The Christianizing of Ancient Idolatrous Worship Practices - A Review Of The Video "God's Fingerprints In Japan"

SRN Suggets reading:

"A Review Of The Video "God's Fingerprints In Japan"

by Mike Oppenheimer, Let Us Reason Ministries, 5/06

"...In his search for the creator God in Japan Kikawa has built a cross cultural relationship by Christianizing ancient idolatrous worship practices, making people think through his presentation that nearly every people group/culture has truths about God that were put by God in their culture-and that they knew him."
http://www.letusreason.org/ecumen8.htm

Read the following articles:
(1) A Review Of The Video "God's Fingerprints In Japan"
(2) Hirata Atsutane in Kami
(3) Gateways to God, Sumo wrestling and the way of Tea
(4) Communion with Tea, Buddha and Endorsements

Protestants Looking At Mary in New Light

Protestants Looking At Mary in New Light

Article posted in

(Friday church news notes, january 5, 2007, http://www.wayoflife.org/ fbns@wayoflife.org)

A growing number of protestants and evangelicals are looking at Mary in a more catholic light today, fueled by Hollywood movies (i.e., the passion of the Christ and the nativity story), books (i.e., the real Mary by Scot McKnight and blessed one by Beverly Gaventa), ecumenical associations, the charismatic movement, organizations such as the legion of Mary, and the spirit of apostasy that is in the air in these last days (2 timothy 4:3-4).

An article in the Miami herald for December 24 observed that a Lutheran church in Orlando features a nearly life-sized statue of Mary and the infant Jesus, an Episcopal church in Sarasota celebrates the feast day of the virgin of Guadalupe, and a united Methodist church in Chicago has a statue of Guadalupe in its sanctuary. Christianity today, the associated Baptist press, and the Lutheran have featured articles calling for Mary’s reappropriation. Since its inception in the 1960s, the charismatic "renewal" in the roman catholic church has exalted Mary. In 1979 light of life, India’s most influential evangelical magazine, asked if the charismatic Catholics' views of Mary had changed.

They responded: "nothing has happened to the great mother of god. She still remains queen of heaven and earth, respected, loved and venerated" (light of life, June 1979).

That same year Tyndale house published Michael Harper’s book the three sisters, which traced the growing ecumenical unity of evangelical Protestantism Evangeline), Pentecostalism (charisma), and roman Catholicism (roma). On page 49 Harper, an Anglican, exclaimed: "oh, what an enrichment it has been to meet with Catholics and to be introduced to some of the treasure stores of catholic life! The virgin Mary has come alive and I feel I know her now, in the same way as my evangelical heritage helped to know St. Paul."

At the north American congress on the holy spirit & world evangelization in new Orleans in July 1987, which brought together roughly 40,000 representatives of 40 denominations, there were many books for sale promoting the alleged Mary visitations at Medjugorje, Fatima, and Lourdes. The late and very influential assemblies of god preacher David Duplessis, who was called "Mr. Pentecost," believed that Mary was truly appearing at Medjugorje in Yugoslavia. He is listed on page 135 of the book "is the virgin Mary appearing at\ Medjugorje" (the word among us press, 1984).

A catholic priest who spoke at Indianapolis '90, an ecumenical charismatic conference that i attended with press credentials, told how that Protestants have learned to pray the rosary, which features prayers to Mary, through their relationships with Catholics in the anti-abortion movement. "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Cor. 15:33).

Prophezine Special Note:

Note the HEAVY Catholic influence, Mary is alive and living well in the evangelical movements AND TBN today…

http://spiritual-research-network.blogspot.com/2005/12/inside-trinity-brodcasting-network.html

Purpose Driven Resisters - Must Leave or Die Those who oppose the "program" are called leaders from hell.

Article from Lighthouse Trails Research Project

Purpose Driven Resisters - Must Leave or Die Those who oppose the "program" are called leaders from hell. 

 

"The phone calls and emails started coming in about three years ago. Sometimes the caller was in his mid-eighties, sometimes the caller was crying. But all of them had the same kind of story to tell - when their churches decided to get involved with 40 Days of Purpose, everything began changing and when they questioned these changes, they each soon found themselves silenced, ostracized and eventually without a church to attend. Now today, nearly five years after Purpose Driven Life was released, thousands of believers are scattered throughout the world, having been ridiculed and demoralized for even just the slightest questioning of the Purpose Driven program. In one email we received, the young man was handed a letter from his pastor. The letter had been written by a Saddleback field representative who told the pastor to do what he had to do to get rid of those opposing the new program.

 

According to Rick Warren, these people are resisters and are standing in the way of Purpose Driven progress. In a June 14th article written by Rick Warren on his website (What Do You Do When Your Church Hits a Plateau? ), Warren told pastors and church leaders not to be discouraged about slow change in their churches. He told them it would take time ... and in many cases it would take these resisters either leaving the church or simply dying. Warren stated:

If your church has been plateaued for six months, it might take six months to get it going again. If it's been plateaued a year, it might take a year. If it's been plateaued for 20 years, you've got to set in for the duration! I'm saying some people are going to have to die or leave.

 

Moses had to wander around the desert for 40 years while God killed off a million people before he let them go into the Promised Land. That may be brutally blunt, but it's true. There may be people in your church who love God sincerely, but who will never, ever change.

 

Read Entire Article...

Purpose Driven Resisters - Must Leave or Die Those who oppose the "program" are called leaders from hell.

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/resistersdieorleave.htm

Christian or Christ follower

Christian or Christ follower

Article from the Lighthouse Trails Blog

 

Christian or Christ follower. It's a distinction that is being made more and more today, and often the latter term, Christ follower, is replacing the former term, Christian. Even many Christian leaders are making the switch. But just what does it mean? Emerging church leader, Erwin McManus says his "goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ." In McManus' book, The Barbarian Way, he talks about being "awakened" to a "primal longing that ... waits to be unleashed within everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ." McManus says that the "greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity [i.e., Christians]." A video series on YouTube.com called "Christian No More" (by Christian Community Church) exemplifies this view by portraying those who call themselves Christians as shallow church-goers who wear suits and ties, have Christian bumper stickers on their cars and prefer the King James Version. This video is evidence that it is increasingly more popular to call oneself a Christ follower rather than a Christian.

Interestingly, most of those leaders who seem to be downplaying the name Christian and promoting the appropriation of the term "Christ follower" are contemplative spirituality proponents. One contemplative advocate, Rick Warren, has the term throughout his pastors.com website. Lee Strobel refers to it in his book Case for Christ (Student Edition), and Wesleyan pastor David Drury has a Christ Follower Pop Quiz on his web site to help determine if you are really a "Christ follower."

This theme of anti-"Christian" sentiment is not going to disappear any time soon. Book titles, for example, express this growing attitude. One book, Why One Can Be a Christian or a Christ Follower (But Not Both), by Floyd Henderson, is a case in point. Emerging church leader and labyrinth promoter Dan Kimball has a new book coming out next spring called, "They Like Jesus, But Not the Church....

Read Entire Article...

http://www.fromthelighthouse.com/blog/index.php?p=444&more=1&c=1

Greetings once again!

Amidst working through more emails, we have received some very encouraging letters and also some very sad ones too. Periodically people will share their own stories about how their churches are embracing contemplative spirituallity, New Age mystical techniques, yoga, etc.

People also share about how their church leadership frowns upon them as they ask why the church is not teaching the Bible, but instead Rick Warren's book.

We have recently posted more articles regarding these dangers of these things at our SRN Blog and our Contemplative Emerging Church deception Blog.

These two articles below help to shed a bit of light on what Bible believers are up against nowadays!

pseudodidaskaloi' - The Cut & Paste Hermeneutics Of Rick Warren
by Jacob Prasch, Moriel Ministries, 12/14/06

BIBLE BUTCHERY - How To Make God’s Word Say Whatever You Like And Ignore What God Said It Actually Says - The Cut & Paste Hermeneutics Of Rick Warren and The Gnostic Interpretation Of The Parables By Brian Maclaren & Peter Tsukahirawww.moriel.org/articles/discernment/church_issues/pseudodidaskaloi.htmemerging church

How to Know When the Emerging Church Shows Signs of Emerging in Your Church
http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c54.shtml

I have also received correspondence from Christian who have gotten into alternative therapies, new age healing, and Kundalini [yoga] arousal, contemplative meditation, etc. Although these people are Christians, their lives have been dramatically affected by occult influences. This ought not to be.

Sadly, many leaders in churches nowadays are "doing church" by integrating Gnostic mysticism and ancient rituals into church services. These include but are not limited to utilizing mantras, praying with crystals, centering prayer, visiaulizing Jesus [which one?], incense, candles, venerating images and icons, walking labyrinths, etc.

A simple reading of Jeremaih chapter 7 and 8 reveals what our Holy God thinks about mixing pagan religious practices with the worship of the One true God - Jehovah - Jesus Christ!

Beware friends, New Age Gnosticicm and Ancient Mysticism re-labeled for Christians is not of the God of Holy Scripture! We understand that post-modern leaders want to reach out to poeple, but this is Christian chicanery - artful subterfuge, Trojan Horsism, masquerading as "true worship".

Queen of Peace - Queen of All

Queen of Peace
by Roger Oakland

A number of articles are beginning to appear on the Internet suggesting that the current Islamic-Pope Benedict controversy may soon be resolved by a coming peace plan that will be initiated by the Roman Catholic Mary – the Queen of Peace. This plan would be mutually agreeable to Rome and Islam.

For example, you can read the following two articles:

• Our Lady and Islam: Heaven’s Peace Plan http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/OLISLAM.HTM


• Mary and the Moslems http://spiritdaily.com/sheenmuslims.htm

Earlier this year, Eternal Productions published a book titled Queen of All: The Marian Apparitions plan to unite all religions Under the Roman Catholic Church by Tetlow, Oakland and Myers...

Read Much More About Queen of Peace...

at Understand The Times International

Pope's Historic Turkey Visit Worth Billions of Dollars

Pope's Historic Turkey Visit Worth Billions of Dollars
ZAMAN [Turkey] - By Cihan News Agency - December 4, 2006 -- The historic visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Turkey is worth billions of dollars according to tourism pundits.

Almost every instant of the momentous visit, the pontiff's first-ever visit to a Muslim country, were broadcast live worldwide. This is interpreted as a serious yet inexpensive contribution to the promotion of Turkey.

The messages of peace and reconciliation between Islam and Christianity the pope gave in particular during the visit as well as those regarding the Catholic and Orthodox churches raise expectations for the tourism sector in the coming period.

Authorities from the sector say that the papal visit was an invaluable opportunity offered to Turkey.

Tourist spots in Turkey such as the Blue Mosque, where Benedict XVI unexpectedly turned to Mecca in a gesture, the Hagia Sophia and the House of Virgin Mary near Ephesus where the pontiff visited are expected to attract huge interest from the Western and Christian world.
Read More...
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20061205&hn=38906

Pope Hailed for Praying Toward Mecca Like Muslims

Pope hailed for praying toward Mecca like Muslims

REUTERS - By Philip Pullella and Tom Heneghan - December 1, 2006 -- ISTANBUL -- Pope Benedict wound up a fence-mending visit to Turkey on Friday amid praise from the local press for visiting Istanbul's Blue Mosque and praying toward Mecca "like Muslims".

The Pope, who sparked protests across the Muslim world with a speech two months ago seen as criticizing Islam, looked relaxed and pleased as he entered the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit for a mass at the end of the sensitive four-day trip.

His first visit to a mostly Muslim country, held under tight security for fear of protests by nationalists and Islamists, was highlighted by a series of conciliatory gestures culminating in a stop on Thursday afternoon in Istanbul's famed Blue Mosque.

"The Pope's dreaded visit was concluded with a wonderful surprise," wrote daily Aksam on its front page.

"In Sultan Ahmet Mosque, he turned toward Mecca and prayed like Muslims," popular daily Hurriyet said, using the building's official name.

His gestures, including support for Ankara's bid to join the European Union and praise for Islam as a peaceful faith, seem to have persuaded the Turks to move beyond the tension following his speech quoting a Byzantine emperor as calling Islam violent.

But in Islam's Middle Eastern heartland, Arab commentators still call for Benedict to issue a full apology for his speech. Shocked by the protests it triggered, the Pope has said he did not agree with the controversial quote but has not apologized.

Catholic officials also presented the mosque visit, where Benedict stood in silent prayer while Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici prayed aloud, as a key moment of reconciliation.
Read Entire Article...
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-12-01T120223Z_01_L28626797_RTRUKOC_0_US-POPE-TURKEY.xml&src=rss&rpc=22