You foolish Galatians! Who has hypnotized you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified? I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1-3, HCSB)

Good Ol’ Boy Apostates And Liberals

Now before you get out the tars and feathers and the stack up the green word, I used the Holman Christian Standard Bible on…*ahem*, purpose because it was done by the SBC. I figured maybe then they’d pay attention, though I still happen to doubt they will. Recently I became aware of some serious problems with Emergent and heretical Contemplative Spirituality penetrating deeply into the ranks of the Southern Baptist Convention. I’ve been an SBC pastor since 1994 when I planted a mission church. At first I was involved with local and state ministerial associations etc. until it appeared to be too much of a “good ol’ boy” network for my tastes.

Since then I have chosen to remain with the SBC because of its strong commitment to missions. This despite the fact that they quite obviously do not recognize my own which is to educate people how to approach the mission field at their own doorstep. Today there is a vast mission field of Roman Catholics and those lost in the Emergent labyrinth to be reached and people need to learn how to speak their language and bring the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ to them. But in spite of all of this, for now at the Lord’s leading, I remain SBC because I have long felt the top level of mainstream evangelical denominations are filled with apostates and liberals anyway.

Since the SBC appears to be among the better of the bad in major denominations I do what I can to help while staying at the outskirts of all the politcs. In any event I became aware of a serious problem with the Grand Valley Baptist Association (SBC) in Grand Junction, CO. It especially caught my eye because I had also founded Because of Him Ministries in Rock Springs, WY and often went into parts of Colorado and Utah to minister. What I saw on Recommended Reading For Pastor & Staff from their Director of Missions Kent Shirley was simply atrocious.

Contemplative Gnosticism Is A Core Doctrine Of The Emergent Church

This would lead me to write Southern Baptist Convention Embracing Gnostic Mysticism and would also be the cause for me to create a new section on the front page of Apprising Minitries called SBC/Contemplative/Emergent. I refer the interested reader there for the subsequent writings on this ridiculous issue of a supposedly Protestant evangelical denomination embracing a movement that is openly hostile to the Reformation and adopts practices from the antibiblical monastic traditions of Rome. What is more, apart from about four SBC pastors, this penetration of the extremely ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church into the ranks of the SBC has elicited nary a yawn from any leaders within the SBC on any level.

So, it’s either a matter of sticking one’s head way into the sand and hoping this will all just go away, or being so busy doing things the way they’ve always been done that we won’t believe there is a huge and very ugly Emergent elephant standing right in our sanctuaries. No matter, I’ll continue to sound the alarm because I don’t want their blood on my hands. In this piece I’m simply going to bypass the apostates and liberals in the headquarters of these dying mainstream Protestant–no longer protesting–evangelical denominations. Let’s see if it’s possible that we might be able to arouse at least some of the local pastors from their excellent impressions of Rip Van Winkle.

Alright, here’s the issue in as simple a form as I know how to put it. I’ll frame it within my own spiritually petrifying Southern Baptist Convention. Now evangelicals are supposed to be…Protestants. It’s because I am a former Roman Catholic myself this issue is even close to me as the Roman Catholic Church, which I hate with all of the same righteous indignation the Lord Himself has for it, almost sent me to Hell. You see, this whole idea of “Protestant” actually came from the idea of, well, “protesting.” Here I find myself empathizing with the Apostle Paul, I feel like I must be out of my mind to have to write like this.

Can You Even Be A Protestant And No Longer Protest?

Let’s try real hard here now and pull our heads out of the Emergent ecumenical fog for just a moment and try to remember…just what was it Protestants were “protesting”? O, wait a minute, there’s a possible moment of clarity…it had something to do with…the Reformation of the Church. Right. Martin Luther and the Reformers already tried to “reform” the corrupt and arrogant Church of Rome from the inside. Did it work then? No. Is it going to work now? No. In fact Luther tried to warn you already when he said:

The negotiation about doctrinal agreement displeases me altogether, for this is utterly impossible unless the pope has his papacy abolished. Therefore avoid and flee those who seek the middle of the road. Think of me after I am dead and such middle-of-the-road men arise, for nothing good will come of it. There can be no compromise. (What Luther Says, II: 1019)

And yet along comes a man with the initials B.M., actually quite apt considering the skubalon he teaches, and suddenly we all want to follow Brian McLaren and those of his Emergent ilk and be A New Kind of Christian, an anti-Christian. The only problem is that Martin Luther had previously warned you that these middle-of-the-road dreamers would be coming along. Man and women, as a matter of fact God the Holy Spirit already told you about these kinds of Emergent wolves in sheep’s clothing long before Luther through His inspired Apostle Paul:

28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:28-30, NASB)

And what does verse 30 above tell you that these man-lovers are going to do? Draw away the disciples after them. That’s right Brother Pastor, they are going to steal away the sheep under your care. Right now these vipers like Rob Bell and Erwin McManus are coming into your church, look at verse 30 again, often through your own youth pastors. You’d best wake up because this Emergent rebellion against the Bible is not, I repeat for the spiritually hard of hearing – IS NOT – a move of God. Consider this from the Apostle John – They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. (1 John 4:5, KJV)

O yes, now the pouty postmodern stomps his foot and the outraged umbrage begins: “How dare you say that! Can’t you look and see how many young people are coming to church now?” Yep I have, and then just watch how quickly they leave when the real Word of God is preached to them. And even more dangerous is the target the Devil has actually trained his guns on through his Purpose Driven Church and his Emergent Church and his Word Faith Church–which make up the major pillars of his Ecumenical Church of Deceit–the Reformation itself.

Can you seriously not see this? What has changed? Nothing. With all the fire of my faith in Christ I implore you to stop being so lazy and actually make the time to read Has The Church of Rome Really Changed? This is my own personal research and within you will see by following the links in the article itself, and from Roman Catholic sources themselves, that the Church of Rome has not changed one iota in their self-righteous sacramental system since the Council of Trent. So don’t listen to me, even Dr. John MacArthur calls the Roman Catholic Church a front for the kingdom of Satan.

I’m not anyone special but I can tell you this; last month Phil Johnson of Pyromaniacs, someone I have much respect for and who is hardly to be considered a radical, was absolutely correct when he said:

that evangelicalism right now is at least as much in need of Reformation as Medieval Roman Catholicism was before Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church. We need to face that squarely,… (emphasis his)

So how do you think the Lord feels when He looks at one of the largest allegedly Protestant–no longer protesting–evangelical denominations in the world ignoring that warning. Not only that but the SBC just continues its slide down toward complete apostasy with Dr. Frank Page, their president who has said:

I see many valuable contributions to the SBC coming from the Emergent Leaders Movement. I believe it is a positive thing to see a broader number of participants in our convention’s direction. I personally applaud this movement.

Dr. Frank Page, the president of the supposedly Protestant evangelical SBC, sees “many valuable contributions” coming from, and “personally” applaudes, this Reformation-denying neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church who is attempting to lead the Body of Christ right back into the spiritual bondage of the long apostate Roman Catholic Church. Didn’t you see it; I gave you a little glimpse with the opening text from the SBC’s own Bible translation just so they would know that it really is in there:

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh?

…he who still has an ear, then let him hear what the Spirit says to the Church…