College Ministry Kicked off Campus - for Requiring Leaders to Be Christian

Via Garrett Haley over at ChristianNewsnet:

TURLOCK, Calif. – A Christian campus organization has lost recognition from its university and been accused of “religious discrimination” for not allowing non-Christians to hold leadership positions in the group.

Chi Alpha is a national student ministry organization with a presence in over 300 college campuses across the United States. According to the group’s website, Chi Alpha exists to “reconcile students to Christ, equipping them through Spirit-filled communities of prayer, worship, fellowship, discipleship and mission to transform the university, the marketplace and the world.”

On September 11, 2014, Chi Alpha’s chapter at California State University-Stanislaus was informed by the university that the group would no longer be recognized as a campus organization. The school accused the organization of religious discrimination and abruptly severed ties with the Christian group.

In a letter mailed last week to Cal State Stanislaus, Chi Alpha’s National Director, E. Scott Martin, explained that the Christian group was effectively “exiled from campus.”

“Within twenty-four hours, university personnel locked Chi Alpha students out of their reserved meeting space and forced them to hold their meetings off campus—in effect our Chi Alpha chapter was exiled from campus,” Martin wrote. “The harm from these incidents is ongoing, as it continues to affect Chi Alpha’s student members to this day.”

Chi Alpha was allegedly kicked off the Cal State Stanislaus campus because, although any student can become a member of the group, its leaders must affirm the organization’s Christian beliefs. University officials claim that this requirement violates the school’s non-discrimination policy.

“No campus shall recognize any fraternity, sorority, living group, honor society, or other student organization that discriminates on the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, color, age, gender, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or disability,” states the university’s official policy.

Time Magazine: Inside the Evangelical Fight Over Gay Marriage

The "Reformation Project," an LGBTQ advocacy group dedicated to making all churches gay affirming and accepting, is getting a huge spread in Time magazine this month. The project's founder, Matthew Vines, is trumpeting the article as proof that his work is making inroads into the hearts and minds of Christians who once held firm to what the bible has to say about homosexuality, and who now hold firmer to what the popular culture has to say.   An excerpt from the magazine highlights the impact Vines has had on the visible church:

The generational shift is easy to spot elsewhere. Consider the Reformation Project, a Wichita, Kans.–based effort by 24-year-old gay evangelical activist Matthew Vines to raise up LGBT-affirming voices in every evangelical church in the country. To reach that goal, he is training reformers in batches of 40 to 50 at regional leadership workshops who can go back to their home churches and serve as advocates for LGBT inclusion. The Reformation Project has staffers in three states, representatives in 25 more and plans for a presence in all 50 states by 2018.

At the group’s conference in Washington, D.C., in early November, some 300 people came from some of the country’s largest megachurches... “The LGBT issue has been one of the most obvious forces behind the increasing loss of regard for Christianity in American culture at large,” Vines says. “It’s like slavery and anti-Semitism, where the tradition got it totally wrong. It’s one of the church’s profound moral failures.”

If you are a paid subscriber, Time will let you read the entire article. Even better, head tosite for an in-depth analysis.

Pentatonix and the elephant in the sanctuary

One of the most talented new groups singing carols is Pentatonix, a five-member band who has more talent than most of us have ever heard before. I see my friends posting their music videos, and am struck with wonder at how perfectly harmonized these singers are together. NOTE: The reason I wrote about this is not to point fingers at the world, but to ask questions of the visible Church. A big shift is happening, and many are going along with the cultural tsunami rather than make waves being set apart.

Read the article here

WND Promotes Soaking Prayer Tutorial

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It's always a little shocking to see a ministry that warns people about dangerous trends in the church turn around and promote one. WND today ran an article by Sid Roth (from television's "It's Supernatural"), about the Contemplative Prayer practice known as the Soaking Prayer. The title of the article is, The lost art of "soaking" in God's presence. Billed as an "exclusive," Roth interviews Julie True, "in a rare, interactive session." In other words, we're not only learning that there is such a thing as the Soaking Prayer, but we're being taught how to do it, in order to “be still and know that He is God.” (Psalm 46:10 is a verse often taken out of context by mystical meditation proponents).

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Here is the video: https://youtu.be/6kMX-5nWLfs

Julie True hosts an online healing room where she plays mood music to get you into a trance state in order to hear God's voice.

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The “Soaking Prayer” isn’t found in the Bible, but it was designed to empty your mind and experience the Holy Spirit. It was developed by the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, now known as Catch the Fire Toronto. This group also gave rise to the “Toronto Blessing” and many aberrant practices such as holy laughter, making animal sounds, and being drunk or paralyzed in the Spirit.

CBN frequently promotes this style of experiential contemplative prayer, as does writer Gary Oates, who recently opined in an article titled, “Soaking: The Key to Intimacy with God”, that "Bible reading and prayer are not enough."

Here is an excerpt:

I tell the Lord: “God, I want more of You, more of Your Presence, more of Your fullness in my life. Fill me with more of You.” I may repeat this statement many times as I wait on the Lord and focus on Him.

Then, I get quiet and that’s when I begin to hear His voice. Many times, I begin to have visions and supernatural experiences.

The key here is learning to wait in solitude. I cannot overemphasize the importance of waiting on the Lord until I experience His manifest Presence daily. I don’t come out of that private room until I have experienced His Presence.

During our soaking times, we position ourselves to receive impressions, nudges, quiet whispers, pictures, angelic visitations, and supernatural revelations. Here is a partial list of what to expect:

DreamsVisionsTrancesOut of body experiencesAngelic visitationsBeing transported in the Spirit

Experiencing the true intimate Presence of the living God will radically change your life. People describe His manifest Presence in different ways. To some, it is heat, electricity, or shaking. To others, it is lightness, peace, or weeping.

Experiencing the manifest Presence is not the goal but the gateway to the supernatural realm. It’s the beginning. We go into the spirit realm where we can see Him, hear His voice, walk with Him, and be empowered by Him.

While God can and does do the supernatural, the list of expectations in the above statement is NOT something a Christian should be partaking in. In fact, the Bible warns us to safeguard our souls against this sort of sorcery. And if you notice the premise of the Bible not being enough, Gary Oates, Sid Roth and "soakers" might to well to remember that Scripture is sufficient. 2 Tim. 3:16

Soaking prayer, listening prayer, theophostics, or any other prayer that seeks the presence of God through mystical exercises is simply not biblical. In this it is similar to ”contemplative prayer” and contemplative spirituality, which are equally unbiblical. Biblical prayer is talking to God with His will in mind (1 John 5:14). A biblically praying believer already understands that God's presence is always with him (Psalm 139:7; Matthew 28:20; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 4:8; 2 Timothy 1:14).

Church of Tares and the real roots of the Emergent movement [VIDEO]

If you've ever wondered what the "big deal" is about the fruit of the Purpose Driven Church created by Peter Drucker and championed by Rick Warren, Bob Buford and Bill Hybels, you'll want to check out two videos we have on our website, and perhaps even get the free DVDs offered by the filmmaker for your church. You may have seen these videos by now, and if you haven't they are highly recommended:

Church of Tares: Purpose Driven, Seeker-Sensitive, Church Growth & New World Order and The Real Roots of the Emergent Church are two of the many free movies Eliott Nesch has produced, and healso has a passion for reaching the lost through open-air street preaching and prison ministry.

Here is the Real Roots video:

"Can the Church borrow the marketing tools of the world and apply them to the Church? What is the history of the Church Growth movement and its false premises? Who is involved in the new evangelicalism and second reformation? Why are these movements embracing contemplative mysticism? How does this movement play into the New World Order?" These questions and more are answered in Church of Tares: Purpose Driven, Seeker-Sensitive, Church Growth & New World Order.

Here is how Elliott describes this video project:

Church of Tares chronicles the man-centered pragmatism of these evangelical Christian movements in comparison to the Bible's instruction for building the Church of Jesus Christ. As a sequel to The Real Roots of the Emergent Church, Church of Tares documents the connections between the liberal Emergent Church movement and the Church Growth movement. Both movements' leadership were discipled by business management guru Peter Drucker, who was attracted to the megachurch movement as a social phenomenon that could bring about his "new society" and New World Order. Megacurch pastors Rick Warren and Bill Hybels as well as Leadership Network founder Bob Buford all acknowledge Drucker (who professed not to be a Christian) as their mentor and have built their organizations upon his secular business management philosophies rather than the foundation of Jesus Christ.

The fruit of these movements is great compromise of the Gospel and the Great Commission. Rick Warren claims to be ushering in a new spiritual awakening and second reformation with his P.E.A.C.E. Plan. But this reform appears to be a social reformation rather than a spiritual one by joining together in ministry with unbelievers to fight global giants. Such compromise has led to the affirming response letter to the Common Word document which declares Muhammad to be a prophet and the Bible and Qur'an to be of the "same Divine origin."

Written, edited, narrated and directed by Elliott Nesch. Original interviews with:

• Paul Smith, leader in the Calvary Chapel movement founded by his brother Chuck Smith, who also wrote the foreword to Paul Smith's book New Evangelicalism: The New World Order.
• Phil Johnson, executive Director of Grace to You, a Christian tape and radio ministry featuring the preaching ministry of John MacArthur.
• Chris Rosebrough, Captain of Pirate Christian Radio and Host of the Fighting for the Faith radio program, holds a degree in Religious Studies and Biblical Languages from Concordia University.
• Joe Schimmel, Senior Pastor of Blessed Hope Chapel in Simi Valley, California, head of Good Fight Ministries and producer of such films as The Submerging Church and They Sold Their Souls for Rock and Roll.
• Gary Gilley, Senior Pastor of Southern View Chapel in Springfield, Illinois, and author of several books including This Little Church Went to the Market: The Church in the Age of Entertainment.
• Bob DeWaay, former Senior Pastor of Twin City Fellowship in Minneapolis, Minnesota, author of Redefining Christianity: Understanding the Purpose Driven Life Movement, The Emergent Church -- Undefining Christianity as well as over 90 articles on important theological issues through Critical Issues Commentary.
• Ray Yungen, speaker, research analyst and author of A Time of Departing and For Many Shall Come in My Name.
• James Sundquist, founder of Rock Salt Publishing and author of Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church?
• Eric Ludy, bestselling author of dozens of books on Christian thought and living, the President of Ellerslie Mission Society, teaching pastor at the Church at Ellerslie, the lead instructor in the Ellerslie Leadership Training.
• Robert LeBus, Bible researcher, apologist and evangelist.

This film is non-profit and FREE, not to be bought or sold, but you do have permission to make copies and distribute freely. To obtain a DVD, simply contact us for a free copy or make a donation with your request:

www.HolyBibleProphecy.org

Rick Warren creates “The Bible”-Driven sermons, small groups

“Lord, what are we going to do?” asks a disciple.
“Change the world,” Jesus answers, in a slightly British accent.  Um, said no Bible verse ever.

Here is the movie trailer from the History Channel’s new The Bible series set to debut March 3rd – Easter Sunday.

Will The Bible remain true to Scripture, or will its producers, Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel“), and her husband Mark Burnett (creator of reality TV shows “Celebrity Apprentice,” “Shark Tank,” “Survivor” and “The Voice”), change things? We won’t know until we see it, but already The Bible is getting huge accolades and even a smartphone app. Downey plays Jesus’ mother Mary in the series.

And when America’s Pastor, Rick Warren ties his name and his Saddleback church to the project, well, many of you are probably wondering about the wisdom in joining in any church-sponsored small group studies around this movie.

Warren plans to give an exclusive preview and behind-the-scenes look at the production in a90-minute simulcast that will feature an overview of the series with Burnett and Downey, according to Pastors.com, Warren’s website for Christian leaders and pastors.

Warren will incorporate the History Channel TV series during the next five weekend sermons. His Sunday evening services will feature a viewing of the series on big screens. He is encouraging other churches to do the same. Will your church tie into the Saddleback series?