Important Note: The following article is not a statement that Christians should not be involved in or concerned about the political state of their countries. Rather, the intention of this article is to exhort believers to use discernment in understanding the times in which we live. It is to show how a present ecumenical, dominionist movement (that is heading toward a one-world religion to “establish the Kingdom of God on earth”) is operating and deceiving many Christians. While we share a deep concern for the direction that the United States and other “free” countries are currently heading, we are even more concerned about the direction that much of Christianity is heading. As Christians, we are to be witnesses for Jesus Christ and His Gospel message of salvation to those who believe on Him by faith through His grace. But today, many Christians have bought into a global Peace Plan that will incorporate all religions. These Christians are joining forces, thinking this is God’s work, with those who lead the way toward a global religion and global government.
However, is the church supposed to compromise (the end justifies the means or whatever it takes mentality that Rick Warren supports) biblical integrity and knowingly join forces with a dominionist system that does not represent biblical Christianity, though it has convinced many it does. The apostle Paul was very clear that we are not to entangle ourselvesAre not these dominionist, Road to Rome “leaders” some of the very ones that Paul tells us to steer clear of? (Romans 16:17, Titus 3:10, 2 Corinthians 11: 13-15)
Dominionism Definition:
The Gospel of Salvation is achieved by setting up the “Kingdom of God” as a literal and physical kingdom to be “advanced” on Earth in the present age. Some dominionists liken the New Testament Kingdom to the Old Testament Israel in ways that justify taking up the sword, or other methods of punitive judgment, to war against enemies of their kingdom. Dominionists teach that men can be coerced or compelled to enter the kingdom. They assign to the Church duties and rights that belong Scripturally only to Jesus Christ. This includes the esoteric belief that believers can “incarnate” Christ and function as His body on Earth to establish His kingdom rule. An inordinate emphasis is placed on man’s efforts.1
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The following story has a two-edged sword. It will first expose a Kingdom of God on Earth/Dominionist plan that is moving full speed ahead, and then, it will show how the Calvary Chapel movement is being influenced by this global movement that will eventually usher in a one-world government and one-world religion. This two-edged sword story is not a happy one; rather it is a devastating one. And though this report only points out one organization that is being affected – Calvary Chapel – do not be mistaken in thinking that other denominations and groups within organized Christianity are not being equally affected. They are.
The Seven Mountains of Culture
The first part of this two-edged sword is a movement called The Seven Mountains of Culture or Reclaiming the Seven Mountains of Culture. It was founded by Os Hillman, who says he at one time attended Calvary Chapel Bible School. Hillman is the founder and executive director of Marketplace Leaders Ministries; he is the author of 12 books, and a daily e-mail devotional that reaches over 190,000 people. He also teaches a workshop called The Change Agent Intensive Workshop. He has been featured on many major media programs and is the president of Aslan Inc, a publishing house. All this to say, Os Hillman has a big following.
The best way to describe what The Seven Mountains of Culture is is through the following promotional video clip:
A few interesting items worth noting: In view of Revelation 17:9, calling a ministry Seven Mountains seems rather odd, at best. The verse states:
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
It would be like calling a Christian auto repair business “666 Auto Repair.”
In that video you just saw, you may have noticed the Roman Catholic Cross at the 1:55 minute mark, representing in the video the “Mountain of Religion.”
And note the “Dome” that was used at time mark 1:23 for the “Mountain of Government”? That’s not the US Capitol, nor is it St. Peter’s Basilica, nor the capitol of Utah, though it looks close; it is Roman architecture. Rome is the association in the video with the “Mountain of Government.”
But just what is the 7 Mountains all about. In 2010, Discernment Ministries wrote an article called “7 Mountains – Set to Go Viral.” The well-documented article examines the goals of this Dominionism movement, expressing “concern that this radical mandate for Dominionism, and the leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) which birthed it, were becoming part of the political Right and evangelical mainstream.” The article states that the “7 mountains mandate is already becoming a unifying rally point among evangelicals from many diverse theological camps and from some very unexpected quarters.”
Os Hillman explains what this mandate of the 7 Mountains is:
Today, a new trend is emerging … the idea that the culture is shaped by seven mind-molders, or mountains, in society. They include business, government, media, arts and entertainment, family, religion and education. If we, as workplace believers, can influence each of these areas for Christ, we will win the culture of our nation.1 Reclaiming the 7 Mountains of Culture, Os Hillman
There are some excellent resources (see our list below) that show why the Dominionist/Reclaiming our Culture mind-set is a dangerous path that leads, not to biblical truth, but rather to an ecumenical, Road to Rome, militaristic-type Army for God that will force culture to be “Christian” (something Jesus Christ or the disciples never mandated) and will end up leading all down that Road to Rome and eventually a one-world religion and one-world government. Those believers who will not get on board could end up some day with the same fate as someone like the martyr, John Hus. One article Lighthouse Trails wrote, “Jesus Camp Film Reveals the Mystical and the Militant, Not Biblical Christianity” describes how Christian kids are being “trained” for a Joel’s Army. Books like The Barbarian Way (by Erwin McManus) talk about beheadings and barbarians (metaphorically), and Left Behind video games show Christians killing people. Ron Luce’s Teen Mania trains young people according to Luce’s “dream to raise up an army of young people who would change the world” We could give many many examples of this dominionist rally call to “fight” to win our culture for Jesus.
The Discernment Ministries article rightly assesses:
Not only does the Kingdom of God have a different King to the kingdoms of the world, but it has different citizens, has a different future and it operates by different principles. One of the principles that makes God’s Kingdom radically different to that of the world is the lust for power as opposed to the willingness to serve.
“Jesus said: ‘Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.'” (Matthew 20:25-28).
The Call
Lou Engle, of The Call, is another dominionist group that is tied in with the 7 Mountain agenda. In a 2008 Lighthouse Trails article, we linked to the advisory board of The Call. The link has been removed from their site but this cache file shows the members at that time. Some of them are Ron Luce (Teen Mania), Loren Cunningham ( founder of YWAM, featured on the 7 Mountain video above ), Steve Douglas of Campus Crusade for Christ (which just removed the name Crusade and Christ from their name), Rick Joyner, and C. Peter Wagner – dominionist figures who want to bring the kingdom of God to earth before Christ returns. The following video is from a large youth rally put on by The Call. You will see Lou Engle and Rick Joyner watching thousands of young people jumping up and down to the repetetive beat of drums and hundreds of Shofars being blown. What is the purpose of putting these young people into a frenzied war-like state of mine?:
A Civil War?
In a radio transcript titled “Blues and Grays,” Understand the Times states:
Christianity is about to be purified through a civil war, they say. Is this behavior indicative of a revival as some claim? Or is this exactly what occurred in the past when enlightened Christians became the manifested sons of God?
Not long ago I read an article written by Rick Joyner called the Coming Civil War in the Church. In this article, Joyner stated he believed a civil war would soon be breaking out within the church. He stated: “There is a huge portion of the church which is being held bondage to the same religious spirit that manifested itself to the Pharisees, and it will attack any new movement that arises in the church. The more anointed the new movement is, the more these traditionalists will be threatened by it, and the more vehemently they will attack it.” 2
Joyner’s solution for removing the people who opposed this “anointed new move” sounds rather militant. Listen to what he said:
“The longer we continue to compromise with such institutions which use manipulation or control for the sake of unity or for any reason the more it will ultimately cost us to remove the cancer from our midst.”3
Joyner then went on to describe how the conflict in the church will develop:
“The coming spiritual civil war will be between the Blue’s and the Gray’s. In dreams and visions blue often represents heavenly-mindedness, and gray speaks of those who live by the power of their own minds – which is equivalent to the brain’s gray matter. This will be a conflict between those who may be genuine Christians, but who live mostly according to their natural minds and human wisdom, and those who follow the Holy Spirit.”4
Joyner’s comment about “removing the cancer from our midst” echoes the words of New Ager and Department of Peace initiator Barbara Marx Hubbard when she said in her book The Revelation:
At the co-creative stage of evolution, one self-centered soul is like a lethal cancer cell in a body: deadly to itself and to the whole. (p. 255)
The surgeon dare leave no cancer in the body when he closes up the wound after a delicate operation. We dare leave no self-centeredness on Earth after the selection process. For when we complete the process of the transformation, all who live on will be empowered to be godlike. (p. 240)
The selection process will exclude all who are exclusive. The selection process assures that only the loving will evolve to the stage of co-creator. (p. 303) (Quotes from chapter 2, False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care by Warren Smith)
Please study some of the resources listed below to understand the serious implications of the Kingdom Now/ 7 Mountains/Dominionist plan. It’s vital that you comprehend the magnitude and to realize this is taking place right now; and the pace is speeding up.
The Change in Calvary Chapel
For years, the Calvary Chapel movement was known for teaching the Bible verse by verse. In addition, warnings were sounded from the Scriptures with regard to the second coming of Jesus Christ and the End of the Age. Many believers, young and old, looked to Calvary Chapel pastors and their churches as safe havens. The sheep seemed well protected from spiritual apostasy. They were fed with the Word. They grew. Many of them planted churches around the world.
As with all movements, as time passes, things change. While many did not think that it was possible, cracks in the armor appeared, and the foundation of faith that had been established began to crumble. While there are still Calvary Chapel pastors who hold true to the Word, there are signs that an era is coming to an end. While sad, this is the way church history unfolds, according to biblical history.
Much of Christianity has now been deeply affected by those who have a completely different agenda than what biblical Christianity was founded upon. For example, the belief that man can establish the Kingdom of God on earth prior to Christ’s return was never part of what Calvary Chapel was founded upon from their beginning. Kingdom Now or Dominionist theology was always attributed to the teachings tied to replacement theology and the “Road to Rome agenda.” For most within the Calvary Chapel movement, forty years, thirty years, and even ten years ago, would never have imagined that such unbiblical ideas could infiltrate what many saw as the indestructible fortress of Calvary Chapel, headed by its founder and leader, and pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa Chuck Smith.
Serious heretical teachings were frequently prevented from reaching the flock as pastors were addressed at least annually on such issues. An example of this was the Vineyard split at Calvary Chapel in 1981 when Chuck Smith made it clear that either Calvary pastors followed the Word of God, or they were invited to take the road. Even just a few years ago, Chuck Smith’s own son was asked to leave the movement because of his emerging spirituality persuasions around the same time Chuck Smith warned Calvary Chapel pastors not to go in the direction of the emerging church or they should leave the movement.
But times are changing at Calvary Chapel. Teachings that are being embraced by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or even 5th generation pastors are becoming increasingly more off the wall. Purpose-driven and emerging church growth methods have replaced teaching the Scriptures. Instead of warning about end times apostasy, it seems that many are part of the promotion. When it comes to the soon return of Jesus Christ, this urgent message has often been replaced by “can’t we all just get along.” Worse yet, Calvary Chapel is now entertaining platform speakers who are promoting the very things that the movement and Chuck smith once stood against.
Calvary Chapel and Jerry Boykin
Understand the Times and Lighthouse Trails have been trying to sound the alarm, with the hopes that the pastors and leaders of the movement would realize they are heading down a road to deception. It’s not just a few Calvary Chapels either. Almost daily Lighthouse Trails and Understand the Times hear from believers around the world who share their dismay and strong concern about a Calvary Chapel church they attend or did attend. In almost every case, we are told that what once seemed a solid church has now headed into the contemplative or Purpose Driven or emerging camp. More recently, evidence is surfacing to show that Calvary Chapel is also being influenced by the Dominionist/Kingdom Now movement.
General Jerry Boykin (once a Delta Force member and one time head of the Green Berets) has been speaking at different Calvary Chapels and sharing platforms at conferences with Chuck Smith and other Calvary Chapel pastors (e.g., the 2009 Epicenter conference and Epicenter 2008 with Smith, Boykin, and Joel Rosenberg; Greg Laurie’s Preach the Word Prophecy Conference, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in 2009, and Calvary Chapel Chino Hills Prophecy Conference – March 2011). He’ll be speaking at the Calvary Chapel Honolulu Pastors’ Conference in August: http://www.calvarychapelofhonolulu.com/htw_2011.html. Boykin’s materials are also carried in the Calvary Chapel store, listed as one of four “Other Authors.”
Understand the Times wrote an article titled “Jerry Boykin and the Calvary Chapel Connection.” The article reveals that Boykin is a high officer in the “Knights of Malta.”* Boykin holds the title in the Knighthood of Grand Chancellor. The Knights of Malta is sanctioned and “blessed” by the Vatican (see 1 and 2 document). In document 1, Pope Benedict XVI “invokes . . . the continued protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” Each “Knight,” including Boykin (and Rick Joyner who is a “Supreme Council Member” of the Order) is required to take a vow. In this vow, the Knight pledges himself to “be guided by the ideas of the Sovereign Order of St John of Jerusalem (started in 1090 and is the predecessor of the Knights of Malta). This Order is an ecumenical order of both Catholics and Protestants.
Not only does Jerry Boykin speak at numerous Calvary Chapel events but he also frequently speaks at dominionist events such as the 7 Mountains conferences (see May 2010) and a NAR event called Transformation Michigan. In addition, Boykin is on the board of an organization called The Oak Initiative, where Rick Joyner is President. In Kevin Reeves book, The Other Side of the River, Reeves discusses Joyner’s book, The Final Quest. Reeve Reeves states:
Joyner’s blatant Latter Rain beliefs were assimilated into our congregation on the wings of the mythical end-times revival which would supposedly sweep millions into the kingdom. A super-spiritual elite group of prophets and apostles will be raised up, Joyner states, and will transform the world of these last days, doing greater miracles than even the apostles who walked with our Lord. Whole nations will tremble at the mention of their names.
Interesting. Sounds a lot easier to deal with than Jesus’ prophecy that “[Y]e shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9).(The Other Side of the River, p. 99).
In Final Quest, Joyner supposedly hears from a dead saint (one of the foolish virgins mentioned in Scripture).
It is ironic that Chuck Smith broke ties with Rick Joyner many years ago over Joyner’s hyper-charismatic/dominionist direction and now is embracing Jerry Boykin who is so connected with Joyner. Have things come full circle for Calvary Chapel? It appears perhaps so.
A Hidden Agenda?
A question that remains to be answered is why is Calvary Chapel bringing in people like Jerry Boykin and David Barton to Prophecy and Preach the Word conferences? Do they realize the hidden agenda behind the message? What appears to look good could very well be an open door toward full blown apostasy and convergence with the papacy and ultimately a one world religion.
Are we saying Christians should do nothing politically and socially while our society is caving in? No. But first let us remember the true calling of every born again believer – to preach the Gospel, make disciples, and contend for the faith. And we must never compromise by joining forces and embracing agendas and Peace Plans with those whose goals and ambitions are contrary to the Christian commission given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That first step of compromise leads to the second step of compromise and then the third and so on. And each step gets a little easier to take.
In a powerful radio interview, Ingrid Schlueter addressed this dominionist cover up. She stated:
We have a group of leaders who are horrified with the moral collapse in this country. I am horrified with the cultural collapse in this country. We have a problem in identifying and discerning why our culture is collapsing. What we are seeing around us is not fruit of Christians not caring. It’s fruit of Christians abandoning the gospel. And if we’re not going to define the gospel along biblical terms, and we’re going to allow false teachers in among us, and we’re going to link arms with said false teachers, and we’re going to work with them who are preaching another gospel, who are teaching lies, if we’re going to link arms with them to save the culture, we are not only engaged in a futile effort, but God is going to, in turn, judge that conduct. Because judgment, Scripture tells us, begins at the house of God.
Understand The Times and Lighthouse Trails are dedicated to warning the sheep about last days spiritual deception. While i tis grevious to have to sound this warning about Calvary Chapel, let it be known, God is no respector of persons or organizations. Rather, He is the One who divides truth from error. We have done all that we have been able to do to warn the leaders personally. Many letters have been written, phone calls, and meetings. No one is listening. All we receive is threats that come back to us, or we are shunned while some accuse us of being crazy or psychotic losers on the fringe. But remember history shows that the prophets of old, the apostles, Jesus Christ, and countless believers who were martyrs, were all deemed crazy and lunatical. Why? Jesus made this clear:
If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 15:18-19)
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* There are ten different orders that use some devirvation of the Knights of Malta name. The one Jerry Boykin and Rick Joyner belong to is of the Ecumenical Order (meaning Protestants and Catholics together) and claims to be of the original Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This was confirmed by a phone call to the Grand Magisterial Chancery
in West Palm Beach, Florida on 8/5/11.
Notes:
1. Os Hillman, “Reclaiming the 7 Mountains of Culture: The Next Focus of the Faith at Work Movement,” Marketplace Leaders Year In Review, December 2007, p. 3.
2. From owner-awakening@pawn.spencer-davis.com May 17, 18:51:21 1996 taken from the Morning Star Prophetic Bulletin, May issue 1996
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
Resources:
Vengance is Ours by Al Dager
SPECIAL REPORT: The Jesuit Agenda and the Evangelical/Protestant Church