Satan's Emergent "Church" Movement - By Bryan Denlinger

[subllibrm]

Exactly! We call it ancient/future!

I call it passe.  Postmodernism is on the outs. It's being replaced with some new silliness they haven't found a name for yet.

Whatever they name it, I am sure it will be "relevant".  8)

 

[Bob H]

By Bryan Denlinger

Satan's Emergent Church Movement​

Does Petey boy know you're here?

 

[Smellin Coffee]

 

[Just John]

I laugh when some people who know zip about theology (because they go to churches where the Bible isn't preached but the MOG's opinions and preferences reign) start calling any contemporary church an "emergent" church. It's hilarious. They just parrot what they hear and don't have a clue.

I am not comfortable with those who claim the term "emergent" but I don't label everyone that's not IFB "emergent" either.

 

[Izdaari]

I laugh when some people who know zip about theology (because they go to churches where the Bible isn't preached but the MOG's opinions and preferences reign) start calling any contemporary church an "emergent" church. It's hilarious. They just parrot what they hear and don't have a clue.

I am not comfortable with those who claim the term "emergent" but I don't label everyone that's not IFB "emergent" either.

It's even funnier for those of us who go to a real "emergent" church. ;D

There are some valid criticisms, but I don't respect ill-informed criticism.

 

[Tarheel Baptist]

Pagett (I misspelled his name before), McLaren, and Bell are three of the most well known emergents.
The movement is often hard to define, but seldom orthodox, IMO.
They simply push aside pesky doctrine, like Hell, which this culture finds offensive.
Can't be loving and offend the culture at the same time... :

You still misspelled it. It's Pagitt. I know who he is, I just haven't read any of his books yet.

And like I said, I don't like some of their answers. Truth is truth, whether it offends the culture or not. Some, such as McLaren, are too liberal for me, both theologically and politically. But I still like him because he asks the right questions and makes me think.

On the Driscoll (one of the most conservative emergents, though he denies the label now and has disassociated himself from Emergent Village for excessive liberalism) to McLaren (one of the most liberal) scale, I'm probably closer to Driscoll, though he has his problems too.

Driscoll is not an emergent...he denounced them long ago!
And he's no fundy by any stretch of the imagination.
The two web sites I posted here are two of the leading, if not THE leading voices in the emergent movement.

The fact that a so called fundy posted about the emergent movement doesn't mean he isn't correct in his initial conclusion.
As I've said here before, poor old fundys...even their stopped clocks aren't right twice a day....

 

[T-Bone]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

 

[Smellin Coffee]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

Emergents have comic books whereas Xers have Chick tracts...

vs.

 

[Tarheel Baptist]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

The Xer makes up things that aren't there.
Emergents don't believe/explain away what is there.

Neither of them (movements) all "all there"....

 

[T-Bone]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

The Xer makes up things that aren't there.
Emergents don't believe/explain away what is there.

Neither of them (movements) all "all there"....

I like that definition ...all three statements...thx 

 

[Castor Muscular]

Curse of Monkey Island - Skull Island

This clip leaves out the best part, though:

- It's a duck!

- What are you talking about? Don't you see the skull?

- This island doesn't look anything like a skull.  It looks like a great big duck! It should be called Duck Island!

- Oh, but you gotta tilt your head and squint....oooh, it's SO scary!

- If you tilt your head and squint it looks like a bunny...

 

[Ransom]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

The Xers can actually tell you what they believe.

 

[T-Bone]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

The Xers can actually tell you what they believe.

Now that is true...no matter how inane!

 

[MrsRow]

That Bryan Denlinger dude teaches that God does not presently love the lost sinner.  that teaching alone sickens me.  i can hear his disgust and bitterness in his voice.  he seems to teach some things that sound correct, but teaching that God doesn't presently love lost sinners urks me like no other. 

 

[Izdaari]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

The Xers can actually tell you what they believe.

I can tell you what I believe, but I can't tell you what we emergents believe, because we are so far from unified.

 

[Izdaari]

Could someone explain the real difference between the emergent extra-biblical teachings and that of the x-er?  Oh...nevermind.

The Xers can actually tell you what they believe.

Now that is true...no matter how inane!

Exactly so!

I'm not sure how valuable clarity is there.  A little less certainty about their absurdities might be a good thing.  :-*

 

[Biblebeliever]

The emergent "church" movement is nothing to take lightly. It Is a very wicked and satanic system that is leading people straight to Hell.

It's also a movement that has managed to morph and fracture in recent years. I can't remember the last time I actually spoke to someone who was part of an emerging church. And I'm not sure if anyone even listens to Rob Bell or Brian MacLaren anymore.

What they teach is so unorthodox and foreign to Scripture.

If you know what they teach, perhaps you can enlighten the rest of us. One of the major complaints I've had with the movement is that they love to raise questions but fail to even suggest answers.

(That's also why it was never a "conversation," - that imples a certain amount of actual give-and-take.)

Sure Scott, well I will explain it the best way I know how. But first just confirm that Rob Bell, Brian McClaren are certainly apart of this Emergent church movement. The people and leaders behind this very movement are seeking to redo Christianity. Also the core belief of this movement is that there is no Final Authority, here is how I know this.

Here is a quote from Brian McClaren about the Bible:

"If the Bible is God’s revelation, why can’t Christians finally agree on what it says? Why does it seem to be in conflict with science so often? Why has it been so easy for so many people to use the Bible to justify such terrible atrocities?" - Brian McClaren, A New Kind of Christianity.

What Bryan was doing here is he was sowing a seed of doubt in the minds of his readers about the word of God.

Isn't that how Satan works when it comes to the word of God?

Being since Satan's very first recorded words in Scripture were the following: "Yea, hath God said,...?"

3 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? - Genesis 3:1 (KJV)

See, Satan was the very first one to ever question the word of God. Satan sowed a seed of doubt into the mind of Eve in regard to what God had already said.

And these emergent church leaders do not like the fact that God gave us His Book and that it is the Final Authority.

Here is what Brian Mclaren said further in regard to the Scriptures:

“Scripture is something God had ‘let be,’ and so it is at once God’s creation and the creation of the dozens of people and communities and cultures who produced it.” (Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 162)


"Interestingly, when Scripture talks about itself, it doesn't use the language we often use in our explanation of its value.  Premodern Western Christians, words like authority, inerrancy, infallibility, revelation, objective, absolute, and literal are crucial... hardly anyone notices the irony of resorting to the authority of extra biblical words and concepts to justify one's belief in the Bible's ultimate authority." (Brian McClaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004, p. 164.)


“… if you’re going someplace where no one has ever been a map cannot help you.  That’s where the name “Off The Map” comes from in part.  But another problem with maps is that sometimes they change. And the maps that used to accurately reflect reality don’t reflect reality anymore." (Brian McLaren, A New Kind Of Christian – Part 1, Copyright: 2004, Off The Map)

Can you see how Brian McClaren truly feels about the Bible and Biblical Christianity after seeing his own words?

According to McClaren, he feels that Christianity needs to change with the culture and times. And he obviously does not believe that the Bible is the sole Final Authority for all matters of faith and practice.

Another thing about Brian McClaren is that he is not hiding the fact that he is behind this counter-reformation/ emergent church movement. In his book, A Generous Orthodoxy, he openly states on the front cover that he is a post/protestant, Catholic, Emergent, and unfinished Christian.

Now in that list, he mentions other things that he considers himself to be, but I just wanted to highlight the ones that clearly shows that he is pro-Catholic and pro-emergent.


A popular book that is out now, titled: The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity is doing more for the emerging church in that it is spreading its dangerous philosophy to the masses of people. The philosophy of the Emerging church about the word of God is dangerous because it rejects the complete and absolute Canon of Scripture (Psalm 19:7, Proverbs 30:5-6, 1 Corinthians 13:10, Colossians 1:25, and Revelation 22:18-20).

The Shack is written by William P. Young where Mack, the main character is said to meet with God in an abandoned Shack within the Oregon wilderness. Now look at what William writes in his book The Shack in regard to God and the Scriptures:

"He had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God’s voice had been reduced to paper …. It seemed that direct communication with God was something exclusively for the ancients and uncivilized …. Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book." - William P. Young
(The Shack)


Can you see from this excerpt how William attacks the sole Authority of the word of God?

And by William P. Young suggesting the idea that personal communication with God today can take place outside of prayer and Bible reading & Bible study is very dangerous.

And this is how William along with other emerging church authors are helping the emerging church to spread their heretical ideas and philosophy. By writing books which question the sufficiency of Holy Scripture.


Another key person in this emergent church movement is a lady by the name of Phyllis Tickel:

She is the author of the book, The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why.

Now look at what she writes in regard to sola sciptura:


“Always without fail, the thing that gets lost early in the process of a reconfiguration is any clear and general understanding of who or what is to be used as the arbitrator of correct belief, action, and control… The Reformation,…was to answer the question… sola scriptura, scriptura sola… While we may laugh and say the divisiveness was Protestantism’s greatest gift to Christianity, ours is a somber joke. Demoninationalism is a disunity in the Body of Christ and, ironically, one that has a bloody history… Now, some five hundred years later, even many of the most die-hard Protestants among us have grown suspicious of “Scripture and Scripture only.” We question what the words mean - literally? Metaphorically? Actually? We even question which words do and do not belong in Scripture and the purity of the editorial line of decent of those that do. We begin to refer to Luther’s principle of “sola scriptura, scriptura sola” as having been little more than the creation of a paper pope in place of a flesh and blood one. And even as we speak, the authority that has been in place for five hundred years withers away in our hands.” (Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence, pgs 45, 46, 47).

And from what she said there, it is clear that she does not believe that the Holy Bible is the sole Final Authority.

Also Scott, I want to share with you a segment of a video here which exposes Phyllis Tickle for the pro Catholic agent that she is. In this segment, Phyllis Tickle in her very own words, explains what the purpose of this Emergent Church movement is. She also clearly states that:

"the division between the Roman Catholic believers and the Non-Roman Catholic believers is dwindling away as they enter into the Emergence." - Phyllis Tickle

That is her very own words, showing also another aspect of this whole emergent church movement and that is the denial of Biblical separation. Which is another reason Scott, why this Emergent Church movement is so very dangerous.

Furthermore, Phyllis Tickle in this video segment asks the question: "Where now is our Authority?"

In a conference, she asks the question again: "Where is the authority?" Then after asking that question, she then states: "Because we don't know. We have lost our authority"

Now here is the segment of the video, that way you and others can see for yourself and can verify what I am telling you about this Emergent church movement.

The Real Bible Version Issue EXPOSED 8​

So the main theme of this emergence is that there is:

1) No Final Authority.

2) No longer a division and separation between Christians and Catholics.

3) An all inclusive Gospel.

So what these Emergent Church leaders are doing Scott, is they are questioning the Final Authority of Scripture. After they do that, then they seek to remove the necessary and biblical division and separation between Christians and Catholics. And after they do that, they seek to change and "reform" the Gospel. But what they are really doing is perverting the Gospel. They reject the true Biblical Gospel where Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father in Heaven (John 14:6). And they replace it with a false, universal type of gospel where everyone is included regardless of what their own beliefs are.

And like the Charismatic movement has done and still does, the the emerging church also promotes and puts an emphasis on personal experience while seeking to diminish Biblical Sufficiency. Biblical Sufficiency is the Bible Doctrine that Scripture alone can provide for every spiritual need ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

And you can see that this Emergent Church type philosophy blends well with the Ecumenical movement that seeks to unify people at the expense of the truth.  That's why 9 times out of the 10, you won't hear these people discussing Bible Doctrine. Why? Because they do not want to divide over Doctrine.

But that approach of theirs is not biblical. 

The Apostle Paul in Romans 16 exhorts us to separate ourselves from those who would teach things that are contrary to Bible Doctrine:

17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. - Romans 16:17-18 (KJV)


Here is what emerging church leader Pip Piper says in regard to Evangelism:

"Evangelism or mission for me is no longer persuading people to believe what I believe, not matter how edgy or creative I get. It is more about shared experiences and encounters. It is about walking the journey of life and faith together, each distinct to his or her own tradition and culture but with the possibility of encountering God and truth from one another." - Pip Piper (Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures, pg. 131.)

Now in the same book that Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger have written and co-authored ( Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures), here is what they write in this book of theirs:


Evangelism in the emerging church “involves sharing the deep experiences of life with those outside the faith”. - (Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Pg. 130.)


"Christians can not truly evangelize unless they are prepared to be evangelized in the process. In sharing the good news, people are enriched by the spiritual insights, honest questions and depth of devotion demonstrated by those of other faiths. Including others involves listening to them, learning from them. Much of what exists in other faiths may not necessarily be hostile to the kingdom. Christians can learn a lot from other walks of life." - (Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Pg. 131.)

"Emerging church leaders are not impressed by those who defend the Christian faith by promoting definitive answers to convince those who doubt the faith."  - (Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Pg. 126.)

Again, from these quotes, we can see that the Emergent Church Movement does indeed seek to tear down and destroy the necessary walls of division and Biblical Separation between Biblical Christianity and pagan religious belief systems.

Rick Warren, who is the author of The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Church supports the emerging church movement. The fact that Rick Warren teamed up with New Age sympathizer Leonard Sweet should be evidence enough that he does support this emergent church movement. Also, Rick Warren and Leonard Sweet produced an audio set called The Tides of Change. And in this audio set, they both spoke of "waves of change," "a new spirituality," and "new frontiers."

Warren and Sweet have both been instrumental in helping set the stage for the emerging church movement. And even though Leonard Sweet has been an avid promoter of New Age ideas for a long time, Warren has shown continued support for him. In 1995, the two did an audio series called The Tides of Change. - (Rick Warren and Leonard Sweet Together Again, The Lighthouse Newsletter, May 5, 2007)

And to show some of Lenord Sweet's New Age, Ecumenical and Global chruch philosophy, here are some quotes taken from his book, Quantum Spirituality:


"Mysticism, once cast to the sidelines of the Christian tradition, is now situated in postmodernist culture near the center.... In the words of one of the greatest theologians of the twentieth century, Jesuit philosopher of religion/dogmatist Karl Rahner, "The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will be nothing." [Mysticism] is metaphysics arrived at through mindbody experiences. Mysticism begins in experience; it ends in theology." - [Leonard Sweet. Quantum Spirituality. Pgs. 11, 76]


Sweet defines the New Light as “a structure of human becoming, a channeling of Christ energies through mindbody experience” (Quantum Spirituality, p. 70).

"The first of these five untheorized observations is that New Light embodiment means to be "in connection" and 'in-formation' with other Christians. Deeper feeling and higher relating go together. The church is fundamentally one being, one person, a comm-union whose cells are connected to one another within the information network called the Christ consciousness." (Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, Pg. 122)

To conclude, as you can see from the evidence shared here, the Emergent Church (Emerging Church) Movement is seeking to undermine the important Biblical Foundation of Scripture as our only Final Authority.

The leaders who are behind this wicked emergent church movement have also been exposed of bringing in another gospel into the churches in these last days.

Instead of holding to the true Biblical Gospel where Jesus Christ is the only way to God the Father in Heaven (John 14:6, Acts 4:12, and 1 John 5:12). These emerging church leaders have changed and perverted the true Gospel into a seeker sensitive gospel. A universal gospel that is all inclusive of other people's faiths and beliefs.

And Biblical Separation; which was once practiced among the majority of born again Christians, is now being diminished by this ecumenical, emerging church movement. In fact, when was the last time anyone in here has heard a sermon preached on Biblical Separation?

Just something to consider.

Well Scott, I hope this post and response of mine has been a help to you in regard to the issue of the Emergent Church Movement. Not a lot of sermons and messages are preached on this dangerous movement, and that is unfortunate, because Christians need to be made aware of this grave deception and heretical movement that is seeking to redo Biblical Christianity.

And sorry it took me a while to post this response. I just have been really busy with work and a lot of other things. So thank you Scott for your patience. And again, I hope this has been a help to you and the others on here who may have sought for clarity on this issue at one time in their Christian walk.

And I exhort the brethren on here to warn other born again Christians about this dangerous movement.

And let us be Bible believing Christians. Let us search the Scriptures daily just like the Bereans in Acts 17 did. They searched the Scriptures daily, to see whether those things were so. And they received the word of God with all readiness of mine (Acts 17:11).


21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. - 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (KJV)


4 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. - 1 John 4:1-3 (KJV)

 

[Castor Muscular]

Seems like Satan visited several times today, being particularly hard on Ransom.  Glad you drove out the evil spirit, guys.

 

[Izdaari]

Biblebeliever,

After subtracting the negative spin, I can cheerfully agree with about 80% of what you say about us emergents. Unfortunately the other 20% is "huh, what?". I'll explain in a moment. Nor do I get any impression you've actually read any emergent writers for yourself. I could be wrong but it sounds like you're just repeating talking points from the critics.

Yes, we tend to be Catholic-friendly and very ecumenical. Yes, most of us are theologically liberal to varying degrees. We are not fundamentalist, and we often employ historical-critical methods of biblical interpretation. Most of us are not big KJV fans, though I'm sure some prefer it for its literary style. And I 'spose I could have just said I'm Episcopalian and it would have covered all that already, at least for me.

Brian McLaren is definitely one of us. Rob Bell denies that he is, but I think he is anyway. I like them both, though I have some disagreements with each of them.

However, I am not aware of William P. Young (author of The Shack) having any emergent connection at all. You might say some of his ideas are similar, but I dunno. I certainly would not claim him or his book. It was an enjoyable read, but I treated it as thought-provoking Christian fiction, and didn't take it seriously.

I haven't read Phyllis Tickle, but she's been recommended to me and I 'spose I should. Your quotes from her don't sound too bad to me though I'd like to see them in full context.

Rick Warren may be somewhat emergent-friendly and does have a working arrangement with Leonard Sweet. But he is not one of us and remains a conservative evangelical Southern Baptist.

 

[rsc2a]

[quote author=Biblebeliever]And these emergent church leaders do not like the fact that God gave us His Book and that it is the Final Authority...And he obviously does not believe that the Bible is the sole Final Authority for all matters of faith and practice...And from what she said there, it is clear that she does not believe that the Holy Bible is the sole Final Authority...So what these Emergent Church leaders are doing Scott, is they are questioning the Final Authority of Scripture...To conclude, as you can see from the evidence shared here, the Emergent Church (Emerging Church) Movement is seeking to undermine the important Biblical Foundation of Scripture as our only Final Authority...

So the main theme of this emergence is that there is:

1) No Final Authority...[/quote]

sole ≠ final

And the Bible is definitely not our sole authority. Depending on your nuance, it's not even our final authority. As a blanket statement, I would say it is definitely not our final authority.

[quote author=Biblebeliever]Now in that list, he mentions other things that he considers himself to be, but I just wanted to highlight the ones that clearly shows that he is pro-Catholic...Also Scott, I want to share with you a segment of a video here which exposes Phyllis Tickle for the pro Catholic agent that she is...After they do that, then they seek to remove the necessary and biblical division and separation between Christians and Catholics. ..

So the main theme of this emergence is that there is:

2) No longer a division and separation between Christians and Catholics...[/quote]

Many Catholics are Christians, just like many Lutherans are and many Baptists are. There is less spiritual division among Christian Catholics and Baptists than there is between Christian and non-Christian Baptists.

[quote author=Biblebeliever]So the main theme of this emergence is that there is:

3) An all inclusive Gospel.[/quote]

For God so loved the world...

[quote author=Biblebeliever]And like the Charismatic movement has done and still does, the the emerging church also promotes and puts an emphasis on personal experience while seeking to diminish Biblical Sufficiency...[/quote]

Both/and, not either/or.

[quote author=Biblebeliever]Biblical Sufficiency is the Bible Doctrine that Scripture alone can provide for every spiritual need ( 2 Timothy 3:16-17).[/quote]

Absolutely not, and that's not even close to what that verse says.

In fact, this goes right along with your statements about Scripture being our final authority. You have explicitly elevated Scripture to the place of God Himself. It's idolatry.

[quote author=Biblebeliever]And you can see that this Emergent Church type philosophy blends well with the Ecumenical movement that seeks to unify people at the expense of the truth.  That's why 9 times out of the 10, you won't hear these people discussing Bible Doctrine. Why? Because they do not want to divide over Doctrine. [/quote]

Have you read anything by any of the people you've quoted? I don't mean excerpts from some website, but the actual books? I disagree a significant portion of what they teach, but this statement here is absolutely false.

[quote author=Biblebeliever]According to McClaren, he feels that Christianity needs to change with the culture and times. [/quote]

In some sense, he's absolutely right. In another, absolutely wrong.

[quote author=Biblebeliever]Instead of holding to the true Biblical Gospel where Jesus Christ is the only way to God the Father in Heaven (John 14:6, Acts 4:12, and 1 John 5:12). These emerging church leaders have changed and perverted the true Gospel into a seeker sensitive gospel. A universal gospel that is all inclusive of other people's faiths and beliefs.[/quote]

I'm no expert. Izzy might be able to correct me here, but I believe that many emergents teach that truth can be found in all faith systems although only one faith system is true. And, if this is the case, they are right. 

[quote author=Biblebeliever]And Biblical Separation; which was once practiced among the majority of born again Christians, is now being diminished by this ecumenical, emerging church movement. In fact, when was the last time anyone in here has heard a sermon preached on Biblical Separation? [/quote]

I would imagine that your definition of Biblical Separation would look a lot different than mine would.