A biblical appraisal of the Mosaic Congress held at the Mosaic Church in Fairlands, Johannesburg (4 – 5 Sept. 2009) (Part 1)

The new-old magical way to get in touch with God – “be still,” “be quiet,” “shut up,” “shhhhhhh”

The well-known song “Silence is Golden may have been a hit on the singles UK charts in 1967, but the refrain “Silence is Truth” has hit the Christian Church like a tsunami, carrying with it in it’s destructive wake many unsuspecting Christians. One of the major contributors to this utterly devastating “silent” storm is the Mosaic Church in Fairlands, Johannesburg.

As an introduction to my critique on the Mosaic Congress I would like to draw your attention to certain words and phrases that all the keynote speakers used throughout their presentations. A word that kept popping up like a well-watered toadstool in each of their corpulently worded lectures was the word “silence.”Bearing in mind that most of these speakers’ mentors and gurus have drunk from the wells of Buddhism (i.e. Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating etc.) it is no surprise that their entire spiritual journey revolves mainly around Buddhist spiritualities and not the cross of Jesus Christ. In fact, the only time they referred to the word “cross” was when they endearingly spoke of St John of the Cross, a Desert Father who coined the phrase “Silence is the first language of God.”

I attended the two-day Congress with Sarel van der Merwe and couldn’t help thinking what Paul would have said about the absence of any good and solid preaching on the cross, especially in the light of his own statement: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2) Paul was saying in effect: “I have not come to you parading my own wisdom but to present to you the power and wisdom of God, which is the cross of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Was St. John of the Cross’ maxim something new and original? Hardly! The following survey will prove that it originated with Eastern religions and the New Age.

The significance of silence in Eastern religions, the New Age and Shamanism

Buddhism

In one of the many anecdotes on the life of Gautama Buddha (born circa 563 BC) it is told that a philosopher once visited Buddha and asked him: “Without words, without the wordless, will you tell me the truth?”Buddha remained silent. After a while the philosopher rose up gently, made a solemn bow and thanked Buddha saying: “With your loving kindness, I have cleared away all my delusions and entered the true path.” (1) This anecdote describes how Buddha sought the essence of truth through silence in his relentless and endless quest for the truth. Cognitive processes such as rational thinking, doctrinal or dogmatic studies and debates, the discernment or evaluation of facts and/or postulates played no part in Buddha’s quest for the truth. During the Mosaic Congress it was resplendently aggravating to hear again and again that wisdom is not found in dogmas, doctrines or propositions but in a way of life, a way of life that one enters into by following the Sage, Jesus Christ.

The path Buddha preferred was completely embedded in “mauna” (in English “silence”) which he hoped to achieve in seclusion and solitude. It is very interesting to note that the word muni (meaning “hermit” or“sage”) is derived from mauna. Buddha was also known as Sakyamuni, the gracefully silent one or sage from the Sakya clan. Please make a mental note of the word “sage” because it pops up frequently in Stephan Joubert’s paper titled ““Being a Radical Pilgrim and Prophet” which I intend to critique later in a separate comment. There are many stories and discourses in Buddhism that are attributed to Buddha himself and in nearly all of them Truth and Silence are intrinsically and inseparably linked. In fact, whenever Truth is mentioned in relation to Buddha it is always said in regard to Silence, so much so that it is believed that Silence in the presence of Buddha equals Truth. Fr. Chandrakanthan who earned his doctorate in theology at St. Paul University, Ottawa, where he also teaches Eastern Religions, wrote the following based on a talk he gave in July, 1986, at the Christian Meditation Centre, London.

Buddha’s Silence was not wordlessness or noiselessness. It had a transforming power, permeating and filling the atmosphere around him with such intensity that people seated at his presence experienced “the ineffable and the inexplicable.” His Silence had no movement, yet people around him moved closer to the Truth just by being in his presence, permeated and filled by the effulgence of his joyous stillness. His Silence was contagious. It was like the unseen powers of a magnetic field or the invisible sound waves that travel in the atmosphere.

The close affinity that is said to enjoin Truth with Silence is not uncommon in the mystical traditions of other religions including Christianity. Whether it be in the Sufism of Islam or in the Hasidim of Judaism, silence is always referred to as the prerequisite for an interior experience of the divine. Silence is often eulogized as the language of the heart. Buddha’s Silence reveals to us the nature and significance of an ideal form of silence. This becomes more evident when we contrast the mauna with our ordinary experience of silence. (Emphasis added)

Hinduism

The Hindu poet and teacher, Dryanadev (A.D. 1290) once wrote in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita: “Your true praise consists in perfect silence.” God, he also said, does not put on any other ornament except silence.

In the Atharva Veda of Hinduism  the following is said about silence.

He cannot be seen by the eye, and words cannot reveal Him. He cannot be reached by the senses, or by austerity or sacred actions. By the grace of wisdom and purity of mind, He can be seen, indivisible, in the silence of contemplation. This invisible Atman can be seen by the mind wherein the five senses are resting.

In the Maitri Upanishad it is said:

There is something beyond our mind which abides in silence within our mind. It is the Supreme Mystery beyond thought. Let one’s mind and one’s subtle body rest upon that and not rest on anything else.

Adi Shankaracharya said:

Silence is the first door to spiritual eminence.

Sri Chinmoy tells a story about a pious man who studies the scriptures devotedly, and likes to discuss philosophy with a scholar who comes to visit him. They earnestly discuss the path to spiritual liberation, but deep in his heart, the man knows this endless talk is not bringing him any closer to attaining his goal. Now, it happens that the man has a little caged bird in his room, and he likes to hear it sing. But one morning he notices the bird is not singing at all, it has fallen completely silent. He speaks to the bird, tries to coax it, but it makes not a sound. Eventually the man opens the cage door and the bird, in an instant, escapes, flies out of the cage, through the open window of the room, and soars into the infinite freedom of the sky.

The bird taught his master an important spiritual lesson. Silence liberates!

We can talk endlessly, argue, discuss, debate. But the real truth of things, we discover in silence. Eventually we have to hush the mind and its chatter, discover that vastness in our hearts and soar into it.

New Age

Franz Kafka said:

You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

Alice Bailey tells us that Sagittarius is called in some ancient books “the sign of silence”. She goes on to tell us that the lesson of Sagittarius is “restraint of speech through control of thought.”

‘Right use of thought, restraint of speech, and consequent harmlessness on the physical plane, result in liberation; for we are held in the human unit, we are imprisoned to the planet not by some outside force that holds us there, but by what we ourselves have said and done.’

Shamanism

(Practices concerned with communication with the spirit world)

In “An Encyclopedia of Shamanism Volume 2” on pages 448 and 449 the following insightful facts are given on the spiritual significance of silence.

It is the wisdom of shamanic peoples to leave in silence the things we cannot talk about clearly in words. There are states of being and numinous experiences that are central to shamanic altered states of consciousness and shamanic healing experiences which defy description through words.

Choosing not to talk about sacred experiences is a way to contain and protect the energy. Though powerful, the energy of the sacred is illusive and easily contaminated. Silence is both a form of protecting the sacred and a means by which to hold the sacred while the nonrational aspects of a sacred experience are integrated.

Silence is often a necessary prerequisite to having an experience of the sacred. This is in part the reason for the traditional vision quest that lasts for three to four days in silence. The vision quest is time designated for silence in the hope that a message from spirit will be “heard.”

Silence is both a way to open to the sacred and to integrate the numinous aspects of sacred experiences. Silence is one of four universal healing salves (storytelling. singing, dance) employed by indigenous peoples to maintain health and well-being. Discomfort with silence, or any of the four healing salves, indicates a state of soul loss. (Emphasis added)

The Word of God

Throughout the Bible God makes it abundantly clear that the preaching of His Word (the Word of Truth as Jesus referred to it in John 17:17) was and still is His way of making Himself known to mankind. The written and spoken Word of God, as we learn from Paul in Romans 10:17, is the mouthpiece, if you will, that produces true faith in the lives of those who obediently and wholeheartedly submit to it’s authority. In fact, Paul emphatically states that no-one can truly know or get acquainted with God unless they call upon His Name (entreat Him according to everything His Name represents) and no-one can call upon His Name (in this particular way) without someone proclaiming or preaching His Word, and no-one can preach His Word without having been called to do so. Their sound (the spoken words of these called and sent out preachers and not their “silence” or “shut ups” or “shhhhhhhs”) went out into all the earth (Romans 10:13-18).

Imagine Peter at Pentecost, placing his index finger in front of his mouth and saying “Shhhhhhh! silence is the first language of God,” and then bidding his audience to sit down with him in silence to experience the presence of God. Let’s do a quick survey. Do you think three thousand souls would have been saved that day if Peter, who had been in touch with God (through Jesus Christ) nearly every day of his life, had listened to Ron Martoia who spoke more than thirty five minutes (not in siilence but in well articulated and yet unbiblical sounds) on the silly assumption that “silence is the first language of God?” You must be joking! If we were to accept St. John of the Cross’s and Ron Martoias’s silly notion that “silence is the first language of God” we would have had to rewrite the very first verse in the Bible: “In the beginning God shhhhhhh. . .d.” Not even Jesus Christ, the Word that became flesh, deemed it necessary to practice “silence” in order to “hear” the so-called “first language of God.” He said:

John 15: 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

Johan 18:20 Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue and in the temple [area], where the Jews [habitually] congregate (assemble); and I have spoken nothing secretly.

When Jesus said “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32) He never intended the truth to be known through the practice of silence or quietness or stillness. The word “ginosko” means to perceive, understand, to attain knowledge of Him and his teachings through his spoken and written Word which is the Truth (John 17”17). We already have his Truth at our disposal in his written Word and therefore do not need to practice certain techniques so as to learn the truth or to enter into God’s presence. This is a far cry from the belief that the Buddha imparted truth merely through his silent presence and that he only had to look into the eyes of his devotees to impart all the teaching and wisdom that can ever be imparted to all those who are ready to receive it. I pretty much believe that this will be the way Antichrist is going to impart his knowledge (“truth”) to the world.

WHEN WILL WE SEE HIM?

He has not yet declared His true status, and His location is known to only a very few disciples. One of these has announced the soon the Christ will acknowledge His identity and within the next two months will speak to humanity through a worldwide television and radio broadcast. His message will be heard inwardly (silently), telepathically, by all people in their own language.From that time, with His help, we will build a new world. (Emphasis and parenthesis added)

Jesus also said “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” It evidently does not mean that we ought to hear an audible voice, but simply that his disciples follow Him in accordance with his commandments (his teachings, dogmas). They have come to know and discern his voice from other counterfeit voices by following his will as expounded in his decrees (written Word; His Truth).

2 John verse 9 Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son.

I sincerely hope to find adequate time to write more detailed comments on each of the speakers’ presentations at the Mosaic Congress, proving to you that many well-known and distinguished clergy in South Africa are already head over heels part and parcel of a full-blown last days apostasy and sadly many, I repeat, many South Africans and especially our youth are being drawn into this godless maelstrom of an end time apostasy.

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(1) Paul Reps, (ed.), Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (London: Penguin Books, reprinted 1982), pp. 119-120

Seeking and finding new havens of error and deceit

We all know the idiom: “Out of the frying pan into the fire” which simply means, If you get out of one problem, but find yourself in a worse situation, you are out of the frying pan, into the fire.

Since the release of the Sarel van der Merwe’s DVD “Nuwe Strominge in die Teologie” in which he revealed the heresies and false doctrines taught at the DRC’s Theological Faculty in Pretoria (PU), many Christians have become disillusioned with the Dutch Reformed Church. Many have abandoned their “mother church” and are seeking new havens in other churches. Unfortunately they have become so captivated by the friendliness, warmth and congeniality of the members of other churches that they  are inadvertently caught up in other and sometimes worse heresies and false doctrines without realizing it. No wonder the Bible warns:

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

A Church that is heartily enthused by the confusion in the DRC and other non-Adventist churches, and who is passionately and actively involved in making proselytes, is the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Their leaders are avidly and vigorously pointing out the errors and deception in all the mainline Christian churches because they believe that people ought to leave non-Adventist churches and join the SDA Church in order to be saved and also because Jesus Christ does not intercede for non-Adventists. In May 2002 SDA General Conference President Jan Paulsen delivered a speech to gathered SDA Church leaders in which he made the following remarks:

“ . . . we believe that being Seventh-day Adventists has direct bearing on our salvation; . . . I would risk my whole spiritual life and salvation were I to leave what I am now and join any other community.”

Their revered prophetess Ellen Gould White (November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) wrote as follows:

“I saw that God has honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches, and before the plagues shall be poured out, ministers and people will be called out from these churches and will gladly receive the truth….But the light will shine, and all who are honest will leave the fallen churches, and take their stand with the remnant”. Early Writings, p 261.  (The remnant being in the SDA Church of course).

“I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages [of the Investigative Judgment], and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited [sic] by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself…” Early Writings. p. 261

The doctrine of The Investigative Judgment espouses the belief that Christians’ sins are not yet fully forgiven and that they are still counted as guilty before God until proven worthy of complete forgiveness by their good works. Indeed, Mrs. White taught that a believer’s sins are not yet blotted out or forgiven: they are merely pardoned. She taught that one’s eternal destiny will be ultimately determined by a weighing of a believer’s good works and bad works when their name comes up in the Investigative Judgment.

“Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned and blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the sinner in the day of God”. The Great Controversy, p. 486.

“The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sin is to be accomplished before the second advent of our Lord” The Great Controversy, p. 485

Paul wrote with great conviction and certainty:

Col 2:13-14 And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions, Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.

Even those sins you and I have not as yet committed are all atoned for completely. Does that mean that we have a lease on sin and that we should keep on sinning? No! absolutely not, but if we audaciously believe that we can no longer sin we do not have the truth as an abiding reality in us (1 John 1:8). And yet, strange as it may seem, the Seventh Day Adventists believe that you can be sinless.

“Those only who through faith in Christ obey all of God’s commandments will reach the condition of sinlessness in which Adam Iived before his transgression”. Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1118

“In order to let Jesus into our hearts, we must stop sinning.” Signs of the Times, March 3. 1898

“To be redeemed means to cease from sin.” Review & Herald, September 25, 1900

Who is the liar? — Jesus Christ who inspired Paul of Tarsus to write “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:33-39) or the false prophetess, Ellen G. White? If Christians were to be convicted, judged and sentenced for every unrepentant sin, who is going to stand guiltless before God? David cried out:

Psalm 130: 3 If You, Lord, should keep account of and treat [us according to our] sins, O Lord, who could stand?

How could Ellen G. White and all the subsequent leadership members of the SDA Church ever have known that they had confessed and repented of every sin in thought, word and action? How can today’s leaders and members of the SDA Church ever know that they have confessed and repented of every single sin in thought, word and action? Yes! of course it is possible to repent of your sins in bulk such as the publican who merely cried out: “Oh God be merciful to me a sinner” and was declared righteous by God, but it is quite impossible to remember every single sin you had done in thought, word and action in the past. A belief such as this can only lead to a doctrine of uncertainty with regard to one’s salvation and indeed, it is exactly what the SDA Church teaches.

In Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 155, (1900 edition), Mrs. White states,

“Those who accept Christ, and in their first confidence say, I am saved, are in danger of trusting to themselves . . . Those who accept the Savior, however sincere their conversion; should never be taught to say or feel that they are saved. This is misleading“.

“No sanctified tongue will be found uttering these words ['I am saved'] till Christ shall come, and we enter in through the gates into the city of God…As long as man is full of weakness; for of himself he cannot save his soul; he should never dare to say, ‘I am saved”. Selected Messages, vol. 1, p. 314.

What does God’s Word say?

1 John 5:9-13 If we accept [as we do] the testimony of men [if we are willing to take human authority], the testimony of God is greater (of stronger authority), for this is the testimony of God, even the witness which He has borne regarding His Son. He who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] has the testimony possesses this divine attestation] within himself. He who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him out to be and represented Him as a liar, because he has not believed (put his faith in, adhered to, and relied on) the evidence (the testimony) that God has borne regarding His Son. And this is that testimony (that evidence): God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who possesses the Son has that life; he who does not possess the Son of God does not have that life. I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, yes, eternal life.

Once again, who is the liar here? — Almighty God who cannot lie or the greatly revered prophetess of the SDA Church, Ellen G. White?

Perhaps you’ve noticed how utterly confusing the SDA Church doctrines are. They assert that no one can know of a certainty that they are saved until Christ returns and yet they confirm that you can be sinless. In the same breath they also say that the sins of a Christian are not yet forgiven and that they are still on record before God. Does being allegedly sinless make you a perfect candidate for heaven? How on earth can you trust a church that changes faith into a kind of ping-pong game in which the rules are changed without any ado? The confusion does not end here. There are more and even worse heresies in the SDA Church. Perhaps you would care to ponder the following grossly unbiblical doctrines of the SDA Church.

The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross was not the final atonement

“Now while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ.” The Great Controversy, p 623.

“. . . Instead of coming to the earth at the termination of the 2300 days in 1844, Christ then entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to perform the closing work of atonement preparatory to His coming”. The Great Controversy, p. 422

“Instead of the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 referring to the purifying of the earth, it was now plain that it pointed to the closing work of our High Priest in heaven, the finishing of the atonement . . . Testimonies for the Church. vol. 1. p. 58

As you can see this particular doctrine is linked to the year 1844. It concerns a false prophecy by the Millerite Adventist, William Miller, who predicted that Jesus Christ’s Second Coming would occur on October 22, 1844. When that never happened, Hiram Edison amongst others, deftly changed the prophecy by claiming that Daniel 8:14 did not refer to Christ’s Second Coming but His entry into the Holy of Holies of the heavenly sanctuary. This convenient new interpretation was adopted by Ellen G. White who later said:

“The scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and the central pillar of the advent faith, was the declaration, ‘Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.’” (quoting Daniel 8:14) (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, p409, 1888. See also her later statement, “The correct understanding of the ministration in the heavenly sanctuary is the foundation of our faith.” White, Evangelism, p. 221. As cited by Cottrell)

One of the core doctrines of the SDA Church, known as the central pillar of the Advent faith, is therefore based on a false prophecy that was cleverly changed to cover up the so-called Great Disappointment. This was not the only false prophecy made in the ranks of the SDA Church. Ellen G. White made several more false prophecies among others that many Adventists living in 1856 would see the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

Over 135 years ago, Mrs. White made another fascinating prophecy during a meeting in Battle Creek, Michigan in May of 1856. She declared that some of those who were in that meeting would die, and become “food for worms,” and that some of them would live on and become “subjects of the seven last plagues,” while still others would “remain upon the earth to be translated at the coming of Jesus”. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 131-132.

What does the Bible say about false prophets?

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your [minds and] hearts, How shall we know which words the Lord has not spoken? When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or prove true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.

When God inspires a prophet to foretell the future it will come to pass one hundred percent. If it does not come to pass it proves without a shadow of a doubt that the so-called prophet speaks presumptuously and is therefore a false prophet. God has NOT spoken through that prophet and you are not supposed to listen to him or her. However, if you prefer to follow lies, God is not going to prevent you from doing so. In fact, He allows false prophets in our midst to test us whether we truly love Him.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3 IF A prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder he foretells to you comes to pass, and if he says, Let us go after other gods–gods you have not known–and let us serve them, You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being.

Satan is our sin bearer

“It was seen, also, that while the sin offering pointed to Christ as a sacrifice, and the high priest represented Christ as a mediator, the scapegoat typified Satan, the author of sin, upon whom the sins of the truly penitent will finally be placed”. The Great Controversy, p. 422

“As the priest, in removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator and instigator of sin”. The Great Controversy, p. 485

“Their sins are transferred to the originator of sin”. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 475

What does the Bible say?

1 Peter 2:24 He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!

This SDA Church doctrine demotes Christ Jesus and exalts Satan.

The sins of a repentant sinner are not forgiven. God still holds them on record against him/her

“All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal Iife”. The Great Controversy, p. 483

Mrs. White states that no sin was ever blotted out before October 22, 1844. “At the time appointed for the judgment – the close of the 2300 days in 1844 – began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins”. Christ In His Sanctuary, p. 122

“The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord….it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated… When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will come…” The Great Controversy, p. 485

“When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, then the sins of the repentant soul who has received the grace of Christ and has overcome through the blood of the Lamb, will be removed from the records of heaven, and will be placed upon Satan, the scapegoat, the originator of sin, and be remembered no more against him forever”. Selected Messages, bk. 3, pp. 355-356

The SDA Church is doing the very same thing the Roman Catholic Church, whom they so vociferously criticise, is guilty of and that is to deny the complete efficaciousness of Jesus Christ death on the cross.

What does the Bible teach?

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

1 John 1:9 If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]

1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, little children, because for His name’s sake your sins are forgiven [pardoned through His name and on account of confessing His name].

Hebrews 1:3 He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God's] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power. When He had by offering Himself accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, He sat down at the right hand of the divine Majesty on high,

Hebrews 9:26 For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world. But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself].

Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out like a thick cloud your transgressions, and like a cloud your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

Some Christians will have to stand before God without Christ’s mediation

”Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator.”The Great Controversy, p. 425).

“When Jesus ceases to plead for man, the cases of all are forever decided. This is the time of reckoning with His servants.” Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 191

If Jesus has accomplished an everlasting redemption for whomsoever believes in His vicarious death on the cross, which of course He has, then every single repentant sinner will stand before God “IN Christ,” washed in His precious blood, holy and blameless. They can and will never stand before God outside of Jesus Christ.

God offered Satan his pardon in heaven

“God in His great mercy bore long with Lucifer. He was not immediately degraded from his exalted station when he first indulged the spirit of discontent, nor even when he began to present his false claims before the loyal angels. Long was he retained in heaven. Again and again he was offered pardon on condition of repentance and submission.” The Great Controversy, p. 495-496.

Angels would have died for man

An angel told Mrs. White that “Angels were so interested for man’s salvation that there could be found among them those who would yield their glory and give their Iife for perishing man”. Early Writings, p. 127.

This doctrine demotes Jesus Christ  to the level of just another created being, apart from some of the angels, who was willing to offer up his life as a ransom for many. In fact the SDA Church actually believes that Jesus Christ is just another angel—Michael the Archangel. Adventists are very firm in their belief that Jesus is Michael the Archangel.  They must take this position because this is what their prophetess, Ellen G. White taught. They also believe that Jesus is God.  There is a glaring contradiction here.  Hebrews 1:13-14 says that Jesus is not an angel.

The Holy Spirit can abandon/leave a Christian

“O my brethren, will you grieve the Holy Spirit, and cause it to depart?” Selected Messages, bk. 1, p. 126.

If it were true that the Holy Spirit leaves a Christian when he/she grieves Him, it would mean that a saint can lose his/her salvation.

What does the Word of God say?

John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.

There is no hell

Seventh-day Adventists, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, teach that when a believer dies his soul “sleeps”. Some believe that you entirely cease to exist.

A general statement of the Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of death is as follows:

“So when a man dies he does not live somewhere else. He is not in heaven, not in hell, not in purgatory. He is not alive at all, anywhere, in any condition whatsoever. He is dead. And to be dead does not mean to be alive. To be dead does not mean to go to heaven; it does not mean to go to hell; it does not mean to go to purgatory. Indeed, it does not mean to go anywhere at all. It means simply an end of life . . . Death is cessation of life, an absence of life, the exact opposite of life. So in death there is no life. The man does not live; the body does not live; the soul does not live; the spirit does not live; the mind does not live. Intelligence ends, consciousness ends, memory ends, knowledge ends, thought ends. All that has comprised the man ends” (C.B. Haynes When A Man Dies, p. 20).

Is this man still alive? If not, then his eyes have been opened to see what lies he believed.

Ellen G. White, the alleged prophetess who founded the SDA denomination, stated her revulsion of the doctrine of Hell:

“How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell. . . . And how utterly revolting is the belief that as soon as the breath leaves the body the soul of the impenitent is consigned to the flames of hell! … the doctrine of natural immortality first borrowed from pagan philosophy, and in the darkness of the great apostasy incorporated into the Christian faith, has supplanted the truth. . . . The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination of Babylon. . . . But those who have not, through repentance and faith, secured pardon, must receive the penalty of transgression … covered with infamy, they sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion. . . . There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God as they writhe in never-ending torment; no wretched beings in hell will mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved” (The Great Controversy,” pp. 469,470,477,478,483)

Only those who keep the Sabbath (Seventh Day, Saturday) will be saved

“The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority of the Romish church.” … “The keeping of the counterfeit Sabbath is the reception of the mark.” (Ellen G. White, Great Controversy, Vol. 4, page 281.)

“Here we find the mark of the beast. The very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, on the part of the Catholic church, without any authority from the Bible.” (Ellen G. White, The Mark of the Beast, page 23)

Why don’t Adventists clearly identify themselves when they have “Prophecy Seminars” or health classes?

Jesus once said: “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue and in the temple [area], where the Jews [habitually] congregate (assemble); and I have spoken nothing secretly.” Individuals or organizations that operate in secrecy cannot be trusted. When Adventists hold their meetings, aimed primarily at taking members from other churches, they generally do not identify who they are and deftly operate in secrecy. The following is a list of a few Adventist organizations or organizations with very similar beliefs:

• “It Is Written” television programs and seminars
• “The Voice of Prophecy” radio programs and seminars
• “The 5-day Plan to Stop Smoking”
• “Revelation Seminars”
• 3ABN TV Network
• Many “Health Seminars” or “Vegetarian Cooking” classes held at Adventist schools or local churches
• Adventist hospitals, health centers, clinics, and nursing homes
• SDA parochial day schools, boarding schools, high schools- also called “Academies” and colleges and universities
• Loma Linda University is their flagship medical center and world-class medical school
• Andrew’s University is their seminary in North America
• “Amazing Facts” radio broadcasts and literature
• “Amazing Facts” crusades
• “Light Bearers”

Adventist Publishers:

• Review & Herald Publishing
• Pacific Press Publishing
• Southern Publishing

Seventh-day Adventist magazines often used as Adventist proselytizing tools:

• Adventist Review
• Listen
• Liberty
• The Signs of the Times

The SDA “Ministry Magazine, is sent out regularly to thousands of Christian pastors and church leaders of other churches despite the fact that they are called “Sunday worshipers” and bearers of the mark of the beast. Don’t be misled by its is slick and evangelical looks, because it contains many useful articles. What your pastor probably doesn’t know is that between every issue he receives is an issue intended only for Adventist pastors. There they debate issues such as how to interpret Ellen G. White, her role and function in the church, the Sabbath, the Investigative Judgment and other Adventist “distinctives” or fundamental Seventh-day Adventist doctrines.

It’s safe to say that the goal of everything the Seventh-day Adventist church does is to advance Adventism around the world and to attempt to make you or your family Seventh-day Adventists. As I’ve already pointed out in the beginning of this comment, there are many disillusioned former DRC members who have abandoned their church and are deceptively and cunningly being recruited to join the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Decide for yourself whether you have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire.

(Emphasis added throughout)

My favourite, highly dangerous quotes

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, they 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.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

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

The subtle inhibition or suppression of the true meaning of the cross of Jesus Christ

A review of the Congress held at the Mosaic Church in Fairlands, Johannesburg (4 –5 September 2009)

Main speakers: Ron Martoia, Stephan Joubert, Johan Geyser, Trevor Hudson, Willem Nicol and Gys du Plessis

During the Break-out sessions the speakers were Willem Nicol, Gavin Sklar-Chik, Rex van Vuuren and Annemarie Paulin-Cambell

Huge wooden crosses draped with beautiful white, red or purple cloths have become one of the most fashionable accoutrements in the Emergent Church’s places of worship. Its inescapable visibility on the elevated stages of their churches and congress venues may be an awe-inspiring reminder of Jesus Christ’s cruel sacrificial death more than 2000 years ago but sadly their teachings which is solidly embedded in contemplative spirituality impede and even out rightly shun the true meaning of His cross. At best it has become one of the many objects they use to facilitate and enhance their experiences of an altered state of consciousness during their contemplative or centered prayer binges. Before I venture into an evaluation of all the speakers’ contributions in the light of Scripture during the next few weeks, I would like to get down to the nitty-gritty of contemplative spirituality in my following introductory notes.

In the Presence of God

What lies at the heart of contemplative spirituality? What inspires contemplatives in the Emergent Church to indulge in practices that have their origin in Eastern mysticism? Thomas a Kempis wrote that man will remain restless until he has been united with Christ (De Imitatione Christi, Book II, chapter 1) and others have maintained that man will remain restless until he finds rest in God. This is a sound biblical principle which we find beautifully expounded in the book of Jeremiah and in Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28.

Isaiah 48 22 There is no peace, says the Lord, for the wicked.

Isa 57:20, 21 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

Although the majority of people may deny it, man has  been acutely aware of his separation from God (or a Higher Entity as some would like to refer to him, her or it) ever since the Fall. Had mankind not been so acutely aware of this separation religion as such would have been a complete obsolete. In fact, all religions with the exception of Christianity, are man’s own efforts to outmanoeuvre his separation from God. However, there is a vast difference in semantics between the biblical view of separation and that of the Eastern view thereof.

The biblical view simply says: “BEHOLD, THE Lord’s hand is not shortened at all, that it cannot save, nor His ear dull with deafness, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1, 2). It is evident that God wants to eliminate the separateness between Himself and wicked sinners but is unable to do so unless the cause of the separateness (sinfulness of man and his lost status) is effectively dealt with according to His standard and not ours.

The Eastern mystical view of separation from God is that there is actually no such thing as a separation. Any notion of a separation is merely an illusion caused by a lack of a deeper understanding and attitude which you can change by practicing eastern mystical disciplines of meditation and yoga. Your inevitable interconnectedness with God, and non-separateness from him, stems from the belief that “God is all and All is God, and since you are part of the All, you’re part of God.” Feelings of separateness are caused by wrong attitudes in regard to this belief. You simply need to adjust your attitude, turn to God, as it were, to see God benevolently waiting for your return and thus eradicate the illusionary separateness. Yet another Eastern mystical view of separation from God is based on the assumption that when we see separations among people we also see a separation between ourselves and God. Only when everyone realizes that there is one God, one race ands one prayer, as Sufi Sheikh explains, will there be peace to the human race.

God has never and will never accept any effort on the part of mankind to bridge the huge chasm between Him and us. His magnanimously holy standard, and His alone will suffice while all our own efforts to reach Him and to come into and dwell in His presence will inevitably lead to a presence that is not of God. Even the contemplative practitioners, such as Willem Nicol, admits in his book “Stem in die Stilte, p. 97” (“Voice in the Silence, p. 97”) that “evil spirits may speak to you while you wait on promptings.” Why would anyone in his right mind want to indulge in spiritual disciplines and practices that have the potential to bring you in touch with evil spirits? To say the least, it borders on insanity to yield to spiritual disciplines that have the potential of inviting evil spirits to speak to you.

That God cannot and will not accept our efforts to approach Him in his holy presence is already evident in die Old Testament when God commanded Moses:-

Exodus 20:25 And if you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you lift up a tool upon it you have polluted it.

Mankind’s “tools” of whatever kind to build a humanly hewn altar in order to reach and enter into God’s magnanimously holy presence is defiled and polluted. The next question of course, is: what is it that pollutes our humanly hewn “altars?” There’s only a single answer to this question — our inherited self-centered old Adam nature. This nature, of which Paul wrote so extensively in Romans 7, has the natural inclination to think and believe it can please God by doing and accomplishing something good. This reminds me of what Ron Martoia said at the conference held at the Pierre van Ryneveld DRC on 28 August this year on the “goodness” of man. He said that the emergent church is in the business of making better humans which, of course, implies that all of humanity is already good and that we only need to make them better. That’s not what the Gospel teaches, and by the way this is the Gospel Ron Martoia, Stephan Joubert, Nelus Niemandt and all their emergent buddies claim to proclaim. Jesus, whom they also claim to follow, said that no one is good but God. It not only means that God alone is one hundred percent good but also that He is the only One who is able to judge righteously between good and “good.” Now wait a second, you may want to argue, shouldn’t that be between good and bad or good and evil? Nope! God is the only One who can judge righteously between good and “good.” Many things seem to be good in our estimation because it works. Anything that has the desired effect and accomplishes what we anticipate it to do, is good. Pragmatism has done more harm to our societies than anything else because it inspired us to develop the warped idea that, like Robin Hood, we may steal from the rich to give to the poor because it is the “good” thing to do.

There is a continued and concerted global effort to validate and corroborate the “goodness” of paranormal and “spiritual” experiences induced by meditation and contemplative disciplines such as contemplative or centering prayer through science. The entire field of quantum physics is focused on bridging the gap between the paranormal and science. Some very interesting research has already been done on the human brain to prove that man’s perceptions and ideas of God and who He is, is mapped in his brain. In their book How God Changes Your Brain, Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman wrote the following on page 10 :-

One of the main purposes of this book is to help readers expand their understanding and appreciation of spiritual practices and experiences. In fact, religious beliefs are vastly more complex and diverse than public opinion polls show. From a neurological perspective, God is a perception and an experience that is constantly changing and evolving in the human brain, and this implies that America’s spiritual landscape is virtually impossible to define. You can’t nail God down for good or for bad. And you can’t intuit a person’s innermost values based upon their creed or the church they choose to attend. If more people realized that everyone was talking about something fundamentally personal and different, perhaps a degree of distrust would fall away. (Emphasis added) [Thomas says: Only the Christian fundamentalists fundamentally different way of thinking and talking is way off base because it is intolerably anti the fundamentally personal and different views of other relisions. Therefore it should be fundamentally marginalized.]

To survive in a pluralistic society, we must evolve our spirituality and our secularity, integrating religion and science in a way that can beneficial to all. But to do this we must overhaul antiquated religious notions that interfere with the religious freedoms of others. Most important, we will need to devise innovative ways to promote peaceful co-operation between people, especially between those who hold different religious views. In this respect, scientists, psychologists, sociologists, theologians, and politicians must forge new cooperative alliances in order to improve our global interactions with others. (Emphasis added)

The spiritual practices and experiences to which they refer are all related to meditation and contemplative exercises. In fact, their entire approach is based on the assumption that “God” can change your mind for the better (the word Ron Martoia and other contemplatives use is  the biblical “metanoia” but in a completely and fundamentally different way. I will elaborate on his use of the word in a later comment) through contemplative exercises. On pages 6 and 7 the two authors explain in more detail the alleged benefits of contemplative disciplines.

Along with my research staff at the University of Pennsylvania and the Center for Spirituality and the Mind, we are currently studying Sikhs, Sufis, yoga practitioners, and advanced meditators to map the neurochemical changes caused by spiritual and religious practices. Our research has led us to the following conclusions:

1. Each part of the brain constructs a different perception of God.

2. Every human brain assembles its perceptions of God in uniquely different ways, thus giving God different qualities of meaning and value.

3. Spiritual practices, even when stripped of religious beliefs, enhance the neural functioning of the brain in ways that improve physical and emotional health.

4. Intense, long- term contemplation of God and other spiritual values appears to permanently change the structure of those parts of the brain that control our moods, give rise to our conscious notions of self, and shape our sensory perceptions of the world.

5. Contemplative practices strengthen a specific neurological circuit that generates peacefulness, social awareness, and compassion for others. (Emphasis added).

In a nutshell it means that the changing of your brain through spiritual contemplative disciplines such as contemplative and centering prayer or meditation is a very powerful tool to change the world, simply because it produces and enhances like-mindedness, but it is a like-mindedness (unity) that contradicts the unity the Bible teaches. Sadly, however, this is a very far cry from Jesus Christ’s command to go into all the world, make disciples of the nations and to teach them to observe everything He taught us. The emergent contemplatives have an enormous problem with this particular way in making followers of Christ. Oh yes! they have nothing against making men followers of Christ (Jesus Christ who?) but the offence of His cross must be removed from people’s brains. It is steeped in rigid doctrines and as such hampers man in his contemplative endeavours to achieve peacefulness, social awareness and compassion amongst all peoples and their great variety of spiritualities. An observant New Age adherent made the following interesting remark on his site.

Personally I really love the sciences exploring spirituality. Walderman and his co author on the book Andrew Newberg go deep into the kind of territory that could potentially begin to unify our understanding of some of the aspects of religion and spirituality from a non dogmatic or ideolagized view. That is of course from the perspective of their own scientific ideology. Within it though there is a clear intent to explore and explain within the parameters of psychology and neuroscience.  (Emphasis added)

The contemplatives’ main purpose is to uproot every form of fundamentalism (particularly Christian fundamentalism that clings to rigid biblical doctrines and dogmas) and to use and promote mysticism as the crossing bridge of ultimate boundaries.

Crossing Boundaries

Wayne Teasdale sums up the crossing of boundaries through mystical practices as follows on the site called “Council of Spiritual Practices”

Interspirituality is a term to describe the breaking-down of the barriers that have separated the religions for millennia. It is also the crossing-over and the sharing in the spiritual, aesthetic, moral and psychological treasures that exist in the different traditions of spirituality living within the world religions. The deepest level of sharing is in and through one another’s mystical wisdom, whether teachings, insights, methods of spiritual practice, and their fruits, The mystical life, in its maturity, is characteristically, naturally, even organically interspiritual because of the inner freedom and liberation the mystical Journey ignites in the depths of the person. It frees us from the obstacles within us that would hold us back from that generosity and willingness to partake from the mystical springs of other traditions. To drink this precious nectar requires openness and a capacity to assimilate the depth experience of these venerable traditions. More and more it is becoming common for individuals to cross over the frontiers of their own faith into the land of another or others. So much so is this the case that we can speak of this new millennial period as the Interspiritual Age. This development is momentous news for the human family because up until this point humankind has been divided, segregated into spiritual ghettos. Out of this separation has come so much misunderstanding and thousands of wars sparked by mutual suspicion, isolation, competition and hostility.

The Interspiritual Age promises to melt away the old barriers, and with them, the old antagonisms. This is one reason why it should be nurtured and encouraged. Interspirituality opens the way to friendship among members of differing faiths. Friendship creates bonds of community between and among the religions through their members, and community’ represents a shift from the old competitive, antagonistic model to a new opportunity, a new paradigm of relationship that seeks to meet on common ground.

If the mystical experience of other traditions is genuine and if it is on the same level as Christian contemplation in its fullness in the transforming union, the spiritual marriage between God the soul, then one implication is that Christianity does not have a monopoly on wisdom as it relates to the nature of the Divine. Christian theological formulations do not exhaust the infinite reality and subtlety of the Divine nature. This means that we can learn from the inner experience of other forms of spirituality. Christianity’s understanding of God is not complete in this sense, nor is the experience and understanding of the other traditions complete without the Christian contribution. Buddhism, for example, needs the insight on the Divine, an insight won from thousands of years of mystical consciousness. Complementarity is thus the direction toward which the mystical leads us. In this way, humankind can cross the boundaries to reach the further shore of our eternal homeland.

The moment Christians begin to partake in the dangerous disciplines of contemplative or centering prayer (also called “Christian meditation) a paradigm shift “emerges” in their brains that leads them to believe that the Christian faith does not have a monopoly on divine truth. It is for this very reason that distinguished and well-respected people like Stephan Joubert and many others as well as church communities such as Mosaic Church, e-Church, e-Kerk and many other emerging DRC churches can say without the slightest compunction that truth can be found in other religions such a Buddhism and even atheism.

We are indeed living in perilous times when, as Paul succinctly stated, men will have the form of godliness but will deny the power of the Gospel. What is the power of the Gospel?— to gaze intently at huge crosses or candles with the purpose of bringing on mystical experiences that induce euphoric feelings of happiness, contentness, peace, compassion, love and an interconnectedness between all religious persuasions? Certainly not! The power of the Gospel is the cross of Christ and His cross alone. Most sadly, the Mosaic Church is not following the way of the cross but that of Cain which is a Christ-less, cross-less and blood-less religion. (Hebrews 9:22). Their leadership is misleading multitudes into a mystical world of contemplation, believing that they are leading them into the very presence of God but, in fact, are being led astray from the One Who died for them on the cross and Who said: “If the world [including the religions of the world] hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you (John 15:18).

1 Corinthians 1:18  For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.

You are invited to watch this space on my blog for I intend to evaluate every speaker’s contribution at the Mosaic Church Congress in the light of God’s Word. My intention is to bring those who have been deceived back to the Word of God and Jesus Christ who warned: “Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.” (Luke 21:8)

Why . . . why . . . why do the Emergents fear controversy?

The best way to learn patience and how not not to lose your cool is when your toddlers begin to ask questions and you have to give the same answers over and over again. Their kind of  questions usually only consist of two words — “Why daddy?” You should never try to pacify them with one word answers such as “Because!!” Forget it! It only inspires them to ask you again — why daddy? The emergent fraternity who are continuously striving to improve one another from being “good” humans to “better” humans never seem to be satisfied with the answers others offer them. They too, like little toddlers, are forever asking, “WHY?” Could it be that they are unintentionally and unwittingly fulfilling Bible prophecy that says “they are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth.” (2 Tim 3:7). One of our emergent toddlers, Stephan Joubert, (I am not using the word here in a derogatory way because the Emergent Church is still in its toddler shoes but growing fast) recently wrote the following on Twitter.

weird to see how some show up at conferences only to find reasons to disagree with the speakers and nail them on websites. Why? (Emphasis added)

I have a very faint suspicion that he was referring to two of my brethren in Christ and myself who attended the conference in the Pierre van Ryneveld DRC on the 28th August where Ron Martoia en Nelus Niemandt were the two main speakers. Ron entertained the audience with a well-thought out and truly emergent presentation under the title of “Transforming the Church – The 2009 Way” The main thrust of his presentation revolved around the assumption that the church is going nowhere very fast and that we ought to engage and meet the changing cultures on the other side of the bridge which Nelus Niemandt introduced to the audience in his well-structured and well-thought out presentation. Those of you who have read Nelus’ book “Nuwe Drome vir Nuwe Werklikhede” (“New Dreams for New Realities”) may recall that he borrowed the metaphor of the bridge from Brian McLaren. The bridge of which McLaren has a photo was built by a Japanese company over the Choluteca river in the South American state of Honduras. They were extremely proud of there engineering  prowess. The real test came in 1998 when the hurricane Mitch struck the Northern parts of South America and poured out 3 meters of rain in a very short time. Flooded rivers came down with a vengeance. The bridge over the river survived the ordeal but the enormous flood changed the course of the river and destroyed many roads. The bridge still stands in all its majesty but leads to nowhere. Nelus Niemandt says in his book that this metaphor can easily be used to describe the present state of the church that is constantly being peppered by huge tidal waves. The institutionalized church still stands but like the bridge is leading to nowhere. Ironically Brian McLaren who provided Nelus with the distressing metaphor of a bridge leading nowhere clings to a bridge built on a crumbling foundation because he does not know what it means to be saved and deliberately joins in on the Muslim Ramadan Festival in honour of God, peace, reconciliation and mutual respect for one another’s religious affiliation. Here’s what he said:

“I don’t think we’ve got the gospel right yet. What does it mean to be “saved?” (Read here)

“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 circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts.”  (A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 260)

“Perhaps our ‘inward-turned, individual-salvation-oriented, un-adapted Christianity’ is a colossal and tragic misunderstanding, and perhaps we need to listen again for the true song of salvation, which is ‘good news to all creation.’ So perhaps it’s best to suspend what, if anything, you ‘know’ about what it means to call Jesus ‘Savior’ and to give the matter of salvation some fresh attention. Let’s start simply. In the Bible, save means ‘rescue’ or ‘heal’. It emphatically does not mean ‘save from hell’ or ‘give eternal life after death,’ as many preachers seem to imply in sermon after sermon. Rather its meaning varies from passage to passage, but in general, in any context, save means ‘get out of trouble.’ The trouble could be sickness, war, political intrigue, oppression, poverty, imprisonment, or any kind of danger or evil.” (A Generous Orthodoxy, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004, p. 93).

Well, I feel like a fundamentalist who is losing his grip—whose fundamentals are cracking and fraying and falling apart and slipping through my fingers. It’s like I thought I was building my house on rock, but it turned out to be ice, and now global warming has hit, and everything is crumbling. That’s scary you know? I went ro seminary right out of college, and it was great, and 1 thought I was getting the truth, you know, the whole truth and nothing bur the truth. Now I’ve been a pastor for fourteen years, and for this last year or so I feel like I’m running out of gas. It’s not just burnout.. It’s more like I’m losing my faith—well, not exactly that, but I feel that I’m losing the whole framework for my faith. You know, l keep pushing everything into these little cubbyholes, these little boxes, the little systems got in seminary and even before that—in Sunday school and summer camp and from my parents. But life is too messy to fit. And I’m supposed to be preaching the truth, but I’m not even sure what the truth is anymore, and—that’s it, really, I just feel dishon­est whenever I try to preach. I used to love to preach, bur now every time—Well, maybe not every time, but quite often—when I start to pre­pare a sermon, it’s agonizing and … and people come to me with their problems and I used to be so sure of what to say but now I try to act con­fident but I don’t know. The only thing I’m confident about is that I don’t have all the answers anymore. I’m sorry. I’m not making any sense.”   (A new kind of Christian: a tale of two friends on a spiritual journey, p.12 (Emphasis added)

We, as Christians, humbly seek to join Muslims in this observance of Ramadan as a God-honoring expression of peace, fellowship, and neighborliness. (Read here for more info).

Some may regard McLaren’s frank acknowledgement that he does not have the answers anymore as a sign of true humility but it is in fact a unrestrained denial of Jesus’ words in John 8:33, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

That the professing church, and especially the one known as the Emergent Church, needs to be transformed or reformed is an undisputed fact but their suggestion that the Church (“Ecclesia” or all the believers who make up the body of Christ) needs to be transformed is to me personally an affront to Jesus Christ who said: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” What HE builds will remain for evermore for it is built on a Rock (Himself) and no tsunami, tidal wave, perfect storm of whatever power or strength, or even hell itself will ever be able to overcome and destroy it. The emergents’ demand for change and transformation implies that Jesus is making a mess of everything and that they need to intervene to prevent a calamity. To accomplish the desired transformation the church needs to be in a constant ebb and flow of transformation (reformation), they say. However, it is not a regressive reformation in the sense of turning back to the old Protestant Reformation but a progressive and ever changing one that has no experts in its ranks (those conceited Christian fundamentalists who believe they have the truth nicely sealed in a box and are forever quoting doctrine from Scripture) but only leaders who lead like Jesus. Ron Martoia made it very clear that the church is supposed to be in the business of making better humans. During the Q&A session I asked two questions that were more or less the following.

“The bottom line is that we should make better humans? Am I correct in saying that?

[He shook his head in the affirmative]

I put it to you that Jesus did not come to the earth to improve humanity but to seek and to save the lost. The word “better implies that the thing or person to be improved is already good. All religions take credit for making good people a lot better but there is only One who is able to save the lost. In 2 John 9 we are warned that biblical doctrine is extremely important and anyone who dares to run ahead of God (is not satisfied with what Jesus taught) does not have God or his only begotten Son. [A pregnant silence follows while Stephan, Ron en Nelus look at one another, possibly to demonstrate by example that silence is the first language of God.] The audience begins to laugh.]

My second question was “Would you say that I’m an expert when I reiterate Jesus in saying ” And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free?

I don’t know whether Stephan has ever considered the possibility that Homo Sapiens (“wise man” or “knowing man”) has  been given the ability to discern right from wrong, left from right, light from darkness, good from evil etc., etc., in order to make choices that are congenial to mankind’s well-being and that he has the honourable duty to disagree with anyone whose ideas are detrimental to mankind?. Or has Stephan never disagreed with anyone in his entire life. How odd that he should scold the dissidents who disagree with his friends but never moves a finger when they are in disagreement with God and his eternally infallible Word (sound doctrine).

Imagine for a moment two travellers are on a journey together. They arrive at a fork in the road, each with its own sign board. The sign by the side of the road that leads to the left reads: “Warning! Do not take this road!” The one that leads to the right simply says: “Denver, 20 kilometres” The one traveller begins to argue “I really do not trust any of these signs alongside the road. I have learnt to trust my own judgment and have decided to follow the left road.” “No!,” says the other person, “I disagree with you. Can’t you see that it poses a potential danger to you?” The man answers back.“You are only prodding for reasons to disagree with me. You always disagree with me and I don’t like it.” “I’m very sorry” says the person who is in disagreement with him, “but I would rather follow the right road which the appropriate authorities have prepared for us. So long and fair well!” And so the two travellers’ roads parted for ever.You may already have linked the metaphor I used of two travellers with two well-known passage in Scripture.

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

I recently came across the following quote from a book, “Preaching to the Heart” by Jay Adams, which reminded me of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11: 19, “For doubtless there have to be factions or parties among you in order that they who are genuine and of approved fitness may become evident and plainly recognized among you.”

In some circles, the fear of controversy is so great that preachers, and congregations following after them, will settle for peace at any cost — even at the cost of the truth, God’s truth. The idea is that peace is all important. Peace is a biblical ideal (Rom 12:18 makes that clear: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with everybody”), but so is purity. The peace of the Church may never be bought at the cost of the purity of the Church. That price is too dear. But why do we think that we can get along in this world or for that matter, even in the Church, without conflict and controversy? Jesus didn’t. Paul didn’t. None of the preachers of the apostolic age who faithfully served their Lord were spared controversy. Who are we to escape controversy when they did not? The story of the advance of the Church across the Mediterranean world from Jerusalem to Rome is a story of controversy. When the gospel is preached boldly, there will be controversy. The life of Paul is a life of controversy. Tradition tells us that every apostle, except John, who was exiled for his faith, died a violent death.

Jay Adams, Preaching to the Heart, p. 17.

Paul would certainly have felt ill at ease in our postmodern society of no absolutes (relativity), tolerance and love and peace at the cost of God’s truth. In fact, he would have been, branded as an agent of the devil indicted and thrown in Jail if he had nailed his two theses on the doors of the emergent church.

Galatians 1:8-12 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)! As we said before, so I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you  received [from us], let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)! Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah). For I want you to know, brethren, that the Gospel which was proclaimed and made known by me is not man’s gospel [a human invention, according to or patterned after any human standard]. For indeed I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but [it came to me] through a [direct] revelation [given] by Jesus Christ (the Messiah). In our day and age of tolerance we’ve become so fearful of speaking the truth in love that the Gospel itself is being compromised more and more each day.

Ah! but the emergent fraternity will tell you: “We’re not sacrificing God’s truth for the sake of peace, unity, tolerance and love. We’re merely taking the ancient disciplines of the Christian saints as well as the truths in the Bible and incarnating them into the cultures of our time in new and fresh ways. Institutionalized churchgoers’ buckets have been filled to overflowing with information supplied by the self-appointed experts.

I don’t think Christians should make a point of being controversial for the sake of controversy. Controversy should be the natural outflow of a Christian’s standpoint on Biblical truths especially when they are confronted by opinions, thoughts and ideas that are diametrically opposed to God’s Word. In fact the Word admonishes us not only to oppose anything that is anti-biblical but to expose it so that others may fear (1 Timothy 5:20)

2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (Emphasis added).

In one of my previous comments I have shown that the emergent brotherhood is prone to self pity. Allow me to elaborate a bit more. Jesus taught his disciples that they should rejoice when they encounter opposition for His sake and that of his truth. In fact, it is a great honour and privilege to be demeaned and disgraced as an agent of the devil (rev. Guillaume Smit has called me an agent of the devil twice already) because Jesus Himself had been accused of being in cahoots with the devil on several occasions during is life on earth (Matthew 10:25; Mark 3:22). If Stephan Joubert and his buddies are so sure they are doing the right thing, why are they so sensitive and full of self-pity when someone does not agree with them? Is it because they know that they do not have the truth in tact and therefore experience any opposition as a frontal attack on their personages and not their teachings and doctrines, to such an extent that they see themselves being nailed on their oppositions’ websites? They are strong words; strong words indeed because they imply that they are being crucified by those who do not agree with them. Unfortunately their self-pity is blinding them to the fact that they are the ones who are crucifying  Jesus (nailing Him to the cross) afresh. Apostasy and a falling away from the truth is equated with the deed of crucifying Jesus all over again.

Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible [to restore and bring again to repentance] those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit, And have felt how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come, If they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance–[it is impossible] to bring them back to repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh [as far as they are concerned] and are holding [Him] up to contempt and shame and public disgrace. (Emphasiis added).

And now back to the serious business of answering Stephan Joubert’s ever emerging question”Why?” I doubt whether he or any of his emerging friends will listen when I quote to them certain passages from Scripture to prove that it is of the utmost importance and indeed a command of God to disagree with others when they do not regulate their lives according to His Word. Anyhow, whether they like it or not, here goes.

1 Corinthians 2:15 But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].

Have you noticed the “all things”, Stephan? All things include everything you and your friends have said in the past or will say in the future on your blogs, your websites, during conferences, in churches, in your sermons etc. etc. None of you are exempt from God’s command to be scrutinized by His Word to make sure that whatever you say now, have said in the past or or will say in the future is in harmony with His Word. Oh yes! indeed, I myself should never be left off the hook when I overstep the boundaries of God’s truth. However, whenever we disagree we should always go back to God’s Word, humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to provide us with the correct answers. You have the honourable duty to repudiate me in public whenever I say things that are not in line with God’s Word, but then you should wield the Sword of the Spirit which is God’s Word (Ephesians 6:17) to straighten me out and not attack me personally as Rev. Gullaume Smit has done so often by labelling me an agent of the devil. Subjective arguments such as his have never impressed me in the very least. What I would prefer for you to do is to refer to passages in Scripture that refute my arguments.

Ephesians 4:13-14 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead.

From the above passage it is clear that there is an inaccurate knowledge of Jesus Christ and an accurate knowledge of Him. An inaccurate knowledge of Him tends to lead one astray into labyrinths of false doctrine, lies, deceit and deception. An accurate knowledge of Him, on the other hand, provides one with the correct food and nourishment to grow into matured saints who, unlike children tossed like ships to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering, has learnt to discern the things in the spiritual realm.

I am really saddened by the journey the emergent church has ventured to take, a journey that to them seems to be the way in which the Kingdom of God should be ushered in here and now, but in fact are ways that lead to destruction.

Who are the real "Christian" Cyber Bullies?

If Jesus’ disciples and Paul had all been alive today and living in South Africa our dear friend and enemy-lover, Guillaume Smit, would probably have branded them “Christian Cyber bullies” and “agents of the devil.” I say this on account of Guillaum’s reluctance to quote any of them on his blog for fear that his own agenda may be opened wide and revealed to the entire world for what it really is — an attack on the core doctrines of Jesus Christ. This is what he said amongst other things:

“The damage these Christian Cyber bullies inflict, is tremendous. As these things go, they attract a multitude of readers who only want to hear the bad news about people. Their frequent quoting of Scripture hides the fact that they are only busy with slander in the worst possible form – the incessant and unsolicited attack on God-loving Christians who try to reach this generation for Christ. The Christian Cyber bully accuses other Christians of departing from biblical principles, while they negate the second most important command given by God – loving another as you would love yourself. I can easily quote a few other texts from the New Testament that underscores the primacy of this principle, but I won’t.” (Emphasis added). Read the entire article here.

To what do we owe Guillaum’s most recent scathing and ill-worded attack on all those who in honour of God and his command are earnestly contending for the faith that was once delivered to the saints? (Jude 1:3). Hamlet’s famous quote from Shakespeare’s book could easily have been applied to his diatribe with only a slight alteration; in stead of saying “There is something rotten in the state of Denmark” we ought to contend that “There is something rotten in state of the Emergent Church.” Could it be that Guillaume hurriedly and irritatingly grabbed the first opportunity he could find to demonize the “Christian cyber bullies” and “agents of the devil” head-on after he had read my comment “Stel ‘n hemelse wag aan voor jou mond” . . . sodat derduisende mislei kan word?” (“Place a heavenly guard before your mouth . . . so that thousands may be misled?”)? Perhaps we should do Guillaume at least some honour and look at what he said with sincerity and circumspection. Would you join me while I scrutinize the things he said in the light of God’s word?

• “The damage these Christian Cyber bullies inflict, is tremendous.” I really couldn’t help smiling when I read this. Perhaps Guillaume should sit down sometime and quietly ponder the great possibility that it is he and his emerging friends who are inflicting tremendous damage to the church and the Christian faith. In one of my recent comments, which he seems to have found so profoundly aggravating, I merely quoted Brian McLaren who openly and brazenly heralded the groundbreaking news that he and other “deeply committed Christians” were going to join Muslims in their Ramadan festival this year. I have heard many strange and odd things in my life but Brian McLaren’s claim that he and his friends are “deeply committed Christians” is a real prize-winner. Do you know what a deeply committed Christians is, Guillaume? Please bear with me while I quote to you some groundbreaking truths from God’s Word. You have twice made it clear that you yourself are reluctant to quote relevant Bible verses, but please bear with me and read these verses with an open and receptive heart.

2 John 9 Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son.

John 8:31 So Jesus said to those Jews who had believed in Him, If you abide in My word [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them], you are truly My disciples.

John 14:15 If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands.

John 14:21 The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]

Brian McLaren and his “deeply committed Christian” friends have wilfully and disrespectfully disobeyed Jesus Christ who commanded us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, and most certainly not with their religious practices and festivals. And yet McLaren has the audacity like that of a well-perfumed skunk (1) to say “We, as Christians, humbly seek to join Muslims in this observance of Ramadan as a God-honoring expression of peace, fellowship, and neighborliness.” “As a God-honouring expression” while Muslims dishonour Him by refusing to admit that He has a Son who died for all (including the Muslims)? Do you as as a self-proclaimed God-loving Christian approve of Brian McLaren’s disobedience of God and Rob Bell’s brazen “unequal yoke” with the Dalai Lama (who is worshipped as a god) at his Seeds of Compassion Conference? You would do well to change your disposition from a “God-loving Christian” to a “God-fearing Christian” who honours, respects and obeys His commands, such as the one I have quoted above. Being boastful of one’s love for God while one disrespectfully dishonours and disobeys Him will most certainly be seen as a highly hypocritical misdemeanour by the Muslim world, for they know with precise and accurate knowledge what it means to obey Allah. In fact, only the so-called “God-loving” Christians do not know how to obey and honour the God of the Bible, especially when they are so fearful and reluctant to quote Him from His Word.

I have a slight suspicion that you would not repudiate Brian McLaren’s sharing in the Muslims’ celebration of Ramadan while claiming to be a deeply committed Christian. How do I know? Your approval of his book “The Secret Message of Jesus” which you advocate on your blog is ample proof thereof. Do you as a self-proclaimed God-loving Christian approve McLaren’s warped view of the Gospel when he says things like the following?

“I don’t think we’ve got the gospel right yet. What does it mean to be “saved?” (Read here)

“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 circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts.”  (A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 260)

I cannot question your sincerity when you say that you are trying to reach this generation for Christ but I do put a big question mark behind your continued affirmation of Brian McLaren who does not even know what it means to be saved. I sincerely and prayerfully hope that you know what it means because you will never be able to reach this generation for Christ if you do not know what it means to be saved.

• As these things go, they attract a multitude of readers who only want to hear the bad news about people. The fact of the matter is that, by the grace of God, many Christians’ eyes have been opened to the infinitely dangerous teachings of the emerging church. The problem with you guys is that you truly believe that when fundamentalist Christians contend for the faith that they are targeting you personally. The sooner you realize that you are not that important the better for you. Do you really think that I am going to waste my time to target you personally when there is much more at stake in this warfare we are waging on a daily basis? This warfare is all about sounding the alarm and to pluck the precious souls of men and women out of the fire of the infamous labyrinth of lies the emerging church is proliferating throughout the entire world. How odd that you should suggest that my blog attracts a multitude of readers while some of you have already made fun of the insignificant amount of people my blog attracted in the past. Come on Guillaume, give credit where credit is due! I really don’t have many readers but I’m growing.

• Their frequent quoting of Scripture hides the fact that they are only busy with slander in the worst possible form. We are commanded (and that includes you) to test the spirits to discern whether they are from God (1 John 4:1). In order to do so we must at all cost know what God’s Word teaches and to refute any argument that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. I’m sure you will agree that it is the TRUTH that sets one free. How on earth would you ever be able to present the TRUTH to a generation you are trying to reach for Christ when you refuse to quote from God’s Word. If you are so certain that my arguments exalt itself against the knowledge of God then it is your God-loving duty to show me from Scripture that I am wrong and need to repent or at least make amends. Why do you need to do that? . . . Because it is the worst possible sin one can do and that is to lead people astray away from God, Jesus Cjhrist and his Word.

• The Christian Cyber bully accuses other Christians of departing from biblical principles, while they negate the second most important command given by God – loving another as you would love yourself. I can easily quote a few other texts from the New Testament that underscores the primacy of this principle, but I won’t.” I have reiterated again and again in the past that love without truth means nothing — zilch, nada, zero. You may recall that Jesus once said this superbly quotable TRUTH: “A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers” (John 4:23). You may have noticed that He did not say “in spirit and in love.” Is “love” of lesser importance or of no importance? No! certainly not! But the very fact that the genuine worshippers worship Him in TRUTH is the very proof that they love God and their neighbours because they know that the TRUTH sets people free and NOT a humanly generated love that tolerates lies, deceit and anti-biblical doctrines. The TRUTH of God alone sets people free from bondage to sin, Satan and the world because God’s TRUTH is the embodiment of His Love who is Christ, the only Truth, the only Way and the only Life. If you are really and truly a God-loving person then you should start telling the lost generation you are trying to reach for Christ the TRUTH and nothing but the TRUTH. I can assure you that Brian McLaren’s assertion “I don’t think we’ve got the gospel right yet. What does it mean to be “saved?” is NOT the TRUTH and will never reach this generation for Christ. The TRUTH is in 1 John 5:13

I write this to you who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) the name of the Son of God [in the peculiar services and blessings conferred by Him on men], so that you may know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have life, yes, eternal life.

Who’s the liar here — is it God or Brian McLaren? I don’t know about you but I prefer to believe God who is not capable of telling a lie. Please remember that the faith which John refers to was qualified by Jesus when He said: “He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water” (John 7:38). Have you noticed, Guillaume, how important Jesus regarded the Scripture as opposed to your own magna carte of “I can easily quote a few other texts from the New Testament that underscores the primacy of this principle, but I won’t.” Indeed, you won’t because you have a rather eschewed view of what genuine love is. Your love, like that of the emergent brotherhood, boils down to a tolerance of every conceivable religious persuasion, tolerance of everyone who has no qualms whatsoever to be yoked to the enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ, and an intolerance and animosity of everyone who dares to question the doctrines of the emergent church and its adherents. In your view the one’s who dare to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints are the enemies of the cross and not those who are blatantly disobedient to God and call themselves “deeply devoted Christians” and are brazenly fellowshipping with unbelievers in their religious festivals and practices.

I urge you to repent of your evil ways and to start learning what true love is in the light of God’s Word so that you may truly begin to reach this generation for Christ according to his will and not according to the doctrines of the abominable emergent church. Like them you are paving the way for Antichrist of whom God said:

Daniel 8:25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace [tolerance, mutual love, prosperity] shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

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(1) A “well-performed skunk” is the post-modern name for a fox. You may recall that Jesus once said: “tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected” when the Pharisees warned Him of Herod’s intentions to kill Him (Luke 13:32-33). No one, not even hell itself, is going to prevent Him from building his church, and least of all the Emerging Church that is venturing to transform the church (Matthew 16:18).

tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

The Unholiness of the Renovaré Brotherhood’s “Holiness.”

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Adherents to the Emergent Church have an uncanny ability to tell their congregants what to do without explaining what they really have in mind. They have the knack to use biblical terminology very skilfully and expertly but often fail to elucidate the biblical meaning of the words they hit to and fro like a little ping-pong ball. “Holiness” is one of these words. I encountered this again in one of Stephan Joubert’s regular contributions on e-church under the title “No Steroids for Holiness.” Although it may be a very clever post-modernish title it wreaks of heresy from the very outset, especially when one takes into account who it was who coined the witty little maxim. But allow me to use Stephan’s own words:

You can’t cheat your way to holiness. Or can you? Presently, I am at the Renovare Conference in St Antonio, Texas where the theme is: The Jesus Way. Yesterday evening I listened to one of my spiritual heroes, Eugene Peterson. In his fine presentation he stressed that there are no spiritual steroids for holiness. You have to live a holy life, one day at a time. (Emphasis added)

Have you noticed the little ink spots in Stephan’s declaration of holiness?

What is Renovare?

Here are a few facts about “Renovare”

• Renovaré is a movement within the emergent church that was started in 1988 by Richard Foster, a Quaker theologian. The Quaker’s theology is based on the belief that everyone (believers and unbelievers) have an “inner light” which can lead them to truth while they wait and listen to its subjective leading, particularly with the assistance of contemplative practices such as “the silence” and “centering prayer.” Paul Lacout, in Quaker Faith and Practice, described a “silence which is active” causing the Inner Light to “glow.” Their complete reliance on the leading of the inner light has just about ousted the objectivity of God’s Word and its clear-cut doctrines. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Stephan Joubert pledges not to return to the Bible and the church but to advance forward to God (the inner light that guides all of mankind into the Truth)

• As soon as you begin to tamper with biblical doctrine heresy becomes your way and not as the Renovaré brotherhood claims “The Jesus Way.” The Quakers’ assertion that believers and unbelievers have an “inner light” substantiates their equally heretic belief in Universalism. George Fox and Robert Barclay as well as other respected leaders in the Quaker movement hold to the lie that all people are already saved from sin or will eventually be saved from it, the reason being that the Light is within everyone and nobody will therefore be cast into hell. Then there are those within the Quaker movement, such as the Quaker Universalist Group who believe that it is unnecessary to have any faith in Jesus Christ. People of other faiths or no faith at all have no need of salvation because they already have Light within them. Calvinism has a similar pet heresy. Although they do not believe that all men will eventually be saved, thanks to Calvin’s doctrine with regard to the reprobates, they too proclaim that all the elect will be saved without faith. Saving faith, they say, is given as a gift  after the elect had been infused with the inner Light of God by the Holy Spirit (monergism as opposed to synergism).

What does the Word of God teach us about the Light?

John 3:19-21 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (Emphasis added)

Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Emphasis added)

• Richard Foster, the author of the Renovaré study Bible, endorses many Universalists and pantheists. Here are some of the revealing things they have said in their books:

“The Inner Light, the Inward Christ, is no mere doctrine, belonging peculiarly to a small religious fellowship, to be accepted or rejected as a mere belief. It is the living Center of Reference for all Christian souls and Christian groups - yes, and of non-Christian groups as well” Thomas Kelly: A Testament of Devotion.

“It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, … now I realize what we all are …. If only they [people] could all see themselves as they really are … I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other … At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusions, a point of pure truth … This little point ..is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody. Thomas Merton: Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

Asia, Zen, Islam, etc., all these things come together in my life. It would be madness for me to attempt to create a monastic life for myself by excluding all these. I would be less a monk. Rob Baker & Gray Henry: Merton and Sufism.

The common denominator between Merton’s brand of Christianity and other religions is mysticism, in particular Buddhism. Stephan Joubert’s spiritual excursion to the Renovaré Conference in San Antonio, Texas is consequently no coincidence. He is merely strengthening his affiliation with his brothers and sisters who are extending a hand of brotherly affection to religions such as Buddhism, and affirming his agreement with Rob Bell who said that truth may also be found in other religions such as Buddhism. When Merton could no longer resist the mystic appeal, he intended to turn his back on Christianity. Guess who advised him to remain a Christian? No! You’re wrong. It was not a concerned Christian but a Hindu swami named Dr. Bramachari. He assured Merton that he could find the very same mysticism within the ranks of the Christian mystics. (Henri J M Nouwen: Contemplative Critic). Dr. Bramachari seems to be far better informed than most Christians of Paul’s warning in 2 Corinthians and seems to know that Merton can do more damage within the ranks of Christianity if he remains therein stead of becoming a converted Buddhist or Hindu.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 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; whose end shall be according to their works.

Merton affirmed that he could incorporate these mystical traditions into his own Christian tradition if he practiced tolerance of and an openness to Buddhism, Hinduism and other Asian mystical religions. Richard Foster’s entire philosophy is based on Merton’s and others’ contemplative spirituality and their efforts to bridge the gap between Western and Far Eastern spiritualities. Why would someone like Foster who claims to follow The Jesus Way endorse and follow Merton’s heresies? The underlying reason is to forge a new Christianity which gullibly utilizes Christian terminology, such as The Jesus Way and holiness, and gathers together every conceivable religious persuasion under a single umbrella called mysticism, simply because everyone has the Inner Light. Roger Oakland asks a similar question in his book “Faith Undone”

Why would someone who claims to be a Christian as Foster does, after reading and understanding Merton’s position on East­ern religion, promote his ideas? Foster knows the kind of prayer Merton stood for was different from biblical prayer. He admits that Merton’s prayer lined up with that of Zen masters and Bud­dhist monks. And yet he said, “Merton continues to inspire count­less men and women.”[i]

Stephan Joubert  is obviously one of the countless men and women who have been inspired to follow in the Jesus Way of spurious disciples such as Richard Foster, Eugene Peterson and Thomas Merton. The Renovaré (Renewal) Spiritual Formation Bible which was released in 2005 has impacted many people to strive for a renewal in the church. Besides Foster, editors included Dallas Willard, Walter Brueggemann, and Eugene Peterson.

What does the Renovaré Study Bible propagate?

• A great deal of the Old and the New Testament prophecies revolve around Israel, God’s chosen people. Dave Hunt wrote in the second part of “Israel and Prophetic Proof” in a recent edition of The Berean Call  the following:

Israel is the major topic of Bible prophecy, mentioned more than 2900 times, nearly twice as many times as her Messiah. Without Israel there would be no Messiah and no salvation for anyone, Jew or Gentile.

And yet, the Renovaré fraternity deliberately ignore Bible prophecy and re-interpret key prophecies in Scripture without the slightest compunction. In their zeal to make a better place of this world and to usher in the Kingdom of God by caring for the poor and downtrodden (which could be a good thing if the preached the unadulterated Gospel to them, which of course they don’t) they have re-interpreted “Israel” in terms of all the homeless in the world. Jeremiah 31:7-14 is undoubtedly a prophecy relating to the final restoration of Israel in their own promised land. Not so, says the Renovaré Study Bible; It is a promise to all the homeless and downtrodden people in the world. The Gospel cannot possibly be the Good News when Israel is left out of the equation. Sever them from the Gospel then you also need to sever the Messiah from it, which is impossible because Jesus Himself once said “ . . . salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). The Renovaré brotherhood, including Stephan Joubert. boast that they are following The Jesus Way and striving to live a life of holiness (without steroids of course). This is holy (or is it wholly) impossible when you dislodge Israel who gave us our Messiah from the prophecies. All the prophecies (and promises) in the Old and New Testament concerning Israel are all “yea and amen” in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20) and anyone who proclaims anything contrary to Christ’s prophecies relating to Israel are not following the Jesus Way but another way of another Jesus who is blazing the way to eternal destructio0n.

Who is the Jesus the Renovaré brotherhood are following?

Isaiah 9: 6-7 is one of the most magnanimous prophecies in the Old Testament predicting the advent of Jesus Christ.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

In their quest for holiness (without steroids of course) and to prove that they are genuine followers of The Jesus Way the Renovaré brotherhood, spearheaded by Richard Foster and Eugene Petersen (one of Stephan Joubert’s spiritual heroes and the author of the abominable and unbiblical “The Message”) have deliberately denigrated the above prophecy pertaining to Jesus Christ as well as many other Old Testament prophecies that point to Him. Here’s what they dare to do despite the stern warning in Revelation 22: 18 and 19.

1. The Renovaré “scholars” continually downplay the powerful Old Testament prophecies of Christ (pp. 22, 32, 1375, 1377-8, 1384, etc.).

2. They proclaim that the key prophecy in Isaiah 9:6-7 of the coming Messiah, who is “the mighty God, the everlasting Father,” refers to “human agents” ( p. .997).

3. Their holinesses (without steroids) declare that Isaiah’s prophecies are merely “tradition” (pp. 982, 983),

4. They would have us believe that much of that book was not written by Isaiah (there are “three authors”– pp. 982, 1068),

5. One of their most glaring proofs that they are indeed following The Way of Jesus and running afer holiness (without steroids) is their blunt denial that chapter 53 prophesies Christ’s sacrifice for our sins (p. 984)! So please, if you have a burning desire to follow the Jesus Way, tear Isaiah 53 out your Bilbe.

6. Renovaré describes the book of Isaiah as “poetic imagination … Isaiah imagines,” etc. The Renovaré “scholars” declare, “The prophets of Israel are not to be thought of primarily as…predictors of the future … they were poets” (p. 1079). Through poetry, Jeremiah attempts “to make sense of the events of his day …” (p. 1080). This is not holiness without steroids but Blasphemy with steroids, Stephan Joubert!

7. Renovaré rejects the powerful prophecies of Daniel, including the proof of 9:24-26 that Jesus is the Christ. They never say a word about the image foretelling the four world kingdoms and revival of the fourth (Roman Empire) under ten heads (2:36-45) to be destroyed by the Messiah when He sets up His everlasting kingdom. Nor is there a word about the future apocalyptic significance of the four beasts of Daniel 7 coinciding with Revelation 13. The wrath of God poured out upon earth during the Great Tribulation (Renovaré avoids that term) are described as “natural disasters straight out of Exodus” (p. 2268). Yet even the magicians in Egypt told Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Ex 8:19).

So, what is holiness anyway?

Holiness, in a nutshell, is to be like your Creator and Saviour.

1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

In practice it means that God’s children should talk, think and act completely different from what our world system expects its citizens to do. It comes down to separateness, severance, apartness from the world system and everything it advocates and stands for. The idea of separateness is seen throughout the Bible. Let’s ponder the following verses from Scripture.

Mark 10: 34-36 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

If you proclaim to be a Christian who follows The Jesus Way you dare not associate with false teachers and preachers. Holiness also means to separate yourself from them. it is impossible to plead holiness (without steroids) while you associate with people whose false teaching God hates, to such an extent that He said through the mouth of his disciple,. Paul:

Galatians 1: 8 and 9 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Here are a few verses that warn us not to associate with false teachers and preachers.

2 John 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

2 Timothy 3:5-14 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; (Emphasis added).

I have pleaded with you many times before, Stephan, and I want to do so here again: Repent of your disastrous way which is clearly NOT The Jesus Way and definitely NOT the way of holiness. It is the way that leads to destruction. You are misleading many people in South Africa. Please stop playing with fire and repent!

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[i] Richard Foster, Devotional Classics, op. cit., p. 61.

Transforming Mission

How do you transform Jesus Christ’s original missionary command to go into all the world, to make disciples of all the nations and to teach them to observe everything He commanded us? (Matthew 28:18-20). Its as easy as eating candy floss. The first thing you need to do is to search for Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole and deliberately fall into it and then, while you’re tumbling uncontrollably ever deeper into the darkest recesses of the hole, to realize that the world will never be the same again. Everything is caught up in a whirlpool of change. Even our theology, i.e. our perception of the world, of ourselves, of God and eternity, is in a constant flux of change (Thus spake the Zarathustrian Emergents). Now, let’s see how the world has changed. Perhaps you can help me identify some of the paradigm shifts that have irreversibly changed the world. Here goes.

1. Electricity changed our world when it began to illuminate great cities.
2. The wheel and the aeroplane have given man greater mobility.
3. The telephone gave mankind greater connectivity.
4. The computer, the internet and mobile phones enlarged this connectivity to an even greater extent.
5. Man sets foot on the moon for the very first time and since then has explored many other planets in the universe.
6. Major breakthroughs in medicine are said to have enhanced man’s longevity.
7. Quantum physics has had enormous success in explaining many of the features of our world.

If the emergent and contemplative conversationalists, who are tumbling down the “Wonderland rabbit hole” are really and truly honest with themselves, they must admit that none of the abovementioned phenomenal inventions that brought about paradigm changes in our society were able to change the moral fibre of mankind as a whole. Improved environments have never changed man’s inborn depraved moral disposition, and neither does the maxim “from rags to riches.” (Jeremiah 17:9). And yet they persist in their folly to believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ must be contextualized and that mission ought be transformed to accommodate these changes and to meet the people where they are at this present moment. They perceive our modern-day society as a very complex one, as if societies in the past were more congenial and simpler. Men in antiquity who road on donkeys were no less sinful and depraved than today’s jet-setters who effortlessly fly between countries in modern planes and vice versa, the reason being that both inherited the same problem — the old Adam nature. The latter portentous and ominous part of man’s psyche clings to him like the smelly odour of a dead body (Romans 7:24).

The ill-founded notion that our society is too complex to be dealt with sufficiently and efficiently by a set of simple answers has its roots in the abdominal crusade against the Word of God and its solutions to man’s problems, so much so that the Bible narratives must be changed, refurbished, re-invented and moulded into something new that can address the needs of today’s complex souls. This is what one of our more distinguished contemplatives has to say about the complexities of our society.

Theology never should be a simple set of answers to lifes complex questions.

I’m rather intrigued by by his phrase “never should” which implies that theology (the science of studying and commenting on God and how He relates to our world) should always remain detached from or aloof of life’s complex questions. Dangling the proverbial carrot is certainly one way of keeping complex souls from finding solutions for their complex problems. It should never supply concrete answers, because as soon as it does the journey the contemplatives have embarked on will have reached a destination (“we have arrived” kinda concept) which, in turn of course, would derail and crash Brian McLaren’s and other emergents’ need for a “new quest.”  If Christian theology should never be a simple set of answers to life’s complex questions, to what else should complex souls take their refuge to find answers to life’s complexities – psychology, contemplative mysticism, other religions, new norms and values, a global ethic, a transformed missiology? What does God say?

2 Peter 1:2, 3 May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). (From the Amplified Bible)

The full, personal, precise and correct knowledge of God and Jesus Christ (which is not merely a head-knowledge but knowledge that pertains to eternal salvation – John 17: 3) produces a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). It leads to perfect spiritual well-being, good and spiritual prosperity (please note: not financial prosperity to make the poor rich as some would want you to believe), and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts. Indeed, God has bestowed on us all things through His Son Jesus Christ which enables us to live a life of godliness. Moreover, God has blessed his children with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). What more do they want; what more do they need? Notwithstanding king David’s life that was inundated with severe complexities, he could sing from the depths of his heart “The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.” Jesus Christ was all he needed to calm the tempestuous sea in his life, so much so that “he laid him down and slept; and awaked; for the LORD sustained him“ (psalm 3:5). This is not so with the unbeliever of whom the prophet Isaiah said” “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” A theology that never should be a simple set of answers to life’s complex questions is a theology of an incompetent God whose hands are tied and cannot solve repentant sinners complex needs and problems. Such a God is no more and no less than a statue of an idol in your living room picking up dust and dirt. Who is the liar? The one who says that “theology never should be a simple set of answers to life’s complex questions” or the One who promised that He has bestowed on us all things that are suited to a life of godliness, perfect peace free from perplexing fears, agitations and inner conflicts?

Who is this God of the emergent church who sprains, stumbles and gives way under the pressures of the complexities of this life? Cobus van Wyngaard describes this God as someone whose suffering on the cross was not unique here. He says amongst other heretic statements:

It’s as if Christians have this extreme fear of finding out that Jesus was just another human like me and you. Just a plain crusifixion would have been extremely bad, just as bad as it would have been for any other human. You know that it was an early Christian heresy to downplay the humanity of Christ? But by amplifying the uniqueness of his suffering, ain’t we downplaying his humanity? As if the normal suffering that a human would undergo isn’t enough, it had to be worse than anything you could imagine.

I don’t doubt the uniqueness of Christ. But I believe that much of what Jesus did was not unique to him. The Bible doesn’t have a problem with this. It talks about sharing in the suffering of Christ (Rom 8:17; Phil 3:10), about following Paul like he follows Jesus (1 Cor 11:1), about disciples doing the same things that Jesus did (Matt 10). Jesus was imitated, followed. Others have done similar things. In many respects what Jesus broughts was not supposed to be unique, but rather point to something that is common! Maybe his suffering is not supposed to be unique either.

For anything to be unique it must be something that has never occurred before and never shall occur again in the entire history of humankind. A Commonalty, on the other hand, is something that can occur again and again. Cobus van Wyngaard tries very hard to prove that Jesus Christ’s crucifixion was not unique because it was a common occurrence in Roman antiquity. No one can deny that crucifixion was the means of execution in the most horrendous and cruel way during the Roman Empire and that many experienced this ill-fated death. It was this very form of execution that may be associated with the “fullness of time” of which Paul wrote in Galatians 4 because it was only first introduced and used between 6 BC and 4 AD when Emperor Constantine abolished it. Many ask the question why God waited so long to send his Son into the world and why the Roman Empire played such a major role in die “fullness of time” There are several reasons but the most obvious one is that execution by crucifixion was the means God decreed for His Son to die long before it even existed as an instrument of execution. The “fullness of time” was the time when all the Old Testament prophecies in regard to Christ’s death and resurrection were fulfilled in Him so that there could be no doubt about their fulfillment. It was important that such an event as Jesus Christ’s crucifixion in the fullness of time should be predicted in order that there might be full evidence that He came from heaven and not from the earth like all the others who died a similar death (John 8:23); and yet, in order that prophecy may be seen to have been uttered by God, it must be so far before the event as to make it impossible to have been the result of mere human conjecture. There are several Old Testament prophecies in regard to Christ’s crucifixion that can never be associated with any other person who died on a cross during the Roman Empire, making His death on the cross absolutely unique. Let’s take a look at these prophecies and their fulfillment.

Prophecies	Fulfillment
Isaiah 53: 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.	Matthew 26: 62, 63 And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee? But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Isaiah 50: 6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.	Mark 14: 65 And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him, Prophesy: and the servants did strike him with the palms of their hands.
Psalm 69: 4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.	John 15:23-25 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Isaiah 53: 4, 5 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.	Matthew 8:16, 17 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.
Isaiah 53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.	Matthew 17: 38 Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left.
Psalm 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.	John 20: 27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
Psalm 22:6-8 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.	Matthew 27: 39, 40 And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Psalm 69: 21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.	John 19: 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
Psalm 22:8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.	Matthew 27: 43 He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
Psalm 109: 4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.	Luke 23: 34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Zechariah 12: 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.	John 19: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Psalm 22: 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.	Mark 15: 24 And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
Psalm 34: 20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.	John 19: 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
Isaiah 53: 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.	Matthew 27: 57-60 When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus’ disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

All the above prophecies refer uniquely to Jesus Christ and Him alone, unless our very reverend Cobus van Wyngaard can prove that they also talk about all the criminals who were crucified in the time of the Roman Empire. To lay claim that “Jesus was just another human like me and you” portrays not only a gross ignorance of what God teaches us about the uniqueness of His Son in his Word, but a dangerous susceptibility to heresies that inevitably lead onto the road of destruction (Pr 14:12).

What exactly does Cobus mean when he says that Jesus was just another human like you and I? Does he mean that He was also born in sin? Was He also shackled to the old Adam nature? Was He a sinful man or without sin? If the Roman soldiers’ scourging and whipping of Jesus, the placing of the crown of thorns on his head, the nails in his hands and feet and all the other agonizing sufferings He experienced on the cross were able to bring about reconciliation between man and God, then anyone could have done it. It was not his physical suffering that was/is able to redeem man from his sin and fallen nature. It was/is the fact that his Father laid on Him who was without sin all the sins of every single human being since Adam and Eve right up to the very last person ever to be born into this world. It was/is the fact that Jesus cried out in agony “Eloi, Eloi lama sabactani (My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”). His sweat did not turn into blood in the Garden of Gethsemane because He feared his impending physical suffering on the cross but because He knew that His Father was going to lay all the sins of humanity (which was the kenosis of his bitter cup) on Him and that His Father was going to forsake Him during the time He had to pay the ransom for our sins.

Indeed, Jesus suffered the pangs of hell (His Father’s turned back on Him) while He bore our sins on the cross. Cobus tries his level best to generalize Christ’s crucifixion by saying “I don’t doubt the uniqueness of Christ. But I believe that much of what Jesus did was not unique to him. The Bible doesn’t have a problem with this. It talks about sharing in the suffering of Christ (Rom 8:17; Phil 3:10), about following Paul like he follows Jesus (1 Cor 11:1), about disciples doing the same things that Jesus did (Matt 10).” No man can ever suffer the way Jesus suffered on the cross when His Father forsook Him in our behalf. God can never lay the sins of the whole of humanity on anyone else. No man can or will ever be able to bear the sins of the whole of humankind. “Sharing the suffering of Jesus” can therefore never ever refer to these particular sufferings Jesus had to bear on our behalf. Romans 8:17 and Philippians 23:10 refer to the suffering of humiliation, rejection, persecution and even martyrdom but never the suffering of being forsaken by God. Yes! of course, those who refuse to accept by faith Jesus Christ’s vicarious death on the cross for their sins will eventually have to pay for their own sins in hell when God is going to forsake them (turn his back on them) for all eternity. In fact, God the Father forsook his Son on the cross so that He needn’t forsake us for all eternity. Following Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1) definitely does not mean that we should follow Him in his vicarious death for our sins. Once again no one else is able to do that. It simply means that we should deny ourselves and die to our old Adamic nature (Luke 9:23). Matthew 10 does not mean that we should do the same things Jesus did for us on the cross.

Let’s look at some other unique features of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.

• We learn from Isaiah 53:10 that it pleased his Father to bruise Him and that his vicarious death would produce a spiritual offspring. Who else’s death on a cross could produce a spiritual offspring whose sins had been forgiven?
• Neither the Roman soldiers nor his suffering on the cross killed Jesus. He Himself laid down his life and took it again at his resurrection (John 10: 17, 18). The criminals who died on the cross had no jurisdiction or authority over their deaths. Only Jesus, the Son of God, was able to lay down his life without having been put to death by human hands.
• The moment Jesus died many graves in Jerusalem opened up when an earthquake struck and many saints were resurrected. Now you tell me, Cobus, who else’s crucifixion accomplished such a thing? (Matthew 27: 51-52).
• He remained in the grave for three days after which He rose triumphantly from without the dead.

This is the kind of transformed mission Cobus van Wyngaard and many of our pastors who follow a Jesus whose crucifixion was not unique proclaim from their pulpits. But this is nothing new. Kenneth Copeland and the Faith teachers spread the same heresies. Here’s what Kenneth Copeland said about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of God spoke to me and He said, “Son, realize this. Now follow me in this and don’t let your tradition trip you up.” He said, “Think this way—a twice- born man whipped Satan in his own domain.” And I threw my Bible down.. . like that. I said, “What?” He said, “A born-again man defeated Satan, the firstborn of many brethren defeated him. “He said, “You are the very image, the very copy of that one.” I said, “Goodness, gracious sakes alive! ” And I began to see what had gone on in there, and I said, “Well now you don’t mean, you couldn’t dare mean, that I could have done the same thing?” He said, “Oh yeah, if you’d had the knowledge of the Word of God that He did, you could’ve done the same thing, ’cause you’re a reborn man too.” (Kenneth Copeland: :”Substitution and Identification” Kenneth Copeland Ministries, 1989; tape #00-0202)

Do the honourable thing. Step down from your pulpits and never venture to stand and preach from there ever again because you are heaping up unto yourselves wrath and indignation against the Day of Wrath. Repent! and begin to follow the real Jesus of the Bible.

Romans 2: 4, 5 Or are you [so blind as to] trifle with and presume upon and despise and underestimate the wealth of His kindness and forbearance and long- suffering patience? Are you unmindful or actually ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repent to change your mind and inner man to accept God’s will)? But by your callous stubbornness and impenitence of heart you are storing up wrath and indignation for yourself on the day of wrath and indignation, when God’s righteous judgment (just doom) will be revealed.

A New Divinely Decreed Way of Saving Lost Souls in South Africa

God has apparently authorized and lain a brand new foundation for the salvation of tens of millions of South Africans. He allegedly decided that the sacrificial death of his Son on the cross is inadequate and deficient and has now co-opted a woman, Elza Meyer, who is one of the leader pastors at the Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church, to assist Jesus Christ in His vicarious punishment for our sins on the cross. Elza’s son, Pieter, was instrumental in bringing about this new way of salvation. Here’s what Elza wrote on her blog “Turn2God.”

During the Eastern Cape conference demons attacked my body. We were unable to break the effect thereof until I phoned my son, Pieter, late that night asking him to pray for me. He claimed 10 million souls, saved and baptized in exchange for the attack on my life. It immediately stopped. The Moreleta Park congregation was led to formulate a new goal for the congregation, namely 10 million souls within ten years. The overriding aim is to reach 10 million souls with the Gospel and to make them disciples of Jesus Christ. (Emphasis added)

How are they going to proclaim the Gospel? Are they going to tell the lost souls they wish to reach for Christ that God wants to save them because He allowed Elza Meyer to survive a severe demonic attack on her life? No . . .? Do I here a choir of Moreleta Park congregants singing “No! we are not going to do it that way”? The irony is that they have already begun to do it that way on Elza’s blog “Turn2God.” Have they never heard of Paul’s warning in 1 Corinthians 3:11?

1 Cor. 3: 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

You are dead wrong, brother Paul. Haven’t you heard of the brand new cornerstone and foundation that was lain in the Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church recently? No . . .? How silly of you. Well, God is going to save 10 million lost souls within ten years in South Africa (a million a year) in exchange for Elza Meyer’s survival of a very severe demonic attack on her body. What did you say Paul? Did I hear you say, “Blasphemy?” No, no, no, no and again no, Paul. How dare you call it blasphemy? You’re too old fashioned. We’re living in the enlightened postmodern days and we are re-inventing Christianity. We are finding new ways of presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the one you received directly from Him. Elza’s way is just one of the many other ways the Gospel is being presented to lost souls in South Africa. Our South African pastors are some of the most resourceful in the world . . . don’t you think, Paul?

I just love to read the Word of God and to unearth truths that I would never have thought I’d find there. I was rather surprised to find the following gem in the Bible.

Luke 16:8 . . . for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

Nah!, never brother Luke! You must be kidding! Well, I thought so until I read a blog where an atheist asks the question “Isn’t sanctimony a sin?” in his discussion of Elza Meyer’s unbiblical claim. While thousands of women (and perhaps just as many men who are under the petticoat government at Moreleta park congregation) who claim to be Christians are in awe of Elza’s new way of presenting the Gospel and have even set a new goal for the Moreleta Park congregation, there seems to be at least one person, an unbeliever, who has the presence of mind to see through the whole charade and is kind enough to sound a word of warning against the sin of sanctimony. You can read what the word “sanctimony” means right here and believe me its not pretty, not pretty at all.

What on earth is going on in our beloved country? Elza Meyer says “Return to God.” Stephan Joubert says: “Nope” that’s the wrong direction. Christians are not supposed to return to the Bible or to God. They must advance and move forward to God, and the way forward is to boldly go where no man has gone before.” It kinda reminds me of Buzz Lightyear in “Toy Story” who ventured to go to infinity and beyond until he realized his wings were fake. Then there’s Jannie Pelser and Graham Power who say “No! our way is the best. Let’s hand out new norms and values (ethics) to every single person in our beloved South Africa and everything will  be just hunky-dory.” Do they actually think they are going to reach millions of lost souls in South Africa with this kind of cacophony of lies?

Angus Buchan’s appearances thus far at the Moreleta Park Dutch Reformed Church doesn’t seem to have had any lasting effect on the pastors, and the husbands and wives in their congregation. Wherever oom Angus preaches he admonishes the men to love their wives and the wives to submit themselves to their husbands. What kind of mighty men has oom Angus nurtured in the Moreleta Park congregation at his Mighty Men Conferences who do not warn their wives against Elza Meyer’s erroneous doctrines, or are they all in submission to their wives under a petticoat government? Elza Meyer herself isn’t much of a good example to the wives who seems to be governing the male pastors and the entire congregation with an iron fist, and leading the way for the entire congregation to buy into her unbiblical demand for the salvation of 10 million lost souls in exchange for her miraculous survival of a severe demonic attack on her life. Is it really true that not a single male pastor or other male congregant hasn’t warned her of her unbiblical teachings?

There is only one single, acceptable and efficient foundation (claim) Christians may present to the Lord for the salvation of lost souls, and guess what . . . . ? It is definitely not Elza Meyer’s survival of a severe demonic attack on her body. That’s pure and simple blasphemy and she and her son, as well as the entire Moreleta Park DRC congregation need to ask God’s forgiveness for their waywardness and rebellion. It was Jesus Christ’s own torn and blood-drenched body, and his alone, that brought about reconciliation between lost sinners and Almighty God. You find the same heresies being taught in Roman Catholicism. Padre Pio who regularly experienced stigmata for about 45 years, claimed that more spirits of the dead visited him in his cell in the monastery than living people, and the other monks said they heard multitudes of voices talking with him and he said that these people were coming from purgatory on their way to heaven thanking him for suffering for their sins to get them out of there. In fact, as a novice he asked the superior when he first became a monk, for permission to suffer for the sins of the world and he was granted permission. So, the stigmata (which was nothing else than demonic attacks) was supposedly his suffering. The suffering of Christ was not sufficient but he had to add to it.

Return to God? You bet, but not in the way Elza Meyer and her Hadassa sisters and Mighty Men are urging South Africans to do it. God will never allow sinful man to barter for lost souls on the basis Elza Meyer, her son and the entire Moreleta Park DRC  put forward to Almighty God. You’re deceived and you are deceiving others. Stop your nonsense!