“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation. They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.” (Deuteronomy 32:15-17)

Worshiping The Way They Want To By Making God Be Who They Want Him To Be

Apprising Ministries has been making you aware of the now upgraded Emerging Church 2.0 with its newer, more clearly delineated, postmodern Progressive Christian theology—a Liberalism 2.0—that this sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church often refers to as “big tent” Emergence Christianity. You’re likely aware of leaders within this EC—seeker driven for the “counter-culture”—movement like the Emerging Church trinity of apostates, Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren, universalist Emerging Church pastor Doug Pagitt, and his friend Tony Jones, the progressive “theologian in residence” at Solomon’s Porch.

The fact is, this is all kind of a reimagined bohemian hippie counter-culture deal I would see as I was growing up in the late 60′s; where we were careful not to “sell out” and become part of “the establishment.” Well, now we have it in a spiritual form within the rhetoric of the Emergent Church and many of its faithless followers. It was phony then, and it’s just as phony now; you see, one by one I watched the pop philosophers of my youth who “spoke my language”—my then cherished rock stars—gladly take the money and run to blend right in to what we once said were so against.

Have you ever noticed that these EC leaders never miss an opportunity to promote their books; and because the mainstream of the church visible has rejected sola Scriptura in favor of critical thinking skills-numbing corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM), such as that taught by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster along with his spiritual twin and Southern Baptist minister Dallas Willard, we are witnessing a sad state of affairs in that the visible Christian church—particularly in America— has erected a “thing”; an idol they have called evangelicalism.

And the American church is hardly alone in her spiritual idolatry as we are now witnessing a world-wide spread of a postmodern postevangelicalism. But the true child of God recognizes these idols are really not the Christianity of the New Testament. However, as the drift from the authority of Holy Scripture continues in the Emerging Church; the erecting of altars to Baal and the carving of Asherah poles to be used by this Ecumenical Church of Deceit (ECoD)–duplicious daughter of apostate Roman Catholicism–as “common ground” in their own “interfaith/interspiritual” worship can’t be too far off.

Today there is finally a slow realization of the growing apostasy, which appears as if it has been recently ignited within our Lord’s Church. It has suddenly exploded onto the scene as if by a spiritual match tossed onto the gasoline of CSM, perpetrated as so-called Spiritual Formation in Young Adult and Youth ministries within evangelical churches for years now; you can see the result e.g. in Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism Slithers Even Closer To Your Church.

Yes, Satan and his minions have been saturating spurious CSM throughout the very dry forest of intellectual evangelical churchianity so easily passing for Christianity these days in our postmodern world for some time; but I offer however, that this apostasy has actually been slowly burning for years and now the Holy Spirit is simply blowing it throughout the Body of Christ. That’s why it’s spreading throughout the visible church as quickly an Oklahoma wildfire in order to burn out the deleterious driftwood now wasting our Father’s precious resources.

I offer that those listening to the Spirit know that very rough spiritual waters lie dead ahead as 1 Peter 4:17 judgments have already begun to fall; and as did religious leaders in Jesus’ day, the Christian church has now created a new tradition of the elders (cf. Mark 7:5) i.e. evangelicalism, but it’s not the Christianity of the New Testament. However, as the drift from the authority of Holy Scripture continues, the erecting of altars to Baal and the carving of Asherah poles to be used by the ECoD as “common ground” in their own interfaith/interspiritual worship can’t be too far off.

Think I overstate; think again. We’ve already had at least one clear example of this nauseating compromise by these pathetic lovers of self (cf. 2 Timothy 3:2) in Emerging Church Leader Samir Selmanovic Worships With Witches where I suggested you consider the following tweet from Samir Selmanovic recently:

(Online source)

Briefly, “the other” is Liberalism 2.0-speak for their belief that God is at work within all other religions; these neo-Gnostics believe they need to discover what God is supposedly doing in these other religions. Selmanovic told us his views in an earlier book, which was edited by the dubious duo of Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt; when he mused this mythology:

Can it be that the teachings of the gospel are embedded and can be found in reality itself rather than being exclusively isolated in sacred texts and our interpretations of those texts? If the answer is yes, can it be that they are embedded in other stories, other peoples’ histories, and even other religions?…

God’s table is welcoming all who seek, and if any religion is to win, may it be the one that produces people who are the most loving, the most humble, the most Christlike. Whatever the meaning of “salvation” and “judgement,” we Christians are going to be saved by grace, like everyone else, and judged by our works, like everyone else…

For most critics of such open Christianity, the problem with inclusiveness is that it allows for truth to be found in other religions. To emerging Christians, that problem is sweet… Moreover, if non-Christians can know our God, then we want to benefit from their contribution to our faith.[1]

However, while this might be consistent with the new traditions of men, this is not Christianity; it’s at best universalism, and at worst, it’s pagan universalism. Remind me again; why are these Emerging Church apostates even remotely considered to be evangelical?

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Endnotes:

[1] Samir Selmanovic, “The Sweet Problem of Inclusiveness – Finding Our God in the Other,” in An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones editors [Grand Rapids: Baker,
2007], 192, 195, 196, emphasis mine.

See also:

CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY/MYSTICISM UNITES THE GLOBAL FAMILY

TOXIC THEOLOGY OF DOUG PAGITT

FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY PROFESSOR TONY JONES AND CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY COHORT

WHAT’S NEW AT THE BUILD-A-GOD SHOP

EMERGING CHURCH AND PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND EVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION