The Emergent Church: Undefining Christianity

The October 20, 2009 broadcast of Crosstalk is a re-broadcast of host Vic Eliason’s interview of Pastor Bob DeWaay’s recent book called:  The Emergent Church:  Undefining Christianity. 

 

You may listen to that broadcast HERE or download it onto your Ipod.

 

You may also contact Crosstalk and order CD copies at a minimal charge of the program.  I suggest that you order copies to hand out to others to educate them about the liberal roots of the emergent church movement.

 

Bob DeWaay’s book is an excellent resource for getting a firm grasp on emergent theology.  I suggest that you order several copies to hand out.

 

Concerned Nazarenes are trying to get the word out to others in the denomination about the destructive teachings of the Emergent Church Movement, and Spiritual Formation Movement.  Those who support these movements have attempted to deflect any criticism or concerns for these liberal teachings by telling congregants that Concerned Nazarenes are just being extreme and mean-spirited. 

 

Many of the emergent speakers that are talked about and revealed in the Crosstalk interview have been chapel speakers at several Nazarene schools, which gives their liberal teaching a level of endorsement to their captive student audience.

Sandy Church of the Nazarene – Standing Firm

How refreshing to see a Nazarene Church boldly standing firm on the Word of God and for equipping believers through a study of what is all but unheard of, or maligned in most (not all) Nazarene churches today, The Coming Judgement Day.   

 

What a blessing to see a church boldly state the following in their welcome message.

In these crazy times, you may want to know what you will NOT find in our services, too. So, you will not find incorporated into our services movie clips and dramas/skits aimed at entertainment rather than worship. You will not find loud music and music that closely resembles the sound of secular music. You won’t find stunts, acrobats, spoofs of TV series and other gimmicks that some churches use today. And you will never have to worry that the content of my sermons will be questionable for families with young children. We proudly proclaim the full gospel of Jesus Christ, both the popular and the not-so-popular parts. We are neither a purpose-driven church nor a Willow Creek Association church. And perhaps most importantly, Sandy Church of the Nazarene is NOT part of the Emerging Church movement.

 

Thank you Lord that there are some Nazarene shepherds who have not bent the knee to the Willow Creek market-driven programs, or given themselves over to the emerging  influx of liberalism and mystical contemplative prayer experiences, but are standing on the firm foundation of the authority of the Word of God and His whole counsel. 

 

May God bless Sandy Church of the Nazarene and may He enlarge their camp.

GO To Church and BE The Church

This past Sunday, while many churches in the Southwest Ohio Nazarene District were cancelling services in order to go out and do community service projects, wearing “Don’t Go to Church –  Be the Church” tee shirts with press coverage in tow, so as to gain community approval, my church had service.

 

This particular Sunday was given over to the Deaf Ministry to honor 20 years of outreach to the deaf community.  The worship, preaching, testimonies, and altar call, were all led by a deaf minister who is a member of the church.  The Deaf Ministry is not separate from the hearing church, but is incorporated into the whole life of the church through dedicated workers who interpret every week and minister to those who are marginalized in society and forgotten by most churches.  

 

I was moved as I watched men and women of all ages from the deaf community, some with additional handicaps, stand on the platform and sign the music for the hearing audience.  This Sunday, we had an interpreter telling us what was being said, not the other way around.  The deaf minister testified that at his other church, where he was on staff, he shared with the hearing pastor his passion for getting the gospel to the deaf community so that they too could know of forgiveness of sins and of God’s saving power through Jesus.  The hearing pastor told him that it wasn’t important to get the gospel to the deaf community because they would all be allowed in heaven without ever hearing the gospel.  He was shocked by such a view and left that church.  The deaf minister had/has a clear understanding of  the power of the gospel to change the hearts of men and women.  Deaf people are sinners too, in need of the saving grace of the Lord.  A repentant heart means a changed life, even for the deaf.  

 

As I watched all this, I thought that this was a clear picture of the works that we were to be engaged in to further the Kingdom of God.   Works that clearly and unapologetically present the gospel….not a gospel of fluff and grace, and easy believism,…..but a gospel that presents the bad news first, our need for salvation and then the good news of God’s mercy and grace.  I watched as the interpreters were recognized for 20 years of service.  No TV cameras or press coverage was there.  These were good works.   This was furthering the Kingdom of God.

 

I listened to the announcement about the last details coming together for the Family Life Ministry which is to open soon for unwed mothers.  A home which the church wants to use to  serve those who are unwed and expecting, so as to save the life of the child from abortion and to just as importantly present the gospel to an unwed mother so that the Holy Spirit would change her life.  This is a good work.  This is what the Kingdom of God is about, sharing the gospel, the bad news and the good news, so to change hearts, so that Jesus is served and Jesus is Lord.  Many people have been working for months to get this ministry ready, and many people are ready to work once the ministry is open.  This is the work we are to be engaged in for the good of the community.

 

I thought of the five bus routes, and dedicated bus workers,  who each week get up early to get on  buses and go out to some of the poorer areas around our community to pick up mostly kids, and a few adults,  to bring them to church and Sunday School to teach them the Word of God and to present the gospel.  Periodically, one of the bus kids comes forward in church for baptism testifying to the saving grace of Jesus Christ in their life.  Permission is secured first from their home and many times, other family members end up coming to church and staying because a dedicated bus worker picked up their child week after week to bring them to church.  This is a good work.  The gospel changes hearts, changes families, and changes communities.  This is the Kingdom of God.   

 

I thought back to this past summer, to the Vacation Bible School program in which five different satellite locations were also used to take the Word and work of God into the poorer commuities.  The church holds the larger VBS on its grounds, but there are workers who take VBS to other locations at the same time, so that kids in the poorer neighborhoods, can be given a Bible and hear a clear presentation of the gospel every night along with VBS activities.  I recall seeing some of the adult men share the gospel one on one with some of the adults who came to ask questions.  There is no glitz or glamour in this. No press coverage.  There is an element of danger from the gangs.  This a good work; this is the Kingdom of God being built to change hearts, to call people to repentance.

 

There are many more daily ongoing works that I could list, the Food Pantry, those who go door to door on Visitation night to present the gospel to those whose names were given by others for follow-up work,  funeral meals for grieving families, works for widows, etc.  All this is done weekly at the church.  All these works are done in conjunction with a clear presentation of the gospel, not in lieu of hearing the gospel. 

 

We don’t have to cancel church services to try to get the attention of a community to do a “social gospel”.  We understand that the gospel has the power to change lives and we use every opportunity to spread its message whenever we can, not with bait and switch techniques, or to follow after John Ortberg of Willow Creek’s fame, Faith In Action Sunday Program, that wants churches to shut their doors and call the TV stations.

 

We are not to seek after the world’s approval.  But this is exactly what is taking place with The Don’t Go To Church, Be The Church campaign.  Those who follow such a market-driven format seek the world’s approval.   Jesus warned us that the world would hate us because of the gospel.  He said that we would endure persecution because of it and some would lose their life.  That’s why I gave a couple of examples in my  previous article of Nazarene pastors being executed for presenting the gospel. 

To lead congregations into believing the Kingdom of God is about cancelling services and doing social services for a community, is an insult to the blood of these Nazarene pastors and their families and to those who are faithful to verbalize the message of the gospel to those in their community without compromise.      

 

Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

       

Here’s A Novel Idea!

Here’s a novel idea…..
Don’t go to church on Sunday.  Be the church.
 
The gospel is being turned on its head.  No longer is the church the pillar and support of truth….it’s becoming re-packaged as a community support club that does good works.  Can I have a hug?
 
Somehow the verses that state that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word, are no longer valid with today’s warm-fuzzy theology.
 
So, some churches in the Southwest Ohio Nazarene District are participating in a Faith in Action event.  Which in reality, subverts the purpose of a church and casts a negative light on why BELIEVERS are supposed to assemble together. 
Since solid Bible teaching and exposition were tossed out years ago in favor of a  watered-down, inoffensive, seeker-friendly gospel, I guess it’s not much of a surprise.
 
Let’s examine this admonition again in 2 Timothy 4:2:
Preach the word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke,
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
  
Perhaps we can help Paul contextualize the gospel for today?
Weed and mulch!  Have rake ready in season and out of season.
Rake, weed, mulch, with all longsuffering and campaign
exposure (Don’t Go to Church tee shirts and press coverage).

  

Be sure to read the FAQ Sheet prepared by Mark Atherton of the SWO District.  He states that in #8.  Be sure to get press coverage!  It’s all about marketing the church, isn’t it?  Who needs the work of the Holy Spirit when you have newspaper coverage, and TV coverage?  No conviction of sins needed here…..all you need for your community is the transformational power of Weed B Gone!

 

Here is a sample campaign announcement by one of the participating churches, Beavercreek Church of the Nazarene.

 

There is nothing wrong with helping those in need.  In Acts, the focus was on helping those within the church who were in need.  They didn’t forsake the assembling together to go out into their communities to spruce up Ephesus so that they would be looked upon by the pagans in a more acceptable light.  Their greatest tool was the Gospel, and they paid dearly for being faithful to the Gospel.  Their commission was (and our commission today is) to go out and preach and teach the Gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to bring people unto a state of repentance for their sins.  THIS is the Kingdom of God, changed hearts, circumsized hearts, through the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts.   Nothing  transforms or impacts a community or a nation better than a complete and thorough understanding of the Gospel. 

 

Is it any wonder why some nations ban Bibles and execute or imprison those who would share its contents?  While the leadership of the Southwest Ohio District directs their churches to engage in a gospel of “good works”, others, who are faithful to the true Gospel and have a clear understanding of the Great Commission, are paying with their lives.   The SWO District has bought into a flawed (emergent) view of what radical Christianity is and what it means to build God’s Kingdom.

       

Emergent Heresy – A Warning

Crosstalk America radio program has done a very informative interview with Chris Rosebrough talking about the Emergent Church.  Click HERE to listen.

 

I suggest that you order CD copies to hand out to people.  Sometimes handing out CD’s to people who can listen in their car and don’t have time to read and do research, can be very effective in bringing people up to speed on what is at the heart of emergent ideologies. 

 

You may download this program onto your Ipod, and/or order CD’s directily from Crosstalk for a very small fee.  To order  by phone call: 1-800-729-9829  M-F   8am-5pm Central

This program aired on:  September 17, 2009

When Training Up Turns Into a Train Wreck

I  recently came upon a blog piece  from a former Nazarene pastor who left the Nazarene Church to assume the pastorate of a Unitarian Universalist Church. 

 

In his blog piece he states several reasons why he is leaving the Nazarene Church for a more liberal, Unitarian Universalist Church.   Of particular interest, take note of Reason #3:

3) I have come to see the Bible as many human-authored works, with its beautiful and horrible parts, rather than a divinely inspired mandate for life (which parts would I choose as patterns for my life? I certainly could not choose them all.). One cannot say both that God is love and that God once required the stoning of homosexuals and children who wouldn’t obey their parents. Our morals have evolved over time, and with them our concepts of who/what God is. This does not require outside intervention.

 

Now, be sure to read some of the comments, particularly, the comment from another Nazarene pastor, James Diggs.  Here is part of his response.

Point 3) I agree with you 100% about scripture! The scriptures are the work of human beings; and even if it is inspired by God it does not mean that it is “inerrant”. The Bible is NOT “the word of God”, Jesus Christ is the word of God, and he as he put it he came to make the written code “complete”. This implies that the written scripture is INCOMPLETE; it has limitations and is fallible.

 

This is what happens when the education institutions are given over to liberal professors.  The training up turns into a train wreck.  Students come out questioning their faith and questioning any trust in the Bible.   This is not to say that all theology professors are liberal.  It only takes a few to begin to dismantle the faith of some students, which later on, impacts the entire denomination. 

 

Just as Paul warned in Acts 20: 29-31

 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.   Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.   Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

The Emerging Lie

Linda Harvey with Mission America speaks about the connection between liberal politics and the liberal emergent movement and how many of the emergent gurus play into the hands of liberal faith-based politics and aggressive liberal social activism.

 

Many of the speakers listed in this YouTube piece have been given a platform to speak at Nazarene universities and therefore, enjoy a level of endorsement by the Nazarene universities that pay for these speakers to push the liberal agenda onto the students. 

For example: according to Point Loma Nazarene University’s 2009 Fall Chapel Schedule, Shane Claiborne will be speaking at Point Loma Nazarene University on November 9th.

 

The political side of emergent ideology is definitely having an impact on the Nazarene denomination.  I frequently come across emergent nazarene blogs that subtly paint capitialism as evil, or the source of our culture’s problem.  Look for terms that put down “consumerism and materialism”.  This is a subtle put down of capitalism and equating it with greed, and therefore, it is presented as a plague on society.  Social Justice ministers and classes on social justice play right into the liberal left agenda.

 

SIN and an unrepentant heart is what plagues each unsaved individual, family, and society….but speaking about those two things is not the emphasis of the emergent movement.  The emphasis is on community and a global outlook of man redeeming the planet and making it a better place. 

 

The Duty and the Danger of Opposing the “Emergent” Movement

By W. E. McCumber       Article Source      Website 

 

The duty is simple.  The gurus and leaders of this emergent movement, conversation, dialogue—call it what they will—do not base their teachings and writings upon Scripture but upon their own opinions.  They do not submit to the authority of the Bible but seek to impose their authority upon the Bible.  They dismiss the clear witness of the Bible to itself as the inspired Word of God.  When this has been done the witness of the Bible to God, to Jesus Christ and to salvation from sin is rejected outright or dangerously distorted.

 

As a consequence, to them Jesus is no longer “the Way.”  He is “a Way,” and all ways lead ultimately to God and heaven.  Devotees of other religions are not to be converted to Christ. Instead, we should encourage them to blossom fully in the soil of religious beliefs they have already chosen.  Our goal is not to make them Christians, but to encourage them to be the best they can be within the structures of belief and behavior of their ancestral faith.  That is unscriptural and untrue, whoever says it.

 

It is true that some who form the listening audience when these emergent leaders are paid (by our institutions with our tithes and offerings) to expatiate upon their concept of truth do not accept all they offer.  They insist that they are putting an orthodox spin upon it all, and clinging to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, insisting upon salvation through Jesus alone, and giving lip service to the unique authority of Scripture for faith and life.  Why in the world should we pay someone to voice opinions we then have to caution against and recast in order to use?

 

These who listen to the emergent gurus claim to be mining the emergent movement for structures of thought and strategies of engagement that will help them reach increasing numbers of people for Christ.  If you keep tabs on them, however, you will find that the longer they preach and teach the closer they come to the beliefs of those gurus who want to dismantle historic, Bible-based Christian doctrines.

 

Leaders of the emergent movement claim to have no interest in theology or doctrine.  They try to sell themselves as men and women concerned only, or at least mainly, with discovering ways and means of gaining attention to and involvement in genuine Christianity.   Despite their disclaimers the emergent movement is creating theology and disseminating doctrines and making converts to their re-interpreted and inoffensive Christ.

 

The duty of opposing them arises out of their rejection of the authority of the Bible.

 

The danger in opposing them is more subtle.  I’ve spent over 30 years as a pastor and another nine as a college teacher.  I know that in our denomination there is a strong and stubborn streak of anti-intellectualism.  Some of our people, including some of our preachers, seem to think that ignorance is a fruit of the Spirit.

 

The same God who created us as emotional beings also created us as rational beings.  To go to church and unscrew your head in order to have some acute feel-good experience is to slander true worship.

 

The danger is that we shall allow our opposition to heresy to be voiced only or chiefly by leather-lunged fanatics instead of informed and reasonable proponents of what John Wesley called “good old Bible religion.”  We cannot effectively oppose false teaching by merely turning up the volume.  Noise level, even happy noise level, is no substitute for “reasonable service.”

Brannon Howse Fits the Emerging Pieces Together

Brannon Howse was the guest speaker on the August 25, 2009 CrossTalk America program.  It is definitely worth a listen AND worth downloading onto your ipod.  You may also order CD’s of this program here. 

 

The program description states:

This edition of Crosstalk features Brannon Howse as he lays out the factors that prove how America and the world are emerging toward a new “synthesis” at a political, spiritual and overall ideological level.  This is the final step in the dialectic process theorized by German philosopher, G.W.F. Hegel.

In America alone, Brannon cites the educational establishment, the apostate church, occultism/pagan spirituality and the government-corporate complex as factors that are leading America to do its part in this new world synthesis.  Brannon concludes that this new synthesis involves the merging of Christianity and Marxism.    

 

Brannon describes quite well what is happening in many denominations across America.  The Nazarene denomination has been overcome with emerging philosophies, mysticism, and liberal social justice constructs.  

You may listen to the program HERE.

It’s Time to Stand Against the Emergent-Liberal Tide in the Nazarene Church

My friend Manny Silva wrote an excellent piece on his blog entitled:  Emergent Ideology is Here, What Will You Do?  I highly recommend it.

 

No longer can anyone sit and not be aware of the liberalism that has infiltrated the Nazarene denomination like a crimson tide.  The people sitting in the pews need to investigate what is at the core of emergent/liberal ideology.  It is NOT what it appears……a movement to engage the community and be like Jesus. 

 

It is liberalism.  It is a down-grading of trust in scripture.  It is a move towards universalism and ecumenism.  It is a works-based and mystically based religion.   It lowers God to the level of man and elevates man.  It questions God’s power and sovereignty from beginning to end.

 

This ideology and its accompanying mystical practices, have been introduced     s l o w l y  into  the Nazarene denomination mostly through the Nazarene schools.  Now pulpits all over the United States are paying the price from these influences.  The pulpits have been compromised with a new breed of shepherd.  These shepherds have been taught to bring these changes in  s l o w l y  into the sleepy congregations and it has worked.   Those who have questioned the changes have been marginalized as mean-spirited fundamentalists instead of Bereans.   Congregants that have approached their pastor about some of the concerns of those waving the red flag of warning, have been told to dismiss them as troublemakers looking to make a profit or garner attention. 

 

Now that it is here, what will YOUR stance be?  Accept it, or stand against it?  Research it, or ignore it?

 

Acts 20:31   Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.