Are You a "Shifter"?  Does the Historic <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Gospel Message Need to be Repackaged?
 
"[I]f anyone preaches any other gospel to you than
what you have received, let him be accursed." Gal 1:9b
 
"Indignation has taken hold of me
Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law" Ps 119:53
 
"It is time for You to act, O LORD,
For they have regarded Your law as void." Ps 119:126
 
 
Are you a "SHIFTER"?  Do you follow Oprah Winfrey in her swooning free-fall into "planetary consciousness"?  Do you "feel" the Christian message and belief system must be "repackaged" in order to be "relevant", especially to the youth?
 
If you have answered "Yes" to any of the above, then you may be a candidate for the pantheistic and neo-pagan "Emerging Church" being promoted by authors like Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis and Brian McLaren – all of them extreme political liberals. 
 
And since this group has redefined Jesus as a social activist, you may be on your way to HELL, which incidentally is a subject this "church" believes needs to be rethought and, probably eliminated from discussion. 
 
To do justice to the dangers posed to the authentic and historical Church by this movement, I am bringing you excerpts from an extensive analysis of this so-called "New Spirituality Movement":
 
"Now a similar assault on historic orthodox Christianity is underway that's gaining momentum. Some Christians believe a paradigm shift is taking place in the Church and as a consequence 'everything must change.'…Professor Peter Jones of Westminster Seminary warned listeners that the Christian theistic West has been turning back to pagan, pantheistic monism. Many in contemporary western culture now hold to a pantheistic belief in the unity of nature and God, of body and spirit - all is One… The movement is largely eclectic with inspiration drawn from all the major world religions, which include Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Shamanism, Wicca, the metaphysical New Thought movement, and Neo-Paganism, to name a few. The goal of NSM is a shift in 'planetary consciousness.' Their focus is not only on the West but also on the entire planet!…We are in the middle of the biggest social transformation in history, THE SHIFT.'"
 
"In order to move the West away from theism, the shifters must first reinvent biblical Christianity. Enter Oprah Winfrey. It would seem Oprah has been planning The Shift for many years… She was convinced that Jesus didn't come to teach us about His divinity, as the Bible teaches, but to teach us about OUR divinity! (Oprah's code word is 'Christ consciousness.')…'Try telling someone in the Metaphysical movement...about the wages of sin…and they will look at you as though you are an anachronism - a throwback to a less-enlightened age. The ideas of an enslaving sinful nature, of being alienated from God, and of God's wrath are, to them, extremely offensive.'"
 
''We alone have the power within us to solve our problems, relieve our anxieties and pain, heal our illnesses, improve our golf game or get a promotion."
 
"But this article is not about Oprah's spiritual poison, it's about spiritual deception that's spreading like cancer in Christendom."
 
"There is a growing movement afoot in the postmodern Church that does not abide in God's Word; hence they do not know the truth. The movement calls itself 'Emergent' or 'Emerging Church' (ECM) and it's emerging away from orthodox Christianity, spreading its spiritual cancer throughout the globe. ECM change agents have made inroads into evangelicalism, big time. What they preach is a counterfeit social gospel… the shifters must first repackage the Church."
 
"[I]t's all about re-shaping the true Gospel of Jesus Christ into a false gospel and re-imaging Jesus Christ into the New Age Cosmic Christ!"
 
"Shifters, like pod people, are in our midst. Some of your friends and acquaintances could be shifters, only you don't know it yet. Shifters have wormed their way into church leadership (pastors deacons, elders), worship services, Bible studies, Sunday school, seminaries, Christian schools, youth groups, camps. They lecture, write for Christian news sources and they're all over the Internet."
 
"One hot button issue is abortion. Because they're mostly liberals, many Emergents are pro-aborts…Here's the rundown on some of what ECM believes…: 
 
"Capital punishment is wrong, despite the clear, unequivocal biblical commandments to take life for life."Most Christians are too war-like and are guilty of 'not loving our enemies.'
"Universal health care should be provided by government."Poverty should be eliminated by the U.S. government, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world.
"The minimum wage should be significantly increased."The U.S. should sign the Kyoto Protocol as a step toward solving the phantom crisis of global warming."The U.S. should pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan and address the real problem of terrorism by creating a Palestinian state and addressing the root cause - poverty."We should make condoms available throughout the Third World to fight AIDS."
 
"[T]he ultimate goal of Jesus (and God) is the kingdom of God, brought to earth. Just how is the kingdom brought to earth? Through our good works."
 
 "Many shifters, like Campolo and Wright, are hard-core leftists who are doing everything in their power to lead the Church down a new path, away from Sola Scriptura, into what Pastor Ken Silva calls the 'emerging cult of the new liberal theology' and a 'spiritual cancer.'…ECM leaders urge believers to embrace unbiblical contemplative prayer and other occult practices."
 
"At the end God get's his way thru coercion and violence and intimidation and uh domination just like every other kingdom does. The Cross isn't the center then, the Cross is almost a distraction and false advertising for God." "Absolutists want to reinsert categories of right and wrong, whereas postmodernists balk at doctrinal assertions. They gave as an example Brian McLaren's position on homosexuality in a Time Magazine interview. Following is the excerpt from Time: 'Frankly, many of us don't know what we should think about homosexuality. We've heard all sides but no position has yet won our confidence'"
 
In closing, may I endorse this evangelical author's concluding remarks:
 
"I want to stress that celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and 'Progressive Christian' leaders are pressing a large number of believers into apostasy, even into rank heresy. This is a serious threat to the Church! The threat shouldn't be taken lightly nor tolerated. So ECM and 'New Spirituality' must be thoroughly understood and debunked. What's more, committed Christians must expose shifters for what they are - occultists!"
 
 
(Read the entire article here: Emergent church spreading spiritual cancer)
 
How to Pray:
 

1. It is eternally important that we cry out to the LORD to CURSE and DESTROY this movement! (Jer 13:8-14; Gal 1:9);

2. As in the past, God has raised up brave spokesmen (e.g., Athanasius) to enunciate and trumpet the TRUTH about Jesus and the right and only sound doctrines of HIS universal Church.  May He do it again!  (Acts 17:22f);

3. How the true Church needs REVIVAL!  We all need to REPENT for losing our First Love and chasing after other "gods"; if we do repent, then prayerfully, God may REVIVE us again!  (2 Chron 7:13-14; Rev 2:4-7)

 
Relevant Articles:
 
Lessen focus on eternity, McLaren says at Willow Creek student ministries conference
 
ROB BELL AND NEW AGE GURU MARIANNE WILLIAMSON