For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Tell Me Some Nice Bedtime Stories For My Wild Goose Chase

I’ve said before that as part of documenting the implosion of mainstream evangelicalism here at Apprising Ministries, increasing parts of which may be as apostate right now as the Roman Catholic Church in Luther’s day, I’ve been talking about a growing embrace of the Emergent Church aka the Emerging Church, a sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult with its new postmodern form of “big tent” Progressive Christianity.

This postmodern theology is the same ill-fated attempt to adapt (read: change) the Christian faith to its capricious culture; and therefore, it’s quite similar to modern theology—also known as liberal theology. So-called “big tent” Emergence Christianity is actually an upgraded Liberalism 2.0 that also incorporates emergence theory of evolutionary science because many in the EC believe that, right now, mankind is evolving upward into a higher state of consciousness.

While they ponder that delusion the EC has assembled a crack(ed) team of ear-tickling theologians in the basement of The Build-A-God Shop who’re furiously building their version of the mush god of Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) with a man-shaped hole in his/her/its heart. Meanwhile like a perverted pied piper the Emerging Church rock star pastor Rob Bell has been on tour spreading this judgment-less Love Wins mythology.

Now, with all of the above, you have the proper perspective to understand why the Emerging Church folk are so all atwitter toward an upcoming EC apostasia-palooza kicking off next Thursday June 23 that they’re calling the Wild Goose Festival (WGF); and which I pointed you to recently in The Emerging Church On A Wild Goose Chase. As I enlightened you within, the WGF will feature a veritable who’s who of Emergent and progressive/liberal heretics.

To name a few, just check out this spiritually libertine lineup: Universalist Roman Catholic mystic Richard Rohr, along with purveyors of CSM like Living Spiritual Teacher and Jesuit priest John Dear, Carl McColman of the spiritually whacked website Anamchara, gay-affirming “pastor” Jay Bakker, self-professed “queer inclusive” ELCA pastrix Nadia Bolz-Weber, EC interspiritual leader Samir Selmanovic, and Christian universalist Chad Holtz.

If that isn’t de-impressive enough for you, then consider WGF will also feature the Empress of Emergence Phyllis Tickle herself; not to mention the entire unholy trinity of the Emerging Church, Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren, quasi-evolutionary universalist Doug Pagitt, and Tony Jones, the progressive “theologian in residence” at Pagitt’s social gathering Solomon’s Porch. These people are so far out there in spiritual outer space we barely have a radar fix on them.

All of which brings me to a post called Left-leaning Christians to rally around ‘Wild Goose’ by Yonat Shimron running over at the interspiritual website Beliefnet as well as USA Today Religion and Huffington Post. Shimron, who’s “development director at Religion News Service,”[1] tells us that this coming week “the bygone staple of the tent revival will be reincarnated on a bucolic North Carolina farm as The Wild Goose Festival.” De-rivival would be the more accurate term for this bunch on their wild goose chase after another spirit (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:4).

Next she tells us that WGF has been about “10 years in the making,” and “the festival is an attempt to re-imagine Christianity for the 21st century under a bigger, wider more inclusive tent.” No, this is more of the serpentine EC hijacking the Christian faith during a time where the average Christian is quite Biblically illiterate, largely ignorant of church history, and the centered on the self (cf. 2 Timothy 3:2) false philosophy of postmodernism has opened the door for buffet-style spirituality.

Shimon is right, and wrong, when she estimates WGF “is expected to draw thousands of young campers and some of the leading lights of the so-called Emergent Christianity movement.” Yes, from monitoring Intel along the Internet Front, likely thousands will be in attendance; however, it needs to be finally faced that likely none of those I’ve mentioned above as being on the speakers list are actually regenerated children of light (cf. Ephesians 5:8).

They preach a different gospel and it is written:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
(Galatians 1:6-9)

Next Shimon points out that those behind WGF “hope to establish the premier venue for 20-somethings who love God but aren’t  thrilled with institutional Christianity, particularly the religious right.” However, the so-called religious right is Emergent-speak for orthodox Christianity; so what’s actually happening with this festival fail, is WGF ala Greenbelt figures to become a leading platform for circus big tent postmodern progressive psuedo-Christianity, which is really a whole other religion entirely.

Following a commercial for WGF, which attempts to convince us that mainline liberals who deny everything that renouned Christian apologist Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989) so often called “the historic orthodox Christian faith,” can stand as one with those of us in the Body of Christ. The alleged “more traditional evangelicals” Shimon says will be “alongside” these spiritual adulterers would appear to have to be so obtuse spiritually they don’t realize that they’re 1) being used, and 2) in violation of 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

Yonat Shimon then turns her attention to me personally:

Already, the festival has drawn the ire of more conventional evangelical  bloggers who don’t like its inclusive nature or openness to gays and lesbians,  though festival leaders have not taken any formal positions on such issues.

“The wise Christian will have nothing to do with these neo-Gnostic fools  who’ve unbuckled themselves from the Word of God and have embarked upon their  Wild Goose Chase of subjective experience,” wrote Southern Baptist blogger Ken Silva of New Hampshire-based Apprising Ministries. (Online source)

The Lord be praised that He’s seen fit to use the Internet as a way to get the Truth out, despite the whining to the contrary by critics of online apologetics and discernment ministries such as this one. After-all, how else would Ms Shimon have even heard of me or have been able to share with her readers some of what I said. For this I am thankful; and I’ll now take this opportunity to make sure the information is a bit more accurate concerning the statement she makes prior to quoting me.

She says WGF “has drawn the ire of more conventional eveangelical bloggers.” I can’t speak for them because I publicly broke with evangelicalism nearly three years ago as I could see it apostatizing to the point when an instrument of Satan like Brian McLaren can be considered an evangelical. “Whoa,” some say, “that’s an awful strong statement concerning your brother in Christ.” No, it’s the statement of someone who believes God meant what He said in the Scripture passages cited above.

I’m not responsible for the weak-kneed who can’t, or won’t, speak the truth. As a pastor-teacher sent by Christ, as absolutely undeserving as may be, I’m constrained to — preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2). You see, we are to use the Bible as God’s Word and to speak for Him, whether people like it or not; and further, I am to:

hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. (Titus 1:9-10)

Common sense will tell you that for God to give us the command to give instruction in sound doctrine presupposes that 1) there is such a thing, and 2) we may know it; which is precisely the reasons why the Christian is to oppose WGF’s “inclusive nature [and] openness to gays and lesbians” because the vast number of those involved with this festival fail clearly embrace the demonic doctrines of this new form of postmodern progressive/liberalism in direct opposition to the geniune Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So that’s why I absolutely stand by what Yonat Shimon quotes me as saying: “The wise Christian will have nothing to do with these neo-Gnostic fools  who’ve unbuckled themselves from the Word of God and have embarked upon their  Wild Goose Chase of subjective experience.” In leaving this, for now, I ask you to remember that is not unloving to tell someone the truth. Sure, you can get yourself in trouble for doing it; but it is not unloving. I pray the Lord will open their eyes…before it’s too late…

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End Notes:

[1] http://tiny.cc/dv3jt, accessed 6/17/11.

See also:

BIG TENT CHRISTIANITY IS A POSTMODERN PROGRESSIVE LIBERALISM

MORE ON—THE gOD OF THE EMERGING CHURCH

MYSTICISM AND POSTMODERNISM, THE EMERGING CHURCH, AND EVANGELICALISM

POSTMODERN MYTH AND SOME HOMEBREWED ROB BELL

TOXIC THEOLOGY OF DOUG PAGITT

TONY JONES, THE EMERGING CHURCH AND PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY

MEDITATION IN ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AS TRANSFORMATION FOR A GLOBAL FAMILY