Volume 15, Number 4 July/August 2004
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From the Editor: There have been many things transpiring in the last few months that are making us more aware all of the time of our Lord’s soon return! We are sending out this newsletter with information that hopefully will increase your understanding also. Dear friends have spent many days and hours of research which have only reinforced that indeed we are living in serious days. There are too many who are satisfied with the status quo and do not want to question anything. As long as their comfort zone is not disturbed, they happily go to church and accept whatever is dished out to them Sunday after Sunday. When "change" comes into their midst, instead of checking out things with the Word of God as their standard, they just shrug their shoulders and accept whatever makes them feel good. After a recent Discernment conference in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Bruce R. DeBaun an attendee wrote the following to pastors in his area:
Dear Brethren: While I was fighting in Vietnam during the war, ambush was our most feared form of attack. This method of guerrilla warfare endeavors to catch the enemy off guard, in a place where he feels reasonably secure. Under these circumstances he can usually be wiped out before he's aware of the danger. This simple tactic has never lost its effectiveness.
Today, as a member of the Lord's Army, I am constrained to cry, "Ambush!" to everyone who will listen.
Satan is a skillful strategist. He is aware of the noble intentions of the brotherhood of ______, its desire to work together to bring down walls of separation and unify the Body of Christ. He uses these ambitious ideals and our collective belief that we are too aware of his devices to be lured into a trap as the very means to make us vulnerable.
It has come to my attention that some member churches have gotten involved or are considering involvement in the "Purpose Driven Church/Life," the "Government of Twelve," the "New Apostolic Transformation," to mention only a few of the names by which the movement represents itself. The philosophies offered, in reality a form of humanistic socialistic government, are being heralded as the way to the "post-denominational era". Its advocates have presented these ideas as a new system of beliefs, which will allow the Church to complete the Great Commission. Not only does this plan promise a "better way" of reaching the lost for Christ. It offers a carrot to local pastors by declaring that his/her church will flourish, that is, grow in membership, service to others and spirituality. All this can be accomplished by adopting their new plan and consenting to unify and collaborate under human leadership. The essential facet of this new scheme requires that everyone "voluntarily" sign a contract for church/community service and submit to a quasi-political ecclesiastical hierarchy which has been formed by the reinstatement of the Prophet and the Apostle.
A parallel doctrine teaches the historical church has failed and is no longer effective! By adopting the proposed new method, which is no more than a rephrasing of old secular business management archetypes, it suggests the church can emerge efficiently and effectively to usher in the Second Advent. In reality this scheme is nothing more than a tool to manipulate the masses - sheep and shepherds alike. This new interfaith model will imbue the Christian with pragmatic humanitarianism and methodology which substitutes "The end justifies the means," for "Let us hold fast to the profession of our faith without wavering." By the time the church realizes it has been deceived it will be impotent.
This movement is by no means new, but a progressive resurfacing of Kingdom Now/Dominion teaching. What we are presently seeing became a movement during the 40’s, beginning with the Latter Rain, the Manifest Sons of God, and later, the Kansas City Prophets. Its agenda has been and is currently to establish the Prophets first, and later, when the time is ripe (now), the Prophets will set the Apostles in their place. Basing "their" authority on one or two scriptures concerning the five fold ministry, a few "self appointed", "buddy endorsing" individuals have laid claim to the exalted offices of Apostle and Prophet. They proclaimed a vacuum (No surprise, since the offices, particularly that of Apostle, have been vacant for thousands of years!) and so seized the opportunity. Subsequently they convinced a growing number of pastors that for the last 1900 years the Church has lost its way. In reality what they are attempting is to set up an international church government that will gradually become tolerant of other doctrines, ultimately separate us from the biblical pattern and set the stage for a global religion. At present this may seem far fetched but there is a biblical basis. This new world church order (government) will remove the precious autonomy of the local church and eventually the pastors' authority to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the only way to salvation. In the interests of evangelism and to overcome differences in points of view it will also put prohibitions on preaching anything that offends a particular group, such as advocates of homosexuality and abortion.
We are now being schooled to believe this new transformed model of procedure, with its organized cell structure, accountability and mandated productivity is a better way to save souls than preaching Christ and His cross. This negates the biblical method by which for thousands of years Jesus and those ordained by the Holy Spirit have built the church. The biblical Apostle (not the modern episcopate) had the unique qualification of being an actual witness to Christ and His resurrection. Even Paul, by his Damascus road encounter with the Lord, had a resurrection experience and could claim he saw the resurrected Christ. These biblical examples of the office can not be repeated or transmitted. The function of each Apostle in history was to establish the church, not individual churches. This has been accomplished. The work of birthing new churches now rests on the missionary and the pastor. The Apostle of the Bible was essential to present the church with what we now possess in print, the New Testament. Since the day of Pentecost the apostolic commission has been passed to the Holy Spirit who guides us (individually) in all truth! It is the Holy Spirit who now bears witness of Jesus, and speaks, conveys, teaches, directs, reproves, sends, ordains, commissions, and anoints all believers according to His election. 1 Co.12
The early church was built on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets. These foundations were not embodied in the individuals, but in the doctrines they expressed, taught, and passed on, which are now and forever anchored in His written Word. We are admonished against adding to the Word. The plan for the end times has already been revealed. Why, then would God now set up a new plan and appoint New Apostles? God does not make mistakes or had an afterthought by neglecting to give us additional Apostles or Prophets over the centuries, nor has He waited until now to do so. We should also be mindful that early in this very century, men claiming to hold these offices ended up being exposed as nothing but delusionary.
This new group of so called Prophets and Apostles are nothing more then "wanna bes" who are doing Satan's work and aiding the cause of the antichrist! There is no resemblance between them and the real Apostles, i.e. Peter in Acts 10:25,26, or Paul in Acts 14:13, 14, 15 . Indeed, a "real" prophet sent by God today would have nothing to do with a movement like this. Rather he would, as the Prophets of old, point his finger at the orchestrators and tell them to repent!!
We who are neither prophets nor apostles must be careful not to get caught up in this masquerade or be swept along in this wave of lunacy. Let us stand fast, holding firmly to the doctrines once delivered to the saints. Let us not be so intent on swelling the ranks of the churches we’ve been privileged to oversee, or so overtaken with visions of unification that we violate the warnings and the ways of God. Let us not in our exuberance overturn the Reformation or create a new papacy!
This new movement is immense and what I have said here is only a suggestion of its size and scope. For the great falling away to occur the church must wittingly or unwittingly leave its first estate and accept another doctrine or strategy. The new "world" church will be an amalgamation of beliefs and a synthesis of heresy. It will be an organization in which each of its members will sacrifice the most significant tenets of their faith and surrender their autonomy. This surrender of beliefs is essential to Satan’s plan. Apostasy as it is prophesied can only occur if the guardians of the flock (pastors) and the guardians of the Word can be misdirected long enough for the sheep to become scattered. I ask you all to prayerfully consider this watchman’s warnings. (The tapes from this conference are available).
For some years the warnings have been going forth that New Age teachings have been creeping into the church. These warnings have been ignored. It is amazing that many years ago (1928), one of the most famous New Agers (Alice Bailey) declared that the church would be used as a means for bringing in the New Age.
The Pied Pipers of Purpose-Part I: Human Capital Systems and Church Performance which was sent out in May has been very well received and will soon have a follow-up. In the meantime, we will be making the following book by Warren Smith available through this ministry. Jewel Grewe
The following is an excerpt from Warren Smith’s latest book, Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church. Warren Smith is a former New Ager who became converted to Christianity 20 years ago. Since then he has been warning Christians, through writing and speaking, that dangerous New Age doctrines are subtly creeping into the churches. In his most recent book, which is being offered by Discernment Ministries, Smith recounts the considerable influence that the Rev. Robert H. Schuller has had on the ministry style and teachings of Rick Warren. The mystical leaven of New Age teachings, which Robert Schuller controversially introduced the church several decades ago, is now being reintroduced and assimilated into mainstream evangelicalism through the writings and activities of Rick Warren. Deceived on Purpose is a book with an easy reading style that should be given to pastors and parishioners everywhere. The following is an important excerpt from the book, Chapter 3. It chronicles a noteworthy example of how Rick Warren’s "seeker sensitive" emphasis can lead straight into dangerous metaphysical New Age doctrines. (From Chapter Three) What Message? …"As above, so below; as below, so
above." As Above, So Below Eugene Peterson’s The Message seems to be very important to Rick Warren. It is the first Bible version that he quotes in The Purpose-Driven Life. He cites it at the bottom of his dedication page. He cites it again on the page that precedes his first chapter. He uses quotes from The Message to open and close his first chapter. Five of the six Scriptures that Rick Warren cites in his first chapter all come from The Message. Even the title of the first chapter, "It All Starts with God," is taken from The Message paraphrase of Colossians 1:16, which appears right under the chapter heading. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, …everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.…2 The King James translates Colossians 1:16 as follows: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: It wasn’t Peterson’s use of the phrase "got started" instead of "created," or even the word "purpose," that jumped out at me, as much as his use of the phrase "above and below" instead of "heaven and earth." When I was in the New Age, it was well understood that the words "above and below" had metaphysical/New Age connotations and were routinely substituted for "heaven and earth." In fact, the term "as above, so below" was a commonly accepted New Age phrase. In reading through The Message, I discovered that Peterson had actually inserted the entire phrase "as above, so below" into his paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer. I compared Peterson’s version of the Lord’s Prayer with the King James Version of that same prayer. THE LORD’S PRAYER
The Message Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what’s best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves You’re in charge! You can do anything you want! You’re ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.3 [Emphasis added]
King James Bible Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, For thine is the kingdom,
Peterson had deliberately substituted "as above, so below" in place of "in earth, as it is in heaven." In Colossians 1:16, Peterson again chose to use the terms "above" and "below" instead of the commonly accepted "heaven" and "earth" found in most Bible translations. The "above" and "below" in Colossians 1:16 is an obvious derivative form of the "as above, so below" he had used previously in his paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer. This derivative form of the more complete phrase "as above, so below" is also common to the New Age. The fact that this whole "above" and "below" issue was presenting itself on the first page of the first chapter of Rick Warren’s book was unsettling. Was I reading too much into this? Was there some other reasonable explanation for Eugene Peterson’s use of the term "as above, so below" in the Lord’s Prayer and its derivative form in Colossians 1:16? Ancient Egypt and Oneness Right about the time I was looking into Eugene Peterson’s use of the term "as above, so below," I was at a book sale at our local library. Almost lost amongst some cookbooks and business manuals was a book written and published by the editors of the New Age Journal. It was entitled As Above, So Below. I picked it up and began reading it. In the introduction the chief editor of the book, Ronald S. Miller, had written: Thousands of years ago in ancient Egypt, the great master alchemist Hermes Trismegistus, believed to be a contemporary of the Hebrew prophet Abraham, proclaimed this fundamental truth about the universe: "As above, so below; as below, so above." This maxim implies that the transcendent God beyond the physical universe and the immanent God within ourselves are one. Heaven and Earth, spirit and matter, the invisible and the visible worlds form a unity to which we are intimately linked.4 He continued his explanation by quoting Sufi scholar Reshad Field. …"‘As above, so below’ means that the two worlds are instantaneously seen to be one when we realize our essential unity with God…. The One and the many, time and eternity, are all One."5
The New Age Journal editor went on to state that old forms of religion no longer serve people, and that the term "as above, so below" describes the "emerging spirituality" that is quickly moving onto the world’s scene. He concluded his introduction to As Above, So Below by writing: The breadth of this exploration suggests that we are living in an age of spiritual reinvention, a transitional age that leaves the safety and security of the known to seek out the new, the untested, the possible.6 Moving from the library book sale to the Internet, I put "as above, so below" into the Google search engine to see what would come up. There were countless references. The very first reference listed by Google for "as above, so below" read: This phrase comes from the beginning of The Emerald Tablet and embraces the entire system of traditional and modern magic which was inscribed upon the tablet in cryptic wording by Hermes Trismegistus. The significance of this phrase is that it is believed to hold the key to all mysteries. All systems of magic are claimed to function by this formula. "‘That which is above is the same as that which is below’…. The universe is the same as God, God is the same as man…."7 As I checked out the most popular websites for "as above, so below" each one described the term as having the same mystical, eastern, New Age, esoteric and magical sources. One site stated: This ancient phrase, "As above, so below" describes the Oneness of All That Is.8 The phrase "as above, so below" headlined a page from the Theosophical Society’s website containing the "esoteric" teachings of New Age matriarch Alice A. Bailey. A derivative form of the term—similar to Peterson’s abbreviated use of "above and below" in Colossians 1:16—appeared on the website in a quote from Theosophy founder Helena Blavatsky’s pioneering New Age work, The Secret Doctrine: Above, the Son is the whole KOSMOS; below, he is MANKIND.9 To see if there was any other explanation for Peterson’s use of this mystical New Age phrase, I put the term "as above, so below," along with the term "Christianity," into the search engine of the computer I was using. There were only seven references. None of them had anything to do with biblical Christianity. The first reference was entitled "Mystical Christianity" and said: …to help the seeker of an inner spiritual path find resources to aid their spiritual journey towards a mystical and magickal Christianity.10 In all of my searching I could find no good reason for Peterson’s using "as above, so below" in his paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer. Nor could I find any good reason for his use of the obvious "above and below" derivative, that appears in his Colossians 1:16 paraphrase that Rick Warren used at the very beginning of his book to initiate his readers into The Purpose-Driven Life. So what? I guess if Rick Warren or anyone else says, "So what?" I would say, "So how come?" How come Eugene Peterson inserted a universally accepted, mystical New Age term right into the middle of the Lord’s Prayer? And why does a derivative of the saying show up in his paraphrase of Colossians 1:16? Even if you thought there was some "good" reason for using the term "as above, so below," why would you? Why would you choose a term that so clearly has its origins in the magic of ancient Egypt, and is so heavily identified today with the New Age and the New Spirituality? "As above, so below" agrees with the "immanent" New Age view that God is not only outside of creation, but also within creation. It means that God is "in" everyone and everything. It perfectly denotes the New Age concept of "Oneness" and provides apparent support for the New Age contention that "We are all One." Seeker friendly? I tried to imagine what it would be like for a confused New Ager today coming into a Purpose-Driven Church that uses The Message, and finding this popular New Age phrase right in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer. Or what it would be like for that person to be handed a copy of Rick Warren’s book, only to find an abbreviated form of this same New Age phrase as part of the lead-off Scripture introducing them to The Purpose-Driven Life. This hardly seemed to be the way to introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ to an unbelieving New Ager. Rick Warren’s reintroduction of The Message into my life only reinforced the concerns I had originally voiced… when Peterson’s book first came out. Why was Rick Warren so drawn to The Message? The Message not only obscured prophetic Scriptures like Matthew 24:3–5, it also introduced paraphrased material like "as above, so below," that made it appear that some of the teachings of the Bible were "at One" with the teachings of the New Age. In Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel, I had observed: And it is, indeed, very disturbing to see many Christian leaders today using many of the same words and expressions commonly used by their [New Age, ed.] "new gospel" counterparts.11 Unfortunately, undiscerning Christian leaders have not adequately exposed these [New Age, ed.] "new gospel" teachings and, as a result, the spirit behind the "new gospel" has entered the Church.12 Chapter 3 Endnotes: 1. Ronald S. Miller and the Editors of New Age
Journal, As Above, So Below: Paths to Spiritual Renewal in Daily Life
(Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1992), p. xi.
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Showtime For The Sheep? The Church and The PASSION of The Christ
Tom McMahon has written a very "factual, thoughtful, and biblical" book portraying his concerns about the movie. "This block-busting little book addresses several key trends that are storming the church in this media-mesmerized millennium:
This book available through this ministry for $10.00
Put your order in immediately to receive the new book quoted from in this newsletter:
Deceived on Purpose: The New Age Implications of the Purpose-Driven Church By Warren Smith $12.00 plus $3.00 Shipping Also available by Warren Smith: Reinventing Jesus Christ: The New Gospel $7.00 per book plus $1.50 Shipping Audio book on CD - $15.00 plus $5.00 Shipping
Special Offer! Pied Pipers of Purpose – Part I: Human Capital Systems and Church Performance $3.50 each Order 10 for $30.00
Mail a check or money order to: Discernment Ministries, P.O. Box 254, High Bridge, NJ 08829 Credit Card orders: 903-567-6423 Plan to Attend a Fall Conference! October 14-16, 2004 Niagara Falls (Canada) Ramada Coral Resort – 7429 Lundys Lane For Hotel Reservations: 1-800-359-7234 (a block of rooms is being held until 3 weeks before the conference) Price: Canadian $85.00 (double room) USD$63.00 per night. Register for the conference by September 15, 2004: $15.00 per person; $25.00 per couple. $20.00 each at the door. Speakers: Rev. John Marston, Dr. Opal Reddin, Lynn & Sarah Leslie, Jewel Grewe Special Music: Jerry Pryde Nov. 19-21, 2004 Albany, NY Hilton Garden-Inn, (Albany Airport) 1-518-464-6666 (a block of rooms is being held until 10/29/04). Price: $96.00 per night (king size or two double-beds. Some rooms with King-size beds have additional sofa sleeper). Register for the conference by October 1, 2004: $15.00 per person; $25.00 per couple. $20.00 each at the door. Speakers: Jacob Prasch, Lynn & Sarah Leslie, Jewel Grewe, Bill Randles Topics to be covered at both conferences:
To register for either or both of these conferences, see the registration form on the back of this newsletter. Upon receipt of your registration, details regarding driving directions and times of sessions will be sent to you. This information is also available on our website.
Please note that tapes are available from the Wilkes-Barre conference – see order form for detail!
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