Admin
|
Frank Viola's Connect To NAR
Posted : 7 Jan, 2012 01:49 AM
The Organic Church � Doctrines of Demons and of Men: Part 3
By John Beardsley - August 30, 2011
In recent posts on this blog we have noticed that emerging church leader Leonard Sweet has links to the NAR.[3] The co-author of his book, Frank Viola, also has roots in the NAR. He has been connected with the House2House group, a movement that is ostensibly about �house� churches, but in reality is concerned with building the networking apostolic cellular model of church for the purpose of building the kingdom of God on earth. This is the same Dominionist goal that is characteristic of the NAR: �This amazing network of churches is rapidly transitioning as a network to embrace the simple church models that the Lord is blessing all around the world,� leading to the �transforming work of God in bringing people to Christ. . . leading to dramatic advances of the Kingdom of God.� John Arnott of the Toronto �Laughing Revival� has been a notable contributor to the House2House magazine.
A key name associated with Frank Viola is Heidi Baker, whose frequently appears with her husband Rolland. They flourish in the New Apostolic Reformation and can often be found on the Elijah List (chief organ for the NAR)[6] and OpenHeaven.com (a radical Dominionist group).[7] The Bakers spoke at the Global Awakening �Voice of the Apostles� conference, October 28-31, 2009 along with other NAR apostles Randy Clark, Che Ann, Bill Johnson and John Arnott. Heidi was featured along with Latter Rain cult leader Rick Joyner at his MorningStar Ministries �Harvest Fest� held September 24-30, 2009. The list of interconnections and associations with the NAR could go on and on�
Neil Cole is another well-known name associated with Frank Viola and the House2House movement. He is also connected with Leadership Network.[10] Furthermore, Frank Viola�s book Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens is endorsed by such notables as Bob Buford (head of Leadership Network) and John Maxwell.
Leonard Sweet endorsed one of Frank Viola�s earlier books, Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity, by connecting it to the idea of �God�s Dream,� an increasingly common metaphor. Viola has also authored From Eternity to Here: Rediscovering the Ageless Purpose of God, described as �a whole new way of looking at the Scriptures, at Jesus, at the church, and at me,�and endorsed by such Emergent leaders as Leonard Sweet, Brian McLaren, Dan Kimball, Shane Claiborne and many others.
Characteristic of all of these recent emerging convergences, a MANIFESTO accompanies the agenda being promoted jointly by Sweet and Viola. It is called �A Magna Carta for Restoring the Supremacy of Jesus Christ a.k.a. A Jesus Manifesto for the 21st Century Church.� This Manifesto does not hearken back to the written Word of God in order to follow Jesus or His teachings. Instead it speaks of �implantation and impartation� and �incarnation.� This is based on imaging, imagining, visualization, meditation, and following a �Presence,� even using the term �cosmic Christ.�The document also makes this amazing statement � an example of psycho-spiritual biblical revisionism:
The Bible does not offer a plan or a blueprint for living. The �good news� was not a new set of laws, or a new set of ethical injunctions, or a new and better PLAN. The �good news� was the story of a person�s life, as reflected in The Apostle�s Creed. The Mystery of Faith proclaims this narrative: �Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.� The meaning of Christianity does not come from allegiance to complex theological doctrines, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that revolves around following Jesus, who taught that love is what makes life a success . . . not wealth or health or anything else: but love. And God is love.
It also seems to claim we are Christ: Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his church. While Jesus is distinct from his Bride, he is not separate from her. She is in fact his very own Body in the earth. God has chosen to vest all of power, authority, and life in the living Christ. And God in Christ is only known fully in and through his church�.We, collectively, as the ekklesia of God, are Christ in and to this world.[15] (A Magna Carta for Restoring the Supremacy of Jesus Christ a.k.a. A Jesus Manifesto for the 21st Century Church,� by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, JULY 8, 2009)
Those in the organic churches while arguing they are not condemning what they coined the Institutional Church (any organized group of people attending service in what they know as a church building) they are quite vocal in pointing out its problems. In their literature they are not so kind even condemning of the pastorate as a position or office calling it unbiblical. Much like a cult, Viola�s organic church process preys on the discontented, making his way sound appealing and therefore people following him are taken hook, line and sinker by the teachings of his and George Barna�s book Pagan Christianity which is the primer for Reimagining Church, proudly stated at the end!
The picture coming into focus with part 3 demonstrates the duplicity these people operate with routinely. It is not a conspiracy, it is right out in the open � it is an agenda! An agenda that can easily be traced to the teachings of liberal theology, restorationism, Manifest Sons of God, and more recently the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), the Leadership Network and even following the playbook of the homosexual agenda.
The teachings exposed are a frontal assault on the basic tenets of Christianity trampling on the Word of truth, the Bible (Mat 7:6). While the writers of Pagan Christianity, Reimagining Church, and The Jesus Manifesto offer lip service that they are all about the centrality and supremacy of Christ they are taking advantage of the frustrations many may feel, even in a solid Bible Believing Church. Similar to the cults, Pagan Christianity is a tool for playing the heart strings of many within organized churches that are inundated with programs, filled with men�s ideas of business management, psychology. The "Institutional Churches" (as they use as disparaging term) are where they are making inroads because men and women have been weakened by poor leadership who abandon scriptures for something else, something "relevant" but reap what has been sown with a the convergence in a river of lies sweeping over them.
So many dissatisfied by the programs and psychology are looking for something new they think is missing. Next, along comes Pagan Christianity naming a list of things wrong with the church and showing many alleged pagan roots that largely draw on resources outside of scriptures to make their points. (A separate study would be needed to cover them all!)
Am I saying all of the criticisms laid at the steps of the organized churches are erroneous? Not at all! But I state they are using propaganda to mislead the reader for another agenda � theirs being the restoration of the Church, but restoring it to what kind of Church? The Organic Church or Emergent Church? Take your pick, they have the same creator and it�s NOT the God in the Bible! Here are two quick reminders:
From the Jesus Manifesto, The Jesus Manifesto states, �The earth awaits a body of Christians in every city who will receive Jesus utterly and completely. A body who will esteem Him above everything else, giving Him His rightful place of supremacy� (pages 158-159).
Where are we told this? Certainly not in scripture but it is straight out of heretical restoration, kingdom and dominion theology!
In a recent endorsement made by Frank Viola for a book released 6/30/2011, �Jon Zen�s book [The Pastor Has No Clothes] demonstrates beyond dispute that the clergy-system (in the form of the modern pastorate) is not only unbiblical but also contrary to the headship of Jesus Christ. I hope that every Christian reads this volume with an open heart and mind, especially those who deem themselves "leaders" in the body of Christ. I applaud Jon for his courage in adding another Scripture-based book to help foment the growing revolution that God has begun today - a revolution designed to give His church back to His beloved Son." (emphasis in bold mine)
- More evidence of the hate of the pastorate and proof they are teaching revolution in the churches it is not Biblical reformation!
The gates of Hell have not prevailed against the Church, nor will they. This talk gives smells a bit of Mormon restorationism that somehow the Church is dead. No, some churches are dead but some remain, maybe a remnant but God knows who and where they are. Viola in his piece of why he left the institutional church brings the accusation to the churches that they are the ones throwing the baby out with the bath water while he has stepped into a hole of his own making. He and Barna in Pagan Christianity, plus his own teachings are often contradictory, eclectic and confusing to the new believers. They hope to sway people towards Christ but again what Christ and what Church? His Organic Church following his teachings is no different than the popery of others and in my opinion an of those in the remnant that remain that seek to follow the Biblicist paradigm, the way of the Bereans and the Solas of scripture.
What Is the Evidence Showing Us? - Based on the preponderance of the evidence (only a fraction of what there is), I have revealed a number of snares for believer and non-believer alike. Viola and Sweet do not directly advocate the extreme ecumenism (inclusive of Islam) but they are connected with those who do, with numerous positive quotations and endorsements exposed in this series. Their friends are opening the doors making it inclusive to false religions, no Hell, some openly universalist. I refer you to the appendix of part 2 of The Jesus Manifesto endorsers for the details.
Our site has been up since 1997 warning of the dangers we were seeing with everything from Promise Keepers, Psychology, rock music with a Christian name, and a host of fads. Today it is easy to see how these things were a means to an end. Within the churches these worldly things helped to undermine and supplant scriptures and the use of scriptures to defend truth.
Here is what I lay at the doorstep of those who bring these Pagan Christianity, Reimagining Church, The Jesus Manifesto, The Shack and a list of other books to the churches � You are foolish false teachers and harbingers of spiritual death to apathetic lukewarm churches remaining today. You offer nothing new. You are reintroducing the old ways (so-called) as new knowledge which is nothing more than the old Gnosticism condemned in scriptures and wrestled with for over a thousand years by those who stand by what the scriptures teach! Repent!
For teachers claiming to be all about the centrality of Jesus Christ in our lives they are foreigners, tares among the wheat in many ways, as discussed in part 1 and part 2 of this series. Some have argued how can you say something bad about making Christ central in your life and in the church? Logic dictates you cannot � until you qualify the Jesus they are talking about is NOT the Jesus of the Bible! There are other Jesus' and the scripture teaches us even long ago there were and would be others claiming His name and teaching another Gospel. Beware, a whole host of books are being pushed at us to help us on our way into the Emergent Church, Organic Church or something else they consider relevant wherever we are today. These books are laced with an old leaven revived in the pits of Hell, it is a poison that blinds the eyes and ears of those taken in by it, I have seen it! Dr Francis Schaeffer's insights to this are also priceless:
"We have come then to this fearsome place where the word Jesus has become the enemy of the Person Jesus, and the enemy of what Jesus taught. We must fear this contentless banner of the word Jesus not because we do not love Jesus, but because we do love Him. We must fight this contentless banner, with its deep motivations, rooted into the memories of the race, which is being used for the purpose of sociological form and control. ...
If evangelical Christians begin to slip into a dichotomy, to separate an encounter with Jesus from the content of the Scriptures (including the discussable and the verifiable portions of Scripture), we shall, without intending to, be throwing ourselves and the next generation into the millstream of the modern system. This system surrounds us as an almost monolithic consensus." Dr. Schaeffer, Francis A. Schaeffer, Escape From Reason, Chapter 7
Personal Message to Readers
If you are offended, hurt, and or convicted by what I shared, good! Whether you like what you�ve read or not, your eyes have been opened and if you are caught up in it, know that you can escape your snare. My intent for the articles parts 1 through 3 are largely inspired by persons my wife and I love that we see ensnared by the lies exposed here. I will not be more specific on the Internet but suffice it to say we see a number of them going down the emergent/organic path unwittingly. - Please accept the hurt with the heart intended! Proverbs 27: 5-6 "Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." We are sure there are other Christians who are ignorant of the duplicity being used to pull them away from a Biblical faith. My personal experience in dealing with the arguments coming from the Organic Church reminds me of dealing with the cults including Catholicism, Mormons and Islam � it is a dangerous path.
If I got through to you, please don�t continue to be played the fool and follow this path a moment longer! The Bible has this to say of the matter, Proverbs 14:16 �A wise [man] feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.� Depart the evil, and seek the truth of scriptures! Turn from these old dark paths unto the light that is found in the Bible and expose these evildoers. Let this rebuke (correction) be one that takes you on God�s paths, not the paths of men or of demons!
In all of the discernment work I have done to date, I have found what is coming into focus to be the most disturbing of all. The archive of files Biblical Discernment Ministries (BDM) site has become more of a historical picture of what is coming in these dark days we live.
Now for a word for my critics, consider this. Since 1997 BDM has asked for NOTHING in the way of monetary assistance. It is a ministry and does not try to sell you books, seek speaking engagements or get you to go to the latest seminar or conference. These men I have exposed are my opposite!
2 Peter 2:1-3 �But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.�
My exhortation to you: If they are not making merchandise of you don�t let them! Wise up, ask questions! Most importantly, pray for wisdom to know the truth and don�t be afraid or intimidated to speak out. If a false teacher can be bold in carrying out his agenda, we can be bold in defending the true gospel.
There is much more you can read on these topics revealed on sites linked with BDM such as Apprising Ministries and Herescope � I hope they are of help to you as well.
God�s promise to you that turn to Him, here is the Bible�s doctrine on the tree of life! Not some confusing heretical mumbo jumbo of some man�s ideas:
Re 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Re 2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Re 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].
Closing Thoughts
I often hear two things from the teachers today, first asking what is relevant for the church today? Second is a comparison to the lukewarm church at Laodicea, Revelation 3:15-16 �I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.�
Both miss the mark, how about a comparison to the Church at Sardis - it is written, "Rev. 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
� Any church claiming the name of Christ, claiming to being alive and relevant to this generation while teaching another Jesus has no life, no Holy Spirit in it � it is dead.
What a joyous day it will be to put the mess of this world with all of its trials and tribulations is behind us when we meet Jesus in the clouds!
To read all the articles on Frank Viola go to this site
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/organicp3.htm:
Post Reply
|
