Watcher's Lamp

Monitoring spiritual deception and world events from a Biblical perspective.

FRIDAY, MAY 14, 2010

Marian Apparitions or Pagan Feminine Dieties ?

Ancient civilizations were marked with shrines

and temples. Worshippers of pagan dieties
performed acts of self-flaggelation, crawling on
the knees, and made pilgrimages to temples.

Roman rituals was marked by similar

traits.When the empire collapsed, it morphed
into the Roman Catholic Church.And so did
the Roman dieties and rituals.

Fast forward to the 21st century...

The Marian Shrine at Fatima, Portugal is more of a reflection of ancient

rituals than Biblically prescribed worship. Greg Burke describes the
modern day ritual practiced at Fatima:

Fatima: Prayer, Penance, Burning Body Parts by Greg Burke

"You can buy a lot of gaudy religious trinkets at shrines around the world,
but the sanctuary of Fatima, in Portugal, offers some of the weirdest: body
parts.

They may be made of wax, but they’re still body parts.

This is strange, because Fatima isn’t even known as a place for

miraculous cures, such as Lourdes, in France.

But there they are, hanging outside the tourist shops: legs, arms, ears,
heads, hips, intestines and even breasts (1.50 Euros for one; 2.50 for a full
set). The stores also sell wax models of small children.

People looking for relief from their ailments try to chuck the figures into a
bonfire, even though sanctuary officials say the fire is for candles only.

Officially, the sanctuary doesn’t want people bringing the body parts, but
there’s not much it can do as long as the souvenir shops keep selling
them."

It may be shocking to learn that a similar rituals were practiced 1000 years
before the Christendom era. Miranda Aldhouse Green reports at British
Archaelogy:

Pilgrimage, for most of us, is so firmly associated with medieval and

modern Christian Europe, that it comes as something of a shock to learn of
its origins in pre-Christian Roman times. We may discover, eventually, that
its roots go even deeper.

...Roman pilgrimage involved a journey. It required self-dedication and

hardship. It was focused on physical as much as spiritual healing, and this
was achieved through the donation of votive and thank-offerings and the
wearing of particular types of clothing and emblems. Pilgrims purchased
souvenirs at the shrine and carried them home - just as devotees do today
at Fatima in Portugal, Greek Tinos, or Lourdes in southern France.

...My recent study of the finds from Fontes Sequanae, a remote sanctuary
in Burgundy at the source of the River Seine, has produced overwhelming
evidence that it was a healing centre and pilgrimage destination between
the 1st-3rd centuries AD.
This Roman healing shrine was dedicated to the Celtic goddess Sequena.
Metal body parts, and whole body shapes were placed in a pot that was
inscribed with the name of the goddess in hopes of healing.

From Answers.com: From other surviving inscriptions it would seem that

Sequana's sanctuary was usurped by Christianity and re-dedicated to a
supposed male saint, St Sequanus so that the healing cult of the goddess
continued, only in a different guise.

Mary of Rome is called The Queen of Heaven. That title, found in the
Bible, referred to a pagan goddess.

From Got Questions.com: The Cult of Isis, an Egyptian mother-goddess

religion, was absorbed into Christianity by replacing Isis with Mary. Many
of the titles that were used for Isis, such as “Queen of Heaven,” “Mother of
God,” and “theotokos” (God-bearer) were attached to Mary. Mary was
given an exalted role in the Christian faith, far beyond what the Bible
ascribes to her, in order to attract Isis worshippers to a faith they would not
otherwise embrace. Many temples to Isis were, in fact, converted into
temples dedicated to Mary. The first clear hints of Catholic Mariology occur
in the writings of Origen, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, which happened
to be the focal point of Isis worship.

Travel back in time and to the west and find another example of a pagan
feminine diety co-opted by Roman Catholicism.

Mexico City- The shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe venerates the appartion
of Mary to a humble Indian peasant.

In December 9, 1531, Juan Diego,was crossing the hill of Tepeyac just

north of present day Mexico City that — it is said— a beautiful shining
woman miraculously appeared to him.
Declaring herself to be the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, she called Juan
her son. He reported his vision to Bishop Juan de Zumarraga, who
demanded additional evidence of the divine apparition.

On December 12 then, Juan Diego returned to Tepeyac, where the Virgin

told him to gather roses where none had grown previously. Then, when the
Indian delivered the roses to the Bishop, the image of the Virgin Mary
miraculously appeared on his cloak. This has been taken as proof positive
of the apparition.

Ever since the 16th century the tilma or cloak of Juan Diego displaying the
image of the Virgin has been the focus of veneration by generations of
devout Mexican Catholics as an actual physical artifact of a divine
occurrence. Numerous claims are made in favor of its authenticity.

The hill where the event occured was the same location where the ancient
temple to the Aztec goddess Tonantzin (Our Revered Mother) stood. It
was later destroyed by the Spanairds.

Spanish missionaries believed Mesoamerican gods and goddesses were

manifestations of the Devil.

Even today, exorcists are part of the Vatican' apparation investigation

teams.

See related article, Exorcists Disagree on Source of Marion Apparition .

Learn more about the Mary of Rome.

See also The Marian Apparitions: Are they biblical and should you submit
to them?
If you are Roman Catholic, please hear what a former 22 year priest wants
you to know at The Berean Beacon.

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Interfaith Call To Make Mary Mother of All

Mark Miravalle, professor of theology at Franciscan University, echoes the
call for declaring Mary of Rome as "the spiritual Mother of all Peoples, in
her three motherly roles as Co-redemptrix, Mediatrix of all Graces and
Advocate" known as The 5th Marian dogma.

"...Amidst an unprecedented attack on the papacy in recent months, and in

light of the July 13, 1917, Fatima prophecy that "the Holy Father will have
much to suffer," many wonder if this prophecy referred not only to the
assassination attempt of John Paul II on the same anniversary in 1981, but
also to the grossly unjust attacks being presently leveled against our own
saintly Vicar of Christ."

"In the minds of a significant number of cardinals, bishops, theologians and

laity, the best defense for the papacy of Benedict XVI is a Marian offense."

Miravalle references an interfaith Vatican Forum that was held in March

2010. The forum was comprised of like-minded Catholic and Protestant
theologians, and Vatican ambassadors. The event's objective was to
express support for defining and declaring Mary of Rome as spiritual
mother of humanity.

Such a papal declaration would act as a Marian remedy for the current
crises facing the pope and the Church.

"We believe the fifth Marian Dogma will help protect us from disasters,"
said Ambassador Mercedes Tuason, the ambassador from the Philippines
to the Holy See."
The forum noted multi-religious acceptance of Mary of Rome around the
world "because of the comfort they receive from the concept and the actual
intercession of a mother."

Archbishop M. Chinnappa of Madras, India discussed the enthusiastic

reception he received from Muslims, Hindus and Christians alike to the call
for a fifth Marian dogma.

See related articles, Mary of Rome, The Queen of All , and Is Mary the
'Coredemptrix' of Humanity?

Learn why Mary of Rome is not the Mary of The Bible.

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The Marian Apparitions & UFO Deception

Alien Identities: The Fatima Case

Excerpt from:
Alien Identities: Ancient Insights into Modern
UFO Phenomena
1993 by Richard L. Thompson
ISBN 0-9635309-4-1
Govardhan Hill, Inc. Alachua, FL

Christianity is a source of a great deal of evidence for encounters between

humans and human like beings endowed with mystic powers. The Roman
Catholic Church, in particular, has developed a vast literature on this
subject, and I have already alluded to some Catholic views regarding
succubi and incubi. Here I will briefly discuss one example of an encounter
with beings of a more positive spiritual nature. This is the story of meetings
that took place in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, between three children named
Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta and a brilliantly effulgent lady whom they
understood to be the Virgin Mary. As we shall see, this story is relevant to
the UFO question, and it is backed up by an unprecedented amount of
eyewitness testimony.

The meetings occurred on the 13th of the month for six successive months
in a natural amphitheater called the Cova da Iria near the town of Fatima.
Revelations were made to the three children in the presence of a large
throng of onlookers, which increased greatly from month to month as news
spread. The actual visions of the beautiful lady could be seen only by the
three children, and so our knowledge of these visions is limited to their
testimony. However, during the revelations there occurred related
phenomena that were witnessed by large numbers of people.

These phenomena included the appearance of a glowing, globe- shaped

vehicle and the occurrence of a shower of rose petals that vanished upon
touching the ground. Showers of flower petals are often mentioned in
Vedic accounts of celestial visitations.[In other words, the rebel angels who
pretended to be Vedic gods did the same things as the rebel angels who
are now pretending to be Mary...

See also The Fatima UFO Hypothesis.

See more on the Mary of Rome and Alien Life.

See also Exorcists on Marian Apparition Response Teams , Apparitions Of

Mary - Messages From Heaven

POSTED BY WATCHER'S LAMP

PHOTO: NJ Police Flooded with Day Light UFO
Reports
Police flooded with UFO sighting
reports after residents see large,
tube-like object over Somerset
County

Stephen Stirling/For The Star-Ledger

SOMERVILLE -- Somerville police were flooded

with phone calls this morning after residents
reported seeing a large tube-like object fluttering through the sky.

Police said they were swamped with phone calls after a flurry of callers
reported to radio station NJ 101.5 that a UFO was flying above the area.
Residents then began calling the Somerville Police Department to report
the object.

“I first noticed when all our mechanics started looking up at the sky,” said
Terry Weil, a sales associate at Honda Autosport in Bridgewater. “It looked
like a big black strip fluttering in the air. Maybe a cylinder.”

Somerville Police Lt. Donna Young said authorities were not sure what the
object was, but said it caused no problems other than tying up police
phone lines shortly before noon.

“We have no idea what it was but it did not cause any problems here in
Somerville,” she said. “We are under the impression that it might be a
weather balloon or something like that, but regardless, it did not cause any
problems whatsoever.”

Editor's note: Author / Researcher L..A Marzulli connects the dots on what
really is behind alien phenonema:
Marzulli is also the author of the non fiction work, Politics, Prophecy & the
Supernatural. The book packs a hard hitting expose of how the current
political landscape may bring about ancient Biblical prophecies, which then
may trigger supernatural events that are foretold in the book of Daniel and
Revelation.

See more on Alien Life here.

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THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2010

Israel-Lebanon Border Is Heating Up

As Hezbollah grows in strength, concern over a possible confrontation in
the north is becoming an international issue.

From Haaretz.com

After several welcome weeks of calm, chatter about the northern border
and the eastern front has resumed.

A synopsis of the declarations of the past 48 hours: The prime minister

accused Iran of trying to provoke war between Syria and Israel; the
minister for strategic affairs reiterated that a military option exists against
Iran's nuclear program; Iran's parliamentary speaker threatened a "final
and decisive war" against Israel; Lebanon's prime minister expressed
support for Hezbollah's right to have Scud missiles in its arsenal; Syria's
president warned of "the demise of the peace process"; and Russia's
president, visiting Damascus, said he fears a catastrophe in the region.

A conflagration in the north sometime in the near future could result from
one of three developments: escalation between Israel and Iran over the
latter's nuclear program; Hezbollah's efforts to exact revenge for the 2008
killing of senior operative Imad Mughniyeh; or an Israeli attack on an arms
convoy from Syria to Hezbollah.

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Apparitions Of Mary - Messages From Heaven

Visit Eternal Productions for more articles, interviews and no-cost E-books
on the Marian apparitions.

Please see former 22-year Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett's video,
The ABC's of Catholicism.

Visit Richard Bennett's What Every Catholic Should Know.Click here and
see why the Mary of Rome is not the Mary of the Bible.

POSTED BY WATCHER'S LAMP

Should Progressive Christians Repent of Their

Evangelism?
New Monastic Mark Van Steenwyk, general editor of the Jesus Manifesto,
"a radical Christian webzine exploring the way of Jesus in our imperial
context" has been running a series on whether or not imperial Christianity
is oppressive.

Van Steenwyk echoes the "everything must change "mantra of Brian

McLaren, et al:

"...Christianity has come to be defined in largely imperialistic ways. If the

majority of human engagement with Christianity has seen it as an imperial
narrative, do we simply (sic) dimiss the conclusion that it is an imperial
religion? Or do we repent of such Christianity?"

Van Steenwyk makes strong points about the "Empire". Van Steenwyk
also makes valid points regarding the geo-political manipulation of
missionaries. The Protestant Reformation was the repentance from the
Mother of all manipulation systems...Roman Catholicism. Yet, evangelical
dominion theology strives to build its own version of the Vatican. Van
Steenwyk shares a video that drives that point home.

The Protestant Reformation was such a repentance. But why do the

Progressive Evangelicals (New Monastics, Emergents, Red Letter, etc. )
ignore church history? For the sake of the conversation and
deconstruction?

Regrettably Van Steenwyk feels that Christ has not been building His
church since Pentecost:

"It is no easy thing to try to follow Jesus with the weight of 2000 years of
imperialism in the name of Jesus bearing upon one’s soul."

Van Steenwyk calls for a repentance from imperial evangelism. Perhaps

Progressive Evangelicals should call for repentance from accepting grants
from radical non-governmental organizations like the Ford Foundation and
The Tide Center. Both entities fund abortion and anti-family issues around
the globe.

Progressive Evangelicals who cry out for social justice while forming
alliances with such immoral organizations is nothing short of fatal
hypocrisy.

Perhaps Van Steenwyk could make such a call for repentance among his
fellow Progressives.

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Dare To Prepare

From The Millenium Ark

So many 'hammers' could fall on us that

it's hard to know where to begin. Many
of these events have the capacity to
adversely impact food and medical
supplies, disrupt electricity, and present
an entire platter of unwanted
challenges. We have only to look to
devastating Hurricane Katrina or the
floods and snowstorms of 2007, 2008
and 2009 to see people without
electricity for weeks. And people were left for days to fend for themselves.
Don't be left vulnerable. There are answers and preparing is easier than
you think!

Click here for no-cost emergency preparedness planning information.

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Israel Primed For War On Iran - US Can Expect
Terror Attack
(Reuters) - Israel is primed for a war on Iran, a deputy to Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, in a rare break with his government's
reticence as world powers try to talk Tehran into curbing its nuclear plans.

By spearheading assaults on guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon and

Palestinian territories, the Israeli air force had gained the techniques
necessary for any future strikes on Iranian sites, Deputy Prime Minister
Moshe Yaalon said.

"There is no doubt that the technological capabilities, which improved in

recent years, have improved range and aerial refueling capabilities, and
have brought about a massive improvement in the accuracy of ordnance
and intelligence," he told a conference of military officers and experts.

"This capability can be used for a war on terror in Gaza, for a war in the
face of rockets from Lebanon, for war on the conventional Syrian army,
and also for war on a peripheral state like Iran," said Yaalon, a former
armed forces chief.

Editor's note: Debka file reported last month that if Iran is attacked,
nuclear devices will go off in American cities.

POSTED BY WATCHER'S LAMP

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2010

Pope's visit to Portgual may shed light on Third Secret

of Fatima
The Telegraph

The Pope will travel to Portugal this

week amid hopes that he might
shed light on one of the Catholic
Church's most intriguing mysteries
– the so-called Third Secret of
Fatima.

During his four day visit, Benedict XVI will pray at the shrine of Fatima, one
of the best known centres of Catholic pilgrimage in the world and the focus
of endless conspiracy theories and Doomsday predictions.

Its cult is founded on the belief that three shepherd children witnessed a
series of apparitions and prophecies of the Virgin Mary in 1917.

Three secrets were supposedly disclosed to them, with the first and
second relating to a vision of Hell and predicting the end of World War I,
the outbreak of World War II, the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia's
return to Christianity.

The third secret was only disclosed by the Vatican in 2000 and was said to
have foretold the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II by a Turkish
gunman in 1981.

There has been intense speculation ever since that the Vatican withheld
part of the secret, which is said to have concerned the Satanic infiltration of
the Catholic Church, the rise of an anti-Pope or even nuclear Armageddon.
The Holy See claims that it has released the full text of the secret and that
it is holding nothing back, but many Catholics are not convinced.

Benedict is one of the world's leading authorities on the mystery because

as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he was elected Pope in 2005, he
was responsible for developing the Vatican's official position on the miracle
of Fatima and wrote a scholarly interpretation of the Third Secret.

Editor's note: Cardinal Ratzinger ( Pope Benedict ) was accused of

participating in a cover up of the real third secret which is believed by
many to have foretold of deep rifts in the Roman Catholic church...

Father Charles Fiore, in a taped interview, made the following remarks with
regard to Cardinal Ratzinger's various statements about the Third Secret:
"We have two different Cardinal Ratzingers; we have two different
messages. But Malachi [Martin] was consistent all the way through; he
believed that the Third Secret of Fatima had to do [...] with the internal
problems of the Catholic Church."[29] On a syndicated radio broadcast,
Father Malachi Martin was asked the following question by a caller: "I had
a Jesuit priest tell me more of the Third Secret of Fatima years ago, in
Perth. He said, among other things, the last pope would be under control
of Satan... Any comment on that?" Fr. Martin responded, "Yes, it sounds
as if they were reading, or being told, the text of the Third Secret. But it's
sufficiently vague to make one hesitate— it sounds like it."[28]

In a taped interview with Bernard Janzen, Fr. Martin was asked the
following question: "Who are the people who are working so hard to
suppress Fatima?" Fr. Martin responded, "A bunch, a whole bunch, of
Catholic prelates in Rome, who belong to Satan. They're servants of
Satan. And the servants of Satan outside the Church, in various
organizations; they want to destroy the Catholicism of the Church, and
keep it as a stabilizing factor in human affairs. It's an alliance. A dirty
alliance, a filthy alliance, but a very good alliance."[44] In the same
interview, Fr. Martin also said with respect to Lucia that, "They've (The
Vatican) published forged letters in her name; they've made her say things
she didn't want to say. They put statements on her lips she never made."

Listen to 30 year exorcist Malachi Martin discuss the third secret here.

See the mysterious circumstances surrounding Martin's death.

See related articles: Satanism, Murder and The Vatican , Chief exorcist
says Devil is in the Vatican

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SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2010

Pope To Visit Fatima

PORTUGAL 11-14 May 2010 Pope Benedict XVI visits Fatima shrine

Pope Benedict XVI holds open air masses for capacity crowds in Lisbon
and Porto, and visits the Marian shrine of Fatima to celebrate the
anniversary of the day in 1917 when the Virgin Mary is said to have
appeared to three shepherd children there. While in Portugal he could
announce plans to canonize Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three
children, who died in 2005 at the age of 97. He could scold the Socialist
government for legalizing abortion and gay marriage.

On the 13th of each month from May to Oct 1917, the Virgin Mary is said
to have appeared to Lúcia,10, and to her cousins Jacinta, 7, and Francisco
Marto, 9, in the fields outside the village of Aljustrel near Fatima. Jacinta
and Francisco died in 1919, victims of the Spanish flu. All three have been
beatified, the first step to sainthood.

POSTED BY WATCHER'S LAMP

7.4 Mag Quake Rocks Indonesia
Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia—An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.4

rattled Indonesia's North Sumatra province Sunday, prompting a brief local
tsunami watch, knocking out power and damaging some homes, officials
said.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the afternoon quake hit 135 miles
southeast of Banda Aceh at a depth of 38 miles. Indonesia and the Pacific
Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu issued a tsunami watch for the area,
but both canceled their warnings less than 90 minutes later.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center watch said there was no threat of a
widespread tsunami, but "there is the possibility of a local tsunami that
could affect coasts located usually no more than a hundred kilometers
from the earthquake epicenter."

Fauzi, chief of Indonesia's meteorology agency, said the closest town to

the epicenter was Meulaboh, where a small "tsunami wave" just 7.9 inches
high was detected by a buoy off the coast. Fauzi, who like many
Indonesians uses only one name, said the official tsunami watch had been
canceled.

POSTED BY WATCHER'S LAMP

FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2010

Five Quakes Off The Coast Oregon In Less Than 2
Hours

MAG 4.3 2010/05/07 19:03:32 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON

MAG 3.9 2010/05/07 18:48:36 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON

MAG 3.9 2010/05/07 18:43:11 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON

MAG 3.8 2010/05/07 18:41:58 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON

MAG 5.1 2010/05/07 17:46:17 OFF THE COAST OF OREGON

MAG 4.5 2010/05/06 23:12:33 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION

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Progressive Christians Funded by Pro Abortion, Pro

GLBT, Pro Radical Tides Center
In this piece, Big Tent Christianity Funded By Pro Abortion, Pro LBGT Ford
Foundation, we see Brian McLaren's latest campaign funded by the
radically left Ford Foundation.
Now, another "progressive" Christian group is underwritten by a radically
left organization. In his post, RICHARD ROHR AND THE EMERGING
CHURCH AS THE THIRD WAY Pastor Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries
writes:

"Slowly but surely we’re noticing that more and more progressive
Christians, as well as their organizations, are also taking notice as well of
the new big tent progressive Christian theology that McLaren’s such a seer
of. Take for example something called The Beatitudes Society:
Strengthening the Progression Christian Network for justice, compassion,
and peace (TBS) of a “Rev.” Anne Sutherland Howard, which gives us the
typical progressive/liberal party line..."

The Beatitude Society is a project of the Tides Center. From the Tides
center website:

Project Description:

Today in America, the widespread perception of Christianity -- one

centered in nationalism, materialism and intolerance -- bears little
resemblance to the life and teachings of Jesus, particularly as they
concern justice, compassion, and peacemaking. To counter that, The
Beatitudes Society develops and sustains a national network of emerging
Christian leaders who: Advocate for justice, compassion and peace;
Reclaim a Christianity that welcomes all people, especially those at the
margins; Articulate a Christianity that dares to speak and act for our fragile
planet and our most vulnerable citizens.

The Tides Center and The Tides Foundation have given millions to pro-
abortion groups, pro-homosexual ( GLBT ) groups and radical
environmental groups.

(How about social justice for the most vulnerable citizens...the 50,000,000+
aborted / murdered babies in America?)

Wade Rathke, the Chair of the Center’s board of directors is also a

member of the Tides
Foundation board. Rathke is veteran leftwing activist, is the founder and
chief organizer of ACORN—the Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now—one of the nation’s largest and most active left-wing
pressure groups.

The Tides Foundation has also received grants from the radical left Ford
Foundation. The Tides Foundation has made grants to grants to the
Ruckus Society, which trained the rioters who tore up Seattle during the
1999 World Trade Organization conference.

Ruckus director John Sellers makes no apologies for violence:

“I make a distinction between violence and destruction of property.

Violence to me is against living things. But inanimate objects? I think you
can be destructive, you can use vandalism strategically. It may be violence
under the law, but I just don’t think it’s violence.”
(Mother Jones, September/October 2000)

Do Progressive Christians have a conscience? Taking money from the

same hands that fund the murder of unborn babies and yet claim to
articulate a Christianity that dares to speak and act for our most vulnerable
citizens?

Really?

Is it even moral to accept money from organizations like the Ford

Foundation and the Tides Center?
Watch Glen Beck connect the Tides Center dots.

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Pastors Driving The Gospel Out On Purpose

"At first I imagined that no pastor would be so hard-hearted as to tell
Christians who hunger for the pure milk of the Word that he would not give
it. But I was wrong. When these people ask for gospel preaching and Bible
teaching they are usually told that they should find another church. These
pastors are so deluded by their man-made “vision” that they rebel against
the vision God gave to all churches in the Bible."

Pastor Bob DeWaay examines the Purpose Driven church growth

methodology in HOW THE CHURCH GROWTH MOVEMENT DRIVES
THE GOSPEL OUT OF CHURCHES.

Dan Southerland wrote Transitioning, a book based on the idea that a

pastor must obtain a special vision he must apply to his local church.1 With
the goal of taking a Bible church and turning it into a Purpose Driven one,
he lays out seven steps to implement vision in the local church:preparing
for vision, defining the vision, planting the vision, sharing the vision,
implementing the vision, dealing with opposition, and making course
corrections.2 The vision, for Southerland, is “doing church for the
unchurched.”3

Here’s the problem: If you start with a faulty premise, you will end in error.
Southerland believes that the church does not exist for the saints, but
rather for the “unchurched” (his euphemism for sinners) in a target
community. His vision is to make the church a place where those in the
grips of the surrounding pagan culture would be comfortable comfortable
going—an idea he got from Rick Warren, who wrote the foreword to his
book. If that is not God’s intention for the church—if indeed it is a faulty
premise—then Southerland’s process is in error no matter how successful
he is in filling the building.

...The problem is that those who imagine what God is doing base their
subsequent actions on their own premises. For example, Southerland’s
premise is that any large, growing church is what God is doing, without
reference to their doctrines. I heard him speak glowingly of Paul Yonggi
Cho’s church as a prime example to follow. Yet Cho is heretical.8 How
does one find out what God is doing by observing heretics?

...Here’s the problem: the Purpose Driven program, devised by Rick

Warren, was founded on Peter Drucker’s business model and is not
revealed in the Bible. Also, the need to find a specific vision that may not
apply to other churches pushes people into mysticism in order to find some
“will of God” beyond Scripture. That violates the principle of sola scriptura.
Equivocation with regard to vision is a slippery slope.

...For years this reality was understood by evangelical pastors. They

preached the gospel faithfully, and whoever responded became part of the
church. Southerland admits that his critics accused him of not preaching
the gospel.12 To have a Purpose Driven church, the gospel has to be
veiled or watered down in order to avoid offending the target audience.

...I do not exaggerate when I say that since I first wrote an article about this
in 2004, I have heard from hundreds of people who were pushed out of
their churches by the Purpose Driven program. Some of the stories reveal
hardhearted pastors who care more about advancing their careers than the
well being of the Lord’s flock.

...In 2010 I am still getting calls and emails from people whose churches
have become Purpose Driven, and they are being marginalized or pushed
out of them. Southerland’s book and his seminars label such persons as
“resisters” who have placed themselves in opposition to God’s vision for
the church.

...He likens them to Sanballat (an opponent of Nehemiah) who like them,
was a “leader from hell.”14 Having met more of these people than I can
recall, I have yet to meet one with hellish ideas. Southerland’s terminology
abuses faithful saints who want the Bible to be faithfully preached from the
pulpit. In his seminar he calls them “mean and ornery.” In his book he calls
pastors like me (traditional pastors) who criticize Purpose Driven, the
“meaner ones.”15 Could it be that we value gospel preaching and Bible
teaching? Does that make us “mean”?

In the six years since I first wrote about this, I have always given the same
advice to those who write, e-mail, or call. I tell them to go to their pastor
and plead with him to clearly preach the gospel, and purely teach the
Bible. Tell him that you long for such preaching and teaching. What is
astounding is that nearly universally they are rebuffed.

See related article, Signs of A Purpose Driven Transition In Your Church

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