Watchman Newsletter

The Last Days Apostasy of the Church - Part 1

Bible Prophecy Today (Link) - Andy Woods (November 19, 2009)

Many other topics would be more pleasant to write about rather than the last days apostasy of the church. It would be far easier to talk about the positive topic of God’s love rather than something as negative as apostasy. Yet, this subject must be broached since it is part of God’s message in the Bible. In fact, this series will contend that it is impossible to understand God’s plan for the end times without understanding what Scripture reveals about the last days apostasy of the church.

Let’s begin with a definition of apostasy. The English word apostasy is derived from two Greek words. The first word is the preposition apo, which means “away from.” The second word is the verb histēmi, which means, “to stand.” Thus, apostasy means, “to stand away from.” Apostasy refers to a departure from known or previously embraced truth. The subject of apostasy has little to do with the condition of the unsaved world, which has always rejected divine truth and therefore has nothing from which to depart. Rather, apostasy pertains to the spiritual temperature within God’s church. While some might think that apostasy relates to some external factor such as whether the economy is up or down, the subject of biblical apostasy relates to internal church conditions.

Because comprehension of what Scripture reveals concerning apostasy is critical toward completely understanding God’s end-time program, this series will develop several general characteristics of apostasy. They include the following: apostasy is a sign of the last days, is warned against repeatedly in the New Testament, impacts every major doctrine, is internal, knows no limits in terms of who becomes involved in it, can happen quickly, is satanically energized, is destructive, makes life difficult for the man of God, and can be guarded against.

When Students Are Left for the Wolves

Understanding The Times (Link) - Jan Markell (November 10, 2009)

I wasn't prepared for what I was about to hear the evening of November 3. My alma mater, Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, sponsored an Interreligious Symposium promoting some kind of "common ground" between Buddhism and Christianity. One would think if a Christian had an ounce of discernment, they would deduce that Christianity has nothing to do with Buddhism and such unions are playing with fire. But a panel concluded that there was "common ground" when it came to "meditation."  Granted, this kind of meditation could put one in a dangerous altered state of consciousness, but maybe that's ok as long as we can find a bit of unity here! Some would call this common bond of meditation "contemplative prayer."

About 200 students and a few adults were crammed into the symposium auditorium. Attendance by the students was mandatory. The three main presenters were Buddhist monk Witiyala Seewalie from Sri Lanka, Bethel professor Paul Reasoner who is a part of the "Christian Zen" movement, and Ted Meissner, an active Buddhist layman and meditator in Zen, although he grew up in a Christian home.

The kind of meditation being promoted by the panelists is the kind that brings "enlightenment," whatever that means.

Ted Meissner described the goal of enlightenment to our daily growth and walk with Christ. Panelist Paul Reasoner did not particularly enlighten anyone to his area of interest, Christian Zen, so I am still clueless as to what that is. I think it's an attempt to again help people become Buddhist-friendly. It was clearly an emphasis on the blending of Christianity and Buddhism.  With only about 20 minutes for questions, there was no way I was going to get a multitude of mine answered.

End-Times Insanity

Bible Prophecy Today (Link) - Terry James (October 5, 2009)

Fear is on the rise in America and the world at the moment. It is a type of fear that comes upon humankind almost like nervous milling about that stirs within the wildebeests of the Serengeti just before predators set them to flight. There are many reasons this is so. But one reason in particular especially agitates the simmering fear. It is the culprit more than all of the other reasons combined for the building anxiety today.

Before we address that most profound reason for fear of things to come, let's look at the many other causes that make fear levels rise across the nation and the world. Those causes involve a myriad of issues and events. We and others who consider our times in light of Bible prophecy continually attempt to analyze those matters and present our findings to anyone and everyone who will stop, look, and listen.

For the masses of humanity in third-world regions, such as vast areas of Africa, Asia, and other bleak places, panic is a daily search for the next bite of food and swallow of water. We see the frail bodies, the distended stomachs, the flies on the faces of those whose wide, searching eyes look to the cameras filming them for their next life-sustaining morsel.

These suffering souls are not often demonstrative with their fear because their circumstances have denuded them of energy, and have robbed them of the ability to know how near to starvation they have come. The world turns a blind eye, for the most part, to the plight of these emaciated hordes. The group of people who are looking the other way too often includes even those of us who are watchmen on the wall for the signals of Christ's return.

Starvation, nonetheless, is one of the sure signs of where this generation stands on God's prophetic timeline. That millions of people are caught up in growing famine dramatically forewarns that the black horse of the Apocalypse will one day, perhaps soon, ride forth. But growing famine is not the greatest reason for the geometrically progressing worry around the globe.

Thinking on fear burgeoning within the civilized areas of the world, we briefly review the more familiar causes. These involve topics we have exhaustively examined in recent days:

Polls show atheists on the rise in America

The Raw Story (Link) - AFP (August 26, 2009)

When South Florida atheists held their first meeting, they were just five friends, having a beer at a bar.

Four years later, they’ve moved to a bigger place — still a bar — to hold their weekly meet-and-greets. Membership is up to almost 500, Darwin Day is in the planning stages and bumper stickers are on sale.

“There is no God, but ice-cream is great,” reads one. “What schools need is a moment of science,” reads another.

Atheist groups are growing all over the United States, challenging stereotypes and confronting what they consider a big backslide in the separation of church and state.

They are chatting online, picking up trash along “adopted” highways, and advertising on buses and billboards. In South Florida, they recently picketed a prayer meeting in a public safety building paid for with tax dollars.

“We’re growing by leaps and bounds,” said Bob Senatore, a retired teacher and one of the early members of the Florida Atheists and Secular Humanists, or FLASH. “The attitude is, ‘If we don’t do something about it now, we’ll be living under a theocracy.’”

Survey: Churches Losing Youths Long Before College

The Christian Post (Link) - Lillian Kwon (June 29, 2009)

The Bible calls the Church "the Body of Christ." Today, that body is bleeding profusely, says a Christian author and sought-out speaker.

"The next generation of believers is draining from the churches, and it causes me great personal and professional concern," said Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis and a Young Earth creationist.

Hoping to shed light on what he believes is a monumental problem, Ham enlisted the services of America's Research Group to study why young people were leaving. The results, published in Already Gone, will shake many churches to their very core, Ham states in the new book.

While previous surveys have shown that Christian students tend to quit church during their college years, the data collected by ARG found that most of them were already gone in middle school and high school.

According to ARG's survey, 95 percent of 20- to 29-year-old evangelicals attended church regularly during their elementary and middle school years. Only 55 percent went to church during high school. And by college, only 11 percent were still attending church.

"They're sitting in our churches right now ... and they're already gone," Ham said during a "State of the Nation" address last week.

The Globalization of Tolerance

The Washington Post (Link) - Tony Blair (June 9, 2009)

Faith matters. Even if you are not of religious faith yourself. Over 4 billion people world-wide recognize themselves as religious. They may not attend an organized place of worship. But Faith plays a part in their lives. A recent poll found that religion is important for around 30-35% of people in Europe, 65% of Americans and for about 90% of people in most Muslim-majority countries.

I started the Tony Blair Faith Foundation because I believe the modern world cannot work unless people from different faiths and cultures learn to live in peaceful co-existence with each other. Understanding increases the possibility of peace. Ignorance increases the potential for division.

The reason this is so important today is that globalization is shrinking the space we live in, making us share it, pushing people together in a way that is unique in human history. Some dislike this process. Some, like me, are content and even welcome it. But, for sure, it is a fact.

In this world, if religious faith becomes a counter force to this process, one which pulls people apart, then it becomes reactionary and divisive. So if I define myself as a Christian in opposition to you as a Muslim, then just as we are forced to live together by globalization, so we are forced apart by a view of religious faith that is exclusionary and hostile to those of a different faith to our own.

"Emergent" or "Emerging"? Makes No Difference - Going in the Same Direction - Away from Truth toward Deception

Lighthouse Trails Research (Link) (May 30, 2009)

It was Shakespeare who said a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. In the case of the "new spirituality" that has pervaded so much of Christianity, emergent church by any other name is just as harmful. While some are saying they are not "emergent" but are emerging, the overall beliefs (and mission) of each--emergent and emerging--are the same.

A perfect example of this can be found in Mike Erre's book, Death by Church: Rescuing Jesus from His followers; Recapturing God's Hope for His people. Erre is the teaching pastor (and "lead theological architect"1) at RockHarbor Church in California and was the featured speaker at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (Calvary Chapel's mother church) on Friday May 29th for a large youth rally called Movement 2009.

RockHarbor Church says it is not an "emergent church" but rather is an emerging church. What exactly does it mean when a church says it is emerging but not emergent? From their point of view, they mean that they are not like some of the hard--core emergent leaders such as Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, and Tony Jones. These men were part of the original late nineties group (birthed through Bob Buford's Leadership Network) who went by the name of "Emergent." Today, McLaren has renounced the biblical view of atonement, calling the doctrine of hell and the cross "false advertising for God." Jones and Pagitt have also clearly crossed the line from biblical to New Age type teachings. Thus, when a church, such as RockHarbor Church, says they are not emergent, they mean they do not agree with some of the more extreme views such as McLaren's view on salvation. But these churches will often readily say, "We are an emerging church." They say that means they are merely being relevant to the culture so they can reach the post-modern generation.

On the outside, it can sometimes appear that these "emerging churches" are just as orthodox as any other Bible-believing church. Online doctrinal statements and many sermons will sound no different from a Bible-based church. But more often than not when the outer layers are peeled back from these "emerging churches," a mystical-based, kingdom-now, panentheistic view of "God" is revealed. And this, dear friend, is no different from the view of "God" that the Emergent leaders (McLaren, Jones, Pagitt, etc) hold to as well. And this is why we say emergent and emerging are in fact kindred spirits--and they are going in the same direction, even if at times, it appears they are on different paths.

Hard Times Ahead

News With Views (Link) - Paul Proctor (May 13, 2009)

It’s time to prepare for hard times, my friends. And, if you’re a bible believing, Christ-following Christian, I believe the coming years will be particularly troublesome. I say “bible-believing, Christ-following Christian” because our degenerating culture has all but stripped the biblical definition of the word “Christian” from today’s collective conscience so that it has lost much of it’s scriptural meaning, even among many of today’s attending church members.

The enemies of Christ have clearly risen to great power in this country and are, as I write, busy endeavoring to finish off what remains of the church for the purpose of replacing it with a god and religion more suitable for global government. Though they may well in time take possession of the many debt-heavy mega churches and other grand houses of worship around the country in order to turn them into federally-subsidized community centers for faith-based social services, they won’t be successful at completely silencing or eliminating the true body of Christ who will likely be forced to abandon them in order to keep hearing and proclaiming God’s Word uncensored. Unless the Lord Himself intervenes to alter the current course of events, those now in power will most certainly rule over us for a season – and an arduous one at that.

Considering the unbiblical and unconstitutional legislation at hand, it’s looking more and more like faithful Christians could soon be viewed as enemies of the state for no other reason than having believed, proclaimed and obeyed the Word of God. Not only is the church being attacked from without, it is also being undermined from within by charlatans who would transform it into something more spiritually pliable, socially useful and dialectically accommodating.

Brian McLaren Wants End Time Believing Christians Robustly Confronted

Lighthouse Trails Research Project (Link) (May 4, 2009)

[B]eloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? II Peter 3:1-4

If you are a Christian who believes that the Bible is God's inspired Word and believe that Jesus Christ will be coming again, you are being marginalized. And you might not even know it. It may surprise you to know where this marginalization is coming from. We're not speaking of the world today . . . we are talking about people who say they are Christians and who happen to be very influential. In fact, one of them, Rick Warren, was just named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the entire world.¹

In an April 2009 article in Sojourner's magazine by emerging church leader, Brian McLaren, McLaren clearly has targeted Christians. But not just any Christians. McLaren is talking about Christians who believe Jesus Christ is coming back again, suggesting that these type of Christians are the reason there is no peace in the Middle East. He says what these end-time believing Christians are doing is "terrible," "deadly," and "distorted."

Signs of the Times Part 6: Sacred Secrets, Angels and Demons

News With Views (Link) - Debra Rae (April 29, 2009)

Where’s the Hope in 2009?

Last-day theology is a major theme throughout the Bible’s poetic books, major- and minor- prophets, Pauline- and general- epistles, the Gospels and the Book of Revelation. The Bible answers humanity’s age-abiding question, “What does the future hold?” And today vigilant believers witness the wrap-up of human history as signaled by economic and political upheavals, a series of armed conflicts, intensified natural disasters, increasing immorality, religious deception and persecution. Despite manifest hostility toward them, the faithful are called and destined to be diligent “keepers of our Lord’s goods.”

“Faithful Keepers of His Goods” (Matthew 24:47)

Some such “keepers” are unlikely fellows. Take, for example, Palestinian Yusef Hassan. In January 2009, Jonathan Hunt told his remarkable story on Fox news with Bill Hemmer.

It goes like this: In December 1987 the first intifada (uprising) began. At the tender age of ten, Hassan believed this to be his destiny. Heir apparent to his father—an associate of the Muslim Brotherhood and founder of HAMAS—Hassan participated in the Islamic Youth Movement and served as president of the Islamic Student Union.

Eventually, Hassan turned against HAMAS when he witnessed its membership torture and kill their own. That his “heroes” placed so little value on human life shattered Hassan’s faith until his secret, side-by-side study of the Bible with the Qu’ran resulted in Hassan’s conversion to evangelical Christianity. Although a death sentence followed Hassan to America, he nonetheless applied for political asylum, was baptized in the Pacific Ocean and joined fellow believers in “keeping the Lord’s goods.” Weapons of Hassan’s warfare are no longer of the carnal variety.

Most U.S. Christians Don't Believe Satan, Holy Spirit Exist

The Christian Post (Link) - Jennifer Riley (April 13, 2009)

The majority of American Christians do not believe that Satan is a real being or that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, the latest Barna survey found. Nearly six out of ten Christians either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that Satan "is not a living being but is a symbol of evil," the survey found. Forty percent strongly agreed with the statement while 19 percent of American Christians somewhat agreed.

In contrast, about 35 percent of American Christians believe Satan is real. Twenty-six percent strongly disagreed with the statement that Satan is merely symbolic and about one-tenth (9 percent) somewhat disagreed. The remaining eight percent of American Christians responded they were unsure what to believe about the existence of Satan.

Signs of the Times Parts 4 & 5: Being Led Astray

News With Views (Link 1 | Link 2) - Debra Rae (March 30, 2009)

Where’s the Hope in 2009?

Each New Year holds promise for change and renewal. Anticipating the future has captured the curiosity of folks throughout the ages. Accordingly, Christ’s disciples gathered at the Mount of Olives to ask their Lord what lies ahead. In response, Jesus warned of teaching “precepts of men” that war against sound Bible truth.

Red-Letter Justice: The Divisive Narrow Way

In reading the words of Jesus, highlighted by red ink in my Bible, I have been somewhat taken aback by the severity of the Lord’s words in labeling even religious folks “serpents,” “blind guides,” “fools,” “hypocrites,” “children of hell,” “white-washed tombs” and the like. Believers are not to give “dogs” what is holy, nor are they to cast pearls before “swine”. If I’m not mistaken, Christ’s dog- and swine- analogies likewise reference people (Mt. 7:6).

Given this seeming anomaly, I find it especially curious that progressive Christian activists among the “emerging gang” of evangelical clergy isolate red-letter segments of scripture with the purported, no doubt noble mission of relating Jesus’ words to today’s complex social issues.

In doing so, red-letter Christians assign preeminence to compassion and social justice for the poor. Notwithstanding, Jesus warned that “the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Mt. 7:13). Yet in fleshing out issues of faith and politics, red-Letter Christians disparage this “narrow view” and then expand the majority dialogue of America’s Religious Right to embrace hot button issues of egalitarianism and wealth redistribution. They boast an inclusive moral agenda that presumes to unite, rather than divide.

Jesus said: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Mt. 13:11). Said “knowing” stretches limits of what humans consider to be compassionate, civil and just. It stands to reason that not all share equal status in the Kingdom of Christ, for “not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 7:21).

Some are simply unworthy. Hence, “if a house [one enters] is not worthy,” Jesus commanded disciples to “shake off the dust from their feet as they leave that house or town” (Mt. 10:14). Fact is, “on the Day of Judgment, men will render account” (Mt. 12:36-37). Jesus questions, “How are [they—i.e., the unworthy] to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Mt. 23:33). No doubt carnal versions of compassion, civility and social justice will pale in that day.

Catholics Join Emerging Church Conversation

The Christian Post (Link) - Lillian Kwon (March 13, 2009)

A group of Roman Catholics are dipping their feet in the Emerging Church pool, joining a conversation that has long drawn the interest of mainline Protestants and Evangelicals.

While the Emerging Church has been hotly debated among Evangelicals, some of whom are staunch critics, the term “emerging” is far less known within Catholicism. Equally as unknown and confusing even among Evangelicals is the term “emergent,” which some use interchangeably with “emerging” and others have distinguished as a segment of a wider Emerging Church movement.

With that, there is "no natural resistance" to the Emerging Church, according to Fr. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest of the New Mexico province. "It is just an intriguing concept to many Catholics," he noted.

Signs of the Times Part 3: Syncretistic Spirituality

News With Views (Link) - Debra Rae (March 8, 2009)

Where’s the Hope in 2009?

Our founding fathers understood the criticalness of establishing law and order. They saw to it that the very essence of the Ten Commandments, enhanced by New Testament amplification, served as overarching world view for our legal system. Former Prime Minister of Great Britain Mrs. Margaret Thatcher believes, rightly so, that the triumph of America’s prosperity is her free market system based on individual effort, fair dealing and (last but not least) respect for rule of law—all biblical principles.

Still, media mogul Ted Turner begs to differ. To this self-proclaimed secular humanist, the Ten Commandments are “out of date.” “If you are going to have ten rules,” he adds, “I don’t know if [prohibiting] adultery should be one of them.” Turner may not agree but, by definition, all world views (his included) are fundamentally religious. Without exception, all speak to an ideology or movement offering an overarching approach for comprehending God, the world and man’s relationship to both.

On the humanism continuum, cosmology is the skewed, albeit trendy world view in which lawful authority resides entirely with the individual. Instead of biblical principles, laws of the universe regulate conduct in the shifting paradigm of our emerging New Earth. This supposedly science-based belief system presumes that every person is god, and god is every person.

Even more, the universe itself is god—or treated as if. At all costs, humans must not be permitted to mess with biodiversity. No longer may one rejoice in the fruit of his labor, viewed as a gift from God. Rather, trendy eco-socialists work to supplant rightful private ownership with public ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange.

Cosmic Humanists, as these, claim to be Mother Earth’s consciousness, thus blurring the line between physics and metaphysics. Furthermore, they support classic Marxism as defined by the Robin Hood philosophy of global resource redistribution.

Presbyterian Pastor Fears Denomination is Compromising Witness

The Christian Post (Link) (February 27, 2009)

As Presbyterians in Charlotte approved an amendment that would open the way for the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals, one pastor is speaking out, concerned that the Church is compromising its witness in morally ambiguous times.

"The approved amendment, in violating the teachings of Scripture and our confessional history, puts the church in the position of accommodating itself to a culture that is demanding permission for behaviors and patterns of life that, while self-gratifying, are not biblically permissible," states Jim Szeyller, pastor of Carmel Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, N.C., in a commentary published Thursday in The Charlotte Observer.

Last week, the Presbytery of Charlotte – a regional body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – voted 177-139 to support a constitutional amendment that would delete language requiring clergy "to lead a life in obedience to Scripture" and to live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness."

New Religion for a New World

Lighthouse Trails Blog (Link) - Kjos Minsitries - Lorin Smith (January 30, 2009) - Originally posted in 2002

LTRP Note: Kjos Ministries has reposted the following article, written seven years ago by Lorin Smith from the UK, because of its relevancy, which is more apparent today than when it was first issued. As pointed out in the article, in a new world order, fundamentalism (adhering strictly to doctrine) will be a threat. This is also what Rick Warren said, when he stated in 2006 that fundamentalism will be "one of the big enemies of the 21st century. . . . Muslim fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism, Jewish fundamentalism, secular fundamentalism - they're all motivated by fear. Fear of each other.'" 1 Less than a year earlier, he defined what he means by "fundamentalism" when he spoke at the Pew Forum on Religion and said:

"Today there really aren't that many Fundamentalists left; I don't know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren't that many Fundamentalists left in America ... Now the word 'fundamentalist' actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity." Quote by Rick Warren, May 2005

---

Two developments have become obvious to observers of the rapidly changing geo-political landscape. We have entered a time of accelerated global transformation, and religion will play a major role in how this new world order will be configured. In short, a new world calls for the creation of a new world religion.

In the construction of this new world order, Christianity will face ideological challenges to the central tenets of its faith unlike anything it has experienced in the previous the previous two millennia. In this new world, all religions must be recognized and acknowledged as legitimate pathways to God. Religious exclusivity, absolutism and dogmatism will be viewed as potential threats to world peace and survival.

Deception: Appearing to be on God's Side

From The Lighthouse (Link) - Ray Yungen (January 24, 2009)

In the days prior to Jesus Christ's return, [f]amiliar spirits (fallen angels) will not just mislead a few individuals; they will deceive the whole world into embracing a new system. Satan (whose name means adversary) will be the power behind the "coming one"-the great Antichrist. The origin of the Antichrist-s religious system is clearly revealed by the apostle John in Revelation 17:5:

"And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth."

Another word for Babylon in the Old Testament was Chaldea. The Chaldeans were renowned for their use of metaphysical arts. They began the first mystery schools. Daniel 4:7 says: "Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in." This Mystery Babylon, then, would be the original source or mother of what is now New Age metaphysics.

Emerging Church Movement Threatens Church Foundation, Says Pastor

The Christian Post (Link) - Eric Young (January 24, 2009)

The Emerging Church movement is seeking to revitalize the faith but may infect an entire generation with a philosophy that kills it, according a Reformed Presbyterian pastor and theologian.

"If churches embracing the principle of Sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone) fail to understand and address the concerns voiced in the Emerging Church conversation, we may lose an entire generation of professing believers,” says the Rev. Rutledge Etheridge, an adjunct professor of systematic theology at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS) in Pittsburgh and pastor of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church.

According to Etheridge, the Emerging Church movement – known for flexible methodology and efforts to be culturally relevant – seeks to glean the good from Christianity's past while painting a fresh picture of the faith today. Those familiar with the movement say its members seek to live their faith in what they believe to be a "postmodern" society, while its leaders are often critical of traditional evangelical churches and often place high value on good works or social activism.

9 Things to Watch in 2009

Fulfilled Prophecy (Link) - Holly Pivec (January 14, 2009)

Did the 70th Week of Daniel start on Jan. 1, 2007? If so, then we should expect to see the creation of a new world political, economic and religious order. So here are the stories FP will be watching this year.

• Middle East talks:

Will an agreement be reached between the Israelis and Palestinians? If so, will the EU’s Javier Solana play a key role?

Financial crisis: Will a global economic body be formed?

Obama presidency: Will President Obama subject the United States to international bodies, like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court?

Alliance of Civilizations: Will America join the Group of Friends? See here

Lisbon Treaty: If the treaty passes, will Javier Solana get the powerful foreign minister post? And will the 10 Brussels Treaty Powers remain in control of the EU military?

Tony Blair Faith Foundation: Will Tony Blair woo more evangelicals to join his interfaith work? See here

Rick Warren: Will his gospel of good works overshadow the gospel of salvation from sin?

Catholic-Muslim dialogue: Will the Vatican’s overtures lead to unity?

Apostolic-prophetic movement: Will more Christians come under the authority of these false apostles and false prophets? See them here

Most US Christians define own theology

The Christian Science Monitor (Link) (January 14, 2009)

American individualism has made its imprint on Christianity. A sizable majority of the country's faithful no longer hew closely to orthodox teachings, and look more to themselves than to churches or denominations to define their religious convictions, according to two recent surveys. More than half of all Christians also believe that some non-Christians can get into heaven. "Growing numbers of people now serve as their own theologian-in-residence," said George Barna, president of Barna Group, on releasing findings of one of the polls on Jan. 12.

In the Barna survey, 71 percent of American adults say they are more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs than to accept a defined set of teachings from a particular church. Even among born-again Christians, 61 percent pick and choose from the beliefs of different denominations. For people under the age of 25, the number rises to 82 percent.

Many "cafeteria Christians" go beyond the teachings of Christian denominations to embrace parts of other world religions. Half of Americans also believe that Christianity is now just one of many faith options people can choose from (44 percent disagree with that perception). Residents of the Northeast and West were more likely than those in the South and Midwest to say Christianity has lost its status as the favored American religion.

Christians Under the Influence of Another Spirit

Lighthouse Trails Blog (Link) - Warren Smith (January 8, 2009)

The apostle Paul went to great lengths to warn the Corinthians not to be deceived by a "Jesus" that wasn't Jesus Christ the Son of God, a spirit that wasn't the Holy Spirit and a gospel that was not the true biblical Gospel (2 Corinthians 11:4). Throughout the New Testament, believers are continually warned not to be deceived by spiritual teachings and experiences that are not from God. Jesus Christ specifically warned his disciples that spiritual deception would be a sign of the end (Matthew 24:3-4).

Today it is very sad to see so many believers falling under the influence of the same spirit that influenced me when I was in the "new age." This spirit says that it is a time for "breakthroughs" and for the fulfillment of our "destiny"; that there is something "new" and exciting in the wind. This teaching claims that we are in the midst of a great "transition" that will result in a "paradigm shift," and that through "new revelation" and "personal experience" God is in the process of taking the church to a "new dimension" and to a whole "new level." Many Christian leaders these days are so sure that what they are hearing and experiencing is from God, they are rarely testing the spirits, or even considering the possibility that they are being deceived.

The first century Bereans tested their leaders and tested their teachings as they "searched the scriptures daily" to see "whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11). Apostles, prophets, pastors, and teachers were always subject to God's holy Word. "New revelation" never nullified nor superseded scripture. The Bereans were not impressed by supernatural power and spiritual experiences that had not been tested by the Word of God. They did not depend on signs and wonders and miracles. They depended on the authority and reliability and trustworthiness of Scripture:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16)

2008: A Year in Review — What Holly Thinks

Fulfilled Prophecy (Link) - Holly Pivec (December 30, 2008)

A financial crisis led to calls for a new global order — an order that seemed unachievable given the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. The Annapolis process attempted to calm the turmoil and failed, but found new life as it won the backing of the international community. The key to peace in our time? Religions working together. History may dub 2008 the year of the interfaith movement — not realizing that good intentions will pave the path for the False Prophet.

New Global Order

• G-20 leaders launched an action plan to create a “new world economic order.” See more
• The UK’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, said now is the time to build a global society, led by the European Union and the United States. See more
• The Center for Strategic & International Studies issued a report calling for a new global order with the EU and NATO at the core. See more
• The World Council of Churches called for a new international financial structure. See more
• Barack Obama planned to strengthen the relationship between the United States and the United Nations. See more

Middle East Peace

• The UN adopted a measure backing the Annapolis process. See more
• Informal talks between Syria and Israel were relaunched after eight years. (This week, Syria suspended the talks due to the Israeli attacks on Gaza.) See more
• The EU’s Javier Solana positioned himself to take the diplomatic lead in the Middle East during the transition in the U.S. administration. See more, and here, here, and here.
• Evangelical leaders urged Obama to make Mideast peace a priority. See more
• The Union of the Mediterranean was launched under the umbrella of Javier Solana’s Barcelona Process. See more

Rise of the Interfaith Movement

• The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was launched. See more
• Rick Warren was appointed an adviser to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. See more
• The United Nations held an interfaith conference attended by representative of 80 countries, including President Bush. See more
• The Vatican launched a Muslim-Christian dialogue. See more
• National Association of Evangelicals board member Joel Hunter attended the Alliance of Civilizations’ first annual forum. See more
• E.U. high representative Javier Solana and Alliance of Civilizations’ head Jorge Sampaio met to see how the E.U. and Alliance of Civilizations can work together. See more
• The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) issued a declaration to support the Alliance of Civilizations. See more
• A poll revealed that most American Christians say Christianity isn’t the only way to heaven. See more

Holly’s Top Pick for 2008

One of the biggest stories of the year in Europe was the failure of the Lisbon Treaty. Yet the part most people missed is that, without the treaty, Javier Solana and the 10 Brussels Treaty Powers remain in control of the E.U. military. Learn why these 10 nations may be significant to Bible prophecy here.

What did we miss? Let us know what you think. E-mail fulfilledprophecy@sbcglobal.net

Related Article 2007: A Prophetic Year in Review

Maitreya Rising?

News With Views (Link) - Paul Proctor (December 19, 2008) Commented

There was a very strange announcement made recently in the form of a press release posted on the Dow Jones & Company’s Market Watch website dated December 12, 2008, that bears mentioning, if for no other reason, because it reads like something from a supermarket tabloid. Come to think of it, didn’t Rupert Murdoch just buy Dow Jones & Company not long ago? If you’re not aware, they also publish, among other things, the Wall Street Journal. Anyway, whether this speaks to the decline of a once great business publication or the growing power and influence of a coming world leader, only time will tell. Either way, it is clearly another ominous sign of the desperate times in which we live.

The article in question titled, Share International Reveals Christmas Miracle, advises readers to prepare for a coming miracle that all of us will see in the sky shortly before the “emergence of Maitreya and his group, the Masters of Wisdom.” Allow me to reiterate: This is a major business and financial news publication – not some obscure blog for Bigfoot hunters and UFO enthusiasts. The article goes on to say:

Look now for the biggest miracle of all. In the very near future a large, bright star will appear in the sky visible to all throughout the world -- night and day.

Unbelievable? Fantasy? No, a simple fact. Around a week later, Maitreya, the World Teacher for all humanity, will begin his open emergence and -- though not yet using the name Maitreya -- will be interviewed on a major US television program.

Who is Maitreya, you ask? The press release describes him this way:

Awaited by all faiths under different names, Maitreya is the Christ to Christians, the Imam Mahdi to Muslims, Krishna to Hindus, the Messiah to Jews, and Maitreya Buddha to Buddhists. He is the World Teacher for all, religious or not, an educator in the broadest sense.

If that doesn’t peg your spiritual discernment meter, you may want to go have it checked.

Many beliefs, many paths to heaven?

USA Today (Link) - Cathy Lynn Grossman (December 18, 2008)

Most American religious believers, including most Christians, say eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior, a new survey finds. Of the 65% of people who held this open view of heaven's gates, 80% named at least one non-Christian group — Jews, Muslims, Hindus, atheists or people with no religion at all — who may also be saved, according to a new survey released today by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. This means 52% of Christians do not agree with the doctrines many religions teach, particularly conservative denominations.

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, calls the findings "a theological crisis for American evangelicals. They represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel." This survey on salvation is a follow-up to a highly controversial finding in Pew's Religious Landscape survey, released earlier this year. It detailed the religious demographics, beliefs and behavior of 35,000 U.S. adults surveyed in 2007.

An Enlightened Race?

From the Lighthouse (Link) - Caryl Matrisciana (December 5, 2008)

The Germany of the 1920s and 1930s was in social and economic despair, looking for a leader who would free her from the Great Depression. The man with the promise of hope was Adolph Hitler. A man with an affinity for the occult and "an abiding belief in astrology,"1 he claimed he was ordained by God to usher in one thousand years of peace and prosperity with a super race of humans. A student of Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine (the Theosophical Society's "bible"), Hitler manipulated an entire nation to surrender its collective mind to him.2

Aryanism, the belief in a super-race, is a foundational teaching of Hinduism's caste system. It was also Hitler's twisted rationale for the annihilation of six million Jews and additional millions of other "impure" racial and societal strains. This same attitude of elitism breeds the New Age viewpoint of man's coming "quantum leap in the evolution of consciousness" that will create a new "awakened" and "enlightened" race.3 But there won't be any room for those who resist this transformed mystical world.

Gurus excuse away the madness and cruelty of the Holocaust as being the result of inadequate karma. Even Gandhi pleaded with the British to surrender to Hitler. "Hitler is not a bad man," he told them.4

The Coming Kingdom: Evolution or Revolution

Herescope (Link) - Pastor Larry DeBruyn (November 17, 2008)

In recent years, Christendom’s thinkers have offered a smorgasbord of ideas and theories about Jesus, thus begging the question—will the real Jesus please stand up? If one pays attention to the Jesus revisionists, we are left with the impression that nobody really understood Him, not even the Apostle Paul. To some, Jesus is a white Caucasian, and to others He’s a black African. To some, He was a revolutionary, and to others a pacifist. To some, He’s a prophet, while to others He’s a Gnostic. From teacher to magician, Jesus, it seems, can become almost anyone to everyone—a man for all seasons. So, it is supposed, if we earnestly “quest” after Him, we might discover the authentic Jesus. However, Jesus “makeovers” usually require that disparate parts of the biblical record be affirmed on the one hand, and denied on the other. But amidst all this “Jesus questing,” the believer can take solace in knowing that controversy over Jesus’ identity is not new (See Matthew 16:13-20.).

As he embraces “the nonviolent Jesus of the Gospels” (the Jesus of “love and grace”), one Christian leader now debunks what he labels the “jihadist Jesus” of the “Second Coming” (the Jesus of “violence and domination”). According to Brian McLaren, “the Second Coming Jesus”—once held by an evangelical consensus to be one of the five fundamentals of the Christian faith—needs rethinking.[1]