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omdat julle nie weet wanneer die tyd daar is nie / for ye know not when the time is (Mark 13:33)

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My favourite, highly dangerous quotes

Posted by Thomas on September 24, 2009

The deadly downward spiral into apostasy is escalating at a furious pace and the Emergent Church via the e-church in South Africa is making a grand contribution to the end-time falling away.

My favourite and highly dangerous quotes come from the lips of a man who is known to be one of the greatest missionaries of all time, Paul of Tarsus. He said:

Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to and different from that which we preached to you, let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)!

2 Thessalonians 2:9-11 The coming [of the lawless one, the antichrist] is through the activity and working of Satan and will be attended by great power and with all sorts of [pretended] miracles and signs and delusive marvels – [all of them] lying wonders – And by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false,

So what’s the point? . . . you may ask. We’ve heard you quote these passage from Scripture on several occasions in the past. The point is that Stephan Joubert of e-church fame has begun to write a series of commentaries on 17 September which he entitles “My favourite, highly dangerous quotes. The theologians he quotes indicate that he is not too concerned about Paul’s severe warning. In part 1 of this series he quotes the German biblical scholar of the pervious century, Ernst Käsemann, who was a student of the liberal theologian, Rudolph Bultmann. Stephan quotes Käsemann’s famous words:

People and institutions do not like to be kept continually on the alert, and they have constantly devised screens to protect themselves from too much heat­. In fact, theykasemann have even managed to reduce Jesus’ red-hot message, which promised to kindle a fire throughout the world, to room temperature.”

I can understand why Stephan Joubert singles this out as one of his favourite quotes, especially when you take into account that he is forever comparing himself and his emergent buddies with the so-called institutionalized church. It is also no strange thing that he and his contemplative buddies always end up with the certificates, diplomas and rewards of excellence while the others resemble gloomy and cold thermostats whose mediocrity follows them wherever they go. This is what he had to say about them.

From the time of the early church we are stuck with living thermostats in churches. These spiritual thermostats, including sleepy church leaders and agnostic theologians, want a safe, convenient Jesus. Therefore, they constantly regulate the Jesus story’s temperature to make him predicable. In this process they’ve “domesticated” the real Jesus and his teaching on the kingdom of God.

Frankly, the dangers facing the Bride Of Christ are not present in agnosticism, atheism, the institutionalized church, other religions or even in Satanism. The most sordid dangers are in the ranks of the Emergent Church, the reason being that they are not spreading the “red-hot” message of the Jesus Christ of the Bible (as we’ve seen expounded in Paul’s quotes above) but another Jesus who is imitating the real Jesus. Be my guest and read their articles and commentaries on their blogs and websites. They hardly or ever mention the necessity to receive forgiveness for your sins (through repentance and faith in the Gospel) in order to be saved but are ceaselessly trying to usher in the Kingdom of God here an now. And how do they propose to do that? – not by the preaching of the unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ but by teaching their congregants, with the help of the much esteemed gurus of contemplative disciplines such as Willem Nicol, Johan Geyser, Carel Anthonissen and others, how to enter into the very presence of God through the practice of silence. By the by, the only kingdom they are ushering in is the kingdom of Antichrist whose main aim it will be to unite all religions and to sit as their god in their newly erected temple of global unity.

In one of my very first comments since I started my blog I stated that association to a very large degree mirrors your faith or belief system, especially when you get into the habit of quoting the people with whom you don’t mind to be associated with. Stephan’s liberal use of a quote by Ernst Käsemann proves just that. As Stephan mentioned, he was a student of the liberal New Testament theologian, Rudolph Bultmann, in the previous century but what he failed to mention is that Bultmann did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a literal, historical event but merely as a culturally and spiritually conceived event in the minds of his disciples. He admitted that:-

“An historical fact which involves a resurrection from the dead is utterly inconceivable,” (1)

Although Ernst Käsemann rejected his mentor’s belief in a non-literal, spiritual resurrection of Jesus, he did as an adherent to the second quest for the historical Jesus together with Philipp Vielhauer and Hans Conzelmann reconstruct a non-eschatological and non-apocalyptic historical Jesus which equally violates the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In stead he emphasized the present “here and now” nature of the reign (Kingdom) of God. The “here and now” theory of the Kingdom of God must of necessity deny the literal futuristic contents of the Book of Revelation.

Stephan happily quotes Ernst Käsemann who said that people and institutions have managed to reduce Jesus’ red-hot message to room temperature. Now, that’s a very broad statement, especially when Stephan fails to define Jesus’ red-hot message. Could he perhaps have informally referred to Jesus following words?

John 8:21 & 24 Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come. . . . That is why I told you that you will die in (under the curse of) your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He [Whom I claim to be--if you do not adhere to, trust in, and rely on Me], you will die in your sins.

Matthew 8:11-12 I tell you, many will come from east and west, and will sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, While the sons and heirs of the kingdom will be driven out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth

Stephan Joubert and his emergent cohorts are so busy trying to usher in the Kingdom of God here and now that they have forgotten what the main prerequisite is for entering into God’s Kingdom. The red-hot message of Jesus boils down to one thing: If you do not repent and believe the Gospel as we find it expounded in Scripture you will never see the Kingdom of God. Even those who call themselves children of God and His Kingdom but refuse to accept Jesus’ red-hot message of repentance will be driven out into the darkness of hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for all eternity.

Stephan, I would like to urge you to start preaching the unadulterated and red-hot message of Jesus Christ.

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(1) R. Bultmann:Kerygma and Myth, 1:8, 39.

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3 Responses to “My favourite, highly dangerous quotes”

  1. Amanda said

    September 24, 2009 at 10:57

    It is also no strange thing that he and his contemplative buddies always end up with the certificates, diplomas and rewards of excellence while the others resemble gloomy and cold thermostats whose mediocrity follows them wherever they go.

    When Stephan Joubert preached on the where Jesus was anointed by the woman, he did not explain what that act said about Jesus. In stead he focused on, and exalted the woman ‘who gave her all to Jesus’. This woman’s extravagant giving is the red-hot message. She is the one that we must imitate. Give dangerously, even if it pushes you into the red. Stephan calls that the gospel. It is not. It is extremely bad news. I wonder if any of his listeners stupidly obeyed his message. I wonder if he himself went into debt to ‘give all to Jesus’.

    He completely ignored the fact that this woman was a wretched sinner who was worshipping her Lord and Saviour. She was preparing Him for His burial! The Son of God was about to bear the wrath of God for our sins so that we can be declared innocent. He took our guilt and gave us His righteousness. That is the Best News ever! We are free indeed! We, who are by nature, haters of God, who break His commandments in word, thought and deeds, by what we do and what we do not do, will be able to stand in front of a Holy God and receive an inheritance!

    Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
    (Romans 11:33-36)

    Do not preach the woman. Preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified so that He can be formed in us and we gladly throw away our filthy rags of good deeds and receive His righteousness. Exalt Him:

    “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
    (Revelation 5:12)

    The emergent church refuses to do this. Is the Gospel veiled from their eyes so that they reject the ‘boring’, sure Word of God in exchange for their own red-hot ideas? Why do Christians still give these men a platform?

    But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
    (2 Corinthians 4:2-7)

    Reply

  2. Amanda said

    September 24, 2009 at 16:16

    From Rev. Cobus van Wyngaard’s new favorite Bosch quotes:

    Rationality has to be expanded. One way of expanding it is to recognize that language cannot be absolutely accurate, that it is impossible finally to “define” either scientific laws or theological truths. To speak with Gregory Bateson, neither science nor theology “proves”; rather, they “probe”. This recognition has led to a reevaluation of the role of metaphor, myth, analogy, and the like, and to the rediscovery of the sese of mystery and enchantment. (:353)

    … the authentic Christian position in this respect is one of humility and self-criticism. After the Enlightenment it would be irresponsible not to subject our “fudiciary framework” to severe criticism, or not to continue pondering the possibility that Truth may indeed differ from what we have thought it to be” (:360)

    And yet, even as we are “humbly acknowledging the uncertainty of our own conclusions”, for a “fudiciary philosophy does not eliminate doubt”, the Christian continues to hold on to unproven beliefs. It is precisely such a self-critical posture of faith which may protect us against the “blind and deceptive” nature of a “creed inverted into a science”. A post-Enlightenment self-critical Christian stance may, in the modern world, be the only means of neutralizing the ideologies; it is the only vehicle that can save us from self-deception and free us from dependence on utopian dreams. (:361)

    Rev. Van Wyngaard concludes:

    From Bosch we must construct a Missiology which self-critically holds to unproven beliefs, and recognize them as such, always holding to the possibility that Truth may indeed differ from what we have thought it to be…

    It may indeed, when you do not accept what the Bible says:

    The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
    (Acts 17:30-31)

    The emergents are pushing their message of faith = doubt, which is just a thin veil disguising their unbelief, which they call humility. They scoff at true believers that hold to the Word of God and call that ‘pride’. They compete with each other to come up with the next red-hot piece of imagination.

    Peter Rollins announced the winner of his new parable competition. A warning to Christians who might expect to see the Lord in this writing: He is not there. The winning parable was written by Kester Brewin and is entitled Footprints…

    There was once a man who had lived a long and difficult life. When he finally lay down, a faint smile bent the lines in his face as his eyes were shut. He had run the race; now he could rest. The curtain was pulled back, and he stumbled through the light to meet God.

    ‘My Master and my Friend,’ the old man hailed God as he prostrated himself before God’s feet. Hearing no reply, the man looked up and saw God shuffling awkwardly in his chair, not quite managing to fight back a blush across his cheeks.

    Not wanting his moment of judgement and welcome to be spoiled, the old man gathered his courage and spoke up. ‘My Lord and my God,’ he began, nervously. ‘Is this not the time when my life and works shall be weighed in your scales and my named checked against those who have made it into the Book of Life?’ After such a tiring day it was difficult for him to remember the exact details of what was meant to be happening, but he felt certain that it should be God who should be taking the lead.

    ‘My child,’ said God sadly, before petering out and looking around for some way out.

    Following God’s gaze, the old man took in a crumpled photo, pinned to a crowded notice board hung askew in a dark corner. His heart leapt. ‘Father,’ he said, getting up carefully like a servant in Medieval court, ‘here is a photo of footprints on a beach…’

    God took it and stared at it for a while and as the man perceived his eyes glistening, his own tears came, for he knew the photo, and knew the words of comfort that came with it. ‘Tell me, Lord,’ he said, knowing already the lines that would come, ‘tell me what the footprints mean.’

    And so God began.

    ‘Your life has been like a walk along the beach with me, many scenes from your life flashing across the sky. In each scene there are footprints in the sand, sometimes two sets, at other times only one.’

    At this point God paused, and looked down, and so the old man seized the initiative, and played too his part.

    ‘Lord, this bothers me because I notice that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I can see only one set of footprints.’

    He looked up, but saw God unmoved, so continued. ‘You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.
    Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?’

    He bowed his head, holding back the tears, ready for the words of succour that he knew must come.

    And slowly God replied, his voice shaking with emotion. ‘The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when you carried me.’

    The man frowned for a moment, paused, and then looked up. ‘Surely Lord,’ he began rather embarrassed to be correcting the Almighty, ‘you mean when you carried me.’

    ‘My dear child,’ God said, twisting a loose thread of cloth from his flowing robes, his face suddenly a mirror in which the old man saw the battles he had fought and the doubts he had put asunder, ‘this was the measure of your faith: when difficulties came, you gathered up this tired and arthritic God, and carried your beliefs to safety.’

    A small wind blew through the old photographs and worn papers, and the two men sat in silence for a moment.

    ‘I have prepared a room for you,’ God said after a while, ‘though I quite understand if you don’t want me to stay.’

    Peter Rollins says:

    This parable is not only beautifully crafted, but has a narrative that really made me stop in my tracks and think. This is a piece of writing I have returned to many times since I received it a few weeks ago. It is engaging, disturbing, thoughtful and rich enough to inspire interesting and conflictual commentaries.

    That it might, but it bears no resemblance to the Lord in Jesus Christ’s parables. The emergent church is no place for believers.

    Reply

    • Thomas said

      September 24, 2009 at 19:44

      The emergents are not only re-imagining the Word of God but they are re-imagining God Himself. Their re-imagination is pure re-imaging (idolatry).

      HEAR THE word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the [heathen] nations and be not dismayed at the signs of the heavens, though they are dismayed at them, For the customs and ordinances of the peoples are false, empty, and futile; it is but a tree which one cuts out of the forest [to make for himself a god], the work of the hands of the craftsman with the ax or other tool. They deck [the idol] with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers so it will not fall apart or move around. [Their idols] are like pillars of turned work [as upright and stationary and immobile as a palm tree], like scarecrows in a cucumber field; they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it possible for them to do good [and it is not in them]. None at all is like You, O Lord; You are great, and Your name is great in might.

      Reply

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