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Topic: 'Emerging' Church Leading To One World Religion - On 'Purpose!'
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SoftTouch
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Member # 2316
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Here's another very important piece of information I found on RaptureNews regarding this Emergent Church and it's teachings...
Before you send your teen to a "Student Life Conference" Please Read This!
“Throwing Our Future Church Leaders to the Wolves”
An estimated 25,000-30,000 young people are expected to attend “Student Life” events with their church youth groups this year in twelve different locations across the U-S. Headlining the 2006 tour are worship leader Charlie Hall, the drama team “All Things to All People” and Los Angeles pastor and author Erwin McManus, a leader in the Emergent Church movement.
But before you pay to send your teenager off to one of the Student Life conferences, be aware that Emergent leaders such as McManus, Leonard Sweet, Andy Crouch, Brian McLaren, and others are pushing liberal theology under the guise of “postmodern” Christianity. The movement assails absolute truth, the inerrancy of Scripture and justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone, and instead embraces spiritual relativism and mysticism. Sound like something you want your son or daughter dabbling in? This “New Kind of Christianity,” as McLaren calls it, is distorting the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler has said “When it comes to issues such as the exclusivity of the gospel, the identity of Jesus Christ as both fully human and fully divine, the authoritative character of Scripture as written revelation, and the clear teaching of Scripture concerning issues such as homosexuality, this movement simply refuses to answer the questions.” Yet, the movement continues to gain traction among undiscerning believers young and old, as well critics of traditional evangelicalism.
In an interview with www.freshministry.org, McManus was asked what advice he would give preachers that want to minister in the postmodern age. He responded by saying, “First, The sermons that are changing the world are the ones where the pastor is real--sharing his journey with the congregation. Second, stop preaching sermons and start telling stories. Third, Break though the pressure to be a great preacher and become a great leader.” In other words, away with sound doctrine if it’s not culturally relevant or entertaining to your audience.
Perhaps more troubling, McManus endorsed Gregory Boyd’s book “Is God to Blame.” Boyd is a leading proponent of open theism, which denies God knows all of the future. In the book, Boyd argues that Almighty God suffers from self-imposed limits on His power. At the very least, it’s apparent McManus is willing to tolerate a heretical view that undermines the doctrine of Christ’s Atonement and the authority of Scripture.
One has to question why Student Life would feature McManus at its popular conferences and why any youth pastor would wittingly allow his youth group to sit under an Emergent pastor’s teaching. I think the answer can be found in II Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” Christian young people need sound doctrine to grow in Christ and reach a lost world for Jesus, not a “postmodern” or culturally relevant gospel.
http://www.studentlifetour.com/index.php
Jim Brown is an education reporter for American Family Radio News. His stories appear frequently at www.agapepress.org and other Christian websites. He can be contacted at jimbrown@afa.net.
Distributed by www.ChristianWorldviewNetwork.com
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/secu...&ArticleID=459
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
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SoftTouch
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Oh yeah! I saw that over there too! I posted something on the Eastwood site, but forget to put it here.
Kaballah (sp?) is referred to as "Jewish Mysticism" but it originated in Babylon. When the Jews were released from Babylonian captivity, they brought the Kaballistic teachings with them and incorporated them into their Talmud (Oral Traditions). This was (I believe) what Jesus busted the Pharissee's out on.
I believe this is the underlying teaching of all New Age/Gnosticism teachings -- it's Mystery Babylon!
I'm no 'expert' on the subject, but these are the things I do know about it ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
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helpforhomeschoolers
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Did you see that article about the Secret? It is a TV movie that is about to be released worldwide.
People are saying oh, it is just Hollywood propoganda to promote a movie, but it looks a lot like Kaballah to me.
Do you know what Kaballah is?
It is like God is a conscienceness that is present in all things... it is a lot like the mindset that is already believed in Hinduism,or maybe Scientology's L.Ron Hubbard, it is already embraced by much of Hollywood. It all fits together like pieces of a puzzle.
This is a link on Kaballah:
http://www.kabbalah.com/kabbalah/what.html
http://www.spirit-alembic.com/kaballah.html
this is a link on The Secret:
http://whatisthesecret.tv/slideshow.html
http://whatisthesecret.tv/imagine/
Now check this out:
quote:
The Secret will be revealed in 2006
Discover more in this exclusive - pt 1
The greatest men and women in history knew The Secret. Now for the first time, The Secret will be revealed in a worldwide television event. I spoke with Rhonda Byrne – the woman who is creating television history and about to change the lives of millions.
Julie: I'm thrilled to bring this story to our audience Rhonda - tell us about this phenomenon called The Secret?
Rhonda: Well, The Secret is a worldwide television event that will play around the world in 24 hours in February 2006. The Secret is firstly a 2 hour premiere and it’s a whole new genre of television that's never been done before. Basically The Secret is knowledge - knowledge that has been known by the greatest leaders, the greatest discoverers, the greatest philosophers - the greatest men and women in history. The Secret has to do with everybody's life so this premiere has been made for the person sitting there and as they watch it, they’ll feel as though it’s about their own life. With the knowledge from The Secret there is not anything any human cannot be, do or have...not a single thing. No limits whatsoever. It doesn't matter where anybody is now - it doesn't matter if they're sleeping in a park if they're totally broke, it doesn't matter if they're not well, it doesn't matter if their relationships are a mess. It doesn't matter where they are, when they gain this knowledge and when they apply and use The Secret in their life, their lives will totally change.
Julie: This is a worldwide television event, how many countries will The Secret reach during the 24 hour broadcast?
Rhonda: Hmm, I'm trying to think of a country that WON'T see it. Television talk for a country is a territory so it will be in all the major territories such as the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, countries throughout Europe - then there's all of Asia as well and also tiny places I’ve barely heard of. Territory size is not based on population, it's based on the reach of television in that country. So for example, China is considered a smaller territory when it actually has hundreds of millions of people, but it's because the reach of television there isn't as high. So for the territories where television doesn't reach as far, parts of The Secret will be streamed into mobile phones. It will reach as many people as possible in Africa, China etc because in those territories, TV doesn't reach all of the hundreds of millions, so it will be streamed in via cell phones to reach those people.
Julie: How many people do you estimate will watch it?
Rhonda: Well, we've got 6 billion in the world, how many people will The Secret reach? At the end of the day it will reach everybody. It will - in the 2 hours as a broadcast around the world - touch hundreds of millions of lives - it will just be almost impossible to estimate you know.
Julie: Then of course you’ve got the power of word of mouth, people talking about it.
Rhonda: Well, that's exactly right, and The Secret will come out on DVD which will be amazing, because the more that you watch it, the more you understand it, the better your life becomes.
Julie: So has anyone likened The Secret – although no-one actually knows what The Secret is yet – to What the Bleep Do We Know!?
Rhonda: A few people have asked me about What the Bleep!? which I think is a fantastic film. It isn't that, no - but I think What the Bleep!? is a great, great film.
Julie: Is there see any relationship then between some of the messages that Bleep was trying to communicate, and what's in The Secret? Will it appeal to a similar audience?
Rhonda: I think that all the people who saw What the Bleep!? will just go nuts over The Secret, so you could say it will appeal to all those people as well. When someone watches The Secret, when they really have absorbed all of it, they will know the answer to every single question they could ever ask. That's the difference between it and Bleep. What the Bleep!? was wonderful because it went into new territories and got people thinking and so on, but they are different things. Bleep was awesome, but comparison is just not something I ever do. For the people that enjoyed Bleep, they'll love The Secret and for the people who never saw it who love The Secret, maybe they'll go to see Bleep.
Julie: A lot of people have said that What the Bleep!? left them with more questions than answers.
Rhonda: But that's great too, don’t you think? That was one of the things I thought was wonderful about Bleep, because if it did leave people with more questions than answers, at least they were stopping and asking the questions!
Julie: That’s right – it got them thinking!!!
Rhonda: That's really a fantastic accomplishment. With The Secret, by the time that people have absorbed the knowledge really and truly, when they get to that point where they are wanting it - this is for people who are wanting their lives to be better. Because I would never say ‘Oh, this is the right way and this is not’… OK? It is for those who are wanting to, then they can change their life on any level no matter what it is, it's really their choice and whatever they choose is just perfect. You know, once somebody has understood and really decides that they want to change their life and they want to understand The Secret and absorb all of that knowledge then they really will have the answer to every single question they could ever ask.
Julie: The Secret’s website has already experienced incredible traffic globally.
Rhonda: Yes, in the last 24 hours since the 2nd trailer and clue went out we had 47,000 people who viewed it. It broke the record of all our statistics and every few minutes it’s about 5,000 more!
Julie: So what can people do to get ready for The Secret before it’s revealed in February?
Rhonda: We’ve just released the 2nd trailer on the website www.whatisthesecret.tv and a lot of people subscribe to The Secret Scrolls and they’re getting everything first - the trailers and clues about The Secret. From now until broadcast they're being given things they can do to prepare themselves for The Secret. The one thing I would say to people is to start thinking about what you want. And get ready for The Secret in that way, just think about what you want in the light of 'there are no limits' and you can be, do, have anything. So what is it that you really, really want and start to think about that - that would be the greatest way to prepare yourself for The Secret.
www.whatisthesecret.tv/
Did you see the copyright on that Bleep webiste?
Copyright © 2004 Lord of the Wind Films, LLC - All Rights reserved.
This stuff is beyond creepy.
CHECK THIS OUT!!!!!
quote:
“What the BLEEP Do We Know!?” will be part of the Quest for Global Healing Conference, May 3-8, 2006 in Ubud, Bali. Join an extraordinary gathering of concerned global citizens and innovative thinkers in a quest towards a more collaborative, peaceful, and sustainable future for humankind and the planet. World-Renowned Speakers at the conference include Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, Award-winning Journalist Walter Cronkite, Prince Tjokorda Gde Raka, Ubud Palace, President of The Institute of Noetic Sciences James O'Dea, and Lynne Twist, author of the Soul of Money.
During the Global Healing Film Festival portion of the conference, there will be a screening of What the BLEEP Do We Know!? and Will Arntz will give a presentation. The Film Festival portion will feature new cinematic works from around the world.
Come, be inspired and explore the potential for transformative action with world-renowned speakers and international activists. Witness the richness of Balinese culture and traditions and enjoy their leading musicians and artists. Return home with renewed passion for service that will help shape the future. This second Quest for Global Healing Conference will have its headquarters at the ARMA Museum in Ubud, Bali. Ubud is considered the arts and cultural capital of Bali, and ARMA Museum is a beautiful 4-acre complex offering a gorgeous hotel resort, galleries that host the best of historic and contemporary Balinese art. The area is beautiful, with rice paddies that are still being farmed daily, and an outdoor theatre that features the best in traditional dance and music performances. Call 1- (800) 577-2254 http://www.questforglobalhealing.org/index.htm
Posts: 4684 | From: Southern Black Hills of South Dakota | Registered: Jun 2002
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SoftTouch
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I found this article posted on RaptureNews.com
http://www.apprising.org/archives/2006/02/allee_allee_in.html
"ALL-EE, ALL-EE IN FREE" THE UNIVERSAL APPEAL OF JESUS“
then know this, you and all the people…It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4: 10 & 12)
A Brighter Light
On Slice Of Laodicea Ingrid Schlueter posted that it is true “Rick Warren believes that there is salvation today for those who have never heard of Jesus.” And Warren is not alone in this apostasy either as you will come to see. Ingrid is also quite correct when she further says: “This is the underlying belief of interspiritualists like Dave Fleming who has taken Warren's beliefs a step farther and stated that all world religions are essentially the same, worshipping the same God, beneath the superficial differences. That, friends, is where Rick Warren is taking the church.” Lighthouse Trails Research has already told us about Brian McLaren, another emerging new evangelical leader, who actually endorses Fleming’s book The Seeker’s Way here.
This is also what I have been talking about in my recent work on the neo-pagan cult of the Emergent Church. The interested reader is referred as well to a host of sister ministries who have also dealt with this subject in the “General Apologetics” link on the Front Page here at AM. As I’ve previously pointed out in Part Four of my series The Transformation Of The Emergent Church, in his book Running Against The Wind former New Ager Brian Flynn makes this salient point about Emergent Evangelical Prophet Tony Campolo while he shares a bit from Campolo’s book Speaking My Mind. But as Flynn does so he is also indicating the direction that we are undoubtedly heading now with the transformation of the Evangelical church itself.
You will be coming to see that there is an idea becoming more and more prevalent within the Evangelical community where “interfaith/interspiritual” dialogues will allegedly help us to promote the idea of some New Age global peace plan. However this all really runs much deeper than that as Flynn writes:
It is with great sadness and dismay I tell you now that this New Age mindset has spilled over and is now invading Christendom. Evangelical author and speaker Tony Campolo, in his book Speaking My Mind, affirms this union:
Mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam. Both religions have within their histories examples of ecstatic union with God, which seem at odds with their own spiritual traditions but have much in common with each other.
Can you begin to see the language of this new theological agenda? Mysticism (transcendental meditation) and the “ecstatic union” with God is the “common ground” in all these “spiritual traditions” that provide the “light” for those who don’t happen to hear the Gospel. In fact Schlueter points out a rather interesting statement from Warren himself in her article as he says, “Someone who has begun to walk in the light is always able to recognize a brighter light.” I’ll touch on this further in a moment, but Flynn goes on to tells us that Campolo asks an interesting question which begins to make things even clearer about where all this is leading these fools who follow Warren, McLaren and this emerging new evangelicalism:
“Could they [Islamic Sufis] have encountered the same God we do in our Christian mysticism?” With various examples, Campolo paints a picture of interspirituality through mysticism. Referring to Muslim and Christian mystics, he even tells us that the Christian mystics, such as St. John of the Cross, were enriched by the teachings of Sufi philosophers. In comparing St. Francis of Assisi with the founder of the Sufi movement, Campolo says:
Both men sensed presence in everything and claimed to have experienced a mystical union with God.
The obvious implication of Campolo’s statement is that God can be reached through mystical experiences, regardless of one’s religion and beliefs. This is common thinking among contemplatives who often state that contemplative prayer does indeed provide a bridge to Divinity. (185,186, Embraced By The Light)
You need to understand that the Emerging Church is the Trojan Horse used by the Devil to bring in the spiritual mysticism necessary to accomplish the further inward transformation (aka “enlightenment”) of man so that eventually he may become deceived into thinking that each religion contains vestiges of truth left from our original knowledge about the Sacred (Mysteries of God). This will tell you why the whole Church Growth Movement which birthed both the Purpose Driven Church and its ugly step-sister the Emerging Church has been deemphasizing the Cross–if they even preach it at all. And all of this is really Satan’s most subtle twist on his initial lie to Eve – “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).
Those of us who have been covering this for the Church are doing our best to alert you that the one area of agreement that all of these interspiritual groups have is the spiritual practice/discipline of transcendental meditation. That’s why Mike Oppenheimer’s new series A GREAT Compromise on the acceptance of Yoga within the Christian Church is a must read. Rick Warren himself encourages meditation, and making a right judgment through statements such as the following, he is most likely a practictioner of meditation himself. And a very common expression among those who have reached this enlightenment/transformation (satori in Zen) is what we showed you earlier from Warren who says, “Someone who has begun to walk in the light is always able to recognize a brighter light.”
First of all, the above statement by Warren is heresy because this Christian leader assumes someone is already walking in the light prior to regeneration. Not only that, but the universal testimony from those who have reached this inner transformation speaks of being bathed in Light and Love, and then comes the deep realization that all mankind itself shares a divine nature and is truly one in God (the Light). The seeker senstive Purpose Driven Church and the spiritual seeker sensitive Emerging Church both encourage the practice of what is known as contemplative spirituality (read: transcendental meditation). Now director of the Christian outreach One Truth Ministries, Brian Flynn is spiritually dead right when he warns where all of this is headed. He says that it “is imperative” for the Church “to see the connections between contemplative prayer and this explanation of world peace by New Age leaders” (190).
Flynn then states the most serious fact that:
It is equally important to understand that a growing movement among evangelical leaders is heading in the same direction. I find it extraordinary that those Christian leaders who are involved in this global peace process are also advocates of contemplative prayer. Below is just a sampling of quotations to show those connections:
Rick Warren
Meditation: Many Christians use “Breath Prayers” throughout their day. You choose a brief sentence, or a simple phrase that can be repreated to Jesus in one breath.
Global Peace: My hope is for a new reformation in the Church and a new spiritual awakening throughout the world. ––Rick Warren in reference to his global P.E.A.C.E. Plan.
Ken Blanchard
Meditation: Buddha points to the path and invites us to begin our journey to enlightenment. I…invite you to begin your journey to enlightened work.
Global Peace: Ken [Blanchard] has signed on to help with the P.E.A.C.E. Plan. And he’s going to be helping train us. ––Rick Warren
Tony Campolo
Meditation: Beyond these models of reconciliation, a theology of mysticism provides some hope for common ground between Christianity and Islam.
Global Peace: [W]e are to work with Christ to…bring about global peace (190,191).
Rooted In Gnosticism
It’s not like this mystical spirituality hasn’t been lurking in the Evangelical community for years. In his book Deceived On Purpose (DOP) Warren Smith clearly denliniates the influence that Robert Schuller has had on Rick Warren. There isn’t any question that “Christian” minister Norman Vincent Peale in turn had an enormous effect on Schuller, who pieced together his own unique brand of “positive,” and very liberal Christianity from Peale’s earlier Gnostic metaphysical teachings. In DOP Smith tells us about something Schuller wrote that “reminded me of Bernie Siegel’s encounter with his spirit guide George.” Then Smith, a former believer in New Age theology himself, says that while practicing transcendental meditation:
Schuller claimed to have an encounter with “Jesus.” Schuller wrote: “I went into a time of relaxation, meditation, and two-way prayer. In a matter of seconds I can get myself into a state of relaxation where I am not conscious of my body weight, but sense that I am floating suspended in space. And this is when I go into two-way prayer.” Schuller goes on to further describe an encounter with “Jesus” and an accompanying vision (56).
The danger signs should now be quite plain before you because these are not names of obscure cultists in the dimlit room of some back alley fortune teller. The men you have been reading about in this piece who are practicing this kind of neo-pagan mystic spiritualism are some of the leaders within the Evangelical community. No longer relegated to the outskirts of Christian spirituality, this interspiritualism is now taking center stage in the Body of Christ and coming to a church near you. Consider this from an ad in the current edition of Christianity Today.
Spiritual FORMATION...the most pressing need in the body of Christ today!
Join in the 2006 Spiritual Formation Forum with leading thinkers developing ideas for building Spiritual Formation in your Community.
The 2006 Spiritual Formation Forum features “meaningful interaction in discussion groups,” with “uniquely designed workshops to discover next steps” and “built in opportunities for guided-retreat, silence and solitude.” Among the featured speakers will be Dallas Willard, “Professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California. Lectures and publishes on spirituality” and Richard Foster, “the founder of RENOVARÉ and author of six books including Celebration of Discipline…Richard travels throughout the world, speaking and teaching on the spiritual life.” Foster’s workshop “will consider the theological necessity and Pauline ideal of community as the 'Body of Christ' and a few models for living life together and nurturing Christian spiritual formation.”
God In All, All In God
You will notice that this idea of spiritual formation has to do with silence and solitude, which are aspects of this mystic spiritualism I have been telling you about. Anyone with eyes to see should find all of this to be very alarming when compared to what Jesus actually says in the Bible, and with what the Word of God tells us about how it will truly be before the Antichrist appears. And not only that, but through all of this neo-pagan mystic spirituality the Evangelical church is rapidly heading to a fullblown doctrine of panentheism which would make a One World Global Family entirely conceivable. Once you understand this teaching that God, though separate from the creation (transcendant) “breathed in” and created the universe “inside” Himself (immanent), you will begin to be able to see why Christian missions of evangelism have now become unnecessary for those caught up in the deceptive spirituality of the new evangelicalism.
Space allows just a couple of quick examples, but you may take the time to research the topic further in numerous articles I have written here. In The Church In Emerging Culture Frederica Mathewes-Green, Emergent author and commentator, is asked how can one know Christ? In her meandering answer she negates the inherent sin nature of mankind calling it simply “a sick person who wants to get well.” However, the Bible tells us there is none who seek God, but aside from that Mathewes-Green then says:
What [Christ] offers us is not merely legal aquittal. It is alarmingly more intimate than that. He offers himself, his very life, he in us and we in him. He is already here, filling all things, overflowing all creation with his breathed-in presence (172, emphasis added).
You must also keep in mind here that this Emergent author has made no mention of this being for the person born again by placing faith in Christ. This is consistent with Brian McLaren and in this new mystic spirituality even espoused by Rick Warren himself, the Cross is just not important. Also, in a moment you will see that the “breathed-in” language Mathewes-Green uses, God creating the universe inside Himself, is identical to that used by the “living spiritual teacher” Alan Jones in his sermon Who Is God? This by the way, is the same Jones who authored the book Reimagining Christianity where this Guru called the vicarious penal substitutionary atonement of Christ Jesus on the Cross a “vile doctrine” (168). And yet according to Emergent Church spiritual director Brian McLaren, Alan Jones is “reimagining a Christian faith that emerges from authentic spirituality. His work stimulates and encourages me deeply” (back cover, emphasis added).
In the beginning, before there were any beginnings and endings, there was no place that was not already God! And we call this unimaginable openness, "Ain Soph" – Being – without end. Then came the urge to give life to our world and to us. But there was no place that was not already God. So "Ain Soph" breathed in to make room,… (http://www.30goodminutes.org/csec/sermon/jones_3710.htm, emphasis added)
Let’s stop right here for a moment. “In the beginning”; very Biblical, this will remind us of bereshith in the Hebrew, en arche in the Septuagint (LXX) of Genesis 1:1 and used also in John 1:1 – “Before anything ever was.” So we’re off to a good start, but uh-oh; now we see “‘Ain Soph’ (from the Jewish mysticism of the Kabbalah) breathed in to make,” i.e. to create. This is the emerging panentheism we are now alerted to look for; the creation is already in God, where in historic orthodox theology the creation comes from God. And if man, who is a part of this creation is already in God, then he is also divine, and thus all men are God, as such there would be no need to be regenerated by God the Holy Spirit. No way around this blasphemous, let alone heretical, view concerning the nature of God.
This next part of Jones’ sermon is also very illuminating, so to speak, but also quite disturbing when we read:
Into the emptiness "Ain Soph" set vessels and began to fill them with divine light, as a mother places bowls in which to pour her delicious soup. As the light poured forth, a perfect world was being created! Think of it! A world without greed and cruelty and violence! But then, something happened. The bowls shattered. No one knows why. Perhaps the bowls were too frail? Perhaps the light too intense? Perhaps "Ain Soph" was learning. After all, no one makes perfect the first time. And with the shattering of the bowls, divine sparks flew everywhere! Some rushing back to "Ain Soph," some falling, falling, trapped in the broken shards to become our world, and us.
Notice that Guru Jones mentions here how “Ain Soph” (God) fills these “vessels” (mankind) with “divine light” (deity). Oh, and here’s a bit more “enlightenment” by Alan Jones from his “deeply stimulating and encouraging” book Reimagining Christianity:
The mystical traditions all agree that in our helplessness we come closer to the real well of life deep within us…[r]enewal and transformation could begin by our waiting for our own secret to reveal itself in the pregnant silence–in the silence of the Virgin concerning the secret of God…in the silence we, too, by the grace of the Spirit give birth to ourselves–to the true self that is both secret and known, the self-in-God. Loved and in communion with all things, the soul is born in and out of the secret silence of God, This silence at the heart of mysticism is not only the meeting point of the great traditions but it is also where all hearts might meet (172,174, emphasis added)
Could all of this be any clearer from Jones? The mystic traditions all agree that deep within us is the true divine self in God which we find in the silence of meditation as we are all really one Global Family in God. And now Ray Yungen gives us a further look at where men like Rick Warren, the Pied Piper of the Purpose Driven Church, and Brian McLaren, Spiritual Director of the Emergent Church, are now taking the Evangelical church. In his book A Time For Departing, which I highly recommend, Yungen is specifically speaking about Richard Foster and his use of the teachings of “Christian” mystics. This would be the same Richard Foster, whom Brian McLaren calls (along with Dallas Willard) a key “mentor” in the Emerging Church movement, and who just happens to be the leading teacher of contemplative prayer. By the way Rick Warren recommends the work of Foster to your pastors at his website pastors.com.
As we close this work, what Ray Yungen is about to tell us about the aforementioned Richard Foster and these so-called Christian mystics is now also becoming true for those growing sections of the Church who, as we have just shown above, are now dabbling themselves in this “the silence,” which is simply another way of referring to the neo-pagan practice of transcendental meditation. Yungen gives us the benefit of his thorough research:
The point is this: their silence and Foster’s silence are identical, as he makes clear. By using them as models, Foster tells us to follow them because they have experienced deep union with God–and if you also want this, you must go into their silence.
But if this is the case, then Foster’s use of these mystics brings up a difficult problem for him. Panentheism was the fruit of their mysticism. This mysticism led them to believe as they did, and Foster cannot distance himself from that fact. Consequently, to promote them as champions of contemplative prayer, he is also, wittingly or not, endorsing their panentheism. What he endorses is a package. You can accept both or reject both, but you cannot have one without the other (72).
And all of this mystic spirituality in new evangelicalism with its base in universalism has now brought us full-circle to The Falling Away Of The Evangelical Church…
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Psalm 119:104Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. 105Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
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