But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves.
(2 Timothy 3:2) 

Satan Has Skillfully Played The Heartstrings Of Mankind For Many, Many Years

Phyllis Tickle has correctly pointed out in her book The Great Emergence exactly where those of us tracking the Emergent Church knew it was headed all along:

many of the most die-hard Protestants among us have grown suspicious of “Scripture and Scripture only.” We question what the words mean – literally? Metaphorically? Actually? We even question which words do and do not belong in Scripture and the purity of the editorial line of decent of those that do. We begin to refer to Luther’s principle of “sola scriptura, scriptura sola” as having been little more than the creation of a paper pope in place of a flesh and blood one. And even as we speak, the authority that has been in place for five hundred years withers away in our hands. (46, 47, bold mine)

As one trained in counter-cult apologetics it’s obvious to me that for any group to establish itself they must first lessen, or get rid of, the authority of the Bible. It was always simply a matter of time before leaders in the Emerging Church would reveal publicly their position that the existential experience inherent in their Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) trumps the Scriptures. Case in point is Emergent Church Theologian Tony Jones and his Unrepentant Homosexual Christians where influential Emergent Church leader Tony Jones tells us:

And yet, all the time I could feel myself drifting toward acceptance that gay persons are fully human persons and should be afforded all of the cultural and ecclesial benefits that I am.  (”Aha!” my critics will laugh derisively, “I knew he and his ilk were on a continuous leftward slide!”)

In any case, I now believe that GLBTQ can live lives in accord with biblical Christianity (at least as much as any of us can!) and that their monogamy can and should be sanctioned and blessed by church and state. (Online source, bold theirs)

And then Apprising Ministries showed you in It’s Time To Rethink The Issue Of Homosexuality the rationale Jones has used to come to his denial of the text of Scripture concerning the sin of practicing homosexuality:

And neither am I going to deny the fact that- (pause) Where I’ve come to on my opinion on this issue [unrepentant practicing homosexuals becoming Christians] is affected, not purely by the philosophical and theological arguments, but also by attending to the movements of my own spirit.

And trying to pay attention to how I think—and listening to—gay people, gay Christians talk about how their-they’ve-how they’ve lived their lives in such a way so that—in their estimation—they’re in accord with Biblical Christianity. And so giving—I wanna give the philosophical its due; but for me, I’m also going to-I have to attend to the existential, for me, because I know that’s been a part of what I’ve come to…

The following from Jonathan Brink at Missio Dei, a website sympathetic to the Emerging Church rebellion against Sola Scriptura, does—in very fact—show you that because the evangelical community has already embraced these existentialist, feelings-oriented, Christians we are indeed only now seeing the very tip of an iceberg of apostasy:

Today was day one in The Great Emergence conference.  To a large extent it was a deeper summary of each part of the book, including some of the keys dates, pivotal moments and events that helped create what we’re experiencing now. [Phyllis Tickle] made a significant point about how this turn is deeply affecting the concept of Sola Scriptura.

One of the things that caught my attention was Tickle’s comment that there are forty-four specific events that underline the move away from Sola Scriptura.  I would love to see what those 44 are but that would be like icing on the cake.  The final subject in the turn away will be how we address homosexuality in the church.  She reiterated that it’s not if Sola Scriptura ends but when…

The central point of Tickle’s book is, “Where is our authority?” And much of the underlining question for those in this conference is the step and subsequent journey out of traditional church expressions and into new ones. (Online source)

You need to understand that evangelicalism itself is now also out of the closet concerning their own rejection of Sola Scriptura in favor of highly subjective, ascetic-lite, CSM ala Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster and his spiritual twin Dallas Willard. You may recall that their friend Guru Brian McLaren told you years ago that they were key mentors in the Emerging Church. So, while these EC Christian have been busy embedding themselves into the leadership of your denominations and the youth groups of your churches, what did you think Foster/Willard were mentoring them in?

Significantly softened up through their spurious CSM masquerading as Spiritual Formation prepare now to meet the—coming sooner than you think—gay face of the American Christian Church. Because the stage has already been set to show the Sola Scriptura the door; this now means you will only have an increase of more and more prophesies such as the following. Recently “married” homosexual “Christian” Gene Robinson, overseer of Episcopal Churches in New Hampshire where I happen to live, said of his ordination:

I’m deeply pained over all the difficulty that this has caused. But I have to say I believe that this is where God is leading the whole Church; just as God lead us to the full inclusion of people of color, and of women and people in wheelchairs and any number of people who had previously been marginalized.

Did you catch that; Swami Robinson tells us, “God is leading the whole Church” into having openly homosexual leaders over groups of His local churches. Then there’s “Gay Affirming” Emerging Church pastor Jay Bakker, who has already told us concerning one of his personal chats with the Lord:

“The more I follow grace, the more I’m drawn to him [God], the more I’m willing to stand up for people being persecuted,” says Jay today. “This sounds so churchy, but I felt like God spoke to my heart and said ‘[homosexuality] is not a sin.’ ” (Online source, emphasis mine)

So, now where is the evangelical community going to go? Some Truth War; a spiritual version of the Oprah Winfrey Show is more like it. Sure, can’t you just see it; we’ll all sit next to the campfire and tell our stories about what we feel “God” has said to each us. And then round and round and around we’ll go upon the merry-go-round to nowhere while the relentless indoctrination of Scripture twisting such as the below continues unabated. Why; well, because no human being has any right to judge another one as being wrong, right?

And after all, we know that mystical experience is self-validating because there’s no real way for someone else to know whether it actually happened or not. Huh, how about that; who’d have thought Dana Carvey’s SNL character the Church Lady was so dead on target? O, can’t you just hear her now: “How convenient.” Meanwhile, and tragically, the words of the song in the background of the video clip below, though not in the way meant by the pro-homosexual Christian group behind it, actually quite poignantly draws out the critical issue after all: “I try as hard as I can.” 

Men and women, is this actually not the heart of the genuine Gospel of  Jesus Christ: No matter how hard you try you will never be able to control your sin; and that, no matter what it is. Well, I close this post offering you a sincere plea as one who does care about you enough to tell you the truth. Won’t you please finally stop trying; you already know that it never works. Just throw your hands in the air, and fall to your knees at the foot of the Cross of Christ where our sin went to die. And,  “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion” (Hebrews 3:15).

See also:

APPRISING MINISTRIES: SHOCKING NEW EVIDENCE JESUS CONDEMNED THE PRACTICE OF HOMOSEXUALITY

TODD FRIEL: A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE ROB BELL SAYS PUBLICLY PRACTICING HOMOSEXUALITY IS OK FOR CHRISTIANS

BRIAN MCLAREN, THE EMERGING CHURCH, AND HOMOSEXUALITY: WHAT’S SO HARD ABOUT THAT?

ROB BELL, DIVINE DIRT CLODS, AND THE COMING GLOBAL FAMILY OF “GOD”

CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY OF RICHARD FOSTER ROOTED IN THE EASTERN DESERT AND THOMAS MERTON »

DR. WALTER MARTIN ON HOW THE DEVIL STEALS YOUR CHURCH