Brian McLaren - Rethinking the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
 

Definition of Preterism - The belief that all Bible prophecy (including Matthew 24) has already happened, including the second coming of Jesus Christ. Also called Covenant Eschatology or Fulfilled Prophecy. It is worth noting that many with the Dominionist and/or Preterist view point seem sympathetic to and accepting of contemplative spirituality.

The following is an interview that took place between Brian McLaren and the "Planet Preterist" website.

Excerpt from the interview:

Interviewer: I think many Christians within the Preterist movement are being deeply affected by your work and by what Emergent is doing across the world. Why do you think that your message appeals to so many of us?

Brian: First, it's encouraging to hear you say that it does. Theologies work as systems, don't they ... and they have a beginning, and middle, and an end, and the three are integrated into a single system. I think many of us are realizing that if we have one part mixed up, it will affect our understandings of the other two parts. I didn't start with any interest in rethinking eschatology, but of course eventually I had to realize that if I rethink one area, it will lead to rethinking other areas. I think many of us are in this kind of rethinking process - some starting from the beginning part by rethinking, perhaps, the relation of faith and science in relation to evolution and young-earth creationism ... some starting from the middle, as they re- examine what the gospel of the kingdom of God is supposed to mean, or the idea of integral or holistic mission ... and some starting from the end, re-examining eschatology. Wherever you start, you end up looking into the other areas too, I think....

Interviewer: As we are also trying to also put a new face on our own movement and transform it into "a new kind of Preterism," and move beyond the theoretical fundamentalism into the practical, tangible aspects of Christianity and the realized presence of Christ, we are encountering the same friction and opposition that perhaps you have already encountered when dealing with a target audience that sees all things in black and white. Do you have any advice for us on how to better build bridges and construct better channels of communication with other believers?

Brian: Again, I wish I did. I think you are very perceptive to put the focus on "the realized presence of Christ," because that is key. I also think you're perceptive to identify the underlying problem not as mistaken eschatology but as "theoretical fundamentalism" and "black and white" thinking. Sometimes I think that people who are thoroughly indoctrinated and habituated into this kind of system will not be able to break free from it without experiencing both psychological and social dislocation and disorientation. Click here to read more of this interview.

See also: Dominionism, Global Peace and Mysticism
Ignoring Eschatology

• Log on page for Warren's P.E.A.C.E. Plan Rick Warren's Second Reformation
• Research on Global Peace Plan

"Saddleback does control the PEACE platform. Although Saddleback says it will make training materials available to the general public at some point in the future, for now, the site is proprietary, which means that Saddleback does not permit nonmembers to view the site. (The Register was allowed to see the site only once, and in the company of a church staffer.)

"Church teams who want to use the materials must register (and attend a conference) under the PEACE program umbrella. Saddleback can, consequently, track and lay claim not only to the 142 PEACE teams that have gone on mission so far, but also to the potentially thousands that will do so in the future and that will become, in the process, indirect partners in the PEACE 'movement' -- and brand.... Saddleback may create a platform for both the kingdom of God and for itself." From New-media missionaries

One of the common beliefs circulating amongst the supporters of the Emergent Church is a concept called "Vintage Christianity". According to this view, experiences effective in attracting Christians to come to church in the past should be reintroduced today in order to attract the postmodern generation who are hungry for experience. Dan Kimball, author of the book The Emerging Church: Vintage Christianity for New Generation is one of the key proponents of this idea. He firmly believes that worship must play an important role to attract post-moderns into Christianity. In a section of his book subtitled "Truly worshipping in a worship gathering," he writes:

We should be returning to a no-holds- barred approach to worship and teaching so that when we gather, there is no doubt we are in the presence of God. I believe that both believers and unbelievers in our emerging culture are hungry for this. It isn't about clever apologetics or careful exegetical and expository preaching or great worship bands. ... Emerging generations are hungry to experience God in worship.

A common approach to the worship awakening among Protestant churches is to create a blended service combining older and newer liturgical elements and musical styles.

Here is just another example of what we are talking about. In Dr. Tim Clinton's November release (foreword by Tim LaHaye), Turn Your Life Around, Clinton thanks John Ortberg for being an "inspiration" to him and quotes Ortberg more than a half a dozen times throughout the book. Ortberg's strong promotion of contemplative spirituality is no secret - he co-authored a book with Ruth Haley Barton on the silence. So how could he be an "inspiration" to a book that is endorsed by leaders like Tim LaHaye (who wrote the foreword), Gary Smalley, Ruth Graham and Jerry Falwell? Incidentally, Falwell just recently endorsed Larry Crabb's contemplative promoting book, The Papa Prayer.

In Clinton's new book, he also favorably quotes Richard Foster (who teaches that God can be reached by anyone through contemplative prayer), Larry Crabb, Dan Allender, John Eldredge, Philip Yancey, Dallas Willard and Donald Miller. All of these mentioned promote contemplative. So why are trusted leaders like Graham, LaHaye, and Falwell doing this? Do they just not realize what contemplative is. We have sent most of these people copies of A Time of Departing, and it is not a topic that is under the rug anymore.

One of three things is taking place here. Either these supporting leaders do not know what contemplative is, or they know but do not think it is worth worrying about, or they know and they adhere to such beliefs. We know for a fact that many of them are well aware of contemplative spirituality, which means they are either indifferent to the controversy or actually see it as a valid spirituality. But isn't it time they came out publicly and stated their views? Isn't it time they either renounce contemplative and stop promoting it through their endorsements and quotes or admit that they have strong sympathies towards it. Isn't it time? ... Maybe they already have given their answer, and we just don't want to believe it.

SPECIAL NOTE: If any of the above mentioned leaders read this article and would like to understand our concerns (and the concerns of many other believers), please contact us, and we will send you a complimentary copy of A Time of Departing. We believe you will find the documentation solid and biblical.

John Michael Talbot is a faithful worshiper of our Savior, whose music and meditations not only refresh many, but whose witness reminds us of the breadth of the scope of vital, living witness throughout the whole Body of Christ, and how much we who love Jesus Christ have to give to each other of our mutual growth and benefit.

See Part I of this paper on the New Age by Ray Yungen.

What is meditation? What exactly is meditation? The meditation many of us are familiar with involves a deep, continuous thinking about something. But New Age meditation does just the opposite. It involves ridding oneself of all thoughts in order to "still" the mind by putting it in pause or neutral. An analogy would be turning a fast-moving stream into a still pond by damming the free flow of water. This is the purpose of New Age meditation. It holds back active thought and causes a shift in consciousness. The following explanation makes this process very clear:

One starts by silencing the mind--for many, this is not easy, but when the mind has become silent and still, it is then possible for the Divine Force to descend and enter into the receptive individual. First it trickles in, and later, in it comes in waves. It is both transforming and cleansing; and it is through this force that divine transformation will be achieved. (from Holistic Health magazine, Winter 1986)

This condition is not to be confused with daydreaming, where your mind dwells on a subject. The way New Age meditation works is that an object acts as a holding mechanism until the mind becomes thoughtless, empty - silent.

English mystic Brother Mandus wrote of his adventure into these realms in his book This Wonderous Way of Life. He spoke of being "fused in Light" which he described as "the greatest experience of my life" which gave him "Ecstasy transcending anything I could understand or describe."

In order to grasp what this movement really entails the reader must understand what was happening to Brother Mandus. He wasn't merely believing something on the intellectual level, he was undergoing a supernatural encounter. In truth, he had created a mental void through meditation and a spiritual force had filled it.

The two most common methods used to induce this "thoughtless" state are breathing exercises, where attention is focused on the breath, and a mantra, which is a repeated word or phrase. The basic process is to focus and maintain concentration without thinking about what you are focusing on. Repetition on the focused object is what triggers the blank mind.

Just consider the word mantra. The translation from the Sanskrit is man, meaning "to think," and ti-a, meaning "to be liberated from." Thus, the word means "to be freed from thought." By repeating the mantra, either out loud or silently, the word or phrase begins to lose any meaning it once had. The same is true with rhythmic breathing. One gradually tunes out his conscious thinking process until an altered state of consciousness comes over him.

I recall watching a martial arts class where the instructor clapped his hands once every three seconds as the students sat in meditation. The sound of the clap acted the same as the breath or a mantra would - something to focus their attention on to stop the active mind.

Other methods of meditation involve drumming, dancing, and chanting. This percussion-sound meditation is perhaps the most common form for producing trance states in the African, North/South American Indian, and Brazilian spiritist traditions. In the Islamic world, the Sufi Mystic Brotherhoods have gained a reputation for chanting and ritual dancing. These are known as the Whirling Dervishes. Indian Guru, Rajneesh, developed a form of active meditation called dynamic meditation which combines the percussion sound, jumping, and rhythmic breathing. From Ray Yungen's book, For Many Shall Come in My Name

Next: Part III The Higher Self

WARNING: Christian Publishers Continue Publishing Contemplative Books
 

One of the most dangerous places for a Christian believer to go today is a Christian bookstore. But while Christian bookstore owners and buyers are responsible and lacking discretion for stocking their shelves with popular, fast selling titles that compromise the gospel, many of the largest Christian publishing houses are even more guilty for publishing the books in the first place at the expense of biblical integrity and Christian virtue. Below is a list of contemplative titles by some of the largest Christian publishers. We provide this partial list to warn believers of book titles that may be dangerous to their spiritual well-being.

Zondervan:
Sex God by Rob Bell
S.H.A.P.E. by Eric Rees
Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference by Philip Yancey
Praying the Names of Jesus by Ann Spangler

Thomas Nelson:
Soul Cravings by Erwin McManus
How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life by Mark Victor Hansen
Yoga for Christians by Susan Bordenkircher
Speaking My Mind by Tony Campolo

Baker Books:
Emergent Manifesto by Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt
The Divine Embrace by Robert Webber
Sacred Listening by James Wakefield
Preaching by Calvin Miller

InterVarsity Press:
The Garden of the Soul by Keri Wyatt Kent
Sacred Companions by David Benner
Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton
Meditative Prayer by Richard Foster
Solitude and Silence by Jan Johnson

Bethany House:
Into the Depths of God by Calvin Miller
The Soul at Rest by Tricia Rhodes

NavPress:
When the Soul Listens by Jan Johnson
Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice by Dallas Willard and Jan Johnson
Divine Intervention by Tony Jones
The Message, Remix: Pause by Eugene Peterson

For more on Christian publishers who publish contemplative books, click here

Short chants, repeated again and again, give it a meditative character," the brothers explain in a brief introduction printed in the paperback songbook. "Using just a few words, [the chants] express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind. As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually penetrates the whole being.

With the recent reports by Roger Oakland, showing the connection between the Catholic Eucharist and the emerging church, Lighthouse Trails has decided to carry Oakland's book, Another Jesus? The Eucharistic Christ and the New Evangelization. We are also offering the 1 hour DVD with the same title. We believe that this information is vital.

To order these items, click here.