In 2007 and 2008, books, videos, broadcasts, and news articles were pouring into mainstream America with a guilt-ridden message that basically manipulated conservative Christians into thinking that either they shouldn’t vote because “Jesus wouldn’t vote,” or they shouldn’t vote on morality issues such as abortion or homosexuality. Suddenly, all over the place there was talk about “destroying Christianity,” or “liking Jesus but not the church,” or “Jesus for president” (suggesting that maybe we could get Him on the ballot but certainly we shouldn’t vote for anyone already on the ballot). It all sounded very noble to many. After all, everybody knows there is so much political corruption in high government and certainly as much hypocrisy within the walls of many proclaiming  Christian leaders and celebrities.

This special report by Lighthouse Trails is not going to attempt to answer the question, “Should a Christian vote?” But we hope to at least show that things are not always as they seem, and what may appear “noble” and good may not be so at all.

This month, January, a young man, Jefferson (Jeff) Bethke, who attends contemplative advocate Mark Driscoll’s church, Mars Hill in Washington state, posted a video on YouTube called “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.â€� Within hours, the video had over 100,000 hits. Soon it reached over 14 million hits, according to the Washington Post, one of the major media that has spotlighted the Bethke’s video (actual hits has now reached nearly 17 million as of 01-26-12).

The Bethke video is a poem Bethke wrote and recites in a rap-like fashion his thoughts and beliefs. Interestingly, liberals and “new” emerging spirituality figures alike seem to be resonating with Bethke’s message and are shouting it from the rooftops. Emerging church journalist Jim Wallis (founder of Sojourners) is one who picked up on Bethke’s video, writing:

Bethke’s work challenges his listeners to second guess their preconceived notions about what it means to be a Christian. He challenges us to turn away from the superficial trappings of “religion,� and instead lead a missional life in Christ.1

What Wallis and others like him are talking about when they say “preconceived notions” is Christianity according to the Bible. They accept some of it but find to accept all of itis too restricting. Many of them call themselves red letter Christians, supposing to mean they adhere to all the red letters that Jesus said; but they have actually chosen which red letters they adhere to – they don’t accept them all. For instance, they dismiss red letters that refer to there being a hell for those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord, God, and Savior.  When Wallis says missional, this doesn’t mean traditional missionary efforts to evangelize the world. It means to realize that all of humanity is saved and being saved along with all of creation, and that the means of salvation didn’t take place in a one time event (the Cross) but is an ongoing procedure that occurs as people begin to realize they are all connected to one another and can bring about a Utopian society through this interconnectedness. Such emerging buzz words like missional fool a lot of people though.

Incidentally, if you never read an article we posted in the summer of 2010 regarding Jim Wallis and Sojourners, we highly recommend it. But be warned – you may find it quite disturbing when you read what the agenda behind the scenes really is: “Sojourners Founder Jim Wallis’ Revolutionary Anti-Christian “Gospelâ€� (and Will Christian Leaders Stand with Wallis?)”

 The rally call to throw out Christianity but keep “Jesus” isn’t a new one - we’ve heard it many times before from various emerging contemplatives. Futurist Erwin McManus once said in an interview:

My goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ . . . Some people are upset with me because it sounds like I’m anti-Christian. I think they might be right. 2

And, of course, there is Dan Kimball’s book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church. In a book review of Kimball’s book, Lighthouse Trails stated that the book should really be called They Like (Another) Jesus But Not the Church, the Bible, Morality, or the Truth. Kimball interviews several young people (one is a lesbian) who tell him they “like and respect Jesus” but they don’t want anything to do with going to church or with those Christians who take the Bible literally. Kimball says these are “exciting times” we live in “when Jesus is becoming more and more respected in our culture by non-churchgoing people (p. 12). He says we should “be out listening to what non-Christians, especially those in their late teens to thirties, are saying and thinking about the church and Christianity” (p. 12).

According to Kimball, it is vitally important that we as Christians be accepted by non-Christians and not thought of as abnormal or strange. But in order to do that, he says we must change the way we live and behave. Kimball insists (p. 19) that “those who are rejecting faith in Jesus” do so because of their views of Christians and the church. But he makes it clear throughout the book that these distorted views are not the fault of the unbeliever but are the fault of Christians, but not all Christians, just those fundamentalist ones who take the Bible literally, believe that homosexuality is a sin, and think certain things are wrong and harmful to society … and actually speak up about these things.

Perhaps what is most damaging about Dan Kimball’s book is his black and white, either or reasoning (the very thing he accuses Christians of). He makes it very clear that you cannot be a Christian who takes the Bible literally and also be a humble, loving thoughtful person. They are two different things, according to Kimball. There is no such thing as a loving, humble Christian who takes the Bible literally. His book further alienates believers in a world that is already hostile to those who say Jesus is the only way to salvation, the Bible should be taken literally, homosexuality is a sin, and we are called out of this world to live righteously by the grace of God. (We hope you can take the time to read our review of Kimball’s book to better understand this “I hate the church and religion” viewpoint.)

Brian McLaren, the emerging church’s early pioneer resonates with these ill feelings toward the Christian faith when he stated: 

I must add, though, that I don’t believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts.3

Roger Oakland deals with this “we love Jesus but hate Christianity” mentality in his book Faith Undone. Listen to a few quotes Oakland includes in that book:

For me, the beginning of sharing my faith with people began by throwing out Christianity and embracing Christian spirituality, a nonpolitical mysterious system that can be experienced but not explained.4 Don Miller, Blue Like Jazz

They [Barbarians] see Christianity as a world religion, in many ways no different from any other religious system. Whether Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, or Christianity, they’re not about religion; they’re about advancing the revolution Jesus started two thousand years ago. 5 Erwin McManus, The Barbarian Way

New Light embodiment means to be “in connection� and “information� with other faiths…. One can be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ without denying the flickers of the sacred in followers of Yahweh, or Kali, or Krishna.�6–Leonard Sweet

I happen to know people who are followers of Christ in other religions.7–Rick Warren

I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity…. I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.8–Thomas Merton

Allah is not another God … we worship the same God…. The same God! The very same God we worship in Christ is the God . . . the Muslims–worship.9–Peter Kreeft

Roger Oakland relates a story from the Book of Acts:

 [T]he apostle Paul had been arrested for preaching the Gospel. He was brought before King Agrippa and given the opportunity to share his testimony of how he became a Christian. He told Agrippa that the Lord had commissioned him to preach the Gospel and:

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” (Acts 26:18)

Agrippa continued listening and then said to Paul, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian (vs. 28).� Paul answered him:

“I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.” (vs. 29)

If Paul had been following the emerging mentality, he would have told Agrippa, “No need to become a Christian. You can remain just as you are; keep all your rituals and practices, just say you like Jesus.� In actuality, if Paul had been practicing emerging spirituality, he wouldn’t have been arrested in the first place. He would not have stood out, would not have preached boldly and without reservation, and he would not have called himself a Christian, which eventually became a death sentence for Paul and countless others. 10

It’s hard to believe that there was not at least some political agenda in this storm of “we love Jesus but not the church or Christianity.” And we believe this agenda was aimed especially toward young people from evangelical conservative upbringings who had joined the emerging church movement. In a CBS Broadcast, anchorman Antonio Mora suggests there may have been over ”twenty million participants [in the emerging church movement] in the United States alone by 2006. 11 Even half that number would be enough to change the results of a presidential election. Some may contend that Jefferson Bethke’s song doesn’t have any political message at all – it’s just about hypocrisy of religious people. But interestingly, in the very first few lines of the song, Bethke raps: 

What if I told you getting you to vote republican, really wasn’t his [Jesus'] mission?

Because republican doesn’t automatically mean Christian.

Could there be some message here that Bethke is trying to relay? Is it just to tell people that just because they are Republican doesn’t mean they are Christian? Surely not. A fourth grader could reason that out. There must be some other message here that just happens to be taking place on an election year – the same kind of message sent out in late 2007 and  2008. Just consider some of the things being said by evangelical and emerging figures during the 2008 presidential election year. And think about what you are hearing today.  A lot of people love the messages being sent out by people like Dan Kimball, Jefferson Bethke, Erwin McManus, and let’s not forget Frank Viola and George Barna’s book, Pagan Christianity, where they condemn church practices like pastors, sermons, Sunday School, and pews, but say nothing about spiritual deception that has come into the church. These latter two figures (Viola and Barna) give readers a feeling that they should hate Christianity but just love Jesus. But what Jesus are these voices writing, singing, and rapping about? It may be “another Jesus” and a “different gospel.”

As the world is gradually (but not too slowly anymore) heading toward a global government and global religion, it is becoming more and more apparent that this global society will be one where “tolerance” is the byword for everything other than biblical Christianity. And what better way to breed hatred toward biblical Christians than to say “we love Jesus but hate the church” (i.e., Christians and Christianity)? Perhaps they have forgotten what Jesus said:

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.� (John 15: 18,19).

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. (John 17:14)

This report we have written may produce more questions than answers regarding things like politics, voting, the role of Christians in the world, the view the world has of Christians, and so forth. But while we have not answered such questions, we hope we have shown that indeed things are not always as they seem and that often what seems right may actually be from a deceiving angel of light and who appears good may actually only be false ministers of righteousness. 

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. 2 Corinthians 11: 14-15

Notes:

 1. http://www.sojo.net/blogs/2012/01/11/viral-why-i-hate-religion-love-jesus?quicktabs_1=2
2. http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20Mar05/Art_Mar05_09.html (Also see our research pageon McManus.)
3. Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 293.
4. Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (Nashville, TN: Zondervan, 2003), p. 115.
5. Erwin McManus, The Barbarian Way (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005),p. 6.
6. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, p. 130.
7. Rick Warren, “Discussion: Religion and Leadership,� with David Gergen and Rick Warren (Aspen Ideas Festival, The Aspen Institute, July 6, 2005, http://www.aspeninstitute.org); for more information: http://www. lighthouse trailsresearch.com/newsletternovember05.htm.
8. David Steindl-Rast, “Recollection of Thomas Merton’s Last Days in the West� (Monastic Studies, 7:10, 1969).
9. Peter Kreeft, Ecumenical Jihad, op. cit., pp. 30, 160.
10. Roger Oakland, Faith Undone, chapter 10
11. Cited from Faith Undone, from chapter 1; taken from Antonio Mora, “New Faithful PRactice Away from Churches” CBS Broadcasting, July 10, 2006

APPENDIX:

These clippings below from various 2008 Lighthouse Trails articles show that there was a definite effort to alter the sociopolitical views of conservative Christian adults and their young adult children.

January 2008: According to an AP (Associated Press) report out of Washington DC, “Rick Warren is calling for reconciliation in politics and the church.� . . . The report also stated that Warren said “the nation needs both liberals and conservatives, and he lamented that evangelicals are often viewed as only ‘right wing.’�1 Warren’s ongoing message has been that “right winged� Christians against gay marriage and abortion need to come to a middle of the road place with liberal “Christians� who want to do something about the environment and AIDS. In this talk Rick Warren stated: “People ask me all the time, Are you left-winged or right-winged? … I’m for the left wing and for the right wing…. the fundamental truth is Washington needs both wings. (Rick Warren Calling for Reconciliation Between Religion and Politics )

January 2008:  The New Baptist Covenant, an alliance of over 30 Baptist organizations, will be hosting the 2008 Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant conference starting today, January 30th. A luncheon will be held with guest speaker, Al Gore. Other speakers at the event include Tony Campolo and former presidents Bill Clinton (keynote speaker) and Jimmy Carter (the founder of the New Baptist Covenant). . . . The 30 plus Baptist organizations that are part of the New Baptist Covenant represent 20 million Baptists around the world, according to the NBC website. . . .  In addition to Al Gore and Tony Campolo . . . some of the “Presenters” at the conference starting today are: MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), The Alban Institute, and The Upper Room. While this article will not attempt to determine whether there are political motives behind this newly formed organization that includes at least three major political personalities, one thing can be stated with surety: The New Baptist Covenant has the potential of being another avenue through which mystical spirituality will enter the lives of millions of people and thus take them further away from the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. (Conference Alert: Al Gore and Tony Campolo to Address Baptist Organizations )

January 2008: Emergent leader Brian McLaren will begin his “Everything Must Change” tour in February. The tour will run in several different US cities and is named after his book, Everything Must Change. . . . McLaren’s message that everything must change is the ongoing message of the emerging church. (Conference Alert: Brian McLaren Tour Starts Soon )

January 2008: On February 11th, Cedarville University will be hosting an evening with emerging church activist Shane Claiborne. The evening is titled after Claiborne’s book, The Irresistible Revolution . . .  

Claiborne’s book has a foreword by liberal political activist Jim Wallis. While Cedarville’s Dean of Student Life (Purple) told Lighthouse Trails that Cedarville is “very conservative,” pointing students to a book that is partially written by Wallis seems to give a different message. Wallis is the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, a widely read publication that gives a voice to mystics, emerging leaders, and New Age proponents. Sojourners would not represent the views of a “conservative” Christian college by any means, and it is a dichotomy for Cedarville to call itself conservative Christian then introduce students to a book written by Wallis and Claiborne in a favorable light, which CU is doing when it says that Claiborne is “rooted in the values of the Christian faith.” (Cedarville University Bringing Emerging Church Activist to Campus  - Claiborne is the author of Jesus for President)

March 2008: Tony Jones comes out with his book, The New Christians, which insists that Christianity is dead. As is typical with many emerging church books, The New Christians emphatically tries to convince readers that the “church is dead” (p. 4), at least church as we have known it. Jones uses several analogies to describe present day Christianity, such as it being like the nearly-obsolete pay phones, or a dying old growth forest, or compost (rotting vegetables). He says we can almost hear the “death rattle” of “America’s church” (p. 5). (Book Review – The New Christians by Tony Jones )

May 2008:  CNN, reporting on a document that is going to be released this Wednesday and signed by several “evangelical” leaders including Rick Warren. . . . we thought our readers would want to learn about “An Evangelical Manifesto,” another effort by some highly influential figures to marginalize biblical Christians. . . . “The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for using faith to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.” (This is really to say that conservative Christians shouldn’t get involved with politics. PART 1: ‘An Evangelical Manifesto’ criticizes politics of faith)

May 2008: “An Evangelical Manifesto� Released

May 2008: First, Red Letter Christians announced that we are trying to create a new movement that seeks to make faithfulness to Biblical Christianity an imperative for progressive politics. With media exposure, the group recasts the image of a “Christian” in the 21st century, i.e. sympathetic toward the bondage of homosexuality and inclusive toward other religious belief systems. The Red Letter Christians misrepresent Biblical Christianity to the general public. Now, another self appointed “non-group” of public square Christians step up to the podium at the National Press Club to act as spokesmen ( though the event is described as an invitation to join the effort ) for Evangelicals to announce: ” We’re different, we’re sorry, and we’ll change for the global good.”. . . The expressed intent of the Manifesto claims to “depoliticize” faith or “take religion out of politics.” Which is interesting, giving the venue of the National Press Club. (Decoding the Evangelical’s Manifesto for Global Ecumenism )

May 2008:  Three “of the most outspoken” leaders of the emerging church (Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and Mark Scandrette) will be going on a national road tourthis summer and are receiving sponsorship from several large organizations. Some of those sponsors are Christianbook.com, Jossey-Bass, Compassion International, International Bible Society, and Zondervan.

The three men will hit 32 cities with their message of “a 21st century gospel.” Pagitt states they are taking their “invitation of hope and good news to people around the country. . . preaching a fresh way of life and faith–one that is in rhythm with the life of God.” Unfortunately, this “fresh way” consists of a message that contradicts the gospel message of the Bible. (Emergent Road Show Receives Sponsorship From Major Organizations )

May 2008: Time magazine has joined the ranks of Christian and secular media that are reporting this week on Rick Warren’s new PEACE Coalition. The article, titled “Rick Warren Goes Global,” says that Warren is “perhaps the most important voice in contemporary American Evangelical Christianity,” and that Warren is hoping to “take his ‘brand’ [of spirituality] to the ends of the earth.” Warren told Time (who was invited to the by-invitation-only conference) that this was “the most important conference” of his life, and he was extending participation in the PEACE Coalition to “the wider Evangelical community.” . . . For those who read the Timearticle and are not familiar with Rick Warren’s previous statements and teachings, Warren’s reformation may appear to be a biblically-based reformation, one that represents the Christian church, caring about the poor and needy. But Warren has defined this “new reformation” and how he intends to “re-engineer” the Christian faith. For instance, when Warren spoke at the Pew Forum on Religion in 2005, he told the audience that his new Christian reformation would include those from other faiths (in particularly Muslims). (Time Magazine on Rick Warren’s New Global Reformation and His PEACE Coalition )

June 2008: Emerging church leaders Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and Mark Scandrette have gone on a summer road tour across the US as we reported on May 22nd in our article, Emergent Road Show Receives Sponsorship From Major Organizations.  Jones says the tour is a rendition of evangelism 100 years ago.  “We think that the church — even Christianity — needs an overhaul,” Jones states. Lighthouse Trails believes this tour will mislead many people. For three emerging leaders to say they are impersonating evangelists from a hundred years ago is a frivolous parody at best, and a mockery of godly believers of the past and the God whom they served at worse. The great evangelists from the past were for the most part Christians who held fast to the Word of God and did not compromise its truth and authority. But not so with those who lead what is known as the emerging church. (Pagitt, Jones, Scandrette: “What in the World Are We Doing?â€� )

June 2008:  On June 26th, an Associated Press article was released titled “Faithful in pews might not be voters in November.” The article prompted a response by emerging church author/lecturer Brian McLaren. The article stated that Obama had “sent Brian McLaren, one of the country’s most influential pastors, to meet with fellow evangelicals.” . . . McLaren concluded his comments by stating: “. . .  To say I hope he[Obama] will be our next president rather than Senator McCain is accurate.” (Brian McLaren: Hoping Obama Will Be Our Next President )

July 2008: CNN Interview with Rick Warren on Obama/McCain at Saddleback; (Warren: They’re both amazing men.)

August 2008: Presidential Forum – ABC Interview with Rick Warren: Warren Takes On His Critics

August 2008: Emerging Church Author [Donald Miller] to Give Prayer at Democratic National Convention  

August 2008: On Monday night, August 25th, emerging church author Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz) gave the closing prayer at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. This comes on the heels of the news that Brian McLaren (prolific writer and emerging church leader) is now an advisor to Barack Obama. A concerted effort is taking place to draw emerging church voters into the Democratic arena. It is quite possible that the emerging vote will be the tipping factor in the upcoming presidential election. (Donald Miller, the Emerging Church, and the Democratic National Convention )

September 2008: Obama: Grew up with “the Bible and the Koran� – Believes Many Paths Lead to God

September 2008: Phyllis Tickle and a New Kind of Church

September 2008: Contemplative Spirituality and the Emerging Church Come to Kansas Through YouthFront and MNU

October 2008: Socialism in America: A Revolution in the MakingBy Jan Markell – In recent weeks it has become more obvious that America is on the yellow-brick road to Socialism. In 1962 Russian Premier Khrushchev said, “We can’t expect the American people to jump from capitalism to Communism but we can assist their leaders by giving them small amounts of Socialism until they awaken one day to find out they have Communism.”

• January 14 – ‘US prepping facilities for Israel attack on Iran’
• January 15 – IBM Reveals Five Innovations That Will Change Our Lives within Five Years
• January 18 – Pope says uniting Christianity requires conversion
• January 15 – Russia: Attack on Tehran is Attack on Moscow
• January 4 – Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Time Cloak Created
• January 10 – Unnatural selection: Is evolving reproductive technology ushering in a new age of eugenics?
• January 16 – Nearly Half of Churchgoing Americans Say Church Doesn’t Have an Effect on Their Lives
• January 16 – Fatah’s Top Religious Authority Calls for Genocide of Jews

To view this online, click here.

from YouTube: Shazoolo – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlhKeph63D8

 By Fred Lucas
CNSNews

President Barack Obama says the 39^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is the chance to recognize the “fundamental constitutional right� to abortion and to “continue our efforts to ensure that our daughters have the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities as our sons to fulfill their dreams.�

The 1974 U.S. Supreme Court nationalized abortion law, prohibiting states from deciding on the matter. In his written statement, Obama acknowledged that abortion has been a divisive political issue.

Obama, while serving in the Illinois State Legislature and as president of the United States, has taken a hard line on abortion rights.

In his statement on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling, Obama said it reflects the broader principles of America. Click here to continue reading.

From 10 years of research at Lighthouse Trails Research Project, we have found the following fifty organizations to have had a significant role in bringing contemplative spirituality into the evangelical/Protestant church. If you do not know or understand the implications of this, we urge you to educate yourself as soon as possible.

Note: We have not listed any colleges or seminaries in this list. To see our list of contemplative promoting schools, click here. This list below is in conjunction with our recent list of Christian leaders: 100 Top Contemplative Proponents Evangelical Christians Turn To Today.

1.  Acts 29 Network
 
2. American Association of Christian Counselors
 
3.  American Bible Society 

4.  Association for Biblical Higher Learning 

5.  Association of Theological Schools (ATS) 

6.  Baker Books (Emersion) 

7.  Bible.org 

8. Boundless Webzine (FOF) 

9.  Breakforth (Canada) 

10.  Center for Action and Contemplation 

11.  Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) 

12.  Christian Missionary Alliance 

13.  Christianity Today 

14. Emergent Village 

15. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America 

16.  Focus on the Family 

17.  Group Magazine 

18. Henri Nouwen Society 

19.  IHOP-KC 

20.  Intervarsity Press 

21.  Kairos School of Spiritual Formation
 
22.  Conversations Journal
 
23. Leadership Network
 
24.  Lifeway Resources 

25.  Mennonite Brethren
 
26.  Mennonite Church, USA

27. Metamorpha  

28.  National Worship Conference
 
29. NavPress

30.  New Church Specialties

31. Presbyterian Church USA

32.  Relevant Magazine

33.  Renovare

34. Robert E. Webber Institute for Spiritual Studies

35. Saddleback Church 

36.  Sojourners 

37.  Spiritual Directors International 

38.  Teen Mania 

39.  The Church of the Nazarene 

40. The Ooze 

41. The Purpose Driven Movement

42.  The Upper Room
 
43. Thomas Nelson Publishers 

44.  Transforming Center 

45.  Wesleyan Church 

46.  Willow Creek Association 

47.  Worship Leader Magazine
 
48.  Youth Ministry & Spirituality Project
 
49. Youth Specialties
 
50. Zondervan

Note: You can get information on any of these organizations using our search engines on both our blog and research site. 

This is the conclusion of the 7 part series by Herescope on the book Have Heart and its introduction to necromancy. In this article, Herescope identifies the symptoms of seduction by spirits. Some of these symptoms include: apparitions, universalism, frightening phenomena, synchronicity and “God Nods,” psychic science, and others.

By Herescope

“BREACHED! The Symptoms of Seduction by Spirits”

 Now it came about when Jerusalem was captured in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it; in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the city wall was breached.  Jeremiah 39:1-2

In a point-by-point biblical and theological analysis and commentary, Have Heart was reviewed by Pastor Larry DeBruyn in his 5-part series “Do the Dead Communicate with the Living?� The Discernment Research Group thought this review of the Bergers’ book was necessary because the issues it introduces to America’s evangelical community; namely a New Age understanding of Heaven that allows for visitations from Christian loved ones who have entered the afterlife.

From our perspective, we are sorry that the grief and anguish of their son’s death has opened the minds of the family, their friends and their audience to “the other side� for the term “other side� derives its meaning from the occult world of Spiritualism, a religious phenomena that has been around for centuries. As a movement, Wikipedia describes the rise of Spiritualism to prominence in the 1840s as follows:

Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living. Anyone may receive spirit messages, but formal communication sessions (séances) are held by “mediums�, who can then provide information about the afterlife.

Under the subheading “Syncretism,� the Wikipedia entry also notes that Spiritualism was a forerunner to the New Age movement, with which it shares many similarities and overlapping connections, and that in the past it gained a foothold in many liberal Christian churches whose membership contains so-called “Christian Spiritualists.� So herein resides our concern: the door to the doctrines and practices of Spiritualism is now being opened amongst unsuspecting evangelicals because of the information and experiences communicated by the Bergers’ book.  Click here for footnotes, to continue reading this article, and to see the symptoms of seduction of spirits.

By Roger Oakland and Understand the Times
(source for this update)

PASTOR PIUS ACHILLA

We received a report [on November 18th] from Pastor Achilla in Kenya bringing us up to date with regard to progress with the Bryce Orphan Home Project. Pastor Nelson has moved with his entire family from Kisumu to Rongo where he will be establishing Bryce Home One. Along with his wife and seven children of their own, they have seven additional adopted children they are looking after.

PASTOR NELSON OCHIENG

Understand The Times has rented a home in the Rongo area for Pastor Nelson and his family. Understand The Times will be providing support for food, clothing, and education. He and his wife will help to administer the Bryce Orphan Home program with Pastor Achilla and be responsible for reporting to us.

We are able to announce at this time that Pastor Vitalis  and his family will also be a part of the Bryce Home Project in Kenya. Pastor Vitalis lives in the slums of Nairobi. You may recall that I met Pastor Vitalis in Nairobi when I was in Kenya in November and was impressed with his vision and his desire to help the poor and needy as well as proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

PASTOR VITALIS OKWACH

We are presently in the process of putting together a board of directors made up of Kenyan pastors and headed by Pastor Achilla in Rongo. In March of this year, I will be making another trip back to Kenya, along with my friend Byron Hardy from Canada, to meet Pastor Achilla and his pastoral team in order to discuss the Bryce Orphan Home project and set up a long-term Bible teaching program that will promote the teaching of biblical truth in these Last Days.

While I did not expect to go back to Kenya this soon, it became obvious that it was important to come along side the Kenyan pastors at this time to make sure the foundation we establish is sound and biblically based. Byron is the President of a Bible school and is well grounded in sound biblical doctrine and will bring important input and expertise with regard to the training of pastors to stand for the gospel according to the Scriptures.

Widow Benta Orphan Home

As per our previous reports, a number of widows and orphans have already been helped through support provided for basic needs from Lighthouse Trails readers. These funds were sent recently and have been distributed by Pastor Achilla and his support staff, which have provided immediate relief for many. Understand The Times, through the support we have received for orphans and widows will now come along side and continue to maintain these homes as the Lord provides.

The purpose of these reports is to keep you informed of what we are doing to invest the support we have received in a wise manner and with accountability.

Sincerely,

Roger Oakland
(Click here for more information on the Bryce Orphan Home project that is headed up by Understand the Times and supported by UTT and Lighthouse Trails readers.)

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LTRP Note: We are reposting this book review because, as it was in 2008, another presidential election year is upon us, and we are witnessing another onslaught against conservative Bible-believing Christians by mass media as well as emerging church authors and figures.  A perfect example of this, which we will be writing about soon (already working on the article), is a YouTube video by a member of Mark Driscoll’s church titled “Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus.”

BOOK REVIEW: THEY LIKE JESUS, BUT NOT THE CHURCH

Dan Kimball’s new book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church should really be called They Like (Another) Jesus But Not the Church, the Bible, Morality, or the Truth. Kimball interviews several young people (one is a lesbian) who tell him they “like and respect Jesus” but they don’t want anything to do with going to church or with those Christians who take the Bible literally. Kimball says these are “exciting times” we live in “when Jesus is becoming more and more respected in our culture by non-churchgoing people” (p. 12). He says we should “be out listening to what non-Christians, especially those in their late teens to thirties, are saying and thinking about the church and Christianity” (p. 12).

According to Kimball, it is vitally important that we as Christians be accepted by non-Christians and not thought of as abnormal or strange. But in order to do that, he says we must change the way we live and behave. He says things like Christian bumper stickers (p. 40) and Christian words like “fellowship,” (p. 41) are “corny” and might offend a non-believer or seeker. Kimball insists (p. 19) that “those who are rejecting faith in Jesus” do so because of their views of Christians and the church. But he makes it clear throughout the book that these distorted views are not the fault of the unbeliever but are the fault of Christians, but not all Christians, just those fundamentalist ones who take the Bible literally, believe that homosexuality is a sin and think certain things are wrong and harmful to society … and actually speak up about these things.

Incidentally, Kimball devotes an entire chapter to homosexuality, “The Church is Homophobic.” Now his chapter titles are supposed to be what these skeptical, disheartened emerging generation persons see in the church. If we would not be homophobic, they would like us much better. Kimball explains:

Quite honestly, and some people might get mad at me for saying this, I sometimes wish this weren’t a sin issue [homosexuality], because I have met gay people who are the most kind, loving, solid, and supportive people I have ever met. As I talk to them and hear their stories and get to know them, I come to understand that their sexual orientation isn’t something they can just turn off. Homosexual attraction is not something people simply choose to have, as is quite often erroneously taught from many pulpits. (p. 138)

This is alarming that Kimball is saying this. Substitute the sin for pedophilia and hear how it sounds: “I sometimes wish molesting children wasn’t a sin issue, because I have met pedophiles who are the most kind, loving, solid, and supportive people I have ever met.” Kimball says (p. 110) we need to focus more on what we stand for rather than what we are against. If I had his views I wouldn’t want anyone focusing on criticisms against them either.

While the book is a theological disaster, many new believers probably won’t know that. That is to be expected. That is why we have pastors and leaders. But this presents some serious concern. One of the most respected leaders in Christendom has his endorsement in the book. Josh McDowell tells readers “it would be foolish” to not carefully study Kimball’s book. Gregory Koukl of Stand to Reason (an apologetics ministry) also endorses the book:

With insight, gentleness, and an unswerving commitment to the wisdom of the past, Dan Kimball shows us what we don’t want to see but must see if we care about the Great Commission in the twenty-first century.

McDowell’s and Koukl’s endorsements are nestled between staunch emerging church/New Thought promoters: Leonard Sweet, Tony Jones, Mark Oestreicher (Youth Specialties) and several others. One example of Kimball’s poor biblical theology is in his chapter titled: “The Church Arrogantly Claims All Other Religions are Wrong.” Kimball refers to John 4 where Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman. Kimballs says: “He [Jesus] stopped and asked questions of the Samaritan woman and didn’t just jump in and say, ‘Samaritans are all wrong.’” But that is exactly what Jesus did! He didn’t ask her any questions. Kimball has misled his readers! Jesus confronted her straight on, something Kimball says (throughout his book) is a terrible thing to do to an unbeliever. Listen to Jesus’ words to the woman:

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

Kimball’s entire premise is largely based on this type of faulty reasoning, that Christians should not do or say anything that might offend unbelievers, even if that anything is truth and Scripture. But the Bible says that the message of the Cross is offensive and foolish to the unbelieving heart: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18).

Kimball says that “to them [the unbelievers], Christianity isn’t normal.” He adds: “This is really important to realize” (p. 29). But the Bible is so clear that those who belong to the Lord Jesus are not looked upon as normal by the world. In fact, Jesus tells us to expect it:

If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15: 18,19).

Kimball says “Christians are now the foreigners in a post-Christian culture, and we have got to wake up to this reality if we haven’t” (p. 30). He is desperate for this realization to happen saying “we aren’t respected” by those outside the church nor are we sought after for advice by unbelievers (p. 30). But Christians have always been foreigners in the world, and they have suffered terribly for it. Throughout Christian history, there have been countless murders and atrocities that have been committed against Christians. Jesus said, “I am not of this world” (John 8:23) and also: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). The apostle Paul said: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body….” (Philippians 3:20), and Jesus said: “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14)

Perhaps what is most damaging about this book is Kimball’s black and white, either or reasoning (the very thing he accuses Christians of). He makes it very clear that you cannot be a Christian who takes the Bible literally and also be a humble, loving thoughtful person. They are two different things, according to Kimball. There is no such thing as a loving, humble Christian who takes the Bible literally. His book further alienates believers in a world that is already hostile to those who say Jesus is the only way to salvation, the Bible should be taken literally, homosexuality is a sin, and we are called out of this world to live righteously by the grace of God. Some of Kimball’s other black and white statements are: “The church is homophobic” versus “The church is a loving and welcoming community.” (Kimball denounces those who take any kind of stand publicly against homosexuality.) Another: “The church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong” versus “The church is respectful of other people’s beliefs and faiths.” Once again, Kimball says it can’t be both ways. Christians who do claim that all other religions are wrong contrast those who are respectful of other people. He says they can’t be both.

As do so many leaders in the emerging church movement, Kimball speaks as if the generation today of young people is so different than young people of any past generation ever, that special means must be applied if these young people are to see truth. But he is wrong as wrong can be. It is the Word of God that pierces the soul and reveals truth … In the 1960s and 1970s, there was another generation of confused, searching young people, many who were looking for life’s meaning. The hippies were as every bit as different as the generation of young people today. Yes, some of the atmosphere was different, but the sins, the questions, and the problems were not. When multitudes of hippies began getting saved, what caused that? Did the pastors of the day start going barefoot and wearing their hair long? No, they gave the hippies the Word of God. Straight forward, loving but uncompromised. Did they take LSD so they could better understand where we were coming from? No, they gave us the Word of God. Did they apologize to us for telling us we were sinners (as Kimball suggests the Church needs to do today)? No. They gave us the Word of God. And it is that Word that brought so many of us into His Kingdom of light. They presented the Word, and we saw Jesus Christ, and He became our Lord and Savior. They didn’t have to say things like, “I wish the drug thing and the free sex thing weren’t sin issues.”

In the book, Kimball distorts logic. Over and over he says that good Christians aren’t like what unbelievers think about Christians and the church. Good believers don’t have strong opinions against homosexuality and other sin issues, nor do they take the Bible literally. Kimball’s just talking about those extreme Christians who behave like that. So in other words, you better not be one of those kind of Christians if you want to be liked by unbelievers. But in truth, Christians hold these beliefs on these controversial issues because the writers of the Bible held these same exact attitudes. What Kimball hates in reality is what the Bible says.

According to Kimball’s book, there are two categories of Christians. Here is the first Kimball describes:

[P]eople who are always saying negative things about the world, are anti-gay, take the whole Bible literally, are card-carrying Republicans, are pro-Israel, read end-times novels, and endorse snake handling and fire-and-brimstone preaching. They think of King-James, finger-pointing, teetotaling, vengeful people who credit God for using natural disasters to punish people for sin, and who use Christian jargon and are arrogant and unloving toward anyone but themselves.

Kimball masterfully condemns Christians who are pro-Israel, take the Bible literally, study Bible end time prophecy and talk about hell, and likens them to negative, arrogant, unloving and vengeful people. He makes a mockery of the Bride of Christ and thus a mockery of Christ Himself. Kimball is careful to install built in defenses into the book that will self-validate his message. He says that if you are uncomfortable reading the book, it may be that you NEED to read the book because you are guilty of all these things. So who is going to want to say anything bad about Kimball’s book?

Toward the end of Kimball’s book (p. 234), he does further damage. He claims that “The classic Bridge Illustration portrays the separation between humankind and God, and how faith in Jesus bridges the chasm.” But now he says everything is different with this generation (and it is basically because of these weird fundamentalist Christians), so now before sinners can come to Christ, Kimball says “First we must build their trust and dispell their misperceptions [not all Christians are like those weird ones]. Then we can dialogue with them about key theological issues preventing them from understanding the problem of sin and their need for a Savior.” So in other words, the mediator between man and God (Jesus Christ) needs the emerging church leaders and their concepts added to bridge the gap between God and sinner.

The glue that binds all this together is in Kimball’s last chapter, “A Great Hope for the Future.” He starts the chapter off with a quote by mystic Henri Nouwen. You see Kimball is a contemplative proponent. He promotes the use of labyrinths and stations of the Cross (meditative centers). He also encourages lectio divina and recommends books by mantra meditation proponents like Gary Thomas, Mike Yaconelli, John Michael Talbot, Brian McLaren and others. In They Like Jesus But Not the Church Kimball recommends Henri Nouwen’s book, In the Name of Jesus and John Shelby Spong’s book, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism (though he gives a disclaimer of this latter but still thinks it’s good to be “familiar” with it). However, Kimball gives no disclaimer for his recommendation of Nouwen who said:

Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God.(Sabbatical Journey, p. 51, 1998 edition).

Who is this Jesus that Kimball tells us these unbelievers “like and respect”? Is it the Jesus of the Bible, or is it a Jesus that the world has formulated to fit into their mold. The biblical Jesus told the Pharisees that if they did not believe that He was God in the flesh and Christ, they would die in their sins. That is the very essence of dogmatism. Jesus didn’t dialogue with them and say, “I can understand why you don’t think I am the Messiah, and I can respect that.” He was dogmatic! As Paul says in Scripture, it is another Jesus that they preach; for if it were the real Jesus, they would not like or respect Him until the day they bow down before Him, worship Him as God, and give their lives 100% to Him, denying all other gods and belief systems. “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God” (II John 9). Doctrine means teachings and the writers of the Bible address a number of issues on the nature of God and human conduct. Just read the book of Proverbs to see that this is true, which is instructions on righteousness. For instance, Proverbs 6:32 warns that those commit adultery destroy their own souls. This may sound harsh to some committing adultery but it is done to warn rather than just for the sake of being contentious. Some people may feel this approach is arrogant but their basis for it is concern for the person’s well being rather than a sense of superiority. Kimball is trying to take the teeth out of the Bible so it fits in with our “do whatever you want” culture.

Jesus Christ has paid the price with His blood so that anyone who receives Him, by His grace and His mercy, can repent and be forgiven of their sins and have eternal life. “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine [Jesus'] and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.”

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