WILL THE EMERGENT CHURCH SUBMERGE
YOURS?
Commentary by Jan Markellwww.olivetreeviews.org
I was recently contacted to do a
radio interview by Elwood McQuaid of Friends of Israel. I have had Elwood on my
radio program several times on issues related to Israel. I assumed he, also,
wanted to talk about Israel. Wrong. He was troubled about the massive inroads
of what is known as the Emergent Church and how little Christians know about
it.
So, if the Emergent Church is
about to submerge your church, you might not even know it!
I am borrowing some thoughts from my good
friend Roger Oakland who I consider an authority on this topic.
Here are some warning signs.
There still may be time to stop your church from "submerging" to
"Emerging" but only if you act decisively and in union with others in
your church who feel the same. A delegation of one or two will never impress
church leadership who already think this "new way of doing church" is
better than warmed bagels and who have swallowed the Emergent deception. And
make no mistake, it is deception.
* Scripture is no longer the
ultimate authority as the basis for the Christian faith.
* The centrality of the gospel of
Jesus Christ is being replaced by humanistic methods promoting church growth
and a social gospel.
* More and more emphasis is being placed on
building the kingdom of God now and less and less on the warnings of Scripture
about the imminent return of Jesus Christ and a coming judgment in the future.
* The teaching that Jesus Christ
will rule and reign in a literal millennial period is considered unbiblical and
heretical.
* The teaching that the church has taken the
place of Israel and Israel has no prophetic significance is often embraced.
* The teaching that the book of
Revelation does not refer to the future, but instead has been already fulfilled
in the past or is allegorical.
* An experiential mystical form of
Christianity begins to be promoted as a method to reach the postmodern
generation.
* Ideas are promoted teaching that
Christianity needs to be reinvented in order to provide meaning for this
generation.
* The pastor may implement an idea called
"ancient-future" or "vintage Christianity" claiming that in
order to take the church forward, we need to go back in church history and find
out what experiences were effective to get people to embrace Christianity.
* While the authority of the Word of God is
undermined, images and sensual experiences are promoted as the key to
experiencing and knowing God.
* These experiences include icons, candles,
incense, liturgy, labyrinths, prayer stations, contemplative prayer,
experiencing the sacraments (for Protestants), particularly the sacrament of
the Eucharist.
* There seems to be a strong emphasis on
ecumenism indicating that a bridge is being established that leads in the
direction of unity with the Roman Catholic Church. This will ultimately lead to
the one world religion of Revelation.
* Some "evangelical" Protestant
leaders are saying that the Reformation went too far. They are reexamining the
claims of the "church fathers" saying that communion is more than a
symbol and that Jesus actually becomes present in the wafer at communion.
* Some suggest there are many ways to God.
* Members of churches who
question or resist the new changes that the pastor is implementing are
reprimanded and usually asked to leave. If you are over age 50, your opinion
will not even matter.
When some of the following are
lauded from the pulpit or Sunday School class, get very nervous: Rob Bell, Doug
Pagitt, Dan Kimball, Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Dallas Willard, Erwin McManus,
and many others too numerous to name. You may think it harmless to have a
pastor just give a quote from one of these men, but when you understand that
they represent the above bullet-points, it should be a huge red flag. It is
imperative you understand this movement and you can start with the two products
posted on this e-mail.
Do what you can to not let
"Emerging" submerge your church; however, if and when you see it is
hopeless to turn the tide, move on to safer ground!
(See http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/ for more info)
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