Christian Research Network is a sister work of Apprising Ministries. Today CRN Associate Editor Erin Benziger of Do Not Be Surprised… brings to our attention an odd occurrence recently at Saddleback Church where Kay Warren, wife of SBC megapastor Rick Warren functioned in the role as teaching elder:

The Bible is not ambiguous in describing the necessary qualifications and characteristics that must be met by a man who desires to hold the role of pastor, or elder, within a church. In Titus 1:5–9 and 1 Tim. 3:1–7, Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, clearly outlines these requirements.

The Apostle Paul also delivered instruction regarding the role of women within the church:

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 1 TIM. 2:11–14, ESV

This is the biblical admonition against a woman being ordained to the role of pastor in the church. While passages such as Titus 2:3–5 encourage women to live godly lives and to mentor and teach other women, Scripture is clear in its call for the role of pastor to be held by a man who has met the biblical qualifications. Though women are equally gifted and important to the vitality of a church, God is clear that they may not hold any authoritative position over the men of the church.

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) agrees with this biblical standard. Below is the SBC’s official position on the role of women in the church.

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.THE BAPTIST FAITH & MESSAGE, VI. THE CHURCH, EMPHASIS ADDED

While other SBC documents may offer a perceived loophole in this instruction, most Southern Baptists would affirm the position stated above.

Saddleback Church in Southern California is officially registered with the Southern Baptist Convention, so it is presumed that they would adhere to the biblical standards set forth by the SBC in regard to women preaching. It is odd to note, then, that Kay Warren, wife of pastor Rick Warren, recently usurped the role of pastor by preaching the weekend services at this large megachurch.

For four weeks beginning on 11 March 2012, Kay Warren preached a sermon series entitled, “All Access: The Story of You and God.”

Audio and video of these sermons may be accessed by visiting the Saddleback media archives for the weekend services. These messages centered around the tabernacle of the Old Testament as Warren sought to teach that

God is a relational God and He wants to be in relationship with you…God wants to be at the center of the story of you, because the story of you is really the story of you and God. SOURCE

Even more recently, Kay Warren preached the Sunday service at the controversial Crystal Cathedral. On 30 April 2012, The Christian Post reported:

Author Kay Warren delivered a sermon on choosing joy at the Crystal Cathedral during two Sunday worship services that were taped for the Garden Grove church’s “Hour of Power” TV broadcast.

The wife of Saddleback Church founding Pastor Rick Warren adapted her message from her recently released book, Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough.

Warren told the congregation about her own struggles to find joy even when the Bible clearly states a Christian’s life should be full of joy.

SOURCE

While standing in the role of pastor for four consecutive weekends, then, Kay Warren undoubtedly found herself teaching a mixed audience of both men and women. How can this be reconciled not only with the SBC’s stated position on this topic, but with the biblical prohibition against women taking authority within the church? Should the body of Christ remain silent on this issue? If it was important enough for God to offer explicit instruction in His Word, then it ought to be of equal importance to Christians today.

See also:

SOUTHERN BAPTIST KAY WARREN PROMOTING DEVOUT ROMAN CATHOLIC JEAN VANIER

SETTING KAY WARREN STRAIGHT ABOUT ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC HENRI NOUWEN

CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM INVADES EVANGELICALISM WITH RICK WARREN AND KAY WARREN LEADING THE CHARGE

Apprising Ministries first told you about popular Seeker Driven Southern Baptist pastor Ed Young, Jr., son of two-time former SBC president Dr. Ed Young, back in a piece called But Southern Baptists Say Ok To T.D. Jakes.

There you saw that, long before James MacDonald and his ecumenical Elephant Room, Ed Young, Jr. had already given the ol’ evangelical pass to modalist and Word Faith heretic T.D. Jakes back in 2006.

In fact, you might recall that as he tells us T.D. Jakes Is My Favorite Preacher In The World Elephant Room mainstay, Seeker Driven prophet-pastor Steven Furtick, gushes over one particular sermon by T.D. Jakes.

Well, it was preached by Jakes at one of Ed Young. Jr.’s Creative Church Conferences. So, it’s really not surprising at all that Young, Jr. would be so enamored with Jakes as he’s long been associated with WF flakes.

Take for example this nauseating display paying homage to WF property preacher Joel Osteen:

Imagine, an ostensibly orthodox SBC pastor attributing to God the man-loving mythology of Joel Osteen. Without a doubt Ed Young, Jr. loves to push the envelope. Which brings us around to something he calls Pastor’s Fashion.

You might know that I first referenced it in SBC Pastor Ed Young, Jr With Fashion Advice For Pastors where I embedded a video where Young, Jr. discussed using spanks, or in other words, basically a man-girdle.

He also discusses how he’d just launched this Pastor’s Fashion website, which is designed to offer tips on apparel for preachers to wear. This site could be parody, we’re not sure, but it seems the video is to be taken seriously.

Given the foolishness going on in contemporary evangelicalism, ya just never know with a guy like Ed Young, Jr. Few are so anxious to take Seeker Driven man-pleasing preaching—quoting him—to a “hole nutha level.”

Who could forget Southern Baptist Pastor Ed Young, Jr And His Silly 24 Hour Bed In. Well, the About section only tells us about Young, Jr. hmself:

Ed Young is a pastor, author and conference speaker noted for his creative communication style. He has a passion for making the complex, simple as he speaks truth to people in ways they can understand and apply to their everyday lives. (source)

However, From the Runway to the Pulpit, which is the first post on this site, informs us:

(source)

Unfortunately, now matter how nattily attired one may be it isn’t the mission of the Christian church to change the world. That is merely a by product of our mission, which is to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ Name.

In closing this, for now, below Ed Young, Jr. fills us in why he hired “a swagger coach.” O, and you might find it interesting to know this was actually a promo for Young. Jr.’s Easter series:

Apparently, Ed Young, Jr. has himself now become our self-appointed SBC pastor fashion swagger coach:

See also:

RADIO EXPOSE ON ED YOUNG JR AND LUXURY

SOUTHERN BAPTIST ED YOUNG, JR. ADVANCING WORD FAITH “PASTORS” AT C3 2012

LETTER TO ED YOUNG, JR. REGARDING ONENESS PENTECOSTAL DR. T.D. JAKES SHARING THE PULPIT IN HIS SBC CHURCH

Over a year ago Apprising Ministries began warning you that Word Faith Heretics Like Creflo Dollar Draw Nearer To Evangelical Acceptance. I’m sure many thought, “Silva, you’ve lost what’s left of your mind.” But since then we’ve had the Elephant Room 2 try and tell us that T.D. Jakes Is Not A Word Faith Prosperity Preacher.

It seems the inmates are running the evangelical asylum now as postmodernism’s influence wraps itself around the sappy sentimentality produced by corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism and slithers its syncretism deeper into the weak heart of the mainstream of the church visible. I wish I had better news; but, I don’t.

Here’s another example of an evangelical odd couple; and I do admit I was a bit surprised to discover this. As you can see below, popular Southern Baptist pastor David Jeremiah was a featured speaker for the March 5 2012 spring version of Praise-A-Thon for the nefarious haven of heretics known as Trinity Broadcasting Network:

(source)

If you didn’t know, Mark Chironna and “Bishop” Clarence McClendon are typical TBN Word Faith (WF) heretical snake oil salesmen along the order of Paul Crouch himself. While Jeremiah doesn’t appear with them, he was the first featured speaker during this time TBN uses as a main vehicle to fleece their flock each year.

Rather odd that David Jeremiah, an ostensibly conservative evangelical, would wish to rub shoulders with WF prosperity preachers. Yet here he is below where you’ll see Jeremiah lavish his praise upon Paul Crouch as well as TBN itself. In this first clip Crouch touches upon the classic sow a seed (money) so God is obligated to bless you.

Then he introduces David Jeremiah as “one of my dearest brothers in the whole world” while putting his arm around him:

In this next clip Paul Crouch is telling the faithful they should support TBN because of it’s continued expansion with new networks, which he says he can’t even name because there are so many. Crouch informs us that God is behind their having to continue to grow and introduces David Jeremiah, who discloses an interesting tidbit.

Jeremiah says, “I’ve been involved with this organization over these last few years” and tells us it’s “an incredible thing” TBN is doing:

Before going any further it’s important that you understand a couple of core doctrines of WF heretics like Paul Crouch. In his helpful Understanding Word-Faith Teaching Christian apologist Rob Bowman explains:

The distinctive ideas about God and man in Word-Faith theology are the basis for its views on faith and prayer. Faith is not only believing what God says but also believing that we have whatever we say. Prayer is not only speaking to God but also speaking to things and circumstances and commanding them to do as we say. This is the basis for the concept of positive and negative confession, the idea that what we believe and say, whether good or bad, will happen for us…

On the basis of a positive confession – itself based on faith that we are divine spirits created and redeemed to rule our circumstances by speaking words of faith – Word-Faith theology says we are to obtain health and wealth. Since Christ died to free us from the curse of the law, reason the Word-Faith teachers, this must mean that Christians need no longer accept sickness or poverty in their lives. Christians ought to live in divine health and wealth as testimony to the power of God and as evidence that they are children of God… (source)

One of the ways WF teachers tell us that we acquire this wealth is their twisted “law of sowing and reaping.” You often hear them tell their flocks to “sow a seed” into their ministry in order that God will then return them more than they gave as a “blessing.” For example, here’s TBN favorite Paula White at the “church” of T.D. Jakes:

Considering where he is, David Jeremiah appears to be trying to straddle the fence in his Praise-A-Thon sermon at TBN. It seems, at best, an attempt to blur the lines between orthodoxy and and heretical WF teaching. You’ll see Jeremiah expressing praise for Paul Crouch below so his discernment certainly leaves much too be desired.

In this next clip, Jeremiah also reveals a real misunderstanding concerning the sovereignty of God. While elaborating on how people say, “if we give to God, He’ll give a lot back to us,” Jeremiah tells us we often misunderstand how this happens. So, at 1:44 he muses:

Here’s how it works. The Bible says that if we’re faithful over a few things, God will make us ruler over many. So, here’s how it works. God sits in heaven and He gives to us a stewardship. When He watches us manage that, in His behalf—and we do it effectively—He says, “I think I can trust that person with some more.”

So He gives us more to manage. And, as long as we manage what He gives us effectively, God can trust us with even more resources.

What Jeremiah has just said would be true of the fictitious WF god, who is at the beck and call of mankind; but the one true and living God of the Bible is completely sovereign. He already knows before He gives us anything what we’ll do with it; and the LORD God almighty already knows that He can’t trust any of us—period.

Apart from what Jesus Christ has done for us, and is now doing in us, we have no ability on our own to do anything “effectively” by God’s perfect standards. After using the law of gravity as an example of how God’s laws work, whether we believe them or not, Jeremiah begins to shares laws that “go along with stewardship.”

Right on the line between WF and orthodoxy he tells us, “God says, whatever we invest, that’s what we get back,” which is a principle Jeremiah assures us works “across the whole link and breadth of life.” Using the desire to be loved as an example, he tells us that if we want to be loved by more people, we need to invest love in more people.

The reason, Jeremiah explains, is “because that’s what you’re gonna get back.” Later he turns the topic of sowing and reaping specifically to TBN and offers that some in the audience may be saying, “Well, I’ve been giving to TBN and I don’t see anything going on in my life.” To that person at 2:09 in Jeremiah says:

Well, you probably have a big harvest coming because God’s saving the best… You only reap what you sow. Let me ask you this: Do you get blessed by this network [TBN]; by watching the teaching programs and the music and the things that come to your life?… Do you get blessed by this ministry?…

If you wanna get blessed by TBN, then the problem you have to solve is, “how am I investing in TBN?” Let me tell you something, we have this incredible network today because people before us—for many, many years before us—have invested their dollars, their time, their effort, in this network so that it could be what it is today.

So, I wanna stop right now and ask you to do this; if you’ve been blessed by TBN this year—and you haven’t called to say, “I wanna be a part of TBN going forward”—I want you to go to your phone and find out how you can help make this network even more successful than ever before.

In this next clip David Jeremiah continues his pitch for people to send money to TBN and then gets to his third principle; “the principle of increase.” Jeremiah explains:

If you don’t call, if you don’t go to the phone, if you don’t help, then this ministry can go no further than the people who join with it, and become part of the team… I want you to go do it [call to pledge money]; because it depends upon all of us together.

If I get up in my church and I don’t take an offering, then the church is gonna be out of business in a short time, amen? So, this [Praise-A-Thon] is how TBN takes the offering; and you have to participate., if it’s gonna work…

“What is the principle of increase?” Watch. [reviews his principles] You only get what you sow; you get later than you sow; and you get more than you sow, amen?… The Bible says that God works, in His plan for us, men and women, by the principle of sowing and reaping.

Now at 1:49 of this next clip you’ll see David Jeremiah teaching us that God Himself even believes in this principle of sowing and reaping; so much does He live by this principle that He even “sowed His own Son into the world” for the harvest of men’s souls. So, apparently this principle is actually more powerful than God Himself:

Let me tell you something that’s real special about what we do here at TBN… Do you know the Bible said that God believed in this principle [sowing and reaping]; did you know that?… Did you know that God believes in the sowing principle? How does He believe in it?

He believes in it because He sowed His own Son into this world. Did you know that? One day God sent His own Son into this world. He sowed His Son into the world. Why? Hebrews says He did it so that He might reap many sons to glory. Isn’t that how it works?…

So tonight, I wanna encourage you, with all of my heart, to understand your part in the ministry of TBN… Everybody needs to do it [send money], and especially now… It’s really encouraging to hear Paul talk about how God has sustained [TBN], and it hasn’t gone backwards.

But unless everybody who’s involved in this ministry gets underneath it and says, “This is part of my life”—I mean, if you sit and watch this program [Praise The Lord] at home—if you use this to grow spiritually, then the Bible says you should be involved with it. You should invest in it.

You should make it part of what you do for almighty God.

Finally, David Jeremiah concludes his pitching for pledges for TBN and lauds the vision of Paul Crouch, which Jeremiah offers came from God. I’ll spare you his closing prayer where Jeremiah calls TBN an “incredible delivery system” for the Gospel and how thankful he is that God gave this vision to Crouch:

We can do this together. These 14 networks aren’t gonna just keep going because we started them. They’re gonna keep going because we have a part in financing them and working to make them happen. So tonight I wanna ask you, help us do this. Help Paul do this.

I’m so amazed at the vision God has given to this man… I want to be a part of helping him continue… I hope you will do that, too. Be a part of what’s happening at TBN. And let’s pray together that God will enable you to do more than you even thought… [A]fter you support the [local] church, you need to support the ministries that feed your soul [like TBN].

See also:

TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK FIRES BACK REGARDING FINANCIAL FRAUD ALLEGATION

ELEPHANT ROOM 2′S T.D. JAKES SAYS TBN’S PAUL CROUCH LED BY GOD TO LAUNCH JAKES’ MINISTRY

EMERGING ECUMENICAL EVANGELEPHANTS AND THE WORD FAITH MOVEMENT

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.

Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
(1 John 2:18-19)

Something The Same Has Not Changed

One of the ways the Roman Catholic Church is gaining ground within the mainstream of the visible, pretending to be Protestant church, is through the latest fad of corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM).

Unfortunately, evangelicalism would make the fateful decision to embrace the neo-liberal cult operating within the Emerging Church aka the Emergent Church and used its pseudo-Christian mythology in its Young Adult and Youth ministries. This gave key mentors Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard, the leading purveyors of this spurious CSM, a cover of respectability.

So, under the guise of so-called Spiritual Formation, this Foster-Willardism has been producing a sinful ecumenicism within the mainstream of the church visible where the apostate Roman Catholic Church is considered part of the Body of Christ by more and more evangelical Protholics. This really isn’t that surprising because the CSM of Foster-Willardism originally flowered in the anti-biblical monastic traditions of Rome.

A vivid example of how far CSM has penetrated the mainstream of the Christian community can be found e.g. in Rick Warren Now Openly Promoting Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism. There I showed that Rick Warren, arguably the most famous pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)—itself the largest Protestant denomination in the country—promoting Peter Scazzero, a leading proponent of CSM.

Warren would actually feature Scazzero at his original Radicalis conference in 2010 at his SBC Saddleback Church. In his promotional email Chat Live with Radicalis Speaker, Pete Scazzero, Wednesday, December 9 at 11 am pst Warren informs us:

Pete, along with his wife, Geri, are co-founders of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a groundbreaking ministry that integrates emotional health and contemplative spirituality to pastors, leaders and local churches. (On file at AM, emphasis mine)

Since I discussed the following in more depth within Rick Warren And Teachings Of Demons here I’ll simply document for you Rick Warren’s personal position on the Roman Catholic Church:

“Now I don’t agree with everything in everybody’s denomination, including my own. I don’t agree with everything that Catholics do or Pentecostals do, but what binds us together is so much stronger than what divides us,” he said. “I really do feel that these people are brothers and sisters in God’s family. I am looking to build bridges with the Orthodox Church, looking to build bridges with the Catholic Church,….” (Online source, emphasis mine)

“The Church, in all its expressions—Catholic, Evangelical, Pentecostal, Protestant and many others—has 2.3 billion followers.” (Online source, emphasis mine)

Let me quickly show you how ridiculous this issue of non-protesting “Protestants” in the SBC truly is. There’s Billy Graham, arguably its most famous evangelist, who involved Roman Catholic officials and their churches in his crusades as far back as 1957. The late SBC statesman Chuck Colson writes:

The greatest evangelist of this century—perhaps the greatest since Paul—is Billy Graham,… What accounts for his astonishing influence? Like Patrick and Finney and others, it is the anointing of the Holy Spirit…

Graham has been equally unswerving in his commitment to the church, both to the unity of the whole body (he’s taken plenty of criticism, but invariably includes all traditions on the platforms of his crucades) and to the local confessing congregations.[1]

It’s clear that Colson includes the Roman Catholic Church as one of those “traditions,” supposedly in the Body of Christ, when he says:

Personally, while I’ve developed strong doctrinal convictions, I’ve been enriched deeply by my fellowship with those who hold different, but equally strong doctrinal convictions—particularly my Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and Lutheran brothers and sisters.[2]

Respected blogger Tim Challies also correctly pointed out that:

Colson was a leader, a co-founder, of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, one of the efforts that must stand as part of his defining legacy. At heart, ECT made the Reformation a mistake or an over-reaction and sought to draw Protestant and Catholic back together.

It made little of the gospel, suggesting that there was no unbridgeable difference between the gospel of the Reformation and the gospel of Roman Catholicism. This had potential to do terrible damage to the church and its gospel witness…

Then there was the more recent Manhattan Declaration, another effort to form a wide ecumenism. This Declaration addressed critical issues of our day… But it did so as Evangelicals and Catholics and Orthodox together under the banner of a common gospel. (Online source)

Then there’s this lunacy in the Lord’s Name from wildly popular Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore. In the video clip below it’s an incontrovertible fact that Moore is describing a literal vision she claims God gave her:

It’s very important that you keep in mind what she said above as you watch the next video clip, which is taken from a section after God Himself allegedly gave Beth Moore a literal vision that afforded her the ability in a “particular dimension” to see the Body of Christ “as Jesus sees it.” Now watch as Moore illustrates the vision concerning this “something different” she sees “God doing” in the Church, i.e. “the body of Christ.”

You’ll see that she does include the apostate Roman Catholic Church among her Christian denominations:

Someone Who Seeks Salvation Other Than The Way God Has Decreed Remains Lost

In closing this, for now, permit me to show you what is a stake. Well respected evangelical Christian apologist Dr. Ron Rhodes brings out a key point concerning this reversal of the Reformation when he says:

According to the current ecumenical spirit of the times, it might not be “politically correct” to say that many [Roman] Catholics are lost and are in need of evangelization. I am aware of the controversial “Evangelicals and Catholics Together” [ECT] document, signed by both evangelicals and Catholics. This document declares evangelical-Catholic unity, and its signers promise to refrain from evangelizing one another’s flocks, labeling this activity “sheep stealing”…

In this [ECT] document we read; “Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ”… Certainly I concede that Catholics and evangelicals can work together for the betterment of society, actively cuntering secularism, moral relativism, societal decay, and the like. But I also believe there must be a line drawn when it comes to biblical doctrine.[3]

Dr. David Wells brings out the other very important point when he reminds us:

At the time of the Reformation, this case [of the distinction between the church visible and the church invisible] was made against the Roman Catholics, who insisted that the only way one could belong to Christ was by belonging to the [Roman] Catholic Church, submitting to its teaching, and receiving the grace available through its sacraments. To be in the church was to be in Christ…

The Reformers countered that we come to be in Christ by faith. We are joined to Christ by faith alone, faith in his finished work on the cross whereby he took our sin, bore God’s judgment in our place, and now clothes [regenerated believers] in his righteousness. From first to last, God’s acceptance of us is by his grace, and so, too, is our capacity to believe in what Christ has done for us.[4]

And here’s the bottom line: The Roman Catholic Church has not, and indeed she cannot, change her teachings concerning the Gospel and justification since the Reformation and its Council of Trent. In his article History of the Doctrine of Justification Dr. John Gerstner (1914-1996) begins by reminding us that justification is:

“The doctrine by which the church stands or falls.” So said Martin Luther about justification by faith alone. John Calvin agreed, calling justification by faith the “hinge” of the Reformation.

Dr. Gerstner then correctly informs us:

It was not until the Council of Trent (1545-1563) that justification was officially confirmed as a process based on human merit derived through divine grace. This was the article in Session VI, Canon 7 of the Council of Trent which led the Roman Catholic Church away from the orthodox teaching on justification. (Online source)

I happen to be a former Roman Catholic whom, through absolutely no effort of my own, God mercifully delivered from the religious bondage of the Church of Rome into the glorious liberty of the sons of God; by His grace alone, through faith alone, in the finished work of Christ alone on the Cross. And further, the majority of my pateral family—on both sides—still remain enslaved to the Roman Catholic Church.

So you see, when these cult of celebrity Southern Baptists like Rick Warren and Beth Moore decide to take it upon themselves to simply reverse the Reformation it then hits extremely close to home for me. As one Jesus mercifully converted from Romanism and then called as a pastor-teacher, I now come forward to tell you in the Lord that Dr. R.C. Sproul is dead-on-target in what follows from him below.

There can be no compromise; nor is there any middle ground when it comes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

The Roman Catholic Church has a long history of using studied ambiguity in order to win over opponents. Let me be unambiguous: Without a clear understanding of sola fide and the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, you do not have the gospel or gospel unity (1 Cor. 1:17;  2 Cor. 5:21).

The ECT initiative repeatedly avowed that the signatories had a unity of faith in the gospel. This included Roman Catholic signers who affirm the canons and decrees of the sixteenth-century Council of Trent, which anathematizes sola fide…

However, true reformation and revival within the church and the winning of our culture to Christ will come only through the power of the Holy Spirit and our clear, bold proclamation of the biblical gospel, not through joint ecumenical statements that equivocate on the most precious truths given to us. There is no other gospel than that which has already been given (Gal 1:6–8)…

It is only in our united proclamation of the one, true gospel of Jesus Christ that any heart, any mind, or any nation will truly change, by God’s sovereign grace and for His glory alone.
(Online source, bold mine)

___________________________________________________________________________
End notes:

[1] Charles Colson, Ellen Vaughn, The Body [Dallas: Word, 1992], 332, 333.

[2] Ibid., 106.

[3] Ron Rhodes,Reasoning from the Scriptures with Catholics [Eugene: Harvest House, 2000], 17, 18.

[4] David F. Wells, The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-Lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008], 219, emphasis his.

See also:

HAS THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH REALLY CHANGED?

THE DECEIVERS OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM

THINK YOU’RE A ROMAN CATHOLIC IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE POPE; BETTER THINK AGAIN

While this is going on I’m watching a sickening syncretism that seems to be spreading through increasing charismania and corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM).

Pietism inherent in the CSM of Foster-Willardism is causing people to jettison the proper Christian spirituality of sola Scriptura in place of highly subjective feelings; what we’re calling sola experientia.

This kind of stuff is rampant in the Southern Baptist Convention; in fact, the SBC is now so pathetic thatAlabama Baptist Convention (SBC) Encourages You To Learn Lectio Divina From Apostate Tony Jones. Now keep in mind a couple of things here 1) this is not a church, it’s an entire state SBC convention.

And 2) the paper they point us to was originally done by the Georgia Baptist Convention, which is the SBC convention for that state. As is wont to happen as these things are exposed, the link has been moved. However, I found it. Just click this: Spiritual Disciplines: Pathway to Christian Maturity; and you’ll go right to it.

The reason I brought this up is because charismatic big names in the SBC, e.g. like Rick Warren and Beth Moore, have been led by their subjective feelings—allegedly by God—to become protholics. They’re not really Protestant, and not quite Roman Catholic. Unfortunately, all who follow feelings eventually end up there.

Warren and Moore are by no stretch of the imagination the only Southern Baptist leaders giving us real reason for concern, there’s the high profile Richard Land, who often opens his mouth in order to exchange feet. Consider Special Commission to Investigate Land over at The Church Report:

Dr. Richard Land’s comments about the Trayvon Martin killing and subsequent comments related to President Obama “have angered many and opened wounds from the past,” the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s executive committee said in a statement released April 18.

The special committe is also reportedly concerned that Land has been accused of plagarism furing comments made on his weekly radio show.

A special investigative committee has been formed “to investigate the allegations of plagiarism and recommend appropriate action,” accroding to a statement released on Monday.

Land also offered statement about the committee, following an already public apology on Monday, saying, “I serve at the will of the trustees. I believe fervently in the trustee system of oversight. I am under their authority. That is why I initiated the conference call that led to this statement. I look forward to continuing to work with and under the oversight of my trustees, who have been elected by the Southern Baptist Convention.”

The Full Statement from the ERLC Trustee committe is below… (Online source, emphasis theirs)

You can read the ERLC Trustee committee report in its entirety right here.

See also:

SBC’S RICHARD LAND SAYS MORMONISM FOURTH ABRAHAMIC FAITH

RICK WARREN AND TEACHINGS OF DEMONS

STRAIGHTENING OUT BETH MOORE ON DISCERNMENT

As a direct fruit of the the sinfully ecumenical Emergent Church aka the Emerging Church, a neo-liberal cult now operating within mainstream of the church visible, the heart of the evangelical community is fast becoming congested by pietism and superstition.

No doubt I’ve told you many times that a key core doctrine of this evil EC was corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM).

The truth is, it’s long been masquerading as spurious Spiritual Formation ala Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard. So I present the following here at Apprising Ministries as further example that, even within the more conservative mainstream of ostensibly Protestant evangelicalism, highly subjective “experience” is now beginning to trump the written text of the Bible.

As an illustration let’s once again consider the 2009 post Non Sola Scriptura: the Blackaby view of God’s will — 1 from Dan Phillips over at the respected Pyromaniacs blog. First, as a Southern Baptist pastor, 1) I’ve personally been through Blackaby”s magum opus Experiencing God (EG), and 2) I can also testify that within the SBC he’s essentially considered a prophet of God.

It’s my opinion that Henry Blackaby laid the groundwork for the awful influx of CSM into the SBC. Here’s an example of just how bad it is; consider Alabama Baptist Convention (SBC) Encourages You To Learn Lectio Divina From Apostate Tony Jones. Secondly, just as Phillips, AM also wants you to know that what is written “is not about the Blackabys, but about the view they advocate in this book” which will be mentioned below.

Nor “is it about them as Christians or men.” With this out of the way, we will turn to the very serious point of contention that must be addressed within the evangelical community now that it has also embraced the so-called “Christian” mysticism of CSM; which was introduced into younger sectors of that camp by the EC. Actually, it truly is the next logical step down after Blackaby’s lite version of mysticism.

It’s important to remember that one of the goals of the EC was to drag ascetic and pietistic so-called “spiritual disciplines” into the Protestant community itself. Also note here that, in the aforementioned post at Pyro, Dan Phillips is reviewing a chapter of the book How Then Should We Choose?, edited by Douglas S. Huffman; Phillips tells us:

This chapter  [called the "Specific-Will" view...written by Henry and Richard Blackaby,] is just about the single most appalling trainwreck I’ve read in recent memory, whether viewed exegetically, hermeneutically, theologically, or pastorally. The implications, if taken and followed out seriously by anyone (—God forbid!), are absolutely catastrophic. (Online source)

The central issue with the Blackabys, as well as with gurus teaching the CSM of Foster-Willardism, is that their “experience” always ends up interpreting the Bible for them. However, this is absolutely backward—and sure to lead to spiritual disaster. In fact, this is really the exact same dead-end road that would end up producing the centered on the self (i.e. mankind) theology of apostate Roman Catholicism in the first place.

As I said earlier, I’m quite familiar  Blackaby’s EG program having gone through it when it was first a rage within the Southern Baptist Convention in the mid 90s. So, I can tell you that Phillips is absolutely correct when he says:

Non sola Scriptura. The insufficiency of Scripture is a major pillar to the Blackaby position. About this they are emphatic — in all but the use of that phrase. They do say many nice things about the Bible, allowing (for instance) that it is “the primary way God communicates with His people” (p. 55). “Primary,” but not nearly the sole way.

Language that the Bible reserves for binding, inerrant, verbal prophetic revelation is repeatedly applied indiscriminately to normal Christian living. (Online source)

As a matter of fact, what Phillips has just said above concerning Henry Blackaby is just as dead-on-target for a rapidly increasing amount of evangelical notables as well. Take for example Southern Baptist megapastor Rick Warren and wildly popular SBC Bible teacher Beth Moore who tell us on a regular basis what God has supposedly “said” to them personally.

To illustrate my point, let’s takee Moore, who is beyond question a major promoter of Henry Blackaby’s work. The video clips below come from my copy of Moore’s classic 2002 series Believing God (BG), which as you can see below, is still promoted by Lifeway—the publishing arm of the SBC:

(Online source)

So, this SBC LifeWay-sponsored BG Online Bible Study is important evidence and serves as representative of its own views. Moore will tell us:

tonight I’m going to do my absolute best to illustrate to you something that God showed me out on that back porch. He put a picture…I’ve explained to you before I am a very visual person…so He speaks to me very often putting a picture in my head.

And it was as if I was raised up looking down on a community, as I saw the Church in that particular dimension- certainly not all dimensions, not even in many, but in what we will discuss tonight, the church, as Jesus sees it, in a particular dimension.”
(Online source, emphasis mine)

This is Moore’s own testimony; these are her own words:

Now notice as Moore goes on to illustrate her vision in the video below, where God supposedly showed her the Church “as Jesus sees it,” she also includes the apostate Roman Catholic Church who long ago condemned the the very Gospel of Jesus Christ itself:

I’m not going to say Beth Moore didn’t have a vision; what I will say is, it wasn’t given to her by God Himself. As bad as this flawed mysticism is, the Emerging Church is even further along in their delusions. Space allows just one quick example. Former Emergence Christianity icon Rob Bell illustrates this well.

He has long practiced of the crown jewel of CSM, a form of meditation in an altered state of consciousness commonly known asContemplative/Centering Prayer (CCP). This would lead the highly influential Bell to say such stupid things as:

It’s interesting how many traditions (pause) When you read the great enlightened ones; meditation, centering prayer, reflection—in every tradition you can find the mystics—and what’s always at the heart of the spiritual lives, the everyday lives of the great ones was always a period of time.

Whether it’s prayers, chanting, meditation, reflection, study—whatever you call it—what is it essentially; it’s taking time to breathe. Because when you’ve been breathing, (slight pause) in a proper sort of way, you’re far better equipped to handle what life throws your way. (5:41-6:23) (I will say it again, and again, and again,  [5:41-6:23])

As I said in Through Rob Bell “The Great Enlightened Ones” Tell Us Man Has Divine Greatness, it’s my opinion that if one doesn’t recognize here Rob Bell is praising “the mystics”—of  [insert whatever religion here]—for their supposedly superior spiritual understanding, which is but a reimagined Gnosticism, it’s simply because they just do not wish to see.

But the truth is, this is the rancid fruit of “what does this verse mean to you” Bible studies. For years now evangelicals really have been steadily moving away from sola Scriptura and directly toward the more existential neo-orthodox view of Scripture. With all of this in mind, we return to the Dan Phillips post concerning this evangelical mysticism-lite.

He then asks the critical question:

How to divine the Divine? Say you are convinced that you must hear God’s voice, must receive this flow of extra-canonical revelation that the Blackabys say is essential for a relationship with God. How do you do it? How do you hear God’s voice? (Online source)

And as we close this for now, I point you to back to Beth Moore and another glaring example of just how deeply this negation of sola Scriptura has now slithered into the mainstream of evangelicalism. In How Would You Know Beth Moore?, I actually looked at the very question Phillps asks above.

There I showed you in a video commercial for her latest study at time that Moore has said: “Several years ago Christ began to place a tremendous burden on my heart for the people of God to know the freedom of God.” Really; do we now have a prophetess among us with special revelation from God concerning His “freedom” because the Word of the Lord came to Beth?

Just how will we know who’s really “hearing” from the Lord? Now suppose that I, as a pastor-teacher, was also to come forward with a Word from God. What if I now say that, “A couple of years ago Jesus placed a tremendous burden on my heart for the people of God to know the freedom of God.” Now what do we do with dueling revelations?

What is going to happen if I then went on to say, based upon Scripture, I believe the Lord says come away from false teaching advanced by all of these contemplative dreamers because the best way to embrace the freedom of God is simply to read the Bible; pray consciously, and then do what it says in His Word where we know He has spoken.

And as it concerns Henry Blackaby et al, in his Criticial Issues Commentary piece Unbiblical Teachings on Prayer and Experiencing God: How Mysticism Misleads Christians, Christian apologist Bob DeWaay issues a very needed warning when tells us that such as these are only leading us into the realm of subjectivity:

The flaws of [Henry] Blackaby’s subjectivism are rather obvious when you examine his claims objectively. God’s revealed will is not found by subjective experiences, but in Scripture. Looking around in the world hoping to discover “where God is working” is impossible since God is always working everywhere as He providentially brings history along toward His ultimate purposes.

We will be fooled by our own prejudices because we think “God working” must look something like whatever our religious inclinations tell us it will look like. Furthermore, he has elevated fallible words that may or may not be from God to the level of infallible Scripture and elevated every believer to the status of Moses and Abraham as recipients of special revelation.

Following his approach is not how we “experience God.” We cannot not know if we are experiencing God in any way other than to come to Him on His own terms, by faith. When we do, we are assured that God is with us no matter what experiences we have. (Online source)

See also:

HENRY BLACKABY AND “EXPERIENCING GOD”

JOHN PIPER, RICK WARREN & FOSTER-WILLARDISM

BETH MOORE AND JOHN PIPER LEAD LECTIO DIVINA-LITE AT PASSION 2012

If you’re not up on all of the background I refer you to Rick Warren Says No King’s Way Document And No Saddleback “Staff” Involved. There I showed you that Warren denies the conclusions Jim Hinch drew in his initial Orange County Register report on an alleged King’s Way document.

Today in OC Weekly Muslim Yasmin Nouh asks an interesting question: Why Does Rick Warren Need to Defend His Interfaith Efforts with Muslims? However, I think the more important question would be: Why Does Rick Warren Seemingly Need To Try And Coverup His Interfaith Efforts With Muslims?

Below is what Rick Warren said to his Saddleback Church this past Saturday about the Kings Way presentation discussed by veteran freelance reporter Jim Hinch in his Rick Warren builds bridge to Muslims. Our interest here is the highlighted section and Warren’s explanation:

(Online source)

The problem we often have with Rick Warren is the way he phrases things; for whatever reason, it usually ends up in obfuscation. What we’ve said is that this King’s Way presentation was held at Saddleback Church; and the picture below proves Jim Hinch was correct:

The actual evidence clearly shows this King Way was much more than a Bible study started by a mere “member” of Saddleback. This truth is, this was a presentation at Saddleback Church led jointly by Jihad Turk, pictured above on the left and Abraham Meulenberg, on the right.

For the record, Jihad Turk is Director of Religious Affairs for the Islamic Center of Southern California as well as:

(Online source)

Abraham Meulenberg, appears to be a bit of a murky character; but his Twitter account informs us he’s “pastor, leading Interfaith Initiatives” at Saddleback Church:

(Online source)

Amy Spreeman of Stand Up For The Truth also asks a key question concerning interfaith pastor Abraham Meulenberg: Why is a Saddleback pastor teaching on the Kingdom Circles? Spreeman offers:

With all the buzz about the interfaith aspect of Saddleback Church’s P.E.A.C.E. Plan and the controversy over the King’s Way initiative that partners Rick Warren’s church together with the Islamic community, many question just how Saddleback is reaching Muslims after promising not to convert anyone to Christianity…

In “The Mission” workshop, which was part of an International Ecumenical Fellowship, Saddleback Pastor Abraham Meulenberg and his wife Marieke spoke to a small group of attendees.

If you’ll notice the diagram behind him, the Kingdom Circles are part of the session…
(Online source)

As you can see from the video, the ambiguous question being asked is: How can Christians and Muslims both move into the Kingdom of God and find the straight path to God? Well, what is meant by “move into” the Kingdom? The Christian is already in the Kingdom through faith in Christ; but the faithful Muslim is not.

It’s time to look into what’s been going on with Rick Warren and “interfaith” outreaches from Saddleback Church.

See also:

APPRISING MINISTRIES EXCLUSIVE ON RICK WARREN, JIM HINCH, AND ISLAM

RICK WARREN AND TEACHINGS OF DEMONS

CHRISLAM AND THE GOSPEL OF ISLAM

For example, I carefully documented in Rick Warren And Teachings Of Demons that prominent Southern Baptist pastor Rick Warren clearly holds that the apostate Church of Rome, which anathematized the Gospel itself, is part of the Body of Christ and a legitimate expression of the Christian faith.

More on that another time, suffice to say here that this is also the vision of charismatic Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore as well. In fact, you need to know that this really is the prevailing position of much of the younger sectors of greater Christendom.

We shift slightly now and observe that Rick Warren’s become embroiled in a controversy involving Islam. I began my coverage a couple of weeks ago in Rick Warren, Islam, And Jim Hinch after personally speaking with Hinch, who was under the impression that Warren believed Christians and Muslims believe in the same God.

The conflict starts with free lance reporter Jim Hinch’s report Rick Warren builds bridge to Muslims, which ran in the Orange County Register. The story spoke of a “joint effort” between Saddleback Church and the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC):

informally dubbed King’s Way, caps years of outreach between Warren and Muslims… At [a] dinner, Abraham Meulenberg, a Saddleback pastor in charge of interfaith outreach, and Jihad Turk, director of religious affairs at a mosque in Los Angeles, introduced King’s Way as “a path to end the 1,400 years of misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians.” (Online source)

Interestingly enough, the ICSC itself is carrying Hinch’s story Rick Warren builds bridge to Muslims. At first glance this would all seem simple enough; a report of a dinner at Saddleback Church where Turk and Meulenberg (pictured below) present their joint effort involving a document they’d written called the King’s Way:

However, as I then showed you in Rick Warren, Ed Stetzer, And Watchbloggers, Warren denies the conclusions Jim Hinch drew in his initial OC Register report; and further stated:

Christians have a fundamentally different view of God than Muslims. We worship Jesus as God. Muslims don’t. Our God is Jesus, not Allah. (Online source)

The confusion really began to grow when I brought you a small section from what I was told is the King’s Way document in Apprising Ministries Exclusive On Rick Warren, Jim Hinch, And Islam:

I. WHO: we believe in ONE GOD:

1. God is one (Mark 12:29; Muhammed 47:19)

2. God is the Creator (Genesis 1:1; Al Shura 42:11)

In his piece Mattingly quotes what he says is an email from Rick Warren who absolutely insists that:

“Neither I, nor my staff, had ever seen such a document UNTIL the article mentioned it. It wasn’t created or even seen by us. … Saddleback church as a church was not involved,”… (Online source)

So this story takes on yet another twist. We have no reason to doubt Terry Mattingly received the email from Rick Warren cited above. However, it only serves to bring up more questions. What does Rick Warren mean by staff? He says, “It wasn’t created or even seen by us.” Who then would be the “us” to which Warren refers?

Is Abraham Meulenberg, listed in the article as a Saddleback pastor, really not part of this “staff?” What exactly is this King’s Way, which was presented during a dinner at Saddleback Church? And why all ambiguous language, which is so vague it quite easily allows for someone to interpret that this document is speaking of the same God.

Take for example, that’s how it was seen by Jim Hinch, by at least some at the ICSC, and then there’s On Islam. Before quoting from Hinch’s OC Register piece, they opened their own coverage of King’s Way Unites US Evangelicals, Muslims by stating:

Overcoming decades of misunderstanding, Muslims and evangelical Christians in the Orange County in California are establishing new partnerships that focuses on the principles both faiths share. (Online source)

Yet now Rick Warren has issued On Responding To False Accusations where he takes another shot at the integrity of veteran freelance reporter Jim Hinch and then levels an ad hominem attack directed at me:

Predictably, to defend himself after my interview corrected his errors, the Orange County Register reporter released a segment of the so-called “document” to the I-hate-Saddleback bloggers – giving them a supposed smoking gun. Unfortunately, he forgot to ask if any Saddleback pastors had actually signed or even seen this paper.

We had not! But now we’ve heard that there will be a second article this Sunday in the Register giving a platform and legitimacy to attackers who didn’t know the facts either. So don’t be surprised if it’s wrong again. (Online source, emphasis mine)

The record will show that I was the one who initially published the segment in question. Sorry to disappoint Rick Warren, but I don’t hate him, nor do I hate anyone at Saddleback Church. Now I know Rick Warren seems somewhat of a “teflon” pastor where no charge can stick to him, but perhaps now he’s finally gone too far.

Maybe it’s time for someone to begin looking more closely at Warren’s own conduct here, as well as the words he’s using in this sad situation. No Saddleback pastors “signed or [had] even seen this paper?” Let’s consider the following from Jihad Turk, whom Rick Warren refers to “a our Muslim friend,” and even links to himself:

When I was approached almost two years ago by Saddleback pastor Abraham Meulenberg who expressed interest in exploring ways that we can bring our communities together in friendship, I welcomed the initiative. (Online source, emphasis added)

As I get set to close this out, for now, I leave aside the alleged King’s Way document itself, and instead, point out that Warren’s Muslim friend seems to contradict his statement about no Saddleback pastors being involved. Well, which is it? So, I guess we now even have to ask: What does Rick Warren mean by pastor?

Have we headed into Bill Clintonesque double speak? I’m afraid it’s about to get worse for Rick Warren; I point you now to Jim Hinch’s follow up report released today. Among other things, in Effort to reach out to Muslims stirs outcry, note carefully what Hinch tells us about Saddleback Church concerning his original report:

In a series of phone conversations Feb. 27, David Chrzan, Warren’s chief of staff, told this reporter and a Register editor that the story was factually correct except in its statement that Warren believes Christians and Muslims worship the same God. It would be more accurate to state that Christians and Muslims both believe in one God, Chrzan said.

Chrzan asked that the Register publish a correction to the story but later withdrew the request. (Online source, emphasis mine)

One would think David Chrzan would be part of the “staff” Rick Warren referred to above. And Hinch’s own testimony is that his initial report was ”factually correct” according to Chrzan, who tells us himself that he’s a”pastor” and “Chief of Staff & Communications Navigator at Saddleback Church”:

(Online source)

Forget the idea of whether Muslims and Christians “worship” the same God and any charge of Chrislam. Here they only serve as rabbit trails. This a key point: If Jim Hinch’s story really is factually correct, then there would be a King’s Way document; and further, at least one other Saddleback pastor also knew about this King’s Way:

Tom Holladay, associate senior pastor at Saddleback, said the outreach to Muslims is part of Saddleback’s PEACE Plan, a wide-ranging effort to solve major world problems by mobilizing governments, businesses and faith communities.

“This is us serving our own community with Muslims here in Orange County,” said Holladay. “We realize we don’t agree about everything and we’re very open about that. … You just recognize the differences and recognize the points where you can work together.” (Online source)

To get to the bottom of this, someone needs to sit Rick Warren down and make him define the words he’s using.

See also:

JAMES ROBISON AND RICK WARREN WORKING TO REVERSE THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

JOHN PIPER, RICK WARREN & FOSTER-WILLARDISM

MARK DRISCOLL, ACTS 29 NETWORK, AND RICK WARREN

The more mainstream denominations, e.g. the Southern Baptist Convention, have for the most part still maintained the proper Biblical position that women cannot be ordained as elders.

However, as one whose work in the Lord is to monitor Intel along the Internet Front and assess trends within the larger visible church, it’s my considered opinion that this will soon be changing.

You need to know that placing women in the pastorate is now going to be a real push by those falling victim to the delusion of Rodney King theology passing as Christian doctrine in too much of the church visible.

In fact, this issue is closer to the nearly anything goes SBC than you may realize. For example, in
Emerging Ecumenical Evangelephants And The Word Faith Movement I reminded you that Elevation Church of prophet-pastor Steven Furtick was a 2007 plant of the North Carolina Baptists, the NC state convention for the Southern Baptist Convention:

(Online source)

You might wonder what this has to do with the subject of women pastors. Well, I showed you recently that Word Faith Pastrix Christine Caine Preaches Sunday Morning sermon For Steven Furtick. Caine is a pastrix at the nefarious Word Faith Hillsong Church in Australia where pastor Brian and pastrix Bobbie are the “senior pastors.”

Quite obviously, given his growing ties with the Word Faith movement in general and with Hillsong in particular, Steven Furtick has no problem with women in the unbiblical role as pastor. Apparently, neither does Priscilla Shirer, who is a good friend of wildly popular SBC Bible teacher Beth Moore and featured here at Lifeway:

(Online source)

If you didn’t know, Lifeway is the publishing arm of the SBC. I think it’s also interesting to note here that Priscilla Shirer’s bio tells us her mentor is motivational speaker Zig Ziglar:

(Online source)

You’ll probably remember that Shirer appeared with her friend Beth Moore in the infamous Be Still DVD promoting the corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) of Foster-Willardism. We do have real reason to be concerned about Shirer’s discernment when we also consider Priscilla Shirer Points Us To Richard Rohr.

She does so while she was “anxious to connect you with some folks who I think you’ll be so blessed by.” One of them was Jan Johnson, whom Shirer tells us about in her July 2010 post Wisbits. Notice Shirer informs us in language common to Word Faith theology that “Ms. Jan spoke wisdom into my life” years ago:

(Online source)

Self-professed “spiritual director” Jan Johnson herself tells us that she actually works with Richard Foster and Dallas Willard at Renovare teaching their CSM:

(Online source)

Since it’s not the thrust of this article, here I’ll just draw your attention to a few key points: 1) Shirer’s been familiar with Jan Johnson’s work for years, so 2) she would undoubtedly know Johnson’s teachings about Foster-Willardism, and 3) the Johnson post Shirer republishes is built around the mythology of Richard Rohr.

You need to know that Rohr is a universalist Roman Catholic mystic who works closely with Living Spiritual Teacher and Emerging Church guru Brian McLaren. McLaren is one third of the Emergent Church unholy trinity along with universalist EC pastor Doug Pagitt, and his friend Dr. Tony Jones, the progressive “theologian in residence” at Solomon’s Porch headed by Pagitt.

Now, I’m not saying that Priscilla Shirer endorses the mythology of the Emerging Church. That said, it’s beyond a reasonable doubt that Jan Johnson, whom Shirer does recommend, advances Foster-Willardism. And no less an authority than Brian McLaren told us long ago that Richard Foster and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard were “key mentors” of the EC.

It’s also an incontrovertible fact that Richard Rohr is directly involved in promulgating postmodern Progressive Christian theology—a Liberalism 2.0 that these EC rebels against the authority of God’s Word often refer to as “big tent” Emergence Christianity. The point being, this is a fruit of the CSM of Foster-Willardism.

Now it’s sinful ecumenicism comes another step closer to mainstream evangelical churches. As CSM spreads it’s bringing with it a syncretism drawing sectors of Christendom together that a few years ago not many would have ever believed. Who would have foreseen the mainstreaming of Word Faith mogul T.D. Jakes in Elephant Room 2?

Yet because of ER2 James MacDonald resigned from the Gospel Coalition in order to embrace Jakes as his Christian brother, which you see in There’s More To The Resignation of James MacDonald From Gospel Coalition. Now the parallel issues of women pastors and mainstream acceptance of Word Faith preachers moves even closer to you.

Consider that on Saturday night the aforementioned Priscilla Shirer tweeted:

(Online source)

Notice Shirer uses the pastoral reference “to sit under” pastrix Caine’s teaching. Then yesterday Shirer said:

(Online source)

I’ll have you know this is the same WF pastrix whom I mentioned earlier had preached for Steven Furtick. The two quite obviously hit it off as Shirer would also tweet the picture below:

(Online source)

Shirer was no doubt very impressed with the sermon from pastrix Caine:

(Online source)

You’ve probably heard the term bromance, well here we see that a femance was born as Caine would also tweet out the pic of her new friend Priscilla Shirer:

(Online source)

Caine would also tweet:

(Online source)

I’ll explain what Caine meant when she told Shirer “see you at Colour” in a moment. First however, obviously Trinity Church was impressed with their special guest pastrix:

(Online source)

Not all that surprising as Trinity Church is an Assemblies of God outfit that’s already off the rails being headed by pastor Jim Hennesy and his wife, pastrix Becky:

(Online source)

As I get set to close this out, for now, I’m going to show you yet more surprising syncretism coming about because of CSM and charismania. Let me remind you that in Beth Moore To Speak At Hillsong Church I originally drew attention to the upcoming Colour conference which pastrix Christine Caine referenced above.

Within that piece I told you about the below tweet from Bobbie Houston, whom I said above is senior pastrix of Hillsong Church along with her husband Brian. Remember, Caine is a pastrix there as well:

(Online source)

To which Beth Moore would respond:

(Online source)

I think we now have even more reason to be concerned about the discernment of Southern Baptist Bible teacher Beth Moore if she actually thinks that Bobbie Houston, a rebel against the Word of God, is a “faithful servant of Christ.” Is she really “humbled” to be speaking at heretical Hillsong Church?

The fact is, Hillsong regularly features the major prosperity preachers of the heretical Word Faith movement at their annual conferences such as Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, and his new friend T.D. Jakes. Yet Moore’s set, along with her own good friend Priscilla Shirer, as Key Speakers for Hillsong’s upcoming Colour Conference.

And you’ll see, Shirer’s already been there before:

(Online source)

The conference itself purports to be:

ONE LOVE, ONE HEART, ONE SISTERHOOD frames The Colour Conference,the Colour Sisterhood and a rising movement of women across the earth, who have a devotion, love and commitment to be the change in their local and global communities. (Online source)

While a noble goal, here we have two high profile Southern Baptist Convention endorsed Bible teachers partnering with Word Faith pastries who clearly are in rebellion against the authority of God’s Word. Such is the sorry state of the SBC. You should be able to see it has much bigger problems than worrying about a name change.

See also:

PRISCILLA SHIRER AND CONTEMPLATIVE/CENTERING PRAYER

STRAIGHTENING OUT BETH MOORE ON DISCERNMENT

ONE CONFERENCE BRINGS TOGETHER CALVARY CHAPEL & HILLSONG CHURCH

In articles like Rick Warren And Teachings Of Demons I’ve also clearly documented his sinful ecumenicism as well.

Of course that’s merely one of the fruits within apostatizing evangelicalism because of its foolish fascination with corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism.

Now I point you to a developing story followed by some contributors of the Christian Research Network concerning Rick Warren and a report by free lance writer jim Hinch in the Orange County Register.

CRN contributor Christine Pack tells us in Controversy Over An Article About Rick Warren’s Efforts to Bring Muslims, Christians Together:

According to our article posted just a few hours ago, Rick Warren, megachurch pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA, is currently working to build a “bridge” (through a document called “King’s Way”) between Christians and Muslims by claiming that the two faiths worship the same God.The “King’s Way” document, which is the foundation for these bridge building efforts, is not yet publicly available, but a December 2011 meeting at Saddleback Church has been documented here. From the article by Jim Hinch of the Orange County Register:

“The Rev. Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest and one of America’s most influential Christian leaders, has embarked on an effort to heal divisions between evangelical Christians and Muslims by partnering with Southern California mosques and proposing a set of theological principles that includes acknowledging that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.” (online source)

Warren then appears in the comments section of Hinch’s report with a rather nebulous comment about apparent misinformation allegedly put out by Hinch:

Hinch would later respond assuring us his story is factual:

Then CRN contributor Erin Benziger pointed out in “Historic Interfaith Document” was “One Year in the Making” that:

As stated in yesterday’s post, Rick Warren Builds Bridge to Muslims, while Islam may bow to one god, and Christianity serves one God, these two are not the same God. As was also mentioned yesterday on this blog, the idea of “love God, love your neighbor” is not the Gospel, it is the Law. Indeed, as emphasized above, this recent step taken by Saddleback Church does reveal “the new theological position of Saddleback.” Yet, can it really be said that this is a new position? After all, did not Rick Warren stand before a room of Muslims in 2009 and declare:

You know that obviously as an evangelical pastor, my deepest faith is in Jesus Christ. But you also need to know that I am committed not just what I call the “Good News,” but I am committed to the common good. And as the Scripture says “Love your neighbor as yourself.” I am commanded to love and I am commanded to respect everybody. Everybody. Now I was asked to speak to you about how Muslims and Christians can work closer together for the greater good, in our world. And I will tell you that I am not interested in interfaith dialogue, I am interested in interfaith projects. There is a big difference. Talk is very cheap. And you can talk and talk and talk and not get anything done. Love is something you do. It is something that we do together. Love is a verb. Now as the two largest faiths on this planet, Muslims and Christians, we must lead in this. We must lead. With over one billion Muslims, and over 2 billion Christians, together, as half the world, we have to do something, about modeling what it means to live in peace, to live in harmony. (Online Source)

Sadly, Rick Warren is not only deceiving millions, but he appears to be deceiving himself as well.  (Online source)

Stay tuned as there sure seems to be more to the story and we’re still investigating it. In closing this, for now, I got off the phone with Jim Hinch just before this writing and he told me that Warren’s comment has been taken down. At this time we don’t know how it disappeared.

Keep in mind here that Jim Hinch is a veteran journalist and I found him to be quite friendly and forthright. I saw no reason to doubt him when he reiterated he had talked with Saddleback associate senior pastor Tom Holladay and thoroughly checked his facts.

Jim also added the following as well clarifying his Rick Warren builds bridge to Muslims:

I do have a copy of the [King's Way] document but it was given to me by a source who asked that it not be published. The five-page document lays out three areas of agreement, including shared aspects of Christian and Muslim belief and a commitment to work together on community service projects.

The part about shared areas of belief states “we believe in one God” and enumerates several characteristics of God common to both faiths, including that God created the world, is good, etc. The document does not address beliefs about Jesus, which is a major difference between Islam and Christianity.

I talked to sources both at Saddleback and in the Muslim community and all of them described the mutual outreach efforts and the attempt to find points of theological common ground. While reporting the story I asked to speak to Rick Warren but was told he was too busy for an interview.

I have no reason to think Warren hasn’t seen the King’s Way document. I’ve discussed the document with his head of communications, with one of his top senior pastors and (briefly by e-mail) with the pastor in charge of interfaith outreach, who co-authored the document.

The story makes clear that no one involved in this outreach effort, either at Saddleback or in the Muslim community, is proposing a merger of the two faiths or agreeing to disregard areas where the faiths diverge. Both sides acknowledge that differences remain between them.

But they have agreed not to focus on those differences for the purpose of reducing hostility between the two faiths and finding ways to work together on projects that benefit the community. No one at Saddleback used the words “same God” in an interview.

A Saddleback representative contacted me to ask for a clarification to the story. Rather than “Christians and Muslims worship the same God” they would like the story to read “Christians and Muslims believe God is one.” I’m not sure I see the difference but I think editors are prepared to make the clarification.

The bottom line now is that Rick Warren needs to publicly make clear what his stance is concerning this issue. Does he believe Christians and Muslims believe in the same God? That is a common position among many missionaries within the Church Growth Movement.

However, Rick Warren vaguely implying Jim Hinch is in error and not telling us where specifically is only fanning the flames around this issue. I’m grateful that Hinch covered this story and for his willingness to dialogue with me on the phone today to further clarify his report.

We also remember Rick Warren signed A Christian Response to ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’ , which appeared to me to imply that Christianity and Islam believe in the same God:

(Online source)

Being that Rick Warren was trained by Peter Drucker and Leadership Network he is versed in leadership double speak. This is why I find myself in agreement with Tony Miano about Warren being an
Evangelocham:

I’ve watched interviews of and read works and comments by Rick Warren for two decades. And what I’ve discovered over that course of time is that Rick Warren is a chameleon. And I believe he is one of the most dangerous men in Christendom, today.

Plastic pastors transparent enough to see through, like Joel Osteen, are not as dangerous as Rick Warren. Modalistic moguls of the painfully-obvious-money-hungry prosperity movement, like T.D. Jakes, are not as dangerous as Rick Warren. Self-serving sorcerers of the false signs and wonders movement, like Todd Bentley, are not as dangerous as Rick Warren.

No. None of the before-mentioned personalities or groups are all that dangerous because what you see is what you get. They all lack the ability to change their appearance to accommodate a change in environment. They lack the chameleon-like ability, the self-serving ability, to say what needs to be said in order to keep people in every camp liking them.

Rick Warren is a chameleon. Over the years he has shown, time and time again, his uncanny ability to say what will please his audience at the moment–secular news anchors and pundits, the masses at the request of a president who knows neither the Christ nor His Word, the leaders of false religions around the world, and sadly, even well-respected leaders of the real Christian community. (Online source)

See also:

JOHN PIPER, RICK WARREN & FOSTER-WILLARDISM

MARK DRISCOLL, ACTS 29 NETWORK, AND RICK WARREN 

JAMES ROBISON AND RICK WARREN WORKING TO REVERSE THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION