Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, NASB)

Emerging Church Leader On The Offensive

The Lord has been pleased to raise Apprising Ministries up among the leading online apologetics and discernment ministries in the area of tracking the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church, which is a cult of postliberalism—now morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC).

Today leading EC guru Brian McLaren apparently got up on the wrong side of the carpet after some Buddhist-style Contemplative/Centering Prayer and wrote a post entitled Discernment websites; and oddly enough, the URL is: http://www.brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/if-you-believe-homosexuality-is.html.

McLaren begins his little spiritual temper tantrum:

I wonder if some of the “discernment websites” that enjoy featuring and critiquing the work of many of my friends and me would be willing to host some discussion on this bill currently proposed in the Ugandan parliament.

I’d be interested in reading whether participants in those blogs agree with the Ugandan bill, and if not, why not. (Online source)

It’s interesting this “minister” would place quotations around “discernment websites.” Well, as one of said sites, I can tell McLaren that I personally do not at all “enjoy featuring and critiquing the work” of any of these postliberal rebels against the final authority of God’s Word. The Lord knows that I’d much rather go back to apologetics and evangelizing those lost in the kingdom of the cults.

However, as I said e.g. in Christian Soldiers Standing Up For Jesus?, there are very rough spiritual waters dead ahead in the church visible specifically because of the now widespread acceptance of this EC cult within mainstream evangelicalism; for example, McLaren’s friends such as heretical Tony Jones, “theologian in residence” at the EC church of his equally heretical quasi-universalist pastor Doug Pagitt.

You need to understand that fellow EC myth musers like Rob Bell and his new co-teaching pastor Shane Hipps are no longer on the fringe of the mainstream—such as these are now considered evangelicals—despite their teaching classic neo-Gnostic mysticism, which I’ve shown you in Through Rob Bell “The Great Enlightened Ones” Tell Us Man Has Divine Greatness and Silence Shane Hipps.

First, let’s not kid ourselves; McLaren and company do plenty of their own critiquing concerning what Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989) so often called “the historic orthodox Christian faith.” And secondly, the EC really doesn’t want to have to deal with the exclusive message of the Cross; rather, as McLaren says in plugging his latest book (yeah, very counter-culture, eh), they want a new kind of Christianity.

But it really is as my friend and Christian apologist Chris Rosebrough, who hosts Fighting for the Faith on his Pirate Christian Radio network, has pointed out re. Pagitt’s latest book. It’d be more to the point if, instead of using the title A Christianity Worth Believing—considering what Pagitt preaches within—a more apt moniker would actually be: The Christianity I Cobbled Together In My Basement Last Night.

You see, those of us who have been studying the EC like Bob DeWaay, author of the excellent book The Emergent Church: Undefining Christianity, know that those in the EC don’t really have a new kind, singular, of Christianity; rather, it’s more like Emergent Christianities, as in true narcissistic postmodern fashion these in love with the self simply choose their beliefs just as one does at a smörgåsbord.

Today at the Crosstalk Blog Ingrid Schlueter, another friend of mine, really gets to the heart of the matter with McLaren et al in her post Brian McLaren Paints Critics as Gay-Hating Bigots. Schlueter is dead-on-target as she writes:

Emergent author Brian McLaren doesn’t believe in a literal Second Comingof Jesus. He has problems with the penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus on the cross. A literal hell with eternal torment for those who reject Christ? Not likely. The Genesis account of the fall of man? Not true. But instead of addressing his own spiritual rebellion, Brian appears to want to paint his critics as bigots. In a recent blog post, McLaren demands that what he calls “discernment websites” (he used the quote marks) address an African country’s attempts to codify severe penalties for homosexuality into law. He seems to imply that these same “discernment ministries” would automatically support the arrest and execution of gays by Uganda.

I’m not sure what influence McLaren was under while blogging, but for the record, Brian, that’s a pretty nasty strategy to use against those who point to your heretical doctrinal views. While emergents supposedly are intellectual, open-minded people who enjoy conversations with subtle nuances and lots of mystery, McLaren actually sees things in black and white. Anyone who is not willing to jettison cardinal doctrine and embrace his “new kind of Christianity” is painted as ready to commit hate crimes and would support mistreating gays. What an appallingly dishonestway to deal with your critics, McLaren… (Online source)

You May Be Surprised To Find Out Who The Real Bigots Actually Are

The problem for McLaren and his EC ilk is no one credible is pushing “hate” at the GLBTQ community. As a matter of fact, in Adele Sakler And Ken Silva you’ll see an email exchange I recently had with her. Adele Sakler aka Existential Punk happens to be a practicing lesbian “Christ-follower” heading up Queermergent, and identifies herself with the Outlaw Preachers of gay affirming “pastor” Jay Bakker.

McLaren may wish to know, as I told Adele, it’d be wise to be careful not to just assume that I’m some narrow-minded fundamentalist bigot who hates GLBTQ people; because I’m really not, and, I don’t.  Further, prior to being saved, I was a stand-up comic and professional musician living for years in Long Beach, and performing all around the Los Angeles area, so there really isn’t much I haven’t seen.

The fact is, I have many gay friends, one of which was my boss when I worked closely with him in a group home for people who are developmentally challenged. And believe me, he was very out about his sexuality. In fact, we’d joke about it all the time; we got along great and I even visited with him, as well as his partner, at their home many times. Also, my niece is out concerning her homosexuality.

So you see, strictly on a personal level, one’s sexual orientation doesn’t matter to me at all. But now let’s turn the focus where it ought to be with men like McLaren; as one Jesus called to be one of His pastor-teachers, I have an obligation to proclaim His Word. And now, because these men I mentioned earlier make the same claim, then so do they; when I critique them, I write as one of their peers. 

And the Bible tells us with crystalline clarity that having sexual relations with another of the same sex i.e homosexuality is a deviant lifestyle of sexual immorality because, as I just showed in Jesus Defines Marriage For Red Letter Christians, same-sex sexual relations will always remain outside of marriage. The problem for people like McLaren is that he just doesn’t really believe what Jesus actually said.

My point was pretty clear when I asked the question: But Do Emergence Christianity And Brian McLaren Really Love Gay People? When all their verbose rhetoric fades, the answer is a resounding no, they don’t. So I say the real “constructive action” now needs to come from supposedly superior “Christians” like Brian McLaren who love to pose before the world as if they are such loving people.

When the truth is, they are the ones acting in hate toward precious GLBTQ people, for whom Christ died, as they practice what I call homopression by not loving them enough to stop lying to them. No, I’m not the bigot; men like McLaren are by withholding the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ from GLBTQ people, and therefore, just leaving them trapped in their sin of practicing sexual immorality.

See also:

BRIAN MCLAREN ON RELIGIOUS INSANITY AND EVANGELICAL COWARDICE

THE SIN OF HOMOSEXUALITY IS DIFFERENT

WHY NO CONDEMNATION FOR CHRISTIANS WHO ARE HOMOPRESSIVE?

HOMOPRESSIVE AS JAY BAKKER

ROB BELL, PETER ROLLINS, AND QUEERMERGENT’S ADELE SAKLER

EMERGING CHURCH AND ADELE SAKLER TRANSFORM GAY AGENDA IN EVANGELICALISM

GROWING GAY AGENDA IN EVANGELICALISM