An Open Letter to Christian Pastors

NOTE:  This document was published by American Evangelicals.  I highly recommend that you share this AND be sure to research the links that are provided for further research.
HOW MANY NAZARENES WILL SIGN??

A Call to Repentance & Renewal

An Open Letter to Christian pastors, leaders and believers 

who assist the anti-Christian Progressive political movement in America

September 27, 2016

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation… (St. Paul, II Corinthians 7:10 NIV)

Each of us is called to repentance. Our entire nation will be revived as we return to the Lord. We, the signatories below, know we are sinners forgiven by the saving work of Christ. And believers who normally turn the other cheek are, at times, also called to overturn tables. This is a moment for such believers to speak truth to power.

After years of earnest but less public attempts, it is now with heavy hearts, and a hope for justice and restoration, that we Christian leaders urge ‘progressive evangelicals’ and Catholics to repent of their work that often advances a destructive liberal political agenda. We write as true friends knowing that most believers mean well. We desire the best for you and for the world God loves.

As recent leaked documents confirm, and as Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners eventually admitted, wealthy, anti-Christianfoundations, following the lead of billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, fund and “rent”* Christian ministers as“mascots” serving as surprising validators for their causes. The consequent realities include injury to countless people, the Church, the family, nation and the global Church including many martyrs.

We must reclaim the Church’s witness in the world. Biblical truth and wisdom are the highest love for human beings.  While God loves justice and mercy for all, many “social justice” campaigns are politically crafted and not the true Gospel. Only the truth of our sin, both personal and systemic, and Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for our salvation and rebirth, is true hope for persons and nations. The gospel charges all things with hope.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” ~ Jesus, John 14:6

We are not here endorsing or denouncing a political candidate but reminding you of basic Christian morality. How ironic, stale and shameless for the very leaders whose ‘progressive’ policies are hurting minority communities to falsely label those with political differences as ‘racists.’ Under liberal leadership, Hispanics and African-Americans suffer the loss of work and income, rising urban violence and family disintegration including children targeted by abortionists for death. It’s time to tell the truth and rebuild together.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught, “In contrast to ethical relativism, Christianity sets forth a system of absolute moral values.”  He wrote, “We need to recapture the gospel glow of the early Christians who were non-conformists …. Their powerful gospel put an end to such barbaric evils as infanticide …. Finally, they captured the Roman Empire for Jesus Christ.”

To religious leaders assisting unwise, anti-Christian politicians and global elites:

• What wise and loving biblical morality would Jesus declare to be ‘hate-speech’?
• What justification would Jesus offer for those who murder children and sell their body parts to the highest bidder?
• What money would Jesus give to a nation stating, “Death to Israel and America”?
• What judges would Jesus appoint who attack Christian believers and the Church?

“Tolerance [of evil] is not a spiritual gift; it is the distinguishing mark of postmodernism,and sadly, it has permeated the very fiber of Christianity.”~ Rev. Dr. John Stott

Consider some of the consequences of Progressive political activism over the past eight years:

1. A growth industry trafficking in human baby organs and body parts – funded and defended by the Democratic Party.
2. The abandonment of a biblical view of marriage that protected and liberated children and adults from centuries of pagan slavery, poverty, polygamy and non-life-giving sexuality.
3. The Transgender agenda imposed by Obama-government edict, including gender re-education to be forced on our citizens, businesses, schools, military and churches.
4. Doubling of our national debt, economic stagnation and increased welfare dependency.
5. Increased minority unemployment, poverty and violent inner city lawlessness, with an accompanying loss of opportunity, self-determination and family stability.
6. Heightened racial division and tension, and the growing phenomenon of paid demonstrators being recruited and dispatched to instigate protests that often become riots.
7. Open borders and ‘sanctuary’ cities increasing drugs, disease, crime, gangs and terrorism.
8. Forced refugee resettlement in hundreds of American cities without citizen consent, mandated by the federal government in collusion with the United Nations. “Refugees” are primarily non-assimilating Muslims, while authorities reject persecuted Christians.
9. Hostility towards Judeo-Christian religious liberty in our courts, media and universities including the suppression of conservative speakers, free thought and moral education.
10. The widespread, political use of the IRS to intimidate conservative, patriotic and Christian groups that disagree with the current political establishment.

After such demoralization and pain, why would any religious leader ask Christians to embrace a Progressive political agenda that is clearly anti-Christian?

When Hillary Clinton stated during a 2015 speech at the Women in the World Summit that religious beliefs “have to be changed,” she was openly declaring war on Christian believers and the Church. And now Progressives claim that supporting such a view is the Christian thing to do?  This is spiritual abuse of the family, the Church and the nation.

“The framers of our Constitution meant we were to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.” Rev. Billy Graham

For many years, Soros’s Open Society and other liberal foundations have funded not only most of the disturbing campaigns mentioned above (1-10) but also the Religious Left, using and creating ostensibly evangelical and Catholic organizations to “message and mobilize” Christians into Progressive causes. They use the Marxist-Alinsky tactic of funding “ministers” who cherry-pick faith language to confuse and divide the Church’s morality, mission and vote.

At a time when many Christian ministries are struggling, a few of the Soros network “faith” and “interfaith” grantees are JimWallis of Sojourners, Richard Cizik’s New Evangelical Partnership, Telos, J Street to malign Israel, “ Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, Faithful America and Gamaliel. Faith in Public Life to “counter” Christians and the Tea Party in the media and,with PICO, advocates for amnesty, mass Islamic migration, and even sought to influence the visit and priorities of Pope Francishimself. Billions of additional dollars to “Christian VOLAGs” for large scale “refugee” and migrant resettlement often comes from the Obama administration.

Joining “faith” fronts, Soros also funds thousands of other collaborators and projects that suggest his goal is to demoralize America (and Europe). The list includes: film studios and hundreds of media outlets; attempts to control the Internet; racial andgender agitation; euthanasia; drug legalization and “injection zones;” abortion and the “sex worker” industry; Al Gore’s Climate campaign; pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel projects; the rights of jihadists and Sharia advocates.

In the ironic rhetoric of compassion, Soros and friends also fund mass immigration followed by voting “rights” and redistrictingschemes, while financing the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. (Soros is a major donor to the Democratic Party and co-chairman of Ready for Hillary PAC.)  One wonders if the end goal is the destruction of national identity through demoralization, open borders and debt, thus the “fundamental transformation” (weakening) of American civil society for their leveraged global power. (They have done this to other nations.)

We urge you to question the true intentions of persons or organizations that receive money from Soros and other billionaire globalists. We must not give their surrogates four more years.

Our true America is more just, generative and loving than the “new America” of stateless and “post-American” social engineers.Global socialism is a system of control over the lives of others. This sends us backwards. The hostility of the Progressive political agenda to biblical faith is foreign to the Spirit of Jesus. Instead, let us do justice to the American story and future. Though imperfect, it is a great forward leap in human dignity, freedom and actual progress.

And so we ask again, why do those who claim to share our faith in Christ continue to advocate for politicians who will pass legislation, and appoint justices and judges who will attack Christian liberty and persecute believers? Turning our nation over to the enemies of biblical faith does not honor Christ, promote love of neighbor, or advance God’s kingdom in the world.

We ask those who have intentionally or unwittingly aided the Progressive agenda in the past to look at the actual consequences of their policies. Please stop inviting fellow believers to assist global profiteers and political activists who are determined to de-Christianize America.

Please repent and turn away from those who attack the Church. Say “no” to blood money. Refuse funds from anyone attempting to put the Church and America in chains.

Only the Gospel restores hope. Let us return to the whole counsel of Scripture, not the political abuse of Scripture.  Together, we can commit to healing, wisdom and renewal of our faith and culture. Let’s stimulate humility and gratitude, not pride and entitlement. Let’s see the image of God in people and enable the virtuous cycle of creativity, opportunity, work, productivity, wealth and thus greater voluntary generosity. (We will explore solutions at AmericanEvangelicals.org)

To the Church in every nation, now is the time to pray, to speak and to act with Godly courage. If America continues to fall, the mission of the global Church also suffers. We are bound together. Let us stand together.

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand,

the spines of others are often stiffened.” Rev. Billy Graham

In faith, hope and Agape love, we write as evangelical and Catholic followers of Jesus Christ, stewards of the nation he has placed us in, and fellow workers for the Kingdom of God in the world He loves.

 

Standing Firm Nazarene’s Research Helpful

Nazarenes ~ Standing Firm
On September 10th, 2010 we composed a letter voicing our concerns to our Pastors, District Superintendents, General Superintendents, and the General Church of the Nazarene.  We implore our brothers and sisters in Christ to Stand Firm against the heresies being introduced into our denomination. Do your own research – take every thought and belief you discover captive to Jesus Christ and His Word.  We are praying for you!  We humbly ask for your prayers as we stand together, so that when the day of evil comes we may be able to stand our ground.  Stand firm then, with the belt of Truth buckled around your waist.Important Note: We do not question or judge whether individuals we have named have a personal relationship with the Jesus of Scripture.  Our intent is to point out where the stated views, speeches and teaching of these individuals fail, in our view, to align with the Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene.  We have resisted characterizing any of these individuals but have let their own words speak for them.  We have linked to original source references in our summary to assure readers that quotes have been given in context. ~ The Take-A-Stand Letter ~ We are a group of concerned believers, alumni of NNC/NNU, lay members of the Church of the Nazarene, who hold fast to the Articles of Faith of our denomination that are firmly grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we are gravely concerned about what we see happening in our denomination. We affirm that the Church of the Nazarene is a mission-minded church whose goal is to reach the lost around the globe for Jesus Christ.  We also affirm that the Church of the Nazarene was founded within Wesleyan, orthodox Christianity under the parameters of foundational American principles of individual liberty and freedom. We believe this spiritual and historical heritage is in danger. We have identified four main areas of concern: Unorthodox teaching in our colleges, universities and seminaries We are troubled that part of our tithe money and our monetary gifts as alumni are going to support Nazarene higher education institutions where emergent* church heresies are being taught by staff. Controversial speakers have been invited to our campuses and encouraged to present their unorthodox, emergent church and progressive political beliefs to our students without being challenged by those staff members who still hold to our core beliefs. Societies and institutions that drift from their core beliefs always seem to drift to the left, and this is a departure from our historical, conservative stance. As more and more students pass through our higher education systems, learning to tolerate and embrace heresies, they will fill our pews and pulpits worldwide, bringing along their unorthodox beliefs and preaching. This will transform the Church of the Nazarene into an entity we do not recognize, that has drifted afar from its stated Articles of Faith and ceased to be an evangelical, redemptive Body of Christ. *The concern is not necessarily emergent or anti-emergent (some indicate the emergent movement is dead concluding then that there is no cause for concern), rather, it is the philosophies, ideologies and theologies of those who are or were influential in the emergent movement, “Big Tent” movement, social justice movement, environmentalism movement, progressive movement,  purpose-driven movement, liberal movement, and even new-age movement are still influential in our denomination.  It  does not matter what title is given – a new name will derive when the current title becomes disdainful. Left-wing progressive influence on our church The Church of the Nazarene is becoming a tangible, unapologetic arm of the Federal Government of the United States. The Emergent/Emerging Church movement is one vehicle that is insidiously bringing about this transformation, as many of this mindset diverge from our Articles of Faith and conform to the postmodern, progressive ways of this world. Contrary to our denominational mission “to make disciples of the nations,” Nazarene Compassionate Ministries has accepted millions of dollars from the U. S. Federal Government, and in doing so, it has partnered with the government and contracted to use the money for “compassion but not for conversion.” (NCM Received $4.1 million Federal Tax Dollars for Capacity Building; NCN News Holiness Today Article) So, instead of going in the name of the LORD, NCM goes in the name of the U. S. Federal Government. (“USAID Partnership 101” and “Capacity Building Resources“) Radical message of environmentalism and socialism The 2005 publication, Creation Care, was drafted by individuals not affiliated with the Nazarene Church (look at the very back of the document), yet presumes to speak to and for Nazarenes, with no apparent official endorsement by the denominational headquarters. Creation Care uses the phrase, “environmental stewardship,” which has found its way into our 2009-13 Manual of the Church of the Nazarene (Article 903.10). Nazarene Compassionate Ministries dedicated a magazine issue to Holistic Creation Care.  We believe much of the Creation Care mantra is based on outrageously false science (e.g. the debacle of climate change/global warming—Baker, Marcia. “A Chronology of the Global Warming Swindle; A Genocidal Hoax,” EIR 3/30/2007) and belief in a one-world government (http://www.standingfirmnazarenes.org/Chronology-of-Global-Warming-Swindle.pdf ) We object to Creation Care’s demand that American Nazarenes “repent of our social and ecological sins”(p. 56) and redistribute our wealth (morally, our “sin” is questionable; politically, redistribution would be instituted through cap and trade). Creation Care states that the “central moral imperative of our time is the care for Earth as God’s creation”(p. 59). We reject this “moral imperative” in favor of Jesus’ commission to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19-20) We are particularly troubled by the large number of Nazarene pastors and university presidents who endorsed “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action,” which unabashedly declares, “climate change is a moral problem” and states: “The most important immediate step that can be taken at the federal level is to pass and implement national legislation requiring sufficient economy-wide reductions in carbon dioxide emissions through cost-effective, market-based mechanisms such as a cap-and-trade program” (socialist, Marxistredistribution of wealth; divisive U.S. political issue). If we continue to promote these socialist, Marxistdirectives, American Nazarenes will lose their personal freedoms and diminish the wealth that allows them to individually respond to the urging of the Holy Spirit to give from their hearts to others. Deception in use of language Language has been presented to our district assemblies and then introduced into our Manual without the specific terms being defined. Terminology used is historically familiar, but word meanings have been intentionally changed. This deceptive practice of using words whose meanings have changed, without clarifying the new emergent definitions, questions intent. For example, from Article 33.3 of the 2009-13 Manual (this language first appeared in the appendix in 1989): “…We believe Christian holiness to be inseparable from ministry to the poor in that it drives the Christian beyond their (sic) own individual perfection and toward the creation of a more just and equitable society and world. Holiness, far from distancing believers from the desperate economic needs of people in this world, motivates us to place our means in the service of alleviating such need and to adjust our wants in accordance with the needs of others.” Christian holiness, to us, means heart perfection through the in-filling of the Holy Spirit that leads a believer to individual acts of charity from the heart, because of his or her relationship to Christ. The emergent definition—Christian holiness mandates ministry to the poor, redistribution of one’s wealth to the poor to “alleviate their need” (social justice). Christian holiness, to us, means heart perfection by the work of the Holy Spirit that leads a believer to witness about Jesus and His gift of salvation, leading others to Him. The emergent goal of Christian holiness is to drive the believer to a “just and equitable society and world” (an economic goal; redistribution of wealth; Marxism). We also see a problem with the emphasis on works displayed in the Creation Care message. The following summary highlights only a few of the individuals and issues which trouble us but are not limited to those listed here. Links to the sources of our quotes are included presenting books, articles, belief statements, internet blogs and associations that contradict our Nazarene Articles of Faith, orthodox Wesleyan teaching of Scripture and freedom as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. We encourage you to independently research these issues. You may need to cut and paste links into your browser. Because of the temporary nature of links to web postings, these sources we cite, and many others, have been saved as pdf files and may be examined or downloaded at this website: http://www.standingfirmnazarenes.org. Individuals, Organizations, and Messages of Concern To Us (representative of dozens; randomly listed): Jim Wallis ~ former pastor, spiritual advisor to Barack Obama, one of the founders of Sojourners Fellowship in D.C.; editor of Sojourners Magazine, activist; author, God’s Politics, Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It”; Harvard professor; proclaims Jesus to be a socialist; chapel speaker at PLNU February 23, 2005; speaker at the “Writers’ Symposium,” on campus of PLNU 2008.  Video is also available of his interview at Point Loma – download video here. Quotes: Answer to interview question, “Are you then calling for the redistribution of wealth in society?” Wallis answered: “Absolutely, without any hesitation; that’s what the gospel is all about. (Interfaith Voices, conference, Jan. 2006 ) ”When it comes to economics, I’m a liberal; I’m a radical. I want to see some real fairness and justice here. We can’t use the word redistribution anymore, even though that’s what’s been happening—redistributing wealth from the bottom and the middle to the top. So, I talk about the ‘Jubilee Tradition’ in our Scriptures, where there’s a leveling of things.” (Tavis Smiley show on PBS, Jan. 2010) Matthew Sleeth ~ physician, head of Blessed Earth Foundation (motto–“serving God, saving the planet”), author of The Gospel According to Earth and The Green Bible; chapel speaker for third annual “Stewardship of the Earth Conference” March 2008 (Earth Day) at Trevecca Nazarene University – podcast download here. Quotes: “When you talk to a church and you want to get a church to do something, you have to talk to the heart, and you have to use the Bible. You have to speak the language of the church… humans don’t change their behavior based on statistics. We change our behavior based upon our hearts.” (http://www.grist.org/article/sleeth – download a PDF file of the same article here); “Evangelicals, on the other hand, must recognize the fact that the most pressing problem facing the world is overcrowding… When we accepted the life prolonging fruits of science, we unbalanced the natural human population equation. Yet we want to oppose the use of science to control the number of lives created on this planet… The choice is simple: We either need birth control or to forgo the use of medicine to prolong life. It is up to the individual, society, or religion to choose one or the other.” (population control; euthanasia; Truthout Article ‘The Future of Eco-Evangelism’ April 2005 Brian McLaren ~ founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in MD; universalist; radical activist; described as founder of the emergent church; speaker at the “Wesleyan Conference,” at NNU 2008; co-founder of “Big Tent.” Quotes: “The Jesus of one reading of the Apocalypse brings us to a grim resignation: the world will get worse and worse, and finally this jihadist Jesus will return to use force, domination, violence, and even torture—the ultimate imperial tools—to vanquish evil and bring peace.” (McLaren, Everything Must Change, 2007) Jim Ball ~ reverend; friend of Jim Wallis, executive vice-president of the Evangelical Environmental Network (source of facts for Creation Care document); chapel speaker for second annual “Stewardship of the Earth Conference” at TNU 2007 (download mp3 here); led “What Would Jesus Drive? Campaign”; led over 200 evangelical pastors, theologians and leaders to sign an “Evangelical Call to Action on Climate Change” (www.christiansandclimate.org) Quotes: “ I am testifying before this committee as a signatory of the Evangelical Climate Initiative, a group of more than 100 senior evangelical leaders who believe that a vigorous response to global warming is a spiritual and moral imperative -” (Jim Ball’s Testimony before the U.S. Senate, June 2007) “Pollution that causes the threat of global warming violates Jesus’ Great Commandments to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Jim Ball’s Testimony before the U.S. Senate, September 2008); “I’m asking all of us to pray to the Lord to ask for forgiveness for this stain on our Stewardship” (Gulf Spill Prayer Walk June 2010 – download video here) Oliver Phillips ~ ordained minister; director of Mission Support USA/Canada (http://www.missionstrategy.org an official site of Ch. of the Nazarene, Lenexa, KS); was saved from homelessness and discipled by Tom Nees; editor of Cultural Expressions; author of Starting Strong Churches in the Black Community; The 12 Step Program: Steps to Starting a Compassionate Ministry Center; Who Moved My Church?; wrote the forward to The Urban Imperative; authored How to Reach the Black Male (includes JeremiahWright among positive, black leaders); writes blog, “Think on These Things”; chapel speaker ONU March 16-18, 2010 (http://rss.olivet.edu/itunesu.php?chid=20); chapel speaker at NNU Oct. 2008 Quotes: “To integrate education and compassionate mission would require the integration of the present compassionate ministries and our educational institutions worldwide. It is now clear that if the Church of the Nazarene pretends to be an international body, such as I believe it is, it must include the issues the social issues of poverty, hunger and justice and the world, as well as a [sic]become a critic toward the economic models that oppress our world. Theological education should be education for the compassionate of the church… ” (this is liberation theology; “Doing Theology from the Context of Poverty: Towards a New Paradigm for the Church of the Nazarene from Latin America”) “If Easter is no longer the celebration of an eschatological event it would inevitably make sense of life here and now. In the strategy for mission we would be empowered to face the powers of death. These powers can be seen in the realities of racism, economic deprivation, drug addiction, inadequate education, and reduced public support of women and children. Easter must, and should speak to these forces! Consequently, strategy for mission would be practiced with the constant awareness that we cannot believe in resurrection for some and not for others. It must be integrated with an all-inclusive symbol of life for everyone, a kind of life that defeats death and claims holistic victory for all God’s creation… For if indeed the Gospel message is no respecter of persons, to deny ministry to those in the city is to obfuscate what otherwise is a clear imperative to care and nurture those for whom the Gospel is intended… How do we respond to the imperative? I would like to suggest a new manifesto for responding to the Urban Imperative: We need to view city residents as God sees them, the guaranteed inheritors of the Kingdom of God.” (Mission Strategy Magazine, Summer 2005, Towards A Strategic Resurrection Motif); “What is most telling [about Social Values and Attitudes in the Nazarene Church] is the lack of knowledge about Jim Wallis and Ron Sider. Thes (sic) two have been on the cutting edge for compassion and social justice for many years. Ron Sider has spoken at our Compassionate Ministry conferences. On the other hand, 80% of Nazarenes agree with the views of James Dobson.?????” (Think on These Things, Oliver Phillips’ blog January 2009); “In an unpublished document prepared by Tom Nees, he states, ‘…as corporations make strategic appointments to achieve marketing goals, so executive church leaders must be willing to change and create organizational structures, appointing minorities to visible places of leadership if the normal election processes don’t achieve the desired results.’” (Q & A with Oliver Phillips, Holiness Today March/April 2007) Fletcher Tink ~ Adjunct Professor of Urban/Compassionate Ministries, NTS; co-founder and Exec. Dir. of the Bresee Institute for Metro-Ministries; Academic Dean of City Vision College; conducts faith promise missionary conferences, writes curriculum, develops academic programs, teaches in the area of urban, compassionate ministries, leadership development, cross-cultural communication; required book for NTS Ethics class: Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street and Your Street by Jim Wallis[the same book where Jim Wallis discusses the ‘Jubilee Tradition’]; invites guest speaker to speak on “Liberation Theology” in one of his NTS seminar classes; co-editor on the Creation Care Task Force for compiling Creation Care: Environmental Stewardship for the Church of the Nazarene (indicated as the official Nazarene statement on the NCM website). Quotes: “We are reassessing our own theological tradition. We now recognize that the Church of the Nazarene should have remained outside of the liberal-fundamentalist debate, more properly laying claim to our Wesleyan heritage which took seriously social engagement”; “For Nazarene purposes we would also suggest the inclusion of seminars in the area of ‘Wesleyan or Jubilee Economics‘ and ‘Social Justice Advocacy’”; “there needs to be a combined efforts [sic] of our institutions, academic and ecclesial, to screen and credentialize personnel for service in both fields, and to communicate clearly the opportunities generically and specifically that are available. There also needs to be a “seamlessness” of academic programming that will reduce the guessing game of what qualifies, in what sequence, best produces Christian urban and compassionate ministry leader”; “We shy away from terms such as social justice and advocacy, in part, because of our conservative bent. Yet it seems that some dedication of our curriculum must be given to issues of structural change and transformation.” (“Have Compassion on our Campuses! Developing Curricula for Ministry in an Urban and Needy World,” May 2009) “E. Stanley Jones, one of my preacher heroes, wrote in the heat of the Second World War: ‘In Nazism, the kingdom of Race is supreme and absolute. But not alone in Nazism. Many of us have the religion of being white. Where there is a clash between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Being White, we choose and act upon the fact of race. It is our god. We cannot live abundantly unless we offer our race on the altar of God.. How can the white race be supreme? Only in one way: Let white people become the servant of all… Some are willing to be the servant of some —their friends, their families their class, their race—but they pull back from being the servant of all’ (Abundant Living, p. 221, 2002, NPH)’ How can we serve all? Unfortunately, our pulpit jargon, stories, and mannerisms sport our cultural preferences on our sleeves as publicly as the Nazis wore their swastikas”; “Explore literature from other cultures and splice their allusions into your messages”; “Dare to tenderly expose those precious nontraditional life stories of your newer parishioners to your congregation. Often awkward, these may reflect the slights and hostilities where you and cultural patrons may be to blame. Resist offense, seek forgiveness for collective sin. Most of all, wade[sic] it out with empathetic tears until you hear the glorious cadence of deliverance, redemption, and courage in the face of adversity. Weave their micro-stories into the epic of the gospel”; “The Gospel Addresses Social Justice: Both the Hebrew and Greek words for ‘righteousness’ and ‘justice’ stem from one word only; God rectifying what is wrong both internally in individual human nature and externally in collective human systems. Justice is a national issue: ‘he will proclaim justice to the nations’ (Mt 12:18-21). Justice is a social issue: ‘do what is right and fair’ (Col 4:1). Justice is a religious issue: ‘you neglect… justice’ (Mt 23:23).” (“Communicating Christ Cross-Culturally: Clergy Development,” 2002) Tom Nees ~ C.E.O. Nazarene Compassionate Ministries; aligns himself to Jim Wallis; has written articles dating back to the early 1980’s for Sojourners, the liberal “progressive Christian commentary on faith, politics and culture which seeks to build a movement of spirituality and social change”; signed “Evangelical Leaders Voice Support for Health Care Reform – Call on Senate to Make Affordability a Moral Priority” November 2009 (along with Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, Gabriel Salguero, Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo, etc.); endorsed “From Poverty to Opportunity, A Covenant for a New America – Overcoming Poverty with Religious Commitment and Political Leadership” (Jim Wallis document – also signed by Ron Benefiel); endorsed the Sojourners Toolkit for Christian Education and Comprehensive Immigration Reform along with Jim Wallis, Ron Sider, Tony Campolo and many, many other liberal and politically progressive-minded evangelicals; lectured on Social Justice at Nazarene Theological Seminary in March of 2008. Quotes: “What are we to say and how are we to be involved in the great issues of our times: war, global poverty, and the environment: And what does our understanding of the kingdom of God say about the divisive and defining U. S. political issues of abortion and gay rights? On these and other controversial issues, church leaders are seeking a middle way as well as unapologetically advocating justice…”; “Perhaps our biggest struggle is restoring social Christianity or social holiness to a proper balance with individual faith.” (NTS Social Justice Lecture, March 2008) “The planet needs you millennial leaders to find new ways to preserve and protect what’s left of this incredibly beautiful and fragile ecosphere. We can’t go on this way. If you believe, as I hope you do, that we are stewards of the earth, all of us must lead and work to reverse our excessive, if not sinful consumption and the destruction of non-renewable resources” (Commencement speech at ENC May 2010) Jay McDaniel ~ professor of religion/department chair at Hendrix College in Arkansas; director for Steel Center for the Study of Religion & Philosophy; co-signer of Creation Care document; Whitehead/Budda follower, Panentheist; influenced by Thomas Merton, Catholic monk; author of With Roots and Wings: Christianity in an Age of Ecology and Dialogue; Ghandi’s Hope: Learning from Other Religions as a Path to Peace; guest speaker at NNU Quotes: “Maybe my Buddhist friend can help me think about God in a fresh way”; “Could it not be that the God who is revealed in Jesus is revealed elsewhere, too?” “Some Christians, and I am among them, use ‘Christ’ not simply as a name for Jesus but also as a name for the Spirit of God at present throughout the world…I see Christ outside of Christianity…I don’t think the living Spirit of Christ is reducible to historical Christianity… I think the Spirit of Christ is found throughout the world… [my Hindu sister] may be saved through ‘Christ’, even if that means she does not believe in Jesus”(panentheism; pluralism, collective & cultural salvation; (link) or you can download the entire video of his NNU appearance here, which includes his lauding introduction by NNU staff) Ron Benefiel ~ Trained as a sociologist, ordained minister who has pastored churches in a variety of urban settings; president of Nazarene Theological Seminary, signer of the Evangelical Climate Initiative, endorsed “From Poverty to Opportunity, A Covenant for a New America – Overcoming Poverty with Religious Commitment and Political Leadership” (Jim Wallis document also signed by Ron Sider & Tom Nees), Teaches Course on Biblical Perspectives on Social Justice with Ron Sider’s Book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: A Biblical Study, as part of the required reading; affiliated with and teaches Sunday School discipleship classes at KC Trinity NazareneChurch; member of ‘thesimplechurch.com’ – online forum; emcee for “Nurturing the Prophetic Imagination Conference,” March 2010; quotes liberal Desmond Tutu in Fundamentalism in the Church of the Nazarene, 2004; . Quotes: “’To begin building a foundation for our case [regarding fundamentalism in the Nazarene Church]…rapid social change was responsible for social disintegration’…What we especially want to point out is the natural human tendency to respond to such destabilization by resisting the changes, reacting against those thought to be responsible and seeking to protect oneself, one’s way of life, and especially, one’s family, from the effects of those changes. We would like to suggest that this is the ‘fundamental’ basis for fundamentalism. As such, fundamentalism is a natural psycho-social response to rapid social change, social complexity and diversity. It is based on the normal human response of self-protection against the perception that the world is changing in such a way as to make it less predictable, less controllable and far less secure. This spirit of resistance to change (often expressed in idealizing the past) and anger toward those perceived to be responsible for creating such instability is the essence of fundamentalism. It is ironic that much of what many American fundamentalists would highly value may be largely responsible for the social changes that serve to threaten their control and security. Specifically, capitalism fuels rapid social change and social complexity. Democracy and freedom of religion foster pluralism. As rapid social change, complexity and pluralism pose threats, we would expect fundamentalists to have a natural tendency or instinct toward ‘fight and/or flight’… “In this [Fundamentalism in the Nazarene Church Research] project, we are interested in the degree to which pastors and members in the Church of the Nazarene might be considered fundamentalist. And further, we are interested in the degree to which there is movement toward greater or lesser fundamentalism among pastors and members over time… In this study, the measures of world view will include the degree to which respondents: 1) view the culture as evil; 2) view the world as getting worse; and 3) understand evil in the world to be satanic, personal or systemic. The measures of political conservatism will include the degree to which respondents: 1) favor traditional moral values over against social change; 2) believe the church should make a difference in the social problems of the world; and 3) are favorable toward assistance programs for the poor .” (this is a new definition of fundamentalism; “Fundamentalism in the Church of the Nazarene: A Longitudinal Analysis of Social And Political Values,” March 2004 Evangelical Environmental Network (Creation Care) ~ passion and ministry focus on saving this earth; goal–to unite everyone in the goal of saving the planet, resulting in a one-world jurisdiction and government; source of “factual” information on NCM website. Cultural Christianity ~ Believed by the masses to represent genuine Christianity; A religion based on humanist logic, “feel good” experiences, and popular interpretations of Scriptures; faith that our own good works and intentions are good enough; Bible is a collection of guidelines, allegories, myths and stories useful for good living– offensive verses must be ignored; people’s approval – to please, not offend, the world and its communities; our human abilities plus God’s help when ‘needed’; we are strong and capable if we have confidence in Self; sin is a normal part of life – ignore it or you might offend someone – or enjoy it, for God understands your needs and inclinations; bring people to the church or group but don’t tolerate uncompromising Christians who might offend people (Do to others as you would have others do to you); trust and follow feelings and human logic; compromise essential to avoid offending the world; adapt the church to the ‘community’ so that everyone will feel at home. Liberation Theology ~ is a movement in Christian theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political or social conditions. It has been described by proponents as “an interpretation of Christian faith through the poor’s suffering, their struggle and hope, and a critique of society and the Catholic faith and Christianity through the eyes of the poor”; and by detractors as Christianity influenced by Marxism and Communism. Jubilee Economics ~ seeks personal and collective conversion from the tempting economics of empire to the larger life-giving economic story taught by Earth. This is, as cosmologist Thomas Berry called it, “the great work of our time.” Jubilee refers to economic practices in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, sacred texts whose best economic wisdom both invites us to and makes imperative sustainable practices in the institutions, businesses, congregations, and governments of our time. These sacred texts and religious traditions are not, however, the source of jubilee economics, but an impressive and creative expression of how spiritual perspectives and practice are also economic and vice versa. The oldest and deepest origins of a jubilee economy are in the cosmos herself, not from what human civilization has constructed. From the cosmos, indigenous peoples worldwide learned sustainable economics, and so lived within Earth’s interrelationships of abundant life. The mystery and sacredness of those interrelationships made indigenous economics spiritually rooted; redistribution of wealth by whatever means possible; goal is to economically equalize all peoples of the world (socialism; Marxism) Collective Salvation ~ Analogous to the ecumenical movement in that many mainline Protestant churches are willing to embrace Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, Eastern mystic religions, and the cults, in order to achieve social and moral goals. Their thinking is that if enough godly people band together, they can win the war against godless paganism and evil in societies that have abandoned all sense of morality. The belief is that with all individuals cooperating and sacrificing for the common good, all societal ills will be eradicated. “I can’t be saved on my own. I have to do my part by cooperating with the group, even sacrificing, to ensure everyone else’s salvation. It is then that we’re all saved together.” (This video provides a description ‘in his own words’.) Multiculturism/Pluralism ~ many ways to God; all religions/beliefs are equally good; Jesus may be added to aberrant beliefs Contextual Christianity ~ The act of a Christian choosing which parts of the Bible to believe and honor while disregarding other passages. Panentheism ~ is a belief system which posits that God exists and interpenetrates every part of nature, and timelessly extends beyond as well. Panentheism is distinguished from pantheism, which holds that God is synonymous with the material universe. Briefly put, in pantheism, “God is the whole”; in panentheism, “The whole is in God.” This means that the Universe in the first formulation is practically the Whole itself, but in the second the universe and God are not ontologically equivalent. In panentheism, God is not necessarily viewed as the creator or demiurge, but the eternal animating force behind the universe, some versions positing the universe as nothing more than the manifest part of God. In some forms of panentheism, the cosmos exists within God, who in turn “pervades” or is “in” the cosmos. While pantheism asserts that God and the universe are coextensive, panentheism claims that God is greater than the universe and some forms hold that the universe is contained within God.  Hinduism is highly characterized by Panentheism and Pantheism. Redistribution of Wealth ~ is a political policy with the basic premise of belief being that money should be more equally distributed so it favors all members of society, and that the rich should be obligated to assist the poor. Thus, money should be redistributed from the rich to the poor, creating a more financially egalitarian society. Often, proponents of redistribution argue that the rich are exploiting the poor or otherwise gaining unfair benefits, and therefore redistributive practices are necessary in order to redress the balance. Marxist/Marxism ~ the political, economic, and social principles and policies advocated by Karl Marx, especially; a theory and practice of socialism including the labor theory of value, dialectical materialism, the class struggle, and dictatorship of the proletariat until the establishment of a classless society. Social Justice ~ generally refers to the idea of creating an egalitarian society or institution that is based on the principles of equality [not to be confused with equal opportunity] and solidarity, that understands and values human rights and that recognizes the dignity of every human being [may include but is more often not limited to the self-evident, God-given rights that we as Christians are called to value for all of humanity]. The term and modern concept of “social justice” was coined by the Jesuit Luigi Taparelli in 1840 based on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas and given further exposure in 1848 by Antionio Rosmini-Serbati.  The idea was elaborated by the moral theologian John A. Ryan, who initiated the concept of a living wage.  Father Coughlin also used the term in his publications in the 1930s and the 1940s. It is a part of Catholic social teaching, Social Gospel from Episcopalians and is one of the Four Pillars of the Green Party upheld by green parties worldwide.  Social justice as a secular concept, distinct from religious teachings, emerged mainly in the late twentieth century, influenced primarily by philosopher John Rawls.  Some tenets of social justice have been adopted by those on the left of the political spectrum. Socialist/Socialism ~ Economically, socialism denotes an economic system of either state ownership and/or worker ownership and administration of the means of production, and management over the allocation of producer goods and the means of production. Public or worker ownership can refer to nationalism, municipalisation, the establishment of cooperative enterprises or in some cases direct-worker ownership. The fundamental feature of a socialist economy is that publicly owned, state or worker-run institutions produce goods and services in at least the commanding heights of the economy Unlike some emergent Christians, we do not believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross so that we humans could work to recycle, restore and rehabilitate this fallen world. Actually, we believe the meek are eventually going to inherit this earth, and question whether the meek are among the left-leaning environmentalists of this age.  We eagerly anticipate Jesus Christ’s return, when He will establish His own Kingdom and we will reign with Him in true justice.  We vow to be faithful to tell pre-Christians of Jesus and His gift of salvation until He comes. Until that event, we choose the path that is narrow, that leads to eternal life.  Our heartfelt prayer is that this choice will not require us to abandon our beloved Church of the Nazarene because she departs from her orthodox Wesleyan core beliefs. While we appreciate the statement made by our Board of General Superintendents in August of this year, we believe action is needed. Our Articles of Faith are clearly defined, but some words in the Articles have acquired new, emergent meanings. Perhaps clearly defining in our Manual the words used to express our core beliefs, as well as what it means to be the Church would be places to begin the work needed (e.g. holiness, gospel, justice, mission, righteousness, world/earth, kingdom of God, stewardship, fundamentalism, etc.). We covenant to continue to be in prayer for discernment among our college/seminary students, for unity in our churches and bold leadership by our college trustees and denominational elders. We respectfully ask that you use whatever credibility and authority you have with other leaders of our denomination to effect the changes necessary to eradicate heresy of all kinds from the Church of the Nazarene and its colleges, universities and seminaries. Sincerely Yours & His, [Names provided in full to our Pastor, District Superintendent and the Board of General Superintendents]

Ephesians 6:13-18 ~ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and  requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (NIV)

	[Standing Firm] [Take A Stand] [Who We Are] [NCM] [Creation Care] [Sermons]

IMMERSE – another tool by Barefoot Ministries to promote the social gospel/contemplative/emergent agenda

IMMERSE is the latest publication to be introduced to the Nazarene youth masses by Chris Folmsbee of Barefoot Ministries.  If you examine the fabric of this publication, you quickly see that it clearly promotes  a leftist social gospel/contemplative/emergent agenda to those involved with youth.

Mike King of Youthfront was recently appointed as the executive editor of this publication.   Here are a few paragraphs from the most recent publication of IMMERSE that Mike wrote in his editorial introduction.

For many youth workers, the end of summer provides a tiny respite to catch one’s breath for a few days between all the summer activities and the beginning of a new school year with all the new church programs and events launched in September.  This summer we had nearly 5,000 young people attend Youthfront camps and our mission site in Croc, Mexico.  I also had the opportunity to engage in youth ministry in New Zealand, France and the UK.

In New Zealand I spoke to more than 1,000 youth workers on the North and South Islands.  I was blown away by the quality and passion of New Zealand youth workers.  They seem to be engaged with the same challenges and issues that youth workers from North America are dealing with.  Kiwis rule.

I made it back to Taize for the third time.  If you want to expand your thinking about spiritual transformation, put Taize on your must visit list. 

The Greenbelt Festival in England was also a highlight of the summer.  More than 20,000 (mostly young) people gathered for great fun but were also significantly challenged by deep issues.  There really is nothing like Greenbelt in the USA.  Maybe someday… 

Over the summer, the Barefoot team has been working diligently to bring fresh and innovative resources to youth workers.  We are excited about revealing great tools for youth workers in the days and months ahead.  We have also been developing great content for Immerse that we are excited for you to read and consider.

We have lots of great articles in this edition of Immerse.  Kurt Rietema’s perspective on the issue of immigration is very timely, given the focus on this issue during the current election season.  This is an important issue for youth workers to consider.  I’ve known Kurt for several years now and have seen him develop into a thoughtful and capable leader.  His article on immigration comes directly from a place of personal experience and deep passion for others.  Kurt is the director of Youthfront’s missional initiatives in Croc, Mexico, and in the Argentine neighborhoods of Kansas City.  Kurt is one of the key people in youth ministry today pushing all of us toward a more relevant and robust conversation on missional living.  I am confident that his article will help you engage complex topics, such as immigration, at a different level.

Also in this issue, Andrew Zirschky deals thoughtfully with the role communication technology–especially social media–plays in the lives of adolescents who desire to maintain connections in a disconnected society.  He examines the nature of their unique communications for the primary purpose of maintaining social and psychological contact.

In the article “Agape meets Eros,”  Jim Hampton boldy engages the idea of the interplay between sexuality and spirituality, challenging youth workers to reincorporate our sexuality with our spiritual identities.  While we must employ discernment in how to apply these ideas into our church communities, we can no longer ignore this issue.

Our hope is that Immerse will guide you into deep theological reflection on lots of important areas impacting the spiritual formation of young people and the life of the church.

May the Lord Jesus Christ immerse you in faith, hope and love.    (signed)  Mike King

 

Here are some things to consider after reading Mike King’s editorial from Immerse:

The contemplative practices are promoted via the Taize reference in his editorial, which he says we must put on our to do list!  There is an unfortunate trend within the Nazarene church to draw the youth back to Roman Catholic practices and mysticism.  Further down, Mike then writes glowingly of The Greenbelt Festival that he attended in England.  Upon further examination of THAT event, you will quickly see the extremely liberal agenda, and bizarre contemplative worship practices that were offered to the attendees.  Make sure you take some time clicking around on that site.  Bizarre, indeed.

Topics  included:  Negative views on capitalism, Equating eating meat with murdering the planet, end of life issues, down with Israel & pro-Palastinian issues.  Their About page states that the Festival is a family-friendly celebration, inclusive and accepting of all, regardless of ethnicity, gender, sexuality, background or belief.   

Mike King hopes that someday……The Greenbelt Festival will make its way to the USA??    

With the Nazarene Publishing House funding,  publishing, and promoting these types of liberal and (emergent) resources, IS IT ANY WONDER THE CHURCH IS IN THE STATE IT IS IN??  

Also note, Jim Hampton was one of the writers and signers of the emergent piece:  IS THERE ANY ROOM AT THE TABLE? 

 

New Blog – Standing Firm Nazarenes

Thank God that there are more Nazarenes who are willing to join the battle against false and errant teaching that has entered the denomination unchallenged.  I am thank for the new blog:  Nazarenes – Standing Firm 
Thank God that these remnant people are willing to count the cost to hold leaders accountable for allowing the slaughter of the sheep left to their care, young and old.

Is there anyone left who hasn’t bent their knee to the systems of the world and synthesized the philosophies of the world into  the new spirituality of the blind shepherds? Yes, there is a remnant.

Be sure to read their letter which was recently sent out to denominational leaders entitled: Take A Stand

The Old Cross and the New Cross

An excerpt from  A. W. Tozer:  (bold emphases mine)

Unannounced and mostly undetected there has come in modern times a  new cross into popular evangelical circles.  It is like the old cross, but different:  the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique — a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching.  This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world.  For Adam’s proud flesh it meant the end of the journey.  It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai.  The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment.  It lets Adam live without interference.  His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure…..

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach.  The evangelist…preaches not contrasts but similarities.  He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level……

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him.  It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect….It is false because it is blind.  It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The old cross is a symbol of death….The race of Adam is under death sentence.  There is no communtation and no escape.  God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men.  God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers.  The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it.  In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane: we leave it at the cross.  The grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

God offers life, but not an improved old life.  The life He offers is life out of death… Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God’s stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die…. the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

(Source:  http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/faith/Tozer/tozer-cross.htm)

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If Tozer were alive today, he could be writing this piece on the methods of the emergent church.  May the Nazarene church turn its back on “this new cross evangelism”  and get back to teaching the true gospel of the repentance of sins for the salvation of souls.

 

The Seductive Poison of Apostasy

The following is a piece from Eric Barger’s website.  You may access the article HERE.

April 7, 2010

The Seductive Poison of Apostasy

A look at 180, a new book from the the Nazarene Publishing House

The latest and perhaps one of the most visible signs of distress for Nazarenes is the release of a troubling new book through an arm of the Nazarene Publishing House.  180:  The Stories of People Who Changed Their Lives By Changing Their Minds is a product of a Nazarene-funded entity called “The House Studio,” which is listed under the covering of the Nazarene Publishing House in the 2010 General Board Reports of the Church of the Nazarene for the year 2009.  (See: http://www.ncnnews.com/nphweb/html/ncn/article.jsp?id=10009016 

180  is a compilation of several authors, including Emergent leader and author, Leonard Sweet, Frederica Mathewes-Green (who, along with Sweet and Emergent godfather, Brian McLaren, contributed to the book The Church in the Emerging Culture:  Five Perspectives), G.P. (Graham) Taylor (author of Shadowmancer), and Baptist-bred biographer-turned-fiction-writer, Ace Collins.  A few of the other contributing authors include Emergent youth speaker, Mark Oestreicher, Karen Spears Zacharias, Patricia Raybon (who has endorsed contemplative spirituality and favors Catholic mystics), Cameron Conant and Bob Buford, the founder of Leadership Network, (the suspected genesis point which spawned today’s Emergent movement and its original leaders).  Buford also served as the initial chairman of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, now known as “Leader to Leader Institute.”

The promotion for the 180 book states:

How does a fundamentalist become less conservative?  What makes a person intent on marrying choose to remain celibate and enter the priesthood?  How can a scientist give up believing in certainty?  What makes an organ-playing pastor’s wife hit the road with a band and her bass guitar?

 

These are all intriguing questions, sure to bring people into a fuller, more holy walk with Jesus, right?

Conant’s chapter explains how he began his adult life as a conservative but when his wife left him he saw the “error” of his Republican ways.  Mathewes-Green tells the story of how she migrated from the pro-choice position to become pro-life, which, of course, is actually a good thing.  Taylor’s part in the book was about how a dope smoking kid got straight – but like the majority of what 180 offers, there is no hint that God, His Son, His Spirit, or His Word had anything to do with the transformation.

Another contributor to 180 is self-described “professional adventurer” Melissa Jenks.

As a promotional sample of the book, Jenks’ chapter was apparently sent to every Nazarene pastor in March, 2010, as a part of the quarterly “Nazarene Communicator.”  It was because of this mailing that a distressed Nazarene pastor called, making me aware of the book.

Jenks begins, “I used to believe that the Bible was true.  Completely true-every single word.  (In the words of theologians, inerrant.)

“I now believe that the Bible is true.  Completely true-every single word.

“So what’s changed?  I no longer believe that in order to be absolutely true, the Bible has to be literally true.  It doesn’t have to mean that the earth and life in it were created in seven days.  It doesn’t have to mean that Methuseleh lived 969 years.  it doesn’t have to mean that Joshua stopped the sun in the sky or that the streets of heaven are paved with actual gold.”

 

Along with promoting feminism and the view that American Christians are a rather hopeless and self-centered lot, Jenks follows with the concept that one can be an evolutionist (like her) and a Christian, too; that beliefs are inconsequential to one’s being identified as a “Christian”; and the conclusion that there are many people who reject the historic teaching of the Church but should be unquestionably accepted as real Christians.

Whether its called liberalism or Emergent, heretical or just plain goofy, these ideas are surely not within the bounds of authentic Christianity.  In fact, as I stated in my March 19th e-update (“Where is the Leadership?”), notions like these more closely relate to the very lie that got us humans into this mess in the first place i.e.,  “Hath God Said?”  (Genesis 3:1).

Then comes the book’s most regretable chapter, authored by Nazarene university professor, Karl Giberson.   It’s called “Giving Up on Certainty,” which is exactly what the author tells 180 readers he has done concerning the Scriptures.  Giverson is one of the world’s most noted proponents of the theory of “Open theism,”* an evolutionist, and a professor at his alma mater, Eastern Nazarene College.  (*Note that Open Theism hypothosizes that God does not know what the future holds.) 

Giberson’s chapter in 180 recounts a sad story similar to that of liberal theologian, Marcus J. Borg.  He retells how his experience of Bible college led him away from his previously held postion of certainty for the Word of God.  Portraying textbook-like-postmodernity, Giberson’s contribution to 180 amounts to little more than a clear cut, egregious denial of the Bible.  He claims to have made this change based on a series of events and teachings he received in college, including an old and baseless charge that assorted prophecies found in Scripture were actually fraudulent.  I don’t care how intellectual he may be or how many degrees he has, or how many doting peers he may have showering him with awards and prestige.  The question needs to be asked:  What is this guy doing teaching in an allegedly evangelical school?  How many more students will enter once-trusted Bible colleges only to have their minds twisted and their belief in God’s Word shredded because someone who does not believe the Bible has been allowed to stand unquestioned before them as an authority?

In thinking of the Gibersons and Borgs and other assorted heretics that infest seminary classrooms all around us, I can’t help but remember the compelling phrase Jesus used as He addressed the educated but empty hypocrites of His day.  Just before calling them snakes, he said the converts of these false teachers become twice the child of Hell than their mentors (Matthew 23:15)!  I think I know something of how Jesus was feeling about this topic but before I allow myself to go there and tell you what I really think, let me introduce a mother named Ann.  She has experienced one of the worst nightmares imaginable for any Christian parent.  Year after year, Ann trained her son up in the ways of God.  When the time came she sent him off to Bible college only to find that some so-called “intellectuals,” within the confines of what she thought was a solid theological institution, injected him with the seductive poison of apostasy, obliterating both her own life’s work and her son’s relationship with God.

Ann wrote me at http://www.ericbarger.com/ She stated:

Thanks you for your stand for truth and the defense of the Word of God which is now under attack through the emergent movement.  This is being taught as the new post-modern “truth” at many so called “Christian” universities.  I have a son who has been captured by this vain philosophy being taught at a Nazarene university.  I am praying for his return to the truth of god’s Word as he was trained up for 12 years at home and in school to affirm God’s Word as absoute truth.  The university taught from a New Testament book written by Bart Erhman, a self-proclaimed agnostic and academic expert in textual criticism.  That class has derailed my son’s faith.

I wrote back:

Thanks for writing Ann.  I grieve when I hear reports like this.  It is heart-wrenching.  Hang in there and please let me know how it’s going.  Remember, you are not alone.  There is a godly remnant inside the Nazarene Church who are fighting for your son and for other sons and daughters.  Let me know if there is anything we can provide for you or do.

By the way, which Nazarene University did your son attend?  God bless you!    Eric

Ann responded:

Thank you for your response.  My son graduated 2008 from Point Loma Nazarene University and I have also have a daughter enrolled at PLNU finishing her junior year.  The university has invited emergent authors/speakers in chapel and contemplative retreats are contrary to those documents.  The University president has not responded.

Ann

The introduction to the 180 book states, “Even though we’re not out to change your mind on anything, we hope to stretch it a little.”  Stretch it a little?  But how?  By relying on human stories to emotionally appeal to us that drugs and abortion are evil – but never relating what the Word of God states on the topics?  Then worse, by casting doubt on the Word of God with the kind of conflicting, faith-breaking doubletalk found in 180?   Call me old-fashioned, but I thought the mission of the Church was to produce materials and teaching that uphold the authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Can you imagine Peter, Paul or any of the other Apostles writing a chapter in 180?   I think not.  God is indeed in the mind-changing business – make that the renewing of the mind through His mighty Word (Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 119:11)!  If we need anything today it is voices that refute false beliefs instead of endorsing them.  Rather than question marks, we must add exclamation points to the emphatic teachings of the Bible!

Call me narrow-minded but I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with the progressive, supposedly intellectual tripe some so-called Christian educators are foisting on young minds while consistantly downplaying and discouraging systemtatic theology, expository preaching and sound doctrine.  It has become a vogue part of allegedly “higher” Christian education today to constantly question and doubt biblical truths rather than uphold them – all in the name of “critical thinking.”  This isn’t some sort of postmodern apololgetics.  Instead, it is nothing short of subversion and is the very veil with which those who are guided by the spirit of rebellion cloak themselves.

Rebellion is indeed the spirit of the age we live in and it is at work inside the Church.  The apostle John exclaimed, “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).  I am more convinced with each passing day that what we are battling is nothing short of the attempted complete destruction of the historic Church by some within the borders of our theological institutions and denominations.  Just look to those formerly sound theological giants of the recent past, Harvard, Princeton and Yale.  Have we forgotten that they were once home to the greatest defenders of biblical truth in the world?  It is surely no stretch that one would have to spend considerable time and effort to find many authentic Bible believers within their walls today.  We must wake up before their fate becomes ours.

Considering the fact that evolution and open theism are being accepted and heralded in Nazarene universities, and books like 180 are being printed and promoted by the official publishing arm of the Church of the Nazarene, makes one wonder what is next.  However, as most of you know, Emergent heresy is certainly not confined to any one denomination.  Concerned Christians should be watching, examing, challenging, and demanding accountability from those in leadership.  Lest there be more heartbreak such as Ann’s and for the sake of the next generation, we can do no less.  Ladies and gentlemen, TRUTH comes with a price and this is what contending for it looks like. 

End of Eric Barger’s article

UPDATE:  I found a link from a Nazarene pastor that had some similar views regarding the 180 book.  Click  HERE.

The book was more shocking than I expected. After careful review of the book I would say a more accurate title might be, “The cultural effects of 30 years on a Holiness Church: Stories of people who changed their values from conservative to liberal”.

 

 

Who Has Believed Our Report?

Who has believed our report?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?  For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.  He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him, He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.  He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation?  For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.  And they made His grave with the wicked–but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence; nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.  When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.    Isaiah 53   NKJV

 

This year, may many eyes be opened to see that mankind’s biggest need is that of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who bore our sins on our behalf, so that through sorrowful repentance and turning away from sin,  and childlike trust in Him, we have salvation. 

Salvation is not through doing good works, or through championing social justice, or through acts of self-piety as is the tradition of those in the Catholic church, but, salvation is through Jesus’ work alone.  Not all mankind is saved, for narrow is the path, and many are those who disdain and reject such teachings from scripture.   Yet, when we point out that there are those who have risen among the Nazarene ranks from within, and there are those who are welcomed into Nazarene university settings introducing and teaching foreign doctrines, that go against what is clearly taught from God’s Word, we must also say…… “Who has believed our report?”

May many eyes be opened in the Nazarene denomination to what is truly behind teachings such as, and from people such as:  Open Theism, Phyllis Tickle, Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Nooma’s, social justice, Sojourners, Jim Wallis,  Fr. Richard Rohr, Tony Campolo, Karl Giberson, evolution, universalism, Catholicism, spiritual formation practices, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Shane Claiborne, Tom Oord, Rick Warren, Interfaith Spirituality Network, and on and on……..truly the church has gone astray, and many have rejected the authority of God’s Word, turned it into a narrative, and have gone their own way based on their feelings and their own intellect.

Nazarene Churches Emulate Catholic Tradition

To answer the siren call for an ever hungry, insatiable appetite of feelings-based spirituality, Lake Houston Church of the Nazarene,  and Flushing Community Church of the Nazarene  (amid other Nazarene churches) have turned to the Catholic tradition of the Stations of the Cross. 

Who needs to spend time and study in God’s Word when the new spiritual crack of ‘me-focused’ spiritual experiences can give one an euphoric feeling of being close to God instead?  Who better to turn to for these mystical experiences than the traditions of the Catholics?  Makes one wonder what could be next?  Nazarene nuns?  Trevecca has had the Abbey of Gethsemani monastery booked for retreats for the purpose of student spiritual formation for the past 40 years.  With the acceptance and endorsement of other Catholic traditions into the Nazarene denomination, it could happen.

For more in-depth reading on the dangers of Spiritual Disciplines and offering them as routine practices inside of the church, read and print off the following articles:

The Dangers of Spiritual Formation and Spiritual Disciplines 

Ancient-Future Spirituality

Welcome to FCCN!

We’re glad you’ve come to visit our website, and we hope that you’ll find what you need here. We encourage you to join us at weekly worship, currently offered at 10:30 each Sunday. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, or just drop in at church next Sunday.

Stations of the Cross

 Monday thru Thursday of this week; 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM.  Our gym will be set up with 14 different “stations” for you to come and seek the Lord through scripture, prayer and contemplation. The stations  are based on several moments in the final week that Jesus lived (known as “Holy Week”). Come and go at a time that is convenient for your but allow enough time to experience each station and the work of God in your heart

THIS WEEK | MARCH 30, 2010 Love God | Serve All www.lhcn.org

Stations of the Cross

 

 

 

 

 

Tue-Fri  |  Mar 30-Apr2 |  12-9pm Worship Center

 

 

Through prayer and reflection, follow Jesus Christ on the way to Calvary. Learn to trust Him more by accompanying Him on the Way of the Cross through this interactive journey. This is a drop-in event.

 

 

 

 

Through prayer and reflection, follow Jesus Christ on the way to Calvary. Learn to trust Him more by accompanying Him on the Way of the Cross through this interactive journey. This is a drop-in event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Social Justice Is Not Christian Charity

Here is an article written by Paul Proctor at NewsWithViews.com.   He illustrates the slide of the religious left into the socialist agenda via the cry for “social justice”.  

Nazarene churches are swallowing the “social justice” lure and jumping on the works-based bandwagon and replacing the gospel of repentance and turning away from sin to one of doing good works.   

You may access Paul Proctor’s article HERE.  

SOCIAL  JUSTICE  IS  NOT  CHRISTIAN  CHARITY      by  Paul Proctor

Glenn Beck has certainly cut to the quick by reportedly saying: “social justice is a perversion of the Gospel,” adding, “I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words.”

The implication here is that these “code words” signify the Church’s infiltration by two tyrannical extremes of the political spectrum: Nazis to the right and Marxists to the left – both attempting to advance unbiblical agendas in and through the Church. Although I hesitate to point blank call fellow Christians “Marxists” and “Nazis,” I am acutely aware of ungodly influences from both sides of the aisle adversely affecting the Church today and have addressed the issue on numerous occasions over the years, concluding a November 2000 article with the following:

“Socialism needs two legs on which to stand; a right and a left. While appearing to be in complete opposition to one another, they both march in the same direction.”

Now, I’m not a Mormon. I don’t watch Glenn Beck’s show on the Fox News channel; and based upon what I’ve seen and read online, there are more than a few things he and I would not agree on. But, he is right about social justice being a perversion of the Gospel and “progressives” being a danger to the Church. In fact, I tackled the topic of “social justice” in three recent and consecutive articles for NewsWithViews.com.

Not wanting to belabor the issue and weary my readers with redundancy, I moved on to other subjects of concern after the first week in January. But, since social justice in the church has now made front-page headlines due to Beck’s recent comments, I thought it prudent to revisit the issue again from a Biblical perspective and point out a couple of the things that are conspicuously absent from all of the heated rhetoric and media coverage.

ABC News’ story on the controversy noted what appears to be a little backpedaling and damage control from one of Glenn Beck’s producers:

Stu Burguiere, executive producer at “The Glenn Beck Radio Program,” sought to clarify Beck’s comments today.

“Like most Americans, Glenn strongly supports and believes in ‘social justice’ when it is defined as ‘good Christian charity,'” he said. “Glenn strongly opposes when Rev. Wright and other leaders use ‘social justice’ as a euphemism for their real intention — redistribution of wealth.”

But you see, in my estimation, it is the contrived and duplicitous definition of “social justice” that is causing all the confusion.

“Social justice” is not “Christian charity.”

You will find the word “justice” in scripture, as you will the word “gospel” – but you won’t find the word “social” in front of either of them because “social justice,” like the “social gospel,” is the wily work of men, not the Will and Word of God. Jesus Christ did not suffer and die on a cross so we could repair, remodel and rehabilitate a wicked world for Him to rule over, but instead to redeem us from it for a “kingdom not of this world.”

If someone doesn’t speak up and point this out, the issue will be forever confusing, controversial and divisive and the Church will continue to be swayed off course by those with political ambitions.

Scriptures containing the words “justice,” “justly,” and “judgment” that progressives handily quote to try and validate “social justice” as a Christian concept and mandate for the Church are predominately from the Old Testament, which is ironic considering progressives by and large prefer to dismiss or discount much of the OT and its so called “legalism” because it inconveniently clashes with their no-absolutes and no-authority philosophies, theologies and lifestyles. Frankly, it is God’s justice and judgments throughout the Old Testament that confound and offend progressives the most about the Bible resulting in the sleazy greasy grace they preach and practice as “Christianity.”

But, the term “social justice” puts global change agents in the driver’s seat down at the church house allowing them, through carefully placed operatives, endless opportunities to enable, justify and even promote, via the humanist mantra of “tolerance, diversity and unity,” any number of unbiblical behaviors, theories, religions and causes from promoting promiscuity, to homosexuality, to syncretism, to abortion rights, to euthanasia, to birth control, to stem cell research, to Darwinism, to faith-based initiatives, to “no child left behind,” to global warming, to you name it – which fits in perfectly with the United Nation’s plan for a one-world government, one world economy and one world religion.

The New Testament scriptures most often cited by progressives to support “social justice” are not about justice at all, but about charity. Even so, they use the words “justice” and “charity” as if they were synonymous, and in doing so, morph and merge social/political issues and programs into moral/religious issues and programs while steering the Church’s focus and attention away from the spiritual and eternal to the more carnal and worldly.

It has also been my observation that embracing “social justice,” more often than not, shifts the emphasis from repentance and faith in Jesus Christ to more earthly endeavors like environment, empowerment, employment, entitlements, equality and esteem-building programs promoted by global elites to benefit or punish selected people groups as needed for its “sustainable development” – an agenda more in keeping with that of a community organizer than a follower of Christ.

Justice is about righting a wrong, defending the innocent and punishing the guilty. It is a commendable work but it is not Christian charity.

Charity is about generously and sacrificially helping, serving and providing for someone in need. The Good Samaritan did not stop to exercise “social justice” when he found the man wounded and robbed by thieves along the road in Jesus’ parable as recorded in Luke 10:30-37. He demonstrated compassion toward the victim of a crime, not because he was socially, ethnically or financially disadvantaged, but because he was simply a “neighbor” in need.

Furthermore, the Good Samaritan didn’t go after the thieves to recover the man’s belongings, avenge his abuse, have them arrested and start a traveler’s protection and possessions recovery program at the local synagogue because that’s not what Jesus was teaching His followers in the parable to do – nor was it the mission of His coming.

If you steal someone’s money, it is “justice” that sees it returned to its rightful owner and/or has you punished – not “charity.” Charity has empathy for those in need and shares with them, cares for them, comforts them, encourages them, prays for them and provides for them as a divine demonstration of God’s love, compassion and generosity. In doing so, we bless others as God has blessed us in our time of need. Christian charity is a picture of the Gospel and God’s grace toward the spiritual poverty and desperation of a lost soul.

This is the age of grace, my friends, not the age of justice.

If anyone wanted and needed “social justice” during Jesus’ earthly ministry, it was the Samaritans, as revealed by Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well, who told Him: “…the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” But, Jesus didn’t offer her social justice – He offered her “living water” which had nothing to do with her social status, rights or economic condition.

But, if you synthesize the two words “justice” and “charity” in Hegelian Dialectic fashion, as “progressives” in the church have so shrewdly done, you end up with a hybrid gospel that does not demonstrate the love, grace, mercy and generosity of God at all, but a government-approved, politically-correct, humanistic religion called “collectivism” that glorifies the brotherhood of man through “good works” for the benefit and advancement of an earthly kingdom instead of glorifying God through His work on the cross of Christ for a heavenly kingdom.

Christians need to be very careful about setting aside the Gospel to pursue “social justice.” Jesus took our justice on Calvary’s cross that we might receive and reflect God’s grace and forgiveness.

 

Is it social justice the Lord is calling us to or Christian charity?

You see, Jesus told another parable in Matthew 18 about a king whose servant owed him ten thousand talents. When the servant couldn’t pay, the king ordered him and his family sold to make restitution. When the servant fell at the king’s feet and begged for patience, the king had compassion on him and forgave the debt.

 

That same servant then found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred pence and demanded payment. When the fellow servant fell at his feet and asked for patience, the king’s servant would have none of it and had his fellow servant thrown in prison. When the king found out that his servant did not show the same compassion and pity toward his fellow servant, the king had his servant thrown in prison as well until he could pay back all that he owed.

Charity moved the king to forgive his servant’s debt. Justice compelled the king to later throw that uncharitable servant into prison.

So, what are we to learn from Jesus’ parables – social justice or Christian charity?

Related Articles:

1. Evangelical leader takes on Beck for assailing social justice churches
2. Christians Rip Glenn Beck Over ‘Social Justice’ Slam
3. Glenn Beck: ‘Leave Your Church’
4. Franklin Graham: ‘Our Churches Are Dead’
5. Willow Creek Wants A ‘Just’ Christmas?
6. What’s Wrong With A More Social Gospel?
7. The Test of Faith
8. Not again! Meet Obama’s new controversial pastor

© 2010 Paul Proctor – All Rights Reserved

 

Where Is The Leadership?

Eric Barger from Take A Stand Ministries, recently wrote the following piece.  You may find his site HERE. 

March 19, 2010 

WHERE IS THE LEADERSHIP?

Nazarene Pastor Resigns while Church Officials Attempt to Ignore Heresy

Many of you have tracked my research and involvement concerning the Church of the Nazarene and the alarming inroads that Emergent leaders and philosophy have made into this once-sound denomination. Though I am not a Nazarene (and never have been), I speak regularly in solid Nazarene churches and it is no secret that I am a friend and supporter of many inside the Nazarene Church who are engaged in fighting heresy throughout every tier of the denomination, in particular the hierarchical leadership and the extensive Nazarene university system. (See “The Church of the Nazarene and the Emergent Church” for an extensive menu of information concerning this.)
 
In a newly released position statement, Nazarene General Superintendents acknowledge the controversy and extreme disagreement within their church concerning Emergent teaching and practices. However, according to one District Superintendent, the General Superintendents of the denomination have decided not to take a position concerning Emergent ideas and theology. This is a sad and troubling turn of events.
 
Bluntly put, one has to wonder how those leading such a large body of Christian believers can ignore the Bible’s strong exhortations to those who would lead God’s Church concerning what can only be described as blatant heresy.
 
Exposing and routing false teaching was nothing foreign to Jesus, His Apostles and the early Church. Nearly every book in the New Testament outlines a struggle for truth or a warning about apostasy, false teachers or the disastrous outcome of theological error. Paul instructed the Galatians to accept only the authentic Gospel (as represented in the Scriptures) and pronounces a double curse on those who would purvey false doctrine (Galatians 1:8-9). The letter written by the Lord’s half-brother, Jude, is consumed with warnings over false teachers, including the famous statement that Christians are to contend earnestly for the one true faith. Jesus Himself points out that the end of days will be signaled by an exponential increase in false teachers (Matthew 24:11). He caps this by warning that, because of the work of false prophets and their perverted views, the love (for truth) of many (in the Church) will grow faint. Paul clearly instructs Titus that the mouths of those who oppose accurate teaching and doctrine are to be stopped! This is the very crux of biblical apologetics – a reasoned statement of truth and a defense of the true faith in the face of what is false. Thank God that many are vigorously engaging in apologetics inside the Nazarene Church at this time.
 
One pastor told me recently that he has personally challenged his own District officials concerning Emergent radicalism and when told that there will not be an official denominational position concerning Emergent error he bluntly replied, “No position IS taking a position. To take no position on Emergent isn’t leadership!” I agree. We are also now told that Nazarene university officials are being instructed to try to play down Emergent thought in their midst and, at least for a season, they should cease having Emergent leaders as guest speakers on their campuses. It may be too little, too late, regarding trying to keep key Emergent leaders off the premises however. Emergent philosophy is heralded by many professors and has broad appeal to many unsuspecting students. The unorthodox teaching of Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Rob Bell, Doug Pagitt, Phyllis Tickle, and Alan Roxburgh (among others) has spread like wildfire in the bible colleges and seminaries associated with nearly every denomination. So any effort to limit the appearances of Emergent leaders by the Nazarenes really can’t be construed as any sort of refutation of Emergent teaching but rather only an effort to allow the existing controversy surrounding them to wane.
 
The Results of Ignoring Heresy
 
In one of his most emphatic and corrective letters, the Apostle Paul warned, “A littleleavenleaveneth the wholelump.” (Galatians 5:9) That is, if we allow heretical views to gain ground and spawn, it won’t be long before the entire loaf (the Church) is corrupted with heresy.Nothing better illustrates the deep divide present in the Church of the Nazarene than the fact that solid, bible-believing churches and leaders are now seeing their only recourse to be to leave the denomination. One would hope and pray that the international leaders of the Church of the Nazarene (and nearly every other denomination including the Southern Baptists and Assemblies of God) would wake up and stop courting Emergent heresy as nothing more than just a “new way to do church.”
 
I have been in constant touch with others who have now been threatened, intimidated and, in one case, actually put out of his ministry position, by Nazarene officials intent on stifling any negative discussion opposing Emergent philosophy. Now there is the case of Pastor Rick Headley from Ohio. Here is the letter he wrote to Rev. Jerry Porter, one of the General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene.
 
Dear Rev. Porter:

 

On May 5, 2000, after 10 long years of studying and working to finish my studies and complete necessary service time, you ordained me as an Elder in the Church of the Nazarene. At the altar of Grove City (Ohio) Church of the Nazarene you looked me in the eyes and charged me to be faithful to the Word of God and its ministry. You then placed your hand upon my head as I knelt at the altar and you prayed that God would help me carry out the charge that you had given me. I took that charge seriously, Rev. Porter. I have faithfully attended to this charge as a local pastor for a total of 20 years.

 

I have been disheartened to see our great denomination travel a very slippery slope as it has allowed emergent thinkers to infiltrate our educational institutions, publishing house, and our districts. The heart of this movement is an open denial of the inerrancy and relevancy of God’s Word. The very Word of God that you charged me to be faithful to. I have waited for you and the General Board to refute the leaders of this movement in our denomination and reaffirm the Church of the Nazarene’s commitment to scripture. The General Board’s silence on this issue has been deafening.

 

Rev. Porter, I am conflicted by the idea that you charged me to be faithful to God’s Word and its ministry and yet you choose to be silent as well known Church of the Nazarene leaders such as John Middendorf, Dan Boone and others use their influence to propagate the emergent ideology. I am compelled to believe that the silence of the General Board on this issue is communicating an acceptance through tolerance.

 

“How much further will they go?” was the question that was asked by the great preacher C.H. Spurgeon in his magazine “Sword and Trowel” in August 1887. He asked this of the Baptist Denomination – a movement that he had faithfully served for 35 years and in which he was the most prominent preacher. For some time, he and others in the Baptist Union had been concerned that apostasy from earlier standards might be showing up in the denomination. They were also concerned at the character of the teaching being given in some of the Baptist colleges. After asking the above question, the great soul-winner said, “It now becomes a serious question how far those who abide by the truth once delivered unto the saints should fraternize with those who have turned to another Gospel.”

 

After much prayer and deliberation I have decided to return my ordination document to you. I can no longer tolerate the idea of being associated with a denomination that openly allows an ideology that promotes disdain for God’s Word, ancient mystic practices, and pagan catholic traditions.

 

Sadly Submitted,
Rev. Rick Headley
To the dismay of Nazarenes’ intent on placating Emergent thought, letters like this could indeed be just the tip of the iceberg. Literally every day I am receiving emails or phone calls from Nazarene pastors on the verge of leaving the denomination because of what is being allowed by Nazarene leaders and openly advocated in Nazarene universities. One pastor told me he had been blatantly lied to by those wishing to protect Emergent teaching in the Nazarene university system. Another told me that waking up to the reality that heretical ideas are being forwarded inside Nazarene classrooms was like being blindsided in the worst way. Still another Nazarene pastor called last week to say that his church was simply not going to follow the status quo any longer and was about to embark on an effort to confront Emergent error being promulgated at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio by simply withholding funds that would normally be earmarked for use there. Ladies and gentlemen, if there is any way to get the attention of district officials it is this way. As my mentor, the late Dr. Walter Martin, once said, “If we REALLY want to fix the problem of false gospels in our churches we need to use the ‘gospel of the checkbook.’ It stimulates almost instantaneous repentance.” (Click Here to watch Dr. Martin address the “Cult of Liberal Theology” from 1987.)
 
It is an understatement to say that many are heartbroken that the church they have invested their lives in has been slowly transformed by what can only be described as a satanic infiltration of cultic teaching and false teachers. Though I feel like a broken record repeating it again, this is a nearly identical attack that brought the once-evangelical Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Congregationalist, and other denominations down 100-150 years ago. As I mentioned to a Nazarene pastor who called me today, the issue isn’t really over mystical practices, Open Theism or Brian McLaren. Those are sub-issues of the larger point. The REAL issue is over the authority and validity of the Bible. That’s where Satan focused his attack from the very beginning, when the serpent mused, “Hath God Said?” (Genesis 3:1)
 
Please hear me clearly here. I thank God for men, women, and churches who are righteously standing for the whole counsel of God’s Word. There are thousands upon thousands of biblically-minded Nazarene clergy and laypeople who are not willing to in any way support false teaching. To them, I encourage you to stand up, and continue to stand on the teaching of the scriptures as you warn your friends, families, colleagues, and congregations. Remember that, in the end, your allegiance is first to God, His Word and His truth – not to any earth-bound organization, no matter how storied and trustworthy a history it may have. The final question is, if we do not make ourselves vulnerable and challenge heresy now, what will the next generation of Nazarene, Baptist or Assemblies of God pastor resemble?
 
Though some may misconstrue this, I hope that what I’ve stated here is taken as a call for righteousness, for clarity, for truth, and for sound doctrine. Those holding to aberrant theology may not like it, but Paul told the Thessalonian church to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:21-22). The Ephesians were instructed to “Prove what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:10-11). The command in both passages is clear: we are to “prove” what is true, avoid what is heresy, and expose the activities of those who deceive.
 
Although following in the footsteps of Pastor Rick Headley is for many an unthinkable end to consider, there is hope for any and every pastor or layperson that God leads out of any group. Life didn’t start and will not end with the hierarchy of any fellowship or denomination. This is especially true if those who’ve been entrusted with the faith seem content to ignore or worse yet, even protect heresy while merely hoping the opposition to what is plainly false teaching would somehow subside. Yes, speaking up may cost you. Someday ask Paul, Peter, or Stephen about the price they paid to stand for truth. You may be denigrated and shunned for defending the faith. You may feel threatened and your very ministry may seem to be in jeopardy but, in the end, to whom are you accountable?
 
Those who are publicly tackling issues such as the Emergent heresy are often made out to be misfits and troublemakers by those who’ve refused to expose and root out heretical ideas in our denominational structures and theological institutions. Having been such a target throughout the years, I personally know this all too well. The current group of detractors has chosen to attack and malign me personally because of their inability to present valid arguments against what I am proclaiming. Emergent defenders have neither history nor the Bible on their side, so a few have decided to just spend their time and energy lampooning and ridiculing those of us who dare oppose their favorite brand of apostasy. Although they often tout the tired claim that “apologists destroy unity,” it is disingenuous and laughable for the opposition to claim that those speaking up and biblically exposing error are themselves actually the issue.
 
Emergent sympathizers would like me and others to just shut up and go away. But retreat doesn’t shine the light on error or warn the unsuspecting. I honestly know of no one involved in apologetics and discernment ministry who relishes confrontation and the other often uncomfortable aspects of the work. However, we understand that peace at any cost isn’t real peace and that unity for the sake of appeasement isn’t real unity either. Error must be exposed no matter how unpopular or disquieting it may be. Truth – God’s truth – is the most important element and without it as our guiding force, unholy compromise quickly spreads and becomes the norm. That’s just not acceptable.
 
SPECIAL NOTE: This Saturday (March 20) Jan Markell and I are going to discuss this very concept of how apologetics ministries and ministers are themselves attacked and disrespected merely because of their stands for biblical truth.

I invite you to listen in at 9 a.m. (Central, USA) to “Understanding the Times” radio as we discuss “The New Pharisaical Bullies.”

If “Understanding the Times” isn’t heard “live” in your city, you can listen to the program here online by clicking through on the radio link found at www.olivetreeviews.org For those who are unable to listen on Saturday morning, the podcast of the program will be uploaded and available late Sunday. Just visit http://www.olivetreeviews.org/ for more information.