PASTOR TURNED ATHEIST MIKE AUS AND HIS HOUSTON OASIS “CHURCH”

By on Oct 26, 2012 in Current Issues, Features

Apprising Ministries has been warning you Famine In The Land And Spiritual Blindness; an Amos 8:11-12 famine for the Word of God as Jesus sends 1 Peter 4:17 judgments upon professing Christendom, such as the growing spiritual blindness we’re currently witnessing, which is bringing increasing syncretism.

Combine this with those who’ve left reality to go mentally off-roading into the Wonderland of Humpty Dumpty language and we have the recipe for confusion and apostasy.  Now let me point you to the Richard Dawkins Foundation who tells us in Church pastors become atheists:

More than 200 church leaders across the country now say they no longer believe in God, including a Houston-area pastor who was one of the first to publicly announce his decision. Mike Aus, who was pastor at Theophilus church in Katy, made that announcement during an appearance on a Sunday morning show on MSNBC.Up with Chris Hayes” program. (source)

It seems that back in March of this year MSNBC’s Up w/Chris Hayes aired an episode entitled Atheism. We’re told the guests included Richard Dawkins. Hemant Mehta aka the Friendly Atheist adds in Former Pastor Starts Church and Teaches Atheist Bible Study that former pastor Mike Aus “has started a ‘church’ for atheists. ((http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/10/26/former-pastor-starts-church-and-teaches-atheist-bible-tudy/, accessed 10/26/12.))

Today in Church offers sanctuary for freethinkers Ken Chitwood asks, “What is a former pastor and church planter to do after publicly declaring that he’s an atheist?” Then he tells us:

Mike Aus started another church. Aus, along with several other atheists, freethinkers and secular humanists in Houston, launched Houston Oasis, a community grounded in reason rather than revelation, celebrating the human experience as opposed to any deity. The first of these Sunday morning gatherings was held in early September and featured live music by local artists, personal testimonies, a message and time for fellowship.

Last May, Aus came out as an atheist on MSNBC’s Chris Hayes show, saying that he’d long had doubts about his faith and beliefs, but never abandoned the idea that Christianity provided for basic human needs for support and community…

After he officially left Christianity and the pastorate, Aus saw a need to start something new for people who wanted a community of care and common cause in which belief “is irrelevant,” he said.

While Houston Oasis may look, sound and act like a traditional church, it is fundamentally different, reaching out to the growing population of religiously non-affiliated “nones” who are leaving established religion in droves… (source)

The website for Houston Oasis (HO) tells us:

We are a community that meets weekly to provide support and fellowship in a diverse environment. There is no doctrine to follow. We accept people where ever they are in their journey. We do not believe in conversion, labels or indoctrination. We reject metaphysical claims that are without proof. (source)

Mike Aus has definitely gone on an atheistic arc as referenced by his attack against the Bible at the Houston Atheists Religion Seminar and his appearance at the American Atheists National Convention where Richard Dawkins interviewed him, ((http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFZTbD6Fno4&feature=youtu.be, accessed 10/26/12.))

They discussed something known as The Clergy Project, whose website informs us:

is to provide a safe haven for active and former clergy who do not hold supernatural beliefs. The purpose of this “Public Page” is to announce our existence and to reach out to current and former clergy who want to be a part of the group.

The Clergy Project launched a private, invitation only, website on March 21, 2011 with 52 members. Currently it has more than 370 members. It originated from a growing awareness of the presence of these clergy and a concern about their dilemma as they moved beyond faith. (source)

Below is a clip from the inaugural service of HO. Interestingly enough, it kind of sounds like an Emerging Church:

[mejsvideo src=”https://www.apprising.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AtheistOasis.mov” width=640 height=360]

Here’s Mike Aus discussing his apostasy on Up w/Chris Hayes:

[mejsvideo src=”https://www.apprising.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/AtheistPastor.mov” width=640 height=360]

Further reading