Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1, ESV)

But You Don’t Believe What Christians Believe

In posts such as Diana Butler Bass On Chris Rosebrough, Ingrid Schlueter, And Ken Silva In Sin earlier Apprising Ministries has been discussing something called A Covenant for Civility. You’ll also find the link to the Crosstalk radio program to which Bass, one of the original signers, and her friend pastor BrianMerritt had taken exception. Now in Assemblies of God Leader Bows Out of Civility Statement at Christianity Today we read:

The top leader of the Assemblies of God wants his name removed from a civility statement signed by religious leaders after learning that its signatories included nonevangelicals. George O. Wood, general superintendent of the prominent Pentecostal denomination, decided earlier this month that he no longer wanted his name on the statement issued in March, his denomination’s spokeswoman said.

“The problem is the tent that has grown so large on the signatures of this that are including people who are supportive of gay marriage and abortion rights,” spokeswoman Juleen Turnage said in an interview Tuesday. “He just felt that he could not become a part of a large tent.”

Wood, an executive committee member of the National Association of Evangelicals, signed the document during an NAE board meeting in March that he hosted at Assemblies of God headquarters in Springfield, Mo… (Online source)

This corroborates what my friend John Lanagan reported over at his My Word Like Fire blog a few days ago in Assemblies of God General Superintendent requests name be removed from “Covenant for Civility”. 

Dr. George O. Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, has asked that his signature be removed from the agreement. In his email to me, Superintendent Wood has stated, “I have put in a request to NAE (National Association of Evangelicals) for my name to be withdrawn as a signatory…” (Online source)

I commend AoG general superintendent George Wood for not wanting to be publicly yoked with progressive Red Letter Christians like Jim Wallis, progressive Christian historian Diana Butler Bass, and Emerging Church guru Brian McLaren. Such as these are perpetrating  the “big tent” version of Progressive Christianity [read: universalism] still being cobbled together by McLaren’s friends like uber-liberal Harvey Cox along with his friend panentheist progressive/liberal theologian Dr. Philip Clayton.

As I explained in the aforementioned post Bass is saying people like myself, who refuse to accept this postmodern upgrade to Liberalism 2.0 as Christian theology, are in sin. I told you that this new form of liberal/progressive pseudo-Christianity retains the same basic idea of universalism, with a Father/Motherhood of God and the Brother/Sisterhood of Man forming a Global Family, but also incorporates e.g. things like panentheism, emergence theory, neo-Gnostic mysticism, and integral theory.

This is why we simply cannot unite with people like this who are raping the Christian faith. I also documented for you that such as these have now created a such a “missional” shift in the Christian faith so broad that even a pantheistic mystic like Deepak Chopra can sign onto this supposedly resurrected new global Christianity. And as such, it’s now safe to say they’ve clearly departed from anything even remotely resembling the historic, orthodox, Christian faith.

I told you yesterday that we know from Scripture the enemy controling the seducing spirits using such as these is already driving them all toward a Global religion anyway; and because of this, we’ll be seeing them cross pollinating more and more. In fact, consider the following names below who are all endorsing The Future of Faith, which is the latest book by liberal theologian Harvey Cox. Note that you have a progressive/liberal Roman Catholic, the president of an obstensibly evangelical seminary, three Red Letter Christians, and a pantheist New Age mystic.

You’d be wise to prepare for some very rough spiritual waters, which unfortunately, lie dead ahead:

Harvey Cox is the most important liberal theologian of the last half century because he could see around corners…. The Future of Faith is, quite simply, a beautiful book and a Cox classic.
—E. J. Dionne Jr., author of Souled Out
 
The Future of Faith is insightful, provocative, and inspiring—I found myself uttering a hearty evangelical ‘Amen’ at many points!
—Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary and author of Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport

This important book has not only helped me understand the past, present, future of this amazing phenomenon called Christianity . . . it has also motivated me to keep working to help make actual the possible future Cox envisions.
—Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian

The Future of Faith is a tour de force. As passionate and challenging as his classic, The Secular City, Cox’s new book invites the faithful, the skeptical, and the fearful intp a spirit-filled version of Christianity that can renew a hurting world.
—Diana Butler Bass, author of A People’s History of Christianity

Cox brings the eye of an historian and the heart of a theologian to explain where we’ve come from and where we’re going. The Future of Faith is an essential guide to that future.
—Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners and author of The Great Awakening

Harvey Cox has been a voice of both reason and faith in our cynical times. Now, he offers a fresh vision for the resurrection of a new global Christianity that will restore our faith both in ourselves and in the divine.
—Deepak Chopra, author of Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment

See also:

DIANA BUTLER BASS ON CHRIS ROSEBROUGH, INGRID SCHLUETER, AND KEN SILVA IN SIN

BRIAN MCLAREN AND HIS NEW EMERGING PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY

THE EMERGING CHURCH, PHILIP CLAYTON, AND NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY

THE PROGRESSIVE RESURRECTION OF ROB BELL

 THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON OTHER RELIGIONS 

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON CHRIST

LIBERALISM 2.0 THE NEW PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN