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)

The new gospel of dominionism is part and parcel of Rick Warren's purpose-driven movement, and is particularly manifesting itself in the emphasis on small groups. Not only are these small groups (i.e., cells) for the purpose of peer pressure, but they are also training grounds for the new doctrines.

This new gospel of dominionism has been teaching, at least since the mid 1970s, the principle of group conversion. According to this theology, small groups can agree by consensus to become "saved." This concept was popularized and widely disseminated as a direct result of missionary training using the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement curriculum, developed at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Al Dager reports on the history of this theology in his book The World Christian Movement (Sword Pub., 2001) explains:

"It is the consensus of the World Christian Movement that, in order to win the nations to Christ, it is first necessary to win all people groups within the nations to Christ, not as individuals, but as whole people groups." (p. 31) [emphasis added]

At http://tinyurl.com/75qvu one can read a Lifetogether article by Brett Eastman, whose curriculum is utilized by Rick Warren's small groups. The article is aptly titled, "The Movement to Change Society: God is up to big things through small groups." In this excerpt below one finds a "new conversion" -- one not found in the Bible. Also, note the extraordinary "promises" that will supposedly happen if everyone jumps on the small group bandwagon. These "promises" of miracles are frequently found in the "transformational" evangelical literature -- an advanced version of the old 'name it and claim it' doctrines. What is shocking is that nobody seems to challenge these outrageous claims!

"There are two kinds of conversions: a spiritual conversion, which every person must have—and a small groups conversion—which every pastor or church leader must have: A Christian conversion and Community conversion. Small groups are not just another program in a suite of church offerings. Small groups are the church—it's the primary way people get transformed—life on life.

"Small groups, however, are not the end, they are the means. Lifetogether is a worldwide movement that seeks to transform society through community. How will we know when society has been transformed?

"When the divorce rate drops, poverty levels drop, the crime rate drops, the teen suicide rate drops … family values go up, spiritual renewal goes up, reformation in our churches go up, and fruits of the Spirit are visible with the human eye." [emphasis added]

The Truth:

Al Dager is one of the few who challenges this new doctrine by asking the hard questions:

"Did Jesus command us to 'make all nations his disciples,' or to make disciples of all nations? There is a vast difference in how this is phrased.

"The Gospel has always been for individuals, to bring them to faith in Christ. So why do the 'World Christians' insist upon converting entire nations? . . . We will find that those within the World Christian Movement use biblical terms, but their definition is contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture. Thus their convoluted application of Matthew 28:19-20." (Ibid, p. 32)

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

Yesterday's Herescope post contained a recent example of the neoevangelical doctrine that claims that GROUPS can be converted, not just individuals.

Today's post tells some interesting history behind this doctrine. This excerpt below comes from John E. Ashbrook's excellent history and critique of neoevangelicalism entitled New Neutralism II: Exposing the Gray of Compromise (Here I Stand Books, 1992), p. 24-25. This excerpt is from a chapter explaining the key role that Fuller Theological Seminary has played in propagating and disseminating neoevangelical doctrines.

"At this point, enter Donald McGavran. In 1965, when he was contacted by Fuller, McGavran was a Disciples of Christ minister operating a program he called the Institute for Church Growth, at a Disciples of Christ college. He was encouraged to merge his operation with Fuller Seminary in what became the School of World Mission and Institute for Church Growth. McGavran was to produce a dramatic change in missionary thinking at Fuller.

"Early Mass Evangelism

"Before we get to that change, let me recall a character from medieval church history. Vladimir was a pagan prince who decided that his dominions should have an official religion. He sent his servants to look over various religions to see what was available. The group sent to Constantinople made a strong case for what they saw there. Consequently, Vladimir the missionary ordered the mass baptism of the Russian people into Russian Orthodoxy, the consequences of his action still survive. When people, at the end of a sword, are faced with baptism or death, they usually come up with the right answer. Donald McGavran's philosophy of missions was not quite the same, but there were similarities. As you read the following paragraph from Marsden's Reforming Fundamentalism, p. 241, you will see the parallel:

"In McGavran's view, then, missionaries should concentrate on 'discipling' whole peoples. In contrast to traditional evangelical concepts, such discipling did not involve leading each church member to a documentable conversion experience. Rather, more in tune with the open-church tendencies of twentieth-century liberal Christians or the methods of Christian advance in the early middle ages, all the missionary should require for 'discipling' a people was that they collectively agree to abandon their old religion, to identify with Christ, and to claim the Bible as their authority and the church as their institution. The evangelical aversion to 'mass produced' conversions and the demands for 'solid foundations' of Christian maturity as a precondition for admitting individuals to church membership were, in McGavran's view, the standards of 'ice-age missions.'"

"Corporate Salvation?

"On Paul's missionary journies the gospel was preached to Jew and Gentile. The Holy Spirit brought certain individuals under conviction. Those individuals confessed their sins and cried out to Christ. Individual baptisms followed. Those individuals became the foundation of a local church, and elders were chosen in each individual church.

"I am certain that you did not miss the word, 'individual,' in that last paragraph. True missionary work, from Bible days to Fuller Seminary, had always meant leading individuals 'to a documentable conversion experience.' The new mission theory would not be individual, but corporate. It would only require heathen cultural groups to (1) 'collectively agree to abandon their old religion'; (2) 'to identify with Christ'; (3) 'to claim the Bible as their authority'; (4) (to claim) 'the church as their institution'. This would allow whole cultural groups to be counted Christian. It would use the services of anthropologists, computors, demographics. It could make common cause with apostate missions, which already thought that way. It would make missions of the past obsolete. Oh yes, it seems hard to fit, 'Ye must be born again,' into this scheme."

The Truth:

The current mission hype, which is getting louder every day because of "collaborations" between global mission agencies and other entities, claims that there will be "accelerated conversion rates" in the near future the closer they are to fulfilling the Great Commission mandate. It is obvious from this quotation above, and yesterday's post, that one can claim massive "conversions" if the formula and methods above are employed. If entire "people groups" can simply make a "decision" for "Christ" then huge numbers of supposed converts can be plugged into the global mission databanks.

But this is not what biblical conversion is all about. True conversion is a matter between an individual and God. Acts 3:19 says, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

Tragically, many of these "converts" may have never experienced true repentance and the joy of having their sins forgiven.

Neo-evangelicalism relies upon marketing strategies to spread its leaven. For over a century American consumers have been trained by advertising to buy anything new – a new detergent, a new vacuum cleaner, a new style of dress, a new car, a new computer. In the same way, New Evangelicalism has advertised all of its doctrines, methods and teachings as “new.” There is therefore a very simple, easy way to avoid the heresies of neo-evangelicalism.

teaching.
application
term, word or phrase (esp. if not in Bible)
concept and idea
Bible version
“understanding”
revelation
doctrine
fad, popular craze, or bestseller

Questions every believer should ask about“new” spiritual things

a. Is it truly Biblical? Remember: even the New Agers and occultists are “spiritual.” Just because something is spiritual doesn’t make it Biblical!
b. What is the origin of the concept? Do you know its roots? Can you check out its source freely? Is there a bibliography? Proper credit for ideas?
c. Is it a man’s idea? A worldly idea?
d. Does it conform to the whole counsel of God?
e. Is it a “new” understanding? A reinterpretation of doctrine?
f. Does it disparage traditional orthodoxy?
g. Does it promise too much? Does it use hype?
h. Does it require too much – especially methods, activities, obligations, works, formulas, rituals, etc.?
i. Does it have a “guru” factor?

How to avoid being seduced by a spiritual “guru”

a. Do you have the freedom to politely disagree, question, or exercise discernment without being labeled as “divisive,” harassed, ostracized, banished, abandoned, kicked out of church, or shunned?
b. Is his way the only right way? Is he an elitist?
c. Are there secret meetings where the contents cannot be divulged to outsiders? Are there secret teachings?
d. Are there oaths, covenant, rites or pledges?
e. Does he employ pity, excessive self-disclosure, or other emotive tactics to get your sympathies?
f. Is he too firm in his assertions that go beyond Scripture?
g. Does he have any critics? Is he too popular?
h. Or, does he use his critics as a way to be a “martyr” to garner support and sympathy?
i. Does he compromise – even in little areas – that lead open the possibility of leading sheep astray?
j. Does he insert just a “little leaven” in his teachings?
k. Does he make promises that go beyond the ones in the Bible? Does he claim extraordinary miracles?
l. Does he play upon emotions? Spiritual experiences? Does he use salesman type hype?
m. Is the Bible his final authority in all things? No matter what?
n. Does he employ the use of diagrams, programs, methods, formulas, systems, charts, techniques, tactics, assessments, measurements, mantras, chants, walks, marches, circles, disciplines and other man-made contrivances to create more “spirituality”?
o. Does he quote from the philosophies of men as if they were valid? Without disclaimer?
p. Does he build a foundation upon another man’s questionable works?
q. Does he bring in pagan ideas by sugar-coating them with Scriptures? Does he employ deception?
r. Does he bring Old Testament law into the New Testament? Dominionism? Kingdom theology?
s. Is he overly relational, relying on feelings language, or re-interpreting the Bible in psychological terms?
t. With whom does he associate? Who are his peers? Do they put pressure on him to conform in ways that are ecumenical or require him to compromise his beliefs?
u. With whom does he publicly appear? What organizations does he belong to? What conferences does he speak at? To whom or what is he linked?
v. Who trained him? Who influences him? What sources outside Scripture have influenced him? Who were his Bible school professors and what influenced them?
w. Does he push you to the point of being uncomfortable by bringing in ideas that may “desensitize” you to sin?
x. Does he try to examine your motives, psycho-analyze you, or judge you in ways that go beyond Scripture?
y. Does his personal life reflect holiness, righteousness and integrity? Can he bear up under close scrutiny?
z. Does he bad talk, denigrate, or malign fundamentalism or biblical separation? Does he claim Christianity has been a dismal failure without his new program, doctrine, idea or system?

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen” (1 John 5:21)

[The above material comes from the latest Discernment Ministries Newsletter (Jan./Feb. 2006), in an article entitled "The Necessity of Separation from Heresy" posted at http://www.discernment-ministries.org ]

Bob DeWaay has written an excellent critique of the popular new doctrine of spiritual formation and revival of the spiritual disciplines at his website. We highly recommend that Herescope readers go to http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue91.htm to read his excellent piece entitled "The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines."

Recently some tidbits about the history of "spiritual formation" came to our attention while reading John E. Ashbrook's excellent critique of neo-evangelicalism in his 1992 book The New Neutralism II (Here I Stand Books). Sure enough, this false doctrine -- like so many others -- originated at Fuller Theological Seminary, where it became established. Once it found a comfortable home at Fuller, the doctrine quickly spread across neo-evangelicaldom.

Pastor Ashbrook wrote:

"Dr. Richard Lovelace, who is himself a new evangelical, professor of Church History at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, wrote an article for CHARISMA, September, 1984. His article was titled, "Three Streams, One River?" He wrote:

"And Fuller's program, at the moment, is a 'mixing bowl' into which the three streams are flowing. There is significant Catholic input in the seminary's program of spiritual formation. In the course on 'Signs, Wonders and Church Growth,' taught by C. Peter Wagner and John Wimber, has injected a significant charismatic dimension int he School of World Missions." (p. 26-27) [emphasis added]

Later in Ashbrook's book, in a chapter entitles "Intellectuals in Residence," he talked about the significance of a woman named Roberta Hestenes:

"In this day of equal rights for women one dare not be guilty of speaking of male new evangelicals only. Turning from Tony Campolo, let's take a brief look at his boss, Roberta Hestenes, President of Eastern College.

"Christianity Today for March 3, 1989, in an article titled, "Roberta Hestenes: Taking Charge" states the following:

"As president of Eastern College in St. Davids, Pennsylvania, she is the first woman in that position among the schools of the evangelical Christian College Coalition. As the activist chairman of World Vision, she exerts power in one of the largest parachurch organizations in the world.

"Hestenes came out of a tragic family background. She attended Whittier College in California and came to Christ at a small Quaker church as a result of the influence of the faculty advisor to the Lutheran student group. After moving to Washington State with her husband and family she came under the influence of Dr. Robert Munger of the University Presbyterian Church in Seattle. Through responsibilities in that church, her abilities as a teacher and organizer became known. In 1989 Munger moved to the faculty of Fuller Seminary and was not content until Hestenes followed.

"George Marsden, in his Reforming Fundamentalism, chronicles the movement at Fuller to change the emphasis of the school from that of a seminary to more of a trade school. On page 274 he says the following:

"As we have seen, the School of Psychology and the School of World Mission were, by their very natures, oriented toward the practical, and many of their faculty had little patience with the old seminary ideal. Now, however, at the School of Theology itself, such views were common. Especially in the practical field, spokespersons such as the influential Roberta Hestenes, a Robert Munger protege, emphasized that a seminary was not just the intellectual center of the Body of Christ, but also a theological resource center for ministry or service in the broad sense. For this purpose, spiritual formation was probably more important than theological precision. [emphasis added]

"Christianity Today, in the issue mentioned previously, also noted this thought:

"Hestenes made a mark at Fuller. . . Not content merely to teach communications, she helped invent a new major, something called Christian Formation and Discipleship. Within the name is an assertion: making disciples, not accumulating knowledge, should be at the heart of the seminary as well as the church." (p. 54-55) [emphasis added]

Fuller Theological Seminary was the chief organ utilized by the neo-evangelicals to propogate and disseminate new doctrines. They needed the intellectual aura of a seminary to give credence and acceptability to the new doctrines they were pumping out. For more documentation on this point, see the latest newsletter posted at Discernment Ministries (Jan./Feb. 2006), in an article entitled "The Necessity of Separation from Heresy," which chronicles the conspiratorial agenda of Ockenga and his associates to "infiltrate" the churches and the world. http://www.discernment-ministries.org/NLJanFeb_2006.htm

The Truth:

Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?
Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?
(Proverbs 7:27-28)

The merger of corporate business operations with church mission movements is going full-swing. This Corporate-Church marketplace mission plan was documented in the article posted at the Discernment Ministries website entitled "Dominionism and the Rise of Christian Imperialism" http://www.discernment-ministries.org. This article is currently being printed into booklet form and will be available through the ministry for only $3.00 (see Jan./Feb. 2006 newsletter for details).

From a press release posted on Dec. 1, 2005 from Pat Robertson's Regent University, entitled "Regent receives $1 million grant to create center: Center for Entrepreneurship will support revitalization," by Ken Miller, we learn that Ken Eldred's "Living Stones Foundation Charitable Trust has recently awarded a grant of $1 million over a five-year period towards the creation of the Regent University Center for Entrepreneurship (RCE)." The press release, posted at http://www.regent.edu/news/eldred_donation_rce.html, provides more information:

"The mission of RCE is to improve the economic and spiritual conditions of disadvantaged populations around the globe through business entrepreneurship grounded in a Christian worldview. Its vision is to assist communities, regions, and nations in spiritual, social, political, and economic revitalization."

". . . RCE will contribute to the “Business As Mission” movement, which promotes the establishment of businesses as ministries to aid the billions of people living in poverty and spiritual darkness. RCE will publish and disseminate a biblical and historical foundation for this movement.

" . . . RCE will also perform academically rigorous evaluations of business models and programs to isolate the most effective projects. Projects will then be made available to sophisticated investors, foundations, and government agencies that have an interest in funding them.

"A third goal of RCE will be to develop and disseminate training programs, materials, and operating manuals that are tailored to the needs of specific populations and environments. RCE will work with the governments of developing countries, and may request change in policies to accommodate new businesses and programs. . . .

"RCE is now involved with projects in Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Nepal, and Ukraine. " [all emphases added]

http://www.parakletos.com/ken_eldred.htm states, "Currently Mr. Eldred is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Living Stones Foundation, a public support organization created by Mr. and Mrs. Eldred with approximately $100 million in assets for the purposes of supporting Christian work and charity around the world. He focuses on charitable projects and providing services to Christian organizations as a board member or as an independent advisor. He is a Visiting Hoover Fellow at Stanford University and has served on the Board of Trustees for Regent University, including the Executive Committee. He was also appointed by Dr. David Yonggi Cho as an elder in Seoul, South Korea at the world’s largest church with over 750,000 members and he leads a weekly Bible study for business leaders in Silicon Valley, which he started over 10 years ago." [emphasis added]

Eldred's book God is at Work has been endorsed by a wide variety of New Apostolic Reformation leaders and government officials[See http://www.godisatwork.org/endorsements.html]. He has worked closely with George Otis of the "Transformation" video series, who promotes a radical spiritual warfare approach to "kingdom building." Eldred's model incorporates the 3-legged stool concept, linking Church with State and Corporate interests, as described in the Discernment Ministries article cited above.

"[Living Stones Foundation] provides financial resources to projects that lead to self-sustaining Kingdombuilding ministries, where strategic support will leverage the success of the whole body of Christ. Ken was the primary mover in bringing together the Transformation Partnership of The Luis Palau Evangelistic Association, Sentinel Group and CitiReach who along with LSF provide ministry in areas like Fiji. . . . This is a new and exciting ministry model that incorporates church leadership, the business community, government and educational components and harnesses their divergent capacities to sustain ongoing community and national transformation. [http://tinyurl.com/ay59a, p. 13]

An International Coalition of Workplace Ministries mailing dated Thursday, January 05, 2006, announced a ICWM Workplace Leaders Roundtable for March 13,14 to be held at the Founders Inn on the campus of Regent University in Virginia Beach. Details of the event will be emailed within a few days. The theme of the ICWM Workplace Leaders Roundtable will be Separation of Church and State. This disingenuous title hides the fact that this conference is precisely about the networking of Church and State via the "transformation" model. In fact, the mailing goes on to state:

"It is up to us to place believers in the places of authority… like the Supreme Court, Time Warner, CNN, the oval office, universities, local government, and Fortune 1000 companies. Then we will begin to see change!" [http://tinyurl.com/7m8we ]

The Truth:

For more information about the "transformation" model see the article entitled "What Is Transformation?" posted at http://newswithviews.com/Leslie/sarah.htm.

"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away." (Prov. 4:14-15)

The laid-back, Hawaiian shirt and loafers Rick Warren is in the process of being spiffed up in time for a global summit of the World Economic Forum. Check out the recent makeover at http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/rickwarren.aspx. The photo is still the same California casual, but the text is very different.

Discernment Research Group has been predicting for some time that we would see Warren morphing into The Reverand Doctor Richard D. Warren. Before reading the impressive-sounding quotes below, Herescope readers should keep in mind that Warren's doctorate (DMin) was received from Fuller Theological Seminary under the tutelage of C. Peter Wagner, a Latter Rain cult leader who is the founder of the New Apostolic Reformation, and chief conjurer of new dominionist doctrines. His doctoral thesis, not notably scholarly, was to become his first book, The Purpose-Driven Church [see http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/addendumNAR.html].

Note the new use of the term "Dr." in Warren's image makeover. Also note in the very first sentence that Warren is no longer using the phrase "Global Giants," which he had borrowed from Bruce Wilkinson, who recently left Africa in disgrace (see Herescope posts of 12/21 and 12/23). He is now attacking "Global Goliaths." Marketing is the name of his game:

"Dr. Rick Warren is passionate about attacking what he calls the five “Global Goliaths” – spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, and illiteracy/poor education. His goal is a second Reformation by restoring responsibility in people, credibility in churches, and civility in culture. He is a pastor, global strategist, theologian, and philanthropist. He’s been often named 'America's most influential spiritual leader' and “'America’s Pastor. . . .

"As a global strategist , Dr. Warren advises leaders in the public, private, and faith sectors on leadership development, poverty, health, education, and faith in culture. He has been invited to speak at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the African Union, the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, TIME’s Global Health Summit, and numerous congresses around the world. . . . " [emphasis added]

Notably missing from this list above is Rick Warren's foray into the Aspen Institute this past summer. The purpose-driven website continues:

"As a theologian, Dr. Warren has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Judaism, the Evangelical Theological Society, and numerous seminaries and universities. His six books are known for explaining theology in understandable ways and have been translated into more than 50 languages. Dr. Warren says he teaches theology without using theological terms and telling people it is theology. . . ."

"As philanthropists, Rick and Kay Warren give away 90 percent of their income through three foundations: Acts of Mercy, which serves those infected and affected by AIDS; Equipping the Church, which trains church leaders in developing countries; and The Global PEACE Fund, which fights poverty, disease, and illiteracy. . . . " [emphasis added]

A corollary puff piece that ran yesterday, Sun, Jan. 08, 2006, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "The purpose-driven pastor," by Paul Nussbaum, posted at http://tinyurl.com/dqlk3 notes:

"This week, it was the Rose Bowl players' breakfast. This month, it will be the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Then the President's prayer breakfast in Washington, followed by an entertainment industry conference in Los Angeles. . . .

"In North Philadelphia, the Rev. Herbert Lusk, the former Philadelphia Eagles running back who is pastor of the Greater Exodus Baptist Church and a prominent supporter of President Bush, brought Warren to town in November to raise money for aid to Africa. . . . 'The guy is a preacher's preacher... . He's the leading evangelical in the world, unquestionably,' Lusk said. . . . " [emphasis added]

Re-packaged DOMINIONISM

Concurrent with his new image, due to the ever-present marketing strategies that are incorporated into every activity that he engages in, Warren is also re-packaging his dominionist theologies. Note the "spin" in the comments below. He continues to tie government monies to his international church expansion, in a rapidly emerging global faith-based arena:

"Warren said he sees religious institutions as more powerful forces than governments for solving the world's problems.

"'I would trust any imam or priest or rabbi to know what is going on in a community before I would any government agency.'"

"But, powerful as churches can be in working for the powerless, they can't succeed without governments and nongovernmental organizations, Warren said."

Finally, note the disengenuous statements below. Warren points his finger at "fundamentalists" as the new enemy. This belies the fact that Warren is pumping up -- to a global scale -- pure Latter Rain Dominionism.

"Evangelicals are often equated with fundamentalists or the religious right, which annoys Warren. Although he's politically conservative - opposing abortion and gay marriage and supporting the death penalty - he pushes a much broader agenda and disdains both politics and fundamentalism. . . .

"Warren predicts that fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be 'one of the big enemies of the 21st century.'

"'Muslim fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism, Jewish fundamentalism, secular fundamentalism - they're all motivated by fear. Fear of each other.'"

Which is more scary? Old-fashioned fundamentalists who simply preach the Bible or new-fangled Dominionists, who are currently implementing an aggressive plan to "transform" the entire world, nation by nation, to build "Christ's" kingdom on Earth?

The Truth:

"For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:10-11)

Namby-pamby (from Webster's New World Dictionary): [orig. satirical nickname of Ambrose Philips, 18th-c. Eng. poet: in ridicule of his sentimental pastorals] weakly sentimental; wish-washy; without vigor; insipidly pretty or nice.

On December 19, 2005 The Wall Street Journal ran an article on the front page about Bruce Wilkinson's failed venture into Swaziland. This was reported on the Herescope blog that very day, and again on December 21st. The story which we published on Herescope that day was linked to a recent article entitled "Dominionism and the Rise of Christian Imperialism" posted at the Discernment website [http://www.discernment-ministries.org/ChristianImperialism.htm].

This story was picked up over the past weekend (1/08/06) by Bill Berkowitz of Media Transparency, in an article entitled "Paul Bonicelli/USAID: The rest of the story" [http://tinyurl.com/bhtbf] at http://www.mediatransparency.com.
This article is not written from a Christian perspective -- in fact it comes from a website that traditionally has absolutely no fond affection for the Evangelical Right -- but it does speak clearly to the expansion of Christian Imperialism in Africa.

That was it. There has been no further in-depth reporting from either the evangelical press or the secular media. The silence has been deafening.

Granted, it was over the holidays. But there is no excuse for the two pitiful articles that appeared in the past several days in the evangelial press. Christianity Today's "CT Direct," a daily newservice finally picked up the story yesterday in a brief article entitled "Jabez Author Quits Africa" [http://tinyurl.com/co3zq]. The article is basically a re-hash of the Wall Street Journal article with a few sappy comments. Joel Belz of World Magazine basically ignored the Bruce Wilkinson issue altogether, except for a brief summation, choosing to focus his attentions on another mission group that was, in his estimation, doing it better. [See "Think small: When confronting massive problems like African poverty, forget theme parks and golf courses" http://tinyurl.com/7ctap.]

Christianity Today has been the chief media organ for the neo-evangelicals for over 5 decades. It was set up for the specific purpose of cheerleading the new doctrines, philosophies and activities of the megolithic evangelical subculture that was arising out of the ashes of fundamentalism. The details of this are given in this month's Discernment Newsletter posted at http://www.discernment-ministries.org/NLJanFeb_2006.htm.

World Magazine is the chief media organ of the political and patriotic dominionists. It has been the cheerleader for the merger of Church and State through faith-based programs. It would therefore have little to disagree with concerning Rick Warren and Bruce Wilkinson's African excursions.

The evangelical press, from its very inception, was never set up to be a watch-dog over evangelicaldom. It never took on the role of apologetics or discernment ministries. It has never raised the most difficult ethical issues, particularly in the self-examination of its own charismatic and beloved leaders. Now that these evangelical leaders are poised to embark upon a global expansion plan (tragically, in the name of "mission") -- which brings in a humongous network of Corporate interests, national and international governing agencies and institutions, and philanthropic endeavors -- the failings of the evangelical press are most alarming and appalling.

There are many troubling aspects to Bruce Wilkinson's African campaign. Scratch the surface but a little and one learns that it was intricately interwoven with Rick Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. Could this be the reason for the evangelical media's silence? Here is just one tiny example of reporting that has not taken place. On June 15, 2004 one could find the following reference, which has since been removed, from http://tinyurl.com/dfwj4, which discloses the interlocking nature of Bruce Wilkinson's organizations with Rick Warren's global purpose-driven campaign:

"Youth Corporation is planning to get very involved in the holistic health of youth ministry in South Africa through networking and training:

"This is where we start: we encourage youth leaders to familiarize themselves with PDM, we will follow this up with Purpose Driven Youth Ministry training and support groups. Walk Through the Bible will be coordinating the Purpose Driven Ministry in the southern Africa region. It will also be a distributor of the accompanying life-changing resources.

"As from August 2003 Walk Thru the Bible has been appointed as the official Purpose Driven representative in southern Africa. The goal is to establish a network of churhces, from all denominations and cultures, which will implement the five purposes, which Purpose Driven represents. Churches and individuals will have access to training, resources and support provided by Walk Thru the Bible. These resources include the Purpose-Driven books, videos, materials and the network strategy. . . .

"At the May 2003 Turn the Tide satellite conference Rick Warren presented his popular course, The Purpose Driven Church, to over 400 registered satellite sites across Southern Africa.

"On this exciting new partnership, Philip R. Walker, president of International Christian Ministries, commented: 'Our organisation, International Christian Ministries, is coordinating the implementation of Purpose Driven Ministries in Africa. It is our pleasure to announce that we are now in partnership with Walk Thru the Bible Southern Africa, who will represent ICM and our other partners including Purpose-Driven Ministries.'" [emphases added]

What happened to this partnership? Chances are, it isn't going to be reported on in the evangelical press. There are many more, very troubling connections and potential conflicts of interest that could be reported on in this recent evangelical dominionist foray into Africa. Stay tuned!

The Truth:

"The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many; but fools die for want of wisdom." (Proverbs 10:20-21)

Since posting a few hours ago, the Discernment Research Group has had time to cull back through old files pertaining to the extensive interconnections between Bruce Wilkinson and Rick Warren in Africa. Not all Internet records have been scoured and expunged. For those Herescope readers who are interested in this topic, the following urls are live links that provide a snapshot to a time when the two men were partners in their African endeavors.

http://tinyurl.com/7nrsu This is the original Christianity Today article, "Mr. Jabez Goes to Africa: Bruce Wilkinson expands his borders to include racial reconciliation and HIV/AIDS," by Timothy C. Morgan, posted 10/17/2003, which relates Wilkinson's lunch and activities with Rick Warren, including Wilkinson's involvement in "Transformation Namibia," connected with Graham Power's "Transformation Africa," a dominionist prayer movement that gave rise to the Global Day of Prayer event.

http://tinyurl.com/cq5cs An E-NEWSLETTER, Issue 43.1 Wednesday 30th April 2003, from Port Elizabeth Church Net, which in addition to advertising the Transformation Day of Prayer (May 1, 2003 -- a percursor to the Global Day of Prayer), also promoted " TURN THE TIDE IN PORT ELIZABETH: Transforming nations through satellite bible teaching," 2nd - 6th May 2003 in Port Elizabethat Kabega Full Gospel Church. . . ." It went on to note that:

"Turn the Tide is partnering with churches and other movements to fulfill their purpose of discipling the nations of Africa. Join us as we pursue the largest ever training event in Africa. Connect with us as we broadcast live via satellite links to registered sites all over Africa, utilising the existing DStv infrastructure. Speakers include Dr Bruce Wilkinson (author of The Prayer of Jabez), Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Church), and David and Mamikie Malopo." [emphasis added]

[See the May/June Discernment Ministries newsletter for more information on these linkages with the Global Day of Prayer: http://www.discernment-ministries.org/NLMayJune_2005.htm]

http://tinyurl.com/8occr also describes this "Turn the Tide: transforming nations through satellite teaching" event with Rick and Kay Warren and Bruce and Darlene Wilkinson.

http://tinyurl.com/9nw3g Walk Thru the Bible Southern Africa has been a distribution network for purpose-driven materials. The website says: "Walk Thru the Bible co-ordinates of the Purpose Driven Ministry in the southern Africa. It is also a distributor of the accompanying life-changing resources."

http://tinyurl.com/7st2h An article posted on BeliefNet, "Jabez' Author Leaving Walk Thru the Bible," by Gayle White, Cox News Service, Atlanta, dated Feb. 19, 2002 which indicates that Bruce Wilkinson continued an on-going relationship with Walk Thru the Bible. Paul Johnson, chairman of the organization, is quoted as saying, "We will enjoy a continuing affiliation with Bruce, as he continues to produce high-quality Bible-teaching materials."

http://tinyurl.com/bsl2l Walk Thru the Bible's Vice President gave a report, “My, look how much you have grown,” describing their distribution partnership with Purpose-Driven Ministries and other organizations active in African "transformation." (Also note the sidebar's description of WTTB's relationship with Purpose-Driven Ministries in Brazil.)

"That brings us to my third trip near the end of 2003. I thought I knew what to expect, but nothing could have prepared me for what I actually experienced. The ministry in South Africa had outgrown the small church that let us share its facility for years. The new headquarters is a beehive of activity where over 20 employees distribute materials not only for Walk Thru the Bible, but for Purpose-Driven Ministries, Equip, Global Vision Resources, and several other strategic partners."

http://tinyurl.com/c9wwu The Association for Christian Broadcasters in Africa, reported on September 13, 2003, "As from August 2003, ACB member, Walk Thru the Bible has been appointed as the official Purpose Driven representative in Southern Africa."

The American evangelical press never embarked upon a thorough examination of precisely how Bruce Wilkinson (and Rick Warren his partner) intended to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. The photo ops and carefully staged press events portray the men giving quasi-spiritual sounding messages that could be best defined as "morality lite." Given the neo-evangelical propensity to heavily dilute the gospel message with watery platitudes, this isn't much of a surprise. But it did serve an important purpose. This "morality lite" message provided the perfect foil for the real activities of these men in Africa.

Before we proceed, let us first peel off the veneer. Bruce Wilkinson's "morality lite" message was sadly lacking in true Biblical morality. The following quotation appeared in JOY! magazine, the South African counterpart to Charisma, in April 2004. Bruce Wilkinson was being interviewed by Chante Hinds, "Specializing in the impossible," about his activities in Africa, and his abstinence work in Swaziland. He was asked, "Do Christians need a brand change? I've heard, 'We love the message -- pity about the messenger.'"

Wilkinson answered: "Not so much a brand change as a behaviour change. We have promoted an unbiblical message that becoming born-again is the answer to everything. It's not. It changes your eternity, but it doesn't change your sexual behaviour, for instance. The gospel does not always have the answer for modern-day dilemmas." [emphasis added]

Obviously, given the quote above, Bruce Wilkinson never intended to work on the HIV/AIDS issue from a traditional Christiain perspective of preaching the Gospel. Why not? Because over the past 30 years the evangelical church has been thoroughly permeated with the kingdom (dominionist) gospel. This new gospel teaches that one can change governments, laws, structures in society, cultural norms, etc. by political action and education. This focus is misplaced on changing the external affairs of mankind (the new definition of "transformation"), not the inner condition of the heart of man (Romans 12:1-2 definition of "transformation").

The type of education that kingdom gospel adherents practice is best defined as "affective" education -- based upon the humanist psychological methods developed by Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow and William Coulson. This style of touchy-feely education is not didactic, nor is it cognitive. Although it may be "spiritual" in a secular moral sense (such as "character education") it is not biblical. It is also ineffective in changing human behavior. This style of education is what is taught by the evangelical management gurus in their "leadership training." [For more information on this topic see http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com to read excerpts from Charlotte Iserbyt's excellent book, the deliberate dumbing down of america.]

In a sense, the Liberal Leftists have been right. The kingdom dominionists have been trying to impose their morality on society. Particularly in a way that supplants true biblical evangelism.

The Truth:

Modern-day dominionists rely upon the external machinations of man, the manipulations of psycho-social dynamics, the political powers-that-be, the entrapments of financiers, and the coalitions with heathen. Gone is the emphasis on the power of the Word of God to change the hearts and lives of man.

The new dominionist way emphasizes "making disciples" in a way that would force every man to bend the knee to Christ. The old Gospel way relied upon the Scriptures -- "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear" (Mark 4:24) and repent.

The OLD definition of Matthew 28:18 is one that many Herescope readers may have never heard before. This "Great Commission" Scripture has been twisted to justify building a "kingdom" here on Earth and the original message has been lost. Below is a quotation from Gospel Fear: Developing a Tender Heart that Trembles at the Word of God, by Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646):

"So where the Word of the Lord is, there is power to make it good. In Matthew 28:18 Christ says, 'All power in heaven and earth is given unto Me.' What follows? 'Go therefore and preach.' What may we observe from the connection? It is as if He should say, 'Know that all the power in heaven and earth that is given to Me shall go along with you while you are preaching My Word, to make good that Word of Mine that you preach.' So whenever you hear any truth of God preached out of His Word, you must know that all power in heaven and earth is sent forth to assist it and make it good. If it is a threatening, to make it good that way; if it is a promise, to make it good that way. In Isaiah 55:11, the Lord says there that His Word will not be a vain thing; it will not return unto Him void, but one way or another, it shall perform the work that God sends it for. . . .

"God will have every sinner to know that He is the Lord, and that He does not speak in vain. It is as if God should say, 'Then My Word shall prevail, shall take hold upon them, all the power that I have shall go along with My Word to make it good." (p. 13-14)

"[Wisdom] crieth upon the highest places of the city, Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled, Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding." (Proverbs 9:3b-6)

Discernment Ministries has been following the development of a global "dominionist" agenda and recently posted an article at the website entitled "Dominionism and the Rise of Christian Imperialism." Today's Herescope post is an update and expansion on several topics that were brought out in this article.

Transformation Namibia

The May/June Discernment Newsletter reported on the international event called The Global Day of Prayer (GDOP), which was a kingdom-building activity to bring about global "transformation." The GDOP event also aided in the global launching of Rick Warren's "Second Reformation," as reported in the July/August newsletter. [Click on archived newsletters at http://www.discernment-ministries.org to read these important background articles.]

The official press accounts of the history of the Global Day of Prayer linked it back to Graham Power, a businessman in Africa who supposedly saw a vision from God to have large prayer stadium events. Thus began the prayer event in CapeTown in 2001, which incorporated South Africa the next year 2002, then moved to reach all of southern African continent in 2003, and then finally the entire African continent in 2004.

Important NEW historical information has come to light pertaining to the history of the Global Day of Prayer. The GDOP and its parent, Transformation Africa, were completely interconnected with George Otis, Jr.'s Transformation video from the onset . This Transformation video series has been one of the key vehicles to market the kingdom dominionism theology worldwide, particularly in vulnerable 3rd world countries. The video is modeled after the old snake oil sales -- it promises miraculous results and a "restoration" of the entire planet Earth if these principles of kingdom transformation are implemented.

This new, more complete history of the GDOP can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ba34n. This website is about the "transformation" of the tiny country of Namibia, which has been a guinea pig for the rest of the continent.

At "The Namibian Dream" [http://www.thenamibiandream.info/] the website indicates that its "purpose is to help transforming Africa for Christ." At the link "About Us," one can see one of the clearest examples of Peter Drucker's 3-legged stool diagram, incorporating Business, Government, and Church into a 3-armed logo [http://www.thenamibiandream.info/AboutUs.aspx]. The information states: "Our ambition is all about government, business and church leaders joining hands. . . ." The "mission" statement on this page is indicative of the prayer dominionist agenda.

Bruce Wilkinson's Turn the Tide organization has been a prominent player in this "transformation" of Namibia. Wilkinson intended to take his Swaziland transformation initiative into Namibia, and his weekly "Turn the Tide" press releases mentioned these activities. "The Swazi model will hopefully be replicated in Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, and parts of South Africa," according to an article from the Christian Post at http://tinyurl.com/a27o8, by Katherine T. Phan, "Campaign Calling Students to Abstinence in Swaziland Ends Saturday" (Jul. 31, 2004) [emphasis added].

A key partner of Bruce Wilkinson in Namibia has been John Maxwell. Maxwell is another evangelical leader who enjoys wide credibility with few critics. Maxwell's activities frequently come up in conjunction with Bruce Wilkinson and Rick Warren's African endeavors, and the three men worked closely together on the "transformation agenda." Maxwell's role is particularly pivotal because he involved himself in "leadership training" through various entities, including his Global Pastors Network, Million Leaders Mandate and EQUIP. In brief, his leadership training identifies, databanks, assesses and monitors indigenous pastors in a given area for the purpose of intensive re-training in the kingdom dominionist mindset. Some of Maxwell's activities in Namibia are are briefly described at http://www.thenamibiandream.info/AboutUs.aspx :

"When John Maxwell and a few friends launched EQUIP in 1997, their vision was to equip international Christian leaders to effectively serve the growing Body of Christ around the world. . . . MILLION LEADERS MANDATE (MLM), a six year global initiative to train and resource one million international Christian leaders, was launched in Asia in 2003 and is being introduced continent by continent in successive years."

The original Christianity Today article about Bruce Wilkinson's activities in Africa, "Mr. Jabez Goes to Africa: Bruce Wilkinson expands his borders to include racial reconciliation and HIV/AIDS," by Timothy C. Morgan, posted 10/17/2003 [http://tinyurl.com/7nrsu] had much to say about his activities in Namibia. As Herescope noted a few days ago, the evangelical press accounts of Wilkinson's activities were laudatory, not critical. A few excerpts follow:

"Testing Ground
"In Namibia, influential Christians have begun a renewal movement that they call the Namibian Dream, anchored by an annual outdoor celebration, Transformation Namibia. They invited Wilkinson to be their keynote speaker for the May 1, 2003, gathering at a sports arena in Windhoek, the nation's capital, surrounded by the barren and beautiful mountains of the ancient Namib Desert.

"Diamond-rich Namibia has not been as afflicted by pestilence or coups as have other African nations. With a Christian majority and a relatively prosperous economy, Namibia is a missions success by the numbers. But latent racism, chronic poverty, and white control of agricultural land have held back Namibians. . . .

"The Namibian Dream movement is trying to build such friendships; it is one stream of a larger spiritual renewal underway in southern Africa that has gained little attention outside the region. Three years ago, Graham Power of Cape Town, South Africa, launched Transformation Africa with a stadium-based event not unlike Promise Keepers' 1997 Stand in the Gap gathering in Washington, D.C. . . .

"Transformation Africa's top leaders and Wilkinson have the same goal of focusing the power of Christians for a continent-wide spiritual and social renewal around biblical teaching. Southern Africa's conservative Christians provide the workers, while Wilkinson provides new strategies for evangelism, church planting, pastor training, and holistic outreach."

[Some readers may wish to read a disturbing article about Namibia which raises many ethical concerns about the Transformation Namibia actitivies in the context of complex issues of western, white and Christian imperialism. It is posted at http://tinyurl.com/9h4d8. For two other articles which present a troubling portrayal of the May 1, 2003 Transformation Africa event in Namibia see: http://tinyurl.com/bewl5 and http://tinyurl.com/cfnwy]

The Truth:

Herescope is just one tiny blog which currently is highlighting concerns raised by the dominionist mandate, particularly as it pertains to the questionable activities of evangelical leaders in Africa. The fact is, this is a daunting task because of the limited amount of material to research. Of all of the ethical concerns that could be raised concerning the dominionist agenda in Africa, perhaps this is primary. There is little or no scrutiny, oversight, accountability, or authentic publicity about what is being implemented in Africa under the banner of Christianity. Will the stories only come out after there is an "incident" of the type reported by The Wall Street Journal regarding Bruce Wilkinson (See Herescope 12/19/05)? How many more stories are there like this?

Or, worse, will the stories coming out be highly scripted media puff pieces designed to stimulate more short-term volunteer trips to "advance the kingdom"? Will pre-digested stories be sent out with glowing reports of wonderful successes, miraculous events (such as George Otis' foot-long carrots), or supposedly marvelous results?

More stories from Africa, Lord willing, tomorrow. . . . .

"But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." (Heb. 3:13)

"Pastor Luke took us to each of the six classes. In each class, he asked the students the question: 'What is your purpose in life?' Their response: 'Our purpose in life is to dominate and subdue, for the purpose of transforming our community Soweto, Nairobi, Kenya, Africa, and the whole world in the name of Jesus Christ.'"

Students in African classrooms are being indoctrinated in dominionist theology. This event took place in an elementary school in Soweto, a slum of Nairobi, Kenya, which was started by a pastor who wanted to use his church to "transform" Africa. He had been indoctrinated in the new theology by the dominionist leadership training ministries from the U.S. The above quotation can be found in two locations: http://tinyurl.com/7wf7m and http://tinyurl.com/avuvd [emphasis added].

This activity in the schoolroom is glowingly reported on by Bob Moffitt, Founder and Director of Harvest Foundation, and author of the book If Jesus Were Mayor (Harvest Publishing, 2004). Moffitt commented,

"These children said that with such conviction that it made the hair on my arms stand up. Normally when you go into a poverty-stricken community like this one, children are poor and do not see themselves as having control over their future lives. But these children had a vision for the transformation of their community and of the world, for the sake of Jesus Christ. And you could tell by the way that they said it that they believed it. These children are incredibly rich in vision and in energy." [emphasis added]

Moffitt's book If Jesus Were Mayor is a treatise on how to implement dominionism in a local community. Promotional literature at the Harvest Foundation website [http://www.harvestfoundation.org/materials.htm] describes it:

"Dr. Moffitt asks the readers of his new book to think about the possibility of Jesus being the mayor of their community. Elaborating on that supposition, he summarizes the ministry philosophy of Harvest and shares examples of churches around the world who have put these principles into action. In so doing, he challenges local churches everywhere to reconsider how they are meeting their biblically assigned role to serve in their communities."

In October 2004, Harvest Foundation issued a newsletter (Vol. 1, Iss. 2,) which chronicled this group's activities on the continent of Africa:

"On September 9-12, 2004, an event called the Africa Formation Group Meeting took place in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose was to create an alliance for local church-based transformational training for the entire African continent.

"Those attending were the following: · Harvest US: Bob Moffitt and John Wood. · Africa Working Group (AWG): Chris Ampadu (Ghana); Demelash Lemma (Ethiopia); Simon Nziramakenga (Rwanda); Dennis Tongoi (Kenya); Buingo Mateene (Congo); Stephen Langa (Uganda) and Hein Van Wyck (Namibia). · Food for the Hungry International (FHI): Scott Allen and Darrow Miller. · World Evangelical Alliance (WEA): Gary Edmonds and J. Paul Fridenmaker. · More than a Mile Deep (MMD): Johan Boekhout (Netherlands); Andre Chitlango (Mozambique); Liphadzi Tshililo (South Africa). · Africa Evangelical Alliance (AEA): Daniel Bitrus and Stephen Mugabe. · Church of Christ in Congo: Sita Luemba. · International Sports Coalition: Cassie Carsten.

"A grand plan was developed during this meeting which will train trainers for all 58 countries on the African continent, beginning now and continuing through 2005. In January, a two-week training event for leaders from throughout Africa is planned to equip approximately 150 people to carry out conferences in all 58 countries. The event will consist of a large vision conference, followed by a week-long trainer-of-trainers session." [ http://www.tinyurl.com.7wf7m/ ]

Moffit's "Report on the Africa Formation Group Meeting" held on Sept. 9-13.2004 reveals the strategy by which American mission groups are coalescing around a kingdom agenda for the purpose of exporting dominionism internationally. Some key excerpts follow:

"Disciple Nations Alliance (DNA) encourages association among Christian organizations with the objective of awakening the church worldwide to the full intentions of Christ, and equipping the church to fulfill its purpose in God’s agenda for transformation.

"Recently, World Evangelical Alliance, which represents churches comprising approximately 300 million Christians in about 120 countries, became interested in partnering with DNA. The decision was made to initially focus on work in Africa, coming alongside our African brothers in Christ to teach, encourage, and mentor churches throughout the whole continent for fulfilling their role in God’s agenda.

"A meeting was held in Nairobi, Kenya, September 9-13 to explore with African Christian leaders with whom we have worked over the past several years how this might be most effectively accomplished. .

"One of the African leaders in our meeting has connection with Transformation Africa, an international prayer movement that gathers Christians in stadiums to pray for transformation. Transformation Africa is currently planning to hold national prayer events in all 58 countries of Africa and the Indian Ocean. We discussed a potential partnership with this group. As Transformation Africa gathers pastors for national prayer meetings in stadiums, we would provide training in biblical worldview and wholistic ministry, to equip local churches as agents of God’s transforming love at the local and national levels. [Ed note: see yesterday's Herescope for an explanation about how Transformation Africa was a precursor to the Global Day of Prayer.]

"If such a partnership could be developed, and the training we envision occurs at each event, the idea of transformation through the local church could literally explode throughout Africa." [emphases added]

The major players in this massive agenda to overhaul the belief system of Africans includes DNA, an ominously named group whose sole purpose is to further the dominionist agenda. [Ed note: DNA is not just an acronym. The dominionists are using this term generically to mean exporting kingdom theology "DNA" into church cell groups for the purpose of transformation and cellular replication in their model.] It is described in the "African Formation" report:

"Disciple Nations Alliance (DNA) was birthed in 2001 as an outgrowth of a partnership between Food for the Hungry and Harvest that began in 1997. DNA’s purpose is to encourage association among Christian organizations with the objective of awakening the church worldwide to the full intentions of Christ, and equipping the church to fulfill its purpose in God’s agenda. We show how God has appointed the church to be His primary agent for bringing transformation and restoration. We teach a biblical worldview and wholistic ministry—serving the needs of the whole person. We equip local churches to both proclaim and demonstrate the love of God, advocating and working for the rule of Christ in every sector of society. . . .

"DNA has served as a catalyst in Africa since we began working there in 1999. We are involved with African Christian leaders now, . . . The African leaders are in charge of the effort, but DNA will continue to assist in bringing local churches to a place of understanding and participation in God’s transformation and restoration agenda." [ http://www.tinyurl.com.avuvd/, emphasis added]

To underscore the domininionist indoctrination mandate that this DNA group serves, at one of its official websites http://tinyurl.com/8upkw the group's agenda is explained more fully. The group essentially teaches a "think globally, act locally" global transformation, by re-training local churches and pastors in the kingdom theology (what they call "worldview") and then exporting it to entire cities, regions and nations. Note below the emphasis on "spheres," which is discussed in the "Dominionism and the Rise of Christian Imperialism" article posted at the Discernment Ministries website:

"The vision of the Disciple Nations Alliance is to see engaged, credible, high-impact local churches, in critical mass, effecting real transformation in their communities and discipling their nations. Our mission is to launch and support movements of local churches around the world that are envisioned with a biblical worldview and equipped to practice a wholistic, incarnational ministry in all spheres of society. We accomplish this mission by advancing a specific set of ideas, or a “school of thought” rooted in the teachings of Darrow Miller and Robert Moffitt."

Dominionism is alarmingly pervasive. Today's Herescope post represents only the tip of a gigantic iceberg. Each link here, and each group named, could be more fully explored. Only a broad overview was presented so that one could see the vast interlocking network of parachurch organizations intent on restructuring the continent of Africa, and then on to the whole globe.

Each one of these ministries above is widely popular and very credible in the evangelical subculture of America. Each exists without controversy or question. No evangelical press covers their real purpose or agenda in Africa. No respected theological seminarians challenge the kingdom doctrine that these groups are re-training 3rd world pastors to believe and implement. No one inquires about the massive funding empire behind these groups.

"And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes." (2 Kings 22:10-11)

Namibia Planned Parenthood Association (NAPPA) is connected with The Namibian Dream in a list of non-governmental organizations connected with the country-wide "transformation" process [ http://tinyurl.com/ay9my ]. One might ask what common ground Planned Parenthood has with a Christian dominionism mandate. Conversely, one might ask what common ground adherents to the Christian Gospel have with an international organization that promotes abortions.

This Namibian Dream project is inextricably connected with Bruce Wilkinson, and also Rick Warren (see previous Herescope posts). Obviously, the existence of these strange bedfellows raises some very disturbing questions about the African "transformation" process and agenda.

The Namibian Dream is a classic example of the 3-legged stool concept of business guru Peter Drucker, which builds a societal communitarian governance structure upon the three pillars of Church, Business and Government.

The Namibian Dream is also a model of the open collaboration among the three main groups of neo-evangelical dominionists -- spiritual warfare, political, and mission. This merger is explained in the paper posted at http://www.discernment-ministries.org entitled "Dominionism and the Rise of Christian Imperialism."

The Namibian Dream is well on its way to launching the 3-legged stool "transformation" process for the entire country. It is building a base of business, church and government leaders in order to further dominionist goals. These dominionist goals are interspersed with genuinely good and compassionate activities that could better Namibian society. A September 2005 Transformation Namibia News, posted at http://tinyurl.com/9l2bw reveals the dominionist influence:

"We have a dream for Namibia: Our dream is for Namibians to humble themselves before God. Our dream is for them to serve Christ as their one and only king. Our dream is furthermore for all spheres of our society – from the government through to the business sector and the church - to work together to address the real needs of the people: that of spiritual and physical starvation and hunger. Only then, we believe, will we be able to reach the goals set out in the blueprint for development and growth in our nation, Vision 2030." [emphasis added]

The newsletter text links Transformation Namibia to an organization "Disciple Namibia" and to the "greater Transformation Africa" process:

"Transformation Namibia, which forms part of the greater Transformation Africa process, started operating in Namibia to help transform the country through unity and prayer and to mobilize the Body of Christ in all spheres of society – community by community and eventually nation by nation –with the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. Transformation Namibia seeks to make The Namibian Dream a reality by uniting Government, Business and Church leaders in joining hands in addressing the real needs of the people of Namibia." [emphasis added]

The Truth:

"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be be destroyed. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 13:20; 14:12))

Discernment Ministries recently received a letter from a Nigerian pastor who wrote:

"Dearly beloved, Thank you for your help. I am a regular recipient of your newsletter. You did a fantastic research on "mentor" sometime. Could you please do a similar research on 'agent.' Our Convention in Nigeria has her annual theme as AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION. Please help me find out the genesis of the word, 'agent.'"

The best description of "change agent" training and history can be found in Charlotte Iserbyt's history of education reform entitled the deliberate dumbing down of america: A Chronological Paper Trail (Conscience Press, 1999). This book is now available on-line at http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com. Iserbyt chronicles the early history of change agentry:

"National Training Laboratory (NTL) was established in 1947. The first laboratory session on human relations and group processes was held at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine. Founders of the National Training Laboratory had important connections with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) -- World War II forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The NTL would become -- with the National Education Association (NEA) -- a premiere agency for human relations training (change agent/brainwashing).

"A 1962 book published jointly by NTL and the NEA entitled Five Issues in Training addressed the process of 'unfreezing, changing, and refreezing' attitudes in order to bring about change by stating the following: 'The Chinese communists would remove the target person from those situations and social relationships which tended to confirm and reinforce the validity of the old attitudes.' (p. 49)"

"This process is widely used in education, theology, medicine, business, government, etc., by pressuring individuals to participate in 'retreats,' removing them from familiar surroundings to 'unfreeze' their attitudes and values. People have been coming from all over the world to attend these retreats at NTL in Bethel, Maine since its founding. An excerpt from the 1977 issue of NTL Newsletter follows:

"'From the New Britain workshop dialogues of the founders emerged the notions of "action research laboratory" and "change agent" which were terms coined to denote a very vigorous proactive social change kind of posture, a merging of radical education, deviant behavioral science, and humanistic democracy.'" (pp. 38-39)

Retreats may not be as common as they used to be. Now most change agent training takes place in leadership training seminars, conferences and workshops. The way that the training is reinforced is through repeated contact with the participants -- monitoring, assessing, and following up on their progress to ensure that their new belief structures are still maintained. Iserbyt continues the history of change agentry on page 120 of the deliberate dumbing down of america in an entry for the year 1973:

"Ronald G. Havelock's The Change Agent's Guide to Innovation in Education was published (Educational Technology Publishing: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1973). This Guide, which contains authentic case studies on how to sneak in controversial curricula and teaching strategies, or get them adopted by naive school boards, is the educator's bible for bringing about change in our children's values. Havelock's Guide was funded by the U.S. Office of Education and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and has continued to receive funding well into the 1980s. It has been republished in a second edition in 1995 by the same publishers."

Change Agent training for the purpose of global church "transformation" has been going on in evangelical circles for at least three decades now. Ken Blanchard, a widely popular pseudo-evangelical business guru who has trained many pastors, has been directly connected with the National Training Labs [http://tinyurl.com/byhvf]. For more information on Ken Blanchard and his nefarious activities, see postings at Christian Research Service at www.christianresearchservice.com. Blanchard's close associate, Warren Bennis, has also been associated with the National Training Labs, as has Willis Harman, a leading Theosophist [both cited in The Age of Heretics: Heroes, Outlaws, and the Forerunners of Corporate Change by Art Kleiner]. Harman's activities with evangelical leaders was the topic of many Herescope posts this past fall.

All three of these New Age leaders have strong interconnections with the evangelical community, particularly through their workshops and seminars and books that bring the corporate business model into the church through the mechanism of leadership training.

It is modeled after the change agent training described by Iserbyt above. It utilizes very sophistical psychological and sociological techniques to:

1) UNFREEZE old attitudes, beliefs, opinions, values, and mindsets. This means that traditional theology and doctrine must be broken down. Very persuasive arguments, coercion, questioning, peer pressure and indoctrination techniques are used to facilitate this process.

2) CHANGE the mind. This means altering one's opinions, beliefs, values, attitudes, philosophies and theologies. There are many ways to do this. One is to call into question the validity or meaning of the old way. Another is to sell a person on the "new" way as better, more productive, more effective, etc. At this point it is very important to disparage the old way so that the new way looks bright and promising.

3) REFREEZE to the new way. Establish it so that it takes over control of the person. Now there are new beliefs, opinions, values, attitudes and behaviors that have taken root and gained a foothold. This is the new paradigm, a new "transformation." Psycho-social research shows that the new beliefs are more fully integrated when someone signs a covenant or has to put the new beliefs into action (take measurable steps to reach a goal).

[For more information on the topic above, see the current (Jan./Feb.) Discernment Ministries newsletter article entitled "The Necessity of Separat