "apostle" in C. Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation, listed among the members of the International Coalition of Apostles. And he has always been a respected member of the Reconstructionist camp, as a leader of the Coalition on Revival. As a salesman, he has slickly wrapped his ministries in a style that encompassed both dominionist camps so that each felt that he was part of their own.

The history of his various ministries is described in the promotional brochure cited in the quote above. Peacocke is connected with Business Reform magazine cited in the first quote above. He has Strategic Life Training course on dominionist worldview training, and a Business Leadership School which teaches the marketplace ministry "kingdom" model. Peacocke has gone global with international partnerships all over the world to train businessmen in the dominionism worldview.

Most surprisingly, Peacocke has been able to exist comfortably within the Christian Reconstructionist camp without any known opposition to his dual role as an "apostle" in the New Apostolic Reformation. Perhaps this silence is due to the fact that he has been able to promulgate the doctrines of Theonomy (Reconstructionism) very effectively to a wide spectrum of mainstream evangelicalism. As such, he is one of the best salesmen that the Theonomists have on board.

One of the key doctrinal barriers that must be overcome has to do with eschatology. Despite the widespread popularity of the Left Behind series, the "kingdom mandate" is gradually replacing traditional pre-millennial eschatology with various hybrids of postmillennialism. This is accomplished, as one observer has noted, by focusing on the mutual goals of political involvement:

"A minority of evangelicals are post-millennialists, believing that it is necessary to build the Kingdom of God in the here and now, before the return of Jesus is possible. Thus, for postmillennialists, Jesus will return when the world has become perfectly Christian, the return crowning 1,000 years of Christian rule. This eschatology urges political involvement and action by evangelicals, who must play a critical role in establishing Christian rule. COR has sought to establish a "non-quarreling policy" on matters of eschatology, and has emphasized building the Kingdom of God in so far as it is possible until Jesus returns. This neatly urges political involvement and action, without anyone having to say how much can actually be accomplished. It reconciles the difference over eschatology that has divided evangelicals, and opens the door to political involvement and action without requiring either of the two sides to abandon its eschatology. ("Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence," by Frederick Clarkson, The Public Eye Magazine, Vol. VIII, No. 1 & 2, March/June 1994 http://tinyurl.com/p7jds, Part 2 of a 4-part series)

Dominionism creates strange bedfellows who apparently have no qualms about reducing the principles of their faith to the political common denominator.

"While I don't wish to label everyone who has contact with dominionists a fellow traveler, it's obvious that those who are asked to teach on the same platform would share similar views. Otherwise their appearing together would be billed as a 'debate' or a 'dialogue.' And while they may not agree on every issue, there must be sufficient agreement in order to be supportive of one another. So those who are supportive of dominionists and/or hold to important dominionist philosophy are well known among their peers. To seek unity with them without challenging their error leaves one's own beliefs open to question. Those who defend heretics, even if they do not believe in their teachings, are guilty of lending credibility to their heresies, and will be held accountable to God for the souls that are destroyed as a result. It's up to those who know the truth to defend the Church against false teachers whatever the cost to unity or to personal benefit." (Al Dager, Vengeance Is Ours: The Church In Dominion, [Sword, 1990] p. 125)

"So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 13:14)

"It has become popular in Christian circles to discuss the "Christian Worldview." However, without Biblical law all worldviews end up in some form of moral relativism. We are not called to merely 'influence' our world but reconstruct it with the tool of dominion — Biblical law. Come discover the work of reconstruction." (Promotion for Chalcedon 2006 Spring Conference, "The Work of Reconstruction," http://www.chalcedon.edu/events/index.php) [emphasis in original]

The concept of WORLDVIEW training is interconnected with the Marketplace Transformation movement. Why? Because ministry is being mixed with business in unorthodox new ways that have never been done before. A new global ethic is emerging in which the "ends justify the means" in building this "kingdom" on Earth. In traditional Christian thinking, these new partnerships would raise serious ethical concerns. Therefore, emergent dominionism requires indoctrinating Christians in a new global ethic -- a new worldview.

Marketplace transformation is described as a way to transform entire cultures and nations through dominioninsm. The end result is a promised utopia on earth. This promised utopia is a key selling point to assist in marketing the concept of reconstructing nations:

"Then our culture will begin to be transformed into more of a godly culture. Christian organizations will dominate the media and influence society with its uncompromising and non-neutral interpretation of our current culture. Godly groups, who are supported by Christian companies, will also change other areas, such as the arts. Local and devout churches will have more money to fund their ministries; therefore, the knowledge of the Lord will continue to grow. Other godly organizations such as the Chalcedon Foundation will have more funds to spend on righteous purposes than the wicked organizations will have to spend on their evil causes. More upright people will be running for office with the help of these Christian businesses; therefore, evil will be restrained more and more. The civil magistrate will constantly be pressured by Christian companies and God-fearing media to restrain evil. Their effective lobbying will lead to the removal of evil laws and addition of biblical laws. New Christian business publications and books will dominate the business culture. New explicit biblical colleges and universities will be rampant through our land with lots of students. They will raise the educational standards, and other schools will have to eventually shutdown or conform to God's biblical standards for education. . . .

"These events, however, will only be a glimpse of God's kingdom as it grows like the mustard seed. Then the Christians will be a bright, shining light to the world. Pagan societies, such as our current one, will come to know God and people will repent of their sins. Nations will submit to Christ's rule and be His disciples (Ps. 72:11). (Reformation in Business," N.C. Kuyper, Business Reform, 1/1/01, http://tinyurl.com/ru4uy) [emphasis added]

Obviously, this form of "marketplace dominion" can influence the political governing structures of nations -- particularly Third World countries. An investment of capital can alter a fragile country's economics and change governments. And, when combined with the interlocking financial and political clout of the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, charities, ministries and multinatural corporations -- as Rick Warren is doing in the small country of Rwanda in Africa -- a small country can be made to submit to the decrees and demands of dominionism. This may explain why the marketplace transformation "apostles" call marketplace transformation the "convergence." And it may explain their exultant utopianism.

The Truth:

"For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them." (Psalm 44:3)

A brochure describing Dennis Peacocke's Strategic Life Training, a 2-year intensive course in worldview training, contains these words:

"Challenging you. Envisioning you.

"And in the end. . . ruining you.

"It forever ruins the way you've acted, the way you've dreamt, the way you've thought. . . .

"ruin vt (1585) 1 : to reduce to ruins: DEVASTATE 2 : to damage irreparably ~ vi : to become ruined.

"In point of fact, this is just our intent. We trust that this course, in concert with the work of the Holy Spirit, will damage irreparably any perspective not aligned with God's Word." [emphasis in original]

The website description explains that the "entire first year of the course has students engaged in a comprehensive and systematic study of the Christian worldview and comparative worldviews. More importantly, the impartation and passion of the speakers sow vision for why the pursuit of the Christian worldview is essential to successful Christian living." [http://tinyurl.com/z5j3f]

The Transformation PROCESS requires that the old mindset be replaced with a new worldview. This process can take many forms, using varied techniques and methods, some of which have been examined in previous Herescope posts this past month. The end result is claimed to be a biblical worldview, which deceives many. But is it really?

Leading Theonomist R.J. Rushdoony (deceased) wrote:

"Nothing can be measured without a standard of measurement. If the standard is wrong, everything else is then out of line. This means that the principle of measure must be absolutely trustworthy or else nothing valid can follow.

"The only absolutely trustworthy principle of measurement, the yardstick of man and society, is God’s Word. Man, church, state, school, and all society must be judged in terms of it. Apart from Christ and His Word, God’s judgment on us is, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,” “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” (Dan. 5:25–28)." [http://tinyurl.com/emmp9]

Christians could read this statement and agree with it-- until the rest of Rushdoony's doctrines and philosophies are added in. That would then raise questions about what "standard" he uses to "measure" what is in conformity to God's Word. Rushdoony's particular version of Theonomy entails an interpretation of "God's Word" which is Reconstructionist and dominionist. Therefore, using his standard to measure your adherence to the Word of God may demonstrate that you are not biblical! At least not according to his definitions of biblical!

Likewise, purported "biblical" or "Christian" worldview assessments in reality gauge how dominionist one is in his thinking. The standards by which your worldview is assessed (measured) is based on dominionist criteria. You could actually flunk a Christian worldview inventory if your worldview is NOT dominionist!

(For more information on this point, read "Peering Into the PEERS, an analysis of the PEERS test, which purports to measure one's biblical worldview but in reality is an assessment of one's dominionist worldview, at http://tinyurl.com/fm9fv)

In order, then, for one's "worldview" to be changed over to dominionism the old one (Traditional Christian orthodoxy) must be "damaged irreparably" by whatever process works most thoroughly and efficiently. The resulting new worldview is then claimed to be more biblical than the previous one.

The Truth:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." (Colossians 2:8)

spoil 1. to damage or injure in such a way as to make useless, valueless, etc.; destroy. vi 1. a) to strip (a person) of goods, money, etc. by force b) to rob; pillage; plunder. (Webster's)

"Upon the men of this time is breaking the light of a new social order. The outstanding fact of today is the rediscovery of the kingdom of God. To the world this comes almost as a new revelation from heaven. For eighteen hundred years men have believed in this kingdom and have prayed for its coming; but now at last conception of its meaning becomes larger and more true. We are coming to see that the kingdom of God in Christ's conception never means anything less than a righteous human society on earth. Christ has come, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. He has come to reveal a kingdom in heaven and to realize a kingdom on earth. He has come not alone to save people out of the world and fill them for a far-away heaven; but to make a heaven here. He has come not to patch up human society and make the world a little less intolerable for men; but to make all things new and to create a new social order."

This quotation above is cited on page 151 in Dr. Martin Erdmann's excellent book, Building the Kingdom of God on Earth, which Herescope began to review in yesterday's post.

Dr. Erdmann explains how, in 1932, the Federal Council of Churches began to revise its outdated Social Creed. This revision bears striking resemblance to current "marketplace transformation" efforts, described last week and in previous Herescope posts:

"Toyohiko Kagawa, a Japanese churchman, asserted in the January issue [of the Federal Council Bulletin] that the propagation of the Christian gospel must include a total reconstruction of society. The Church should aspire to nothing less than the constitution of Christian collectivism. It is evident,' he wrote, 'that we must Christianise industry and get rid of the acquisitive motive in economic life. It seems to me that we cannot solve our problems on the basis of individualism.' His idea was to replace the supposedly defunct capitalist system with a number of Christian co-operatives modeled after the pattern of the medieval guild system. The FCC was enthused about Kagawa's proposal and incorporated it (in a modified form) in its revised version of the Social Creed." (p. 151-2) [emphasis added]

This resultant Social Creed adopted by the FCC in 1932 was part and parcel of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. So much so that eventually the FCC was able to move on to other projects. Many of the tenets of this Social Creed called for a radical restructuring of economic, social, cultural, family, and political order.

"The Commission on the Church and Social Service spearheaded the campaign for a Christian collectivism among the American public by preparing a message which was delivered on Labour Day 1932. This message directly advocated a redistribution of wealth in the United States and also among the nations of the world. It asserted that only by the intelligent regulation and management of finance, credit, and industry could the kingdom of God be advanced for the common good. It pleaded for the extension of minimum-wage laws, and the payment of the higest wages possible in order to achieve the redistribution of wealth and to realise the kingdom of God.

"It became clear that the thinking of a large segment of the leadership of the Council was dominated by political and economic idealism." (p. 153)

By 1933 the "FCC initiated an amalgamation process which in time blurred the distinction between its new social order and the New Deal." (p. 159)

Some of the rhetoric has changed. Some of the doctrinal focus has shifted so that it now incorporates the "Great Commission" and Stewardship of the Earth "mandates." Some of the political lessons learned over the past 75 years have changed the initial game plan, the dynamics, and even some of the implementation. And the methods have been updated to use state-of-the-art psycho-social techniques. But the basic "plan" to institute a global "kingdom" in the name of Christ is still the same.

75 years ago this plan was a fraud and a sham. It had nothing to do with true Christianity. Today, this same plan -- slightly revised and updated -- is still a fraud and a sham. It is an antichrist kingdom which is being built upon Earth.

"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)

Quietly and stealthily over the past several decades mainstream evangelical mission groups have been altering fundamental Christian doctrines to fit a new worldview -- an inclusive one that embraces, incorporates, co-mingles and and merges with other world religions. The next three days Herescope will focus on a special report by Mike Oppenheimer of Let Us Reason, which details the rise of the heresies of "contextualization."

Inclusive Evangelism

When the book Perpetuated in Righteousness came out in the early 90’s we plainly saw a problem with the author Daniel Kikawa claiming that the Hawaiians could have come from Israel - as Israel, as they were traveling into the Promised Land another exodus was taking place as a group was called to Hawaii. He even claimed they had numerous teachings that God had given Israel by looking at the gospel in the stars. Prior to any missionary coming to Hawaii with the Bible, they had the teaching of the Trinity. He made bold claims like this without any references - “Many accounts in Polynesia of the creation of man. Some of them state that the supreme triune God made the heavens and earth in six days and rested on the seventh day” (p.70 4th ed.) see http://www.letusreason.org/Current67.htm - http://www.letusreason.org/Current68.htm

Using Hawaiian and ancient Maori legends he made connections and a case for true worship of the one God by the ancient Polynesians. That the supreme God was known by various names in the different cultures, so Hawaiian’s validly pray to the God Io because he is in fact the same God spoken of in the Bible.

When we went to the primary resources to look into his quotes his theory quickly fell apart as we saw how he misrepresented these authors who interpreted the languages and religions of the Polynesians, Maori and Hawaiians.

Daniel Kikawa has not stopped here with Christianizing the gods in Hawaii.

He has expanded his religious theory to include nearly all people’s cultures; and of late, the Japanese. He has recently released a video that lays the groundwork for a new type of evangelism that is becoming more popular - Culture Based Evangelism.

In the Video, God’s Fingerprints in Japan, the narrator says, “This is a story of a journey; a journey to search for the beauty of a people and their relationship with God. Is there historical evidence of the creator God in Japanese culture? Did God leave his fingerprint within the culture and history of Japan?”

“This journey is a fulfillment of many years of research and is a search to uncover evidence of the creator God in Japanese history and to look deeper to find how God has revealed himself in Japanese culture” (Video ‘God’s FingerPrints in Japan’ by Aloha Ke Akua Ministries).

Has God revealed himself in their culture, through the religion of Shintoism? His journey shows a religious pursuit to syncretize elements of Shintoism with Christianity. It does not promote a relationship with Christ in a biblical manner but morphs it into something foreign to both religions.

He claims that these people knew the true God. If this were so then they would come to Jesus Christ immediately recognizing Whose Son He is by the plain Gospel being preached to them. Instead Kikawa says our evangelism is hindered because “Many of those who claim to be Christians feel they have accepted a foreign God and are torn between being Japanese and being a Christian. They see the God of the Bible as a foreign God who prefers Western people and their culture to Japanese people and their culture. In our experience, this is the largest roadblock to the acceptance of the Gospel among Japanese. This video suggests to the Japanese people that the Creator God is not a foreign God but a Japanese God, and that being a believer in Jesus and being Japanese are not contradictory.” (http://www.alohakeakua.org/)

While there are portions of truth in his observation his solution is completely flawed. On a radio broadcast he tells us why people in China and Japan do not accept the gospel: “one of the main reasons because this is not their God, now he’s a foreign God come here and uh not using that native name, and this is one of the main things that we have found too, with Hawaiian people.” (“Word to the World” interview with Daniel Kikawa Feb. 16, 2006 #9)

Kikawa believes the names of these gods in other cultures are of the true one and we should not discard them but use them, “that we can purify again instead of turning it over to Satan Saying you dirty name of god we’ll throw it away. Y’know it’s a precious legacy for them that says God loves you.” (“Word to the World” interview with Daniel Kikawa Feb.15, 2006, #8)

He believes these names, like Hananim, Shang Ti, Amenominakanushi, etc. are precious to the people of these cultures. Of course this is true, because these are the gods they worshipped before the gospel came to them. But God says have no other Gods before me - and not to even mention their names.

Exodus 23:13: “Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.”

The Truth:

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. (Exodus 33:19)

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

Inclusive Evangelism - Part 2

So how does Daniel Kikawa present God to the Japanese, Korean’s or Chinese, etc.? Speaking of the Korean culture, he says, “but when the protestant missionaries came in decades later and, and used the name of Hananim, all of a sudden there was great excitement, that our God sent his son for us, Y’know, and so its not a foreign God anymore - our God,” (“Word to the World” interview by Danny Lehmann with Daniel Kikawa Feb.13, 2006, #6).

His message and method is explained in his book Perpetuated in Righteousness, “Instead of destroying and ridiculing the native names of the Creator God, we should help preserve them as a legacy for these peoples."

“Christians should cease representing Jesus as the Son of the foreign God of a foreign people. We should instead introduce Jesus as the Son of their creator God.” (p.27, Perpetuated in Righteousness 4th ed.)

The Premise - The Creator God of the Bible is not a foreign god of these nations - their god sent his son. That “God” was involved in forming their culture. Give them the “God” they already worshipped and they will accept the message that their “God” is God who had a son (that is Jesus).

It should be immediately obvious to any student of the Bible what he has done. If Jesus is the son of their creator “God,” in their culture-then he is no longer Jewish. Then God’s special revelation to Israel is diminished or removed (Romans 3:1-2). You then have a different Jesus, and certainly a different God. Which produces a different Gospel (Gal.1:6-9; 2 Cor. 11:3-4). This becomes a replacement theology of a different sort.

In his video, God’s Fingerprints in Japan, he speaks of “Three Deities performed the commencement of creation” and compares this to the Trinity in Genesis 1:1-2. “Amenominakanushi is flanked by the 2 other gods of creation; these three are separate from the other gods or kami of Japan.”

Once again, as we looked into the primary resources we found that he forgot the next paragraph where there were two other deities, “The five Deities in the above list are separate Heavenly Deities” (p.15 Kojiki). Despite that the original three deities (3 gods) came into existence he Christianizes the myth to be like the Bible.

Kikawa’s Mission Statement on his website basically explains his methodology: “The Creator God of the Bible is not a foreign God. He loves indigenous people and has been a part of their history and culture from the beginning.”

In his video on the Japanese culture he states that we need “to look deeper to find how God has revealed himself in Japanese culture” (Video God’s Fingerprints in Japan by Aloha Ke Akua Ministries).

Notice he says revealed in it, not to it. There is a major difference. This carries the meaning that God has put himself inside their (religious) traditions as stated in the video, “for it is in God’s diversity that he gave the Japanese people their culture and it is in the culture they can find their identity in God.” Yet the Bible says it differently: God had not revealed himself to the Gentiles as he did to Israel. They were foreigners, strangers to the commonwealth of Israel and to God (Ephesians 2:11-12).

Yet Kikawa’s premise (referring to Romans 1) is that “The Bible says that all people had a knowledge of the creator. If this is true then we should find a creator God within the history and culture of Japan….”

Kikawa would have us believe that much of the culture they have today came through Buddhism. If God put it there, then we must accept Kikawa's false premise that God gave them the religion of Buddhism. If this is the truth, as Kikawa asserts, then God gave the Kojiki on Shintoism, and we must accept this as well as the beliefs of other religions.

The Truth:

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. (Exodus 33:19)

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

Inclusive Evangelism - Part 3

In the Video, God’s Fingerprints in Japan, Daniel Kikawa makes use of high towers as worship places for the true God, the Japanese tea ceremony as communion and even shows a Buddha on a cross as being a worship object of Christians (really Catholics). The video is filled with Japanese/Buddhist symbols, rituals and traditions that would certainly stretch one’s credulity.

He lifted quotes from their context in Shintoism and the Bible and has come up with his own unique interpretation. Kikawa is obviously “contextualizing” a pagan belief system. He is using their religious traditions and symbols, as “redemptive analogies” to “Christianize” Shintoism. Even the name of God has been changed to that of their deities – Amenominakanushi is considered valid! I have rarely seen anyone go this far off in their Bible interpretation and research of other religions, all with the intent to fulfill his agenda of redeeming a culture.

As one person already commented on the articles - Interesting article regarding Daniel Kikawa's methods regarding evangelism. One point: It sounds as if his methods are to cajole and manipulate other cultures into believing that they already have the "truth" and that they already worship Jesus as Lord without realizing it. Sounds like Kikawa studied heavily at Amway University, where high powered manipulative techniques rule the day.

That alone should make any clear thinking person realize the con job. IF a nation or culture already worships the true God, then why do they "need" someone like Kikawa to point it out? It should be obvious.

Obvious indeed but not to those who do not use the authority of