Every now and then I record something that comes to my mind (there are handy apps for that such as Evernote) and now I've gone through the collection of late to pick some things from it. Since the whole thing was getting rather long, we just split it into two parts. First about some things on Christian property and next time what happens in the world plays.
We have said it before, that we live in a special time (see e.g here). We see that all things in the world are getting ready for the end of probation in which we are still living.
End time?
Are we living just before the coming of the Lord Jesus? Just before the rapture of the Church, of all who are truly born again? It was remarkable that in November this year there were two conferences with the same title”End-time conference 2018”. Only the content was completely opposite. You don't think it possible!
- At the first (in Wezep on November 10th) Feike Ter Velde (of the Searchlight) and Jacques Brunt spoke. They will undoubtedly have talked about the things that precede the visible return of the Lord Jesus on this earth and what we can already see in the developments in church and society.
- At the second (in Nijkerk on November 24th) there were speakers who deny that there are still prophecies to be fulfilled. According to them, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in AD 70 fulfilled all biblical prophecies. This is an unusually serious false teaching, which was once documented in the Counter-Reformation by a Jesuit and was used by the Roman Catholic Church in the fight against the Reformation (see eg on wikipedia). It is remarkable that in our time, when the last blow is being struck, it is now raising its head widely. Be warned!
The Christian Heritage
In the Christian yard it just goes on and on, in the sense that the embrace of idolatry continues. The contemplative and charismatic spirituality continues unabated like cancer in accordance with 2 Timothy 2:16,17
“But avoid unholy, meaningless talk. For those who do so will increase more and more in wickedness. And their word will spread like cancer (…)”
Below are a few examples that came to my attention and in which you can see which developments are taking place.
Protestant and Catholic
Arjan Plaisier, the previous scribe of the PKN, believes that Christianity has a rich spiritual tradition, but also that the Word has too much predominance in the Protestant church. Christian spirituality is worth reviving, says Plaisier, which is why he has given a number of 'public lectures', the first of which was on 'the way in'. The whole story was in Fidelity and points with many beautiful words via Taizé and the charismatic working community to Roman and charismatic mysticism. According to Plaisier, the PKN needs this 'spiritual renewal' if it is not to become empty any further.
It should therefore come as no surprise that Plaisier argued for the unification of the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches later in the year (see here and here).
Charismatic and Calvinistic
Sam Storms, a Calvinist who has become charismatic and who has also been a speaker at 'There-Is-More' conferences, believes that Calvinists should adopt the charismatic thought and practice (see here).
The article ends with: “People are tired of arguing about theological issues and of the exaggerated emotionalism in certain charismatic circles. They want to live with head and heart. And that is exactly what the Bible teaches us and what God calls us to.” I would say: fine Sam, but then it must be about the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing else! See also elsewhere about There-is-More and Sam Storms.
Charismatic and Evangelical
This summer, after Revival, a talk came by David Pawson on “Word and Spirit” and because I was curious what he had to say about how the Spirit of God and the Word of God 'work together' I listened to it. First a whole story about his own life and 'ministry' and how he became charismatic from Baptist. This happened after on one occasion he had 'prayed' in tongues for a sick person for a few hours and the man was said to have been healed afterwards.
In the end he is not telling how God's Word and God's Spirit 'work together', but by the title of the speech he means to say that the evangelicals (the people of 'the word') must go hand in hand with the charismatics (the people of 'the spirit'). ). That is the message he has: the evangelicals must also experience the 'spirit' as the charismatics do.
How sad to see so many people in the room who are led astray by this man's story. Is Pawson a false teacher? Yes, because he does what Moses and (for example) Peter warned against long ago (see here about false teachers).
Catholic
- The fact that quite a few young people are switching to the Catholic Church has been going on for some time. Recently there was another message like this. About someone who left the 'evangelical bubble' and converted to Roman Catholicism (see here.) The person who created the article has the label on it PRETTY pasted on.
- The ChristenUnie also believes that it should be inspired by the Roman Catholic tradition (see here). Out of all the words, I get one sentence:It is (…) mainly about breaking through the pillarization among Christians in the Netherlands.” In other words, the walls must be removed, especially those with the Roman Catholic Church.
How much longer Reformation?
Reformational ideas are also under pressure. Two things that came to my mind.
- In early December there was an interview in the RD about Ann Voskamp (see here) without any critical question! Of course she can say something about a busy life in a family with many children, but she does not point the way to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. On the contrary, her books point you in the wrong direction, the way of contemplation (see here and here).
- The Willem the Silent Foundation hasfor the purpose of deepening and strengthening the Reformational principles in our national life (…)'. But now they have published a publication about 'The tidal prayer', a phenomenon from the monastic tradition. I'm not going to review it, but the gist is again clear: we missed something in the Reformation, which we now have to get back from the Roman Catholics (the same story as Plaisier keeps). “(…) Devotion and the relationship with God acquired a character (within the churches of the Reformation) that gave little room to the meditative, contemplative and internalization. That is why extra attention is needed in Protestant circles in the implementation of prayer practice.”[1]
Gays in the Church
What is also striking is that the advance of contemplation and the charismatic spirit in the Christian field ('the church') goes hand in hand with the discussion about and acceptance of gays in the church. I'm convinced it's related.
You can see that, for example, with a well-known gay advocate, John Lapré. He believes that you must seek the silence within yourself to meet God (see here) and wrote a book about it.
“(…) In my book I talk about a silent revolution. Silence brings people very close to the intense experience of being loved and loved by God. There are no words for that (…). But so is God. His unconditional love knows no bounds. In the silence I am confronted with that love. That makes me incredibly happy.”
That is the silence with deep emotions, which people refer to as the love of God, but which is in reality an experience of demons (see elsewhere on this site).
It is foretold
Paul has already foreseen the development as we can see it around us when he writes to Timothy:
“But the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith and turn to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars, who have seared their own consciences as with a branding iron.” (1 Timothy 4:1,2)
At least, if you have been to the right End Times Conference, you can endorse this. At the other End Times Conference, they know no end times, no judgment of God on an apostate church. And that fits "nicely" with the phenomenon that the Roman Catholic Church sees itself as the one true church and there is an increasing desire among Protestants to return to the "mother's womb.
For us, the call to ...
"... to keep an eye on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of the faith. He, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God.
For take sharp notice of Him Who endured such a contradiction of the sinner against Himself, lest you weaken and succumb in your souls." (Hebrews 12:2,3)
Soon and as a sequel 'This is not an annual review (2)', Which needs some "tinkering" first.
[1] Page 68, “The prayer of the hours” Dr M. te Velde. ISBN 978-90-72462-64-0
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