REBUILDING THE TOWER OF BABEL:

THE DARK SIDE OF THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN CHURCH

 

CHAPTER 1

 

The Angel of Light

 

Resources to aid your Understanding

 

The members of every past generation embraced the notion that their time was the pivotal point in human history, and to varying degrees, each one has been correct in this assessment.  This concept applies not only to secular society and humanity in general, but also to specific segments of the world’s population; and the present world population is no exception to this mentality.  In the context of this manuscript, the world’s occult and Christian populations are both acutely cognizant of the fact of humanity’s position poised at the climax of the current “age” and are endowed with a distinct sense of revolutionary, imminent change.

 

As a prime example, in a 1989 speech to the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, Dr. Jean Houston was explicitly dogmatic that this very generation will determine whether the human race will grow to a new, heightened level of consciousness or annihilate itself.  In this speech she stated:

 

“All cultures thought their culture was ‘it.’  They were wrong, this is ‘it’—this time in history…the great ‘time of either/or’…Everything is in place to make the leap, the jump phenomenon…We are living the passion of the loaded time…when what you and I do will profoundly make a difference.” (1)

 

Dr. Houston went on to speak of a “whole system transition to a planetary society.”  Her definition of a planetary society is quite simple: a planetary society is based on an interdependent, centralized social democracy that encompasses an entire human race whose collective consciousness will expand to the point that each individual realizes that he or she is, in fact, “god.”  This very mindset and mantra spans the course of paganism, Wicca, New Age, and other earth-based religions that comprise a major segment of what is deemed the “occult world.”    

         

On the other end of the spectrum, the members of the Church are convinced that this indeed is, a critical, pivotal moment in human history.  Those who are Dispensational in their theology and hold to a literal interpretation of Scripture believe that the “end of the age” that will consummate with the Rapture of the Church, the Kingdom of Antichrist, and the subsequent Second Coming is very close.  In addition, the events seen as the obvious fulfillment of Bible Prophecy that began in 1948 with the establishment of Israel as a nation continue to occur.  

 

Imbedded into this theological framework is also the realization that the Church of Jesus Christ is facing a major shift away from the “Old Time Religion” of its fathers and grandfathers.  This shift is not a minor adjustment, but rather, a major change that threatens to alter the face of Christianity forever.  Tragically, if this shift continues unchecked, the subsequent change will create a new “hybrid Christianity” that will bear little resemblance to the “faith of our fathers” or the Church as described in the New Testament.  This new hybrid is instead birthing a “false Christianity” that will lead its adherents to a pseudo-faith that will result in their missing the Rapture, believing “a lie,” (2) and falling into the arms of Antichrist as gently as the falling the petals of an autumn rose.

 

John MacArthur very astutely described this shift in his book, Reckless Faith when he stated:

·        There has been a shift in Evangelical consensus

·        This shift is short on doctrine and long on experience

·        Thinking is deemed less important than feeling

·        Love of sound doctrine has disappeared

·        Add a dose of mysticism and you have the recipe for unmitigated spiritual disaster. (3)

 

The shift MacArthur describes is the exact course traversed by those involved in what has come to be termed the “Church Growth Movement” (CGM).  The methodology of this movement among Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists materialized in the second half of the Twentieth Century, and was championed by Fuller Theological Seminary.  The manifestation of the movement is now seen in the seeker-sensitive mega-churches mushrooming into existence all over the nation.

 

The “poster child” of the CGM, Dr. Rick Warren of Saddleback Community Church, has proclaimed that the church is in the midst of a culture-changing revolution; (4) and those involved in his specific programs are the revolutionary leaders that will initiate a “paradigm shift” that will swell throughout all of Christendom.  However, upon close examination of these programs---“40 Days of Purpose” and “40 Days of Community”—as well as Dr. Warren’s books—The Purpose-Driven Church and The Purpose-Driven Life-- not only does one start to question their doctrinal position  but also the subtle introduction of occult philosophies and terminologies into an arena that outwardly touts the fulfillment of “The Great Commission” as its sole outcome.

 

In order to thoroughly assess this entire situation, an understanding must be reached on the Luciferic methodologies and teachings of the occult world.  Once such an understanding is achieved, then a fair appraisal can be made of the programs that drive the Church Growth Movement.

 

IN THE BEGINNING

 

Lucifer’s first appearance in the Word of God is found in the account of the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Due to the familiarity of the text, many read this passage without giving much thought to all of the ramifications associated with the actual sequence of events of that eternally fateful day.  However, when one considers the details of the conversation recorded in Scripture and its results, a few conclusions become quite obvious:

 

·        If the theories of evolution were actually true, Eve would never have bought into the lie, “Ye shalt not surely die.”  The obvious reason for this conclusion is the simple fact that Eve, to this point in her life, never witnessed anyone or anything die.  Even in the case of   “Theistic Evolution,” Eve would have witnessed death as a natural course of life.  However, since the biblical facts reveal that Evolution (Theistic or otherwise) is false, Eve herself had been created but a relatively short time in an environment that was not yet under the curse of sin.  Therefore, in her innocent state, she never witnessed death of any kind, she never planned to die; and subsequently, in her innocent state, Eve believed the lies of Lucifer when he contradicted the consequences of disobedience as outlined by God.

·        Lucifer only succeeded in deceptively luring Eve by making the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and its forbidden fruit appear as something to be desired. He played the ultimate game of deception—transforming the very object that would lead Eve to her own death to deceptively appear as something enticingly and irresistibly desirable.

·        Lucifer also appealed to Eve’s ego by offering the elevation of her status to that of a “god” when he stated, “thou shall be as gods.”  Eve only knew one God, God the ruler and Creator of all things.  To be as God, rule as God, and know what God knew was the “golden carrot” that lured Eve into sin.

 

Once these conclusions are considered, further reflection on these very aspects of the conversation that transpired in the Garden of Eden so many years ago reveals the very foundation of Luciferic thought as the antithesis to the Word of God.  That foundation rests on these three cornerstones:

·        Acceptance of the theory of Evolution as a fact

·        A strategy of deception that promotes evil as good.

·        A philosophy of monistic pantheism

 

 

EVOLUTION AND OCCULT THOUGHT

 

Very few people are aware of the events that led to the presentation of Charles Darwin’s theories on origins to Great Britain’s 19th Century scientific community. Darwin was aided in his research by his very close friend, Charles Lyell.  Lyell stood by the reluctant Darwin for more than twenty years of painstaking research in the development of his theories.  Additionally, Darwin was not a seeker of fame and notoriety.  As a matter of fact, he was very hesitant to bring his work into the public forum of the intellectual community.  (5)

 

However, the day arrived that Darwin was forced to publicly present his theories or else not only be upstaged by another, but witness the loss of all of his efforts.  In 1855, Darwin received a copy of a paper written by Alfred Russell Wallace that detailed the same theories that he himself painstakingly developed over the course of 20 years.  Darwin then immediately, at Lyell’s urging, began writing his infamous work, The Origin of Species. Both Darwin and Russell, however, were seeking the missing key component—the mechanism by which one species could effectively change into another. (The problem with the absence of such a mechanism is obvious, for there is absolutely no evidence [scientific or otherwise] that provides any proof that one species has or ever will evolve into another species.) 

 

Three years after sending his paper on origins to Darwin, Wallace became very ill while living on the island of Ternate.  In the violent throes of a debilitating fever, a vision of the missing mechanism came to him in a “moment’s revelation.”  Wallace then sent that mechanism, The Survival of the Fittest, to Darwin.  The Ternate Paper contained “in complete form, what is today known as the Darwinian Theory of Evolution…”  (6)  In reality, the circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that Darwin plagiarized many of the key concepts of the infamous Origin if Species from Wallace’s work.  However, since Wallace was closer to New Guinea than to London when the presentation time arrived, the concepts presented to the Linnean Society in July of 1858 became known as the Darwin/Wallace Theory.

 

That, of course, is not the entire story.  Alfred Russell Wallace not only received the “vision” of The Survival of the Fittest to complete the evolutionary lie of Lucifer while delirious with fever, but Wallace harbored a much darker side.  During his early life, Wallace traveled to the Amazon and befriended Indians who shared with him their “black arts.”  Wallace then began to dabble in Spiritism, and he was openly ridiculed for his membership in the Society for Psychical Research. The extreme level that he became involved in the occult resulted in his virtual expulsion from Britain’s intellectual community, not to mention the removal of his name from the Darwinian theories

 

In the case of his Ternate Paper, the method of scientific discovery utilized by Wallace went beyond the unorthodox into the realm of the metaphysical.  As a matter of fact, revelations such as his are not uncommon in the realm of the “occult sciences” and, from a biblical perspective; this experience can be accurately placed into the category of demonic communication methodology.  (The Koran was communicated to the illiterate Mohammed in the midst of similar convulsions.)

 

The point here, however, is a specific demonic connection to the public presentation and proliferation of evolutionary theories into mainstream society.  Additionally, few realize that the men of the 19th Century who shaped the evolutionary and socialistic philosophies destined to permeate the future of mainstream society had little in common, and most were not formerly educated as scientists. Charles Darwin had a degree in theology, Charles Lyell was a lawyer, Thomas Huxley had a dubious degree in medicine, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Herbert Spencer had no formal education, and Hegel and Marx had degrees in philosophy.  There was, however, one thing that each of these men shared—a hatred of God and biblical Christianity. 

 

Based on all of the above, there should be no surprise in learning that occult philosophies and pagan religions operate from a baseline of evolutionary thought.  These evolutionary principles within the occult world are actually based on another lie that Lucifer told Eve in the Garden of Eden:  “Ye shalt be as gods…”  New Agers, witches, and adherents to other earth-based religions believe that man is divine and simply needs to discover or develop the god or goddess within.  In addition, New Age practitioners such as Jean Houston teach that man is still evolving to a new evolutionary level---from homo sapiens to homo noeticus; and the concept of homo noeticus, the god-man, is actively promoted by organizations such as the Institute of Noetic Sciences, led by former NASA astronaut, Ed Mitchell.  

 

Therefore, the Theory of Evolution did not only originate within an occult framework, but is absolutely the key in understanding occult philosophies.  For if one fails to realize that occultists believe the universe evolved from a primary energy source which it deems as “god,” “the force,” or “the mother goddess”---no understanding of occult philosophy will ever be reached.  In addition, the occult world holds to the notion that this “energy” or “force” indwells everyone and everything.  This all-indwelling force is termed immanence.  Immanence is one of the foundational principles of the occult world, and this indwelling force is seen by occultists as the evolutionary impetus that has implemented the cosmic changes that will eventually lead to the  emergence of homo noeticus—the god-man. 

 

 

PROMOTION OF EVIL UNDER THE GUISE OF GOOD

 

There are very few that can imagine a more noble cause than that of serving humanity in order to solve all of the earth’s woes.  Throughout history, organizations have been formed to promote world peace, feed the hungry, heal the sick, and house the homeless.  While many of these organizations and individuals are motivated by honorable motives and many work very hard to achieve their goals; there are many that are not as they appear on the surface—for what better method to camouflage evil than with good works?    

 

LUCIS TRUST

 

While many organizations implement this methodology, there exists no better example of this cloaking device than its expert manipulation by the Lucis Trust.  Lucis Trust was originally founded in 1922 by theosophists Alice and Foster Bailey as the Lucifer Publishing Company. The name was later changed from Lucifer to Lucis Publishing (for reasons which may occur to you), and was used primarily as the publishing house for Alice Bailey’s occult writings.  Since that time, Lucis Trust has become a registered NGO of the United Nations with five divisions: The New Group of World Servers, The Arcane School, Lucis Productions, Triangles, and World Goodwill. According to its own promotional literature, the purposes of the Lucis Trust are as follows:

 

                The world activities of the Lucis Trust are dedicated to the establishment of right human relations. They promote the education of the human mind towards recognition and practice of the spiritual principles and values upon which a stable and interdependent world society may be based.

          

The Lucis Trust is nonpolitical and nonsectarian. It sponsors no special creed or dogma. The motivating impulse is love of God, expressed through love of humanity and service of the human race.   A new and better way of life for all people everywhere in the world can become a reality in our time.  Practical techniques in operation today can be learned and applied to the fulfillment of the divine plan for humanity. (7)

 

Who can argue with the goals of right human relations, a better way of life for all people everywhere, fulfillment of the divine plan for humanity, and with the impulse the love of God?  Things look even better if one reads more of the same brochure that describes Word Goodwill and Triangles:

 

          Triangles was founded in 1937 to stimulate the growth of right human relations by uniting like-minded men and women of goodwill in a spiritual service...World Goodwill was established in 1932. The overall purpose of World Goodwill is the establishment of right human relations through the practical application of the principle of goodwill. (8)

 

However, a closer inspection of the Lucis Trust literature reveals the deeply occult nature of this organization:

 

Lucis Productions produces radio and video programs based on the principles of the Ageless Wisdom. Radio programs include

such topics as meditation, the next world order, spiritual values, and death and dying…The world has a spiritual destiny. Behind evolution there is an abiding purpose, we can call the Plan of God.  All who respond to spiritual need can, in their own way and within their own environment, cooperate in fulfilling the divine Plan… (emphasis added)  (9)

 

These quotations taken from the same Lucis Trust brochure begin to reveal the true nature of this organization.  The italicized words in the excerpt above are keys to understanding exactly what is intended by the author of this brochure:

·           Ageless Wisdom—The Ageless Wisdom referenced here is the equivalent to the “Ancient Mysteries” in the Mystery Religions that began at the Tower of Babel.  This “wisdom” or these “mysteries” contain the information communicated to the adepts by a hierarchical group of spiritual beings.  It further is communicated by four methods: automatic writing, transcendental meditation, hypnosis, and drugs.  These spiritual beings are none other than the fallen angels or demons who inhabit the spiritual realm. 

 

Alice Bailey, the founder of the Lucis Trust was the successor to H.P. Blavatsky and Annie Besant.  Blavatsky wrote The Secret Doctrine, the book that served as Adolf Hitler’s “bible” in his attempt to establish a “new world order.”  The Secret Doctrine was written by Blavatsky via “automatic writing” under the direction of a hierarchical master just as Bailey’s writings were dictated to her by a “master of wisdom.”

 

·           Spiritual  Destiny—This is not the destiny of those who are saved as established in the Word of God, but rather an occult  interpretation of a coming “spiritual kingdom of God on earth” that the Bible describes as the kingdom of Antichrist.

·           Evolution—as stated previously, the theories of evolution are critical to the occult plan.

·           The Plan—“The Plan” is the blueprint for building a new world order as communicated to Blavatsky and Bailey by the demonic Masters of Wisdom.

 

The revelation of the dark side of the Lucis Trust does not end with this.  The initial quotation from the Lucis Trust brochure conveys more than strikes the casual reader when it states, “They promote the education of the human mind towards recognition and practice of the spiritual principles and values upon which a stable and interdependent world society may be based.”  When these words are read by the discerning individual, the following questions beg to be asked:

·        How would this group educate the human mind?

·        What are the spiritual principles to be recognized and practiced?

·        Whose values should be recognized and practiced?

·        What is the definition of an “interdependent world society?”

 

The answers to these questions are made manifest when one considers the following excerpt from the World Goodwill Newsletter:

 

          “This is a time of preparation not only for a new civilisation and culture in a new world order, but also for the coming of a new spiritual dispensation. 

 

Humanity is not following an uncharted course. There is a divine Plan in the Cosmos of which we are a part. At the end of an age human resources and established institutions seem inadequate to meet world needs and problems. At such a time the advent of a Teacher, a spiritual leader or Avatar, is anticipated and invoked by the masses of humanity in all parts of the world.

 

Today the reappearance of the World Teacher, the Christ, is expected by millions, not only by those of Christian faith but by those of every faith who expect the Avatar under other names -- the Lord Maitreya, Krishna, Messiah, Imam Mahdi and the Bodhisattva…The coming world Teacher will be mainly concerned, not with the result of past error and inadequacy, but with the requirements of a new world order and with the reorganisation of the social structure.”(10)

 

Literature from The New Group of World Servers within World Goodwill provides even more answers:

         

“The New Group of World Servers are not however, a band of impractical mystics… They know exactly what they seek to do; they are discovering and bridging together the men and women of goodwill all over the world…'I'hey will conform to and accept the situation in which they find themselves. but will (in that situation and under that government or religious order) work for goodwill, for the breaking down of barriers, and for world peace…they will cultivate the spirit of co-operation, utilizing every opportunity to emphasize the brotherhood of nations, the unity of faith, and economic interdependence.

 

These are the broad generalities governing the conduct of people of goodwill co-operating in and with the work being done by the New Group of World Servers. The can be regarded as the embodiment of the emerging kingdom of God on earth, but it should be remembered that this kingdom is not a Christian kingdom…or an earthly government.  It is a grouping of all those who belonging as they do to every world religion and every nation and race and type of political party are free from the spirit of hatred and separativeness…” (11)

 

Finally, even if individuals or organizations speak of prayer, the discerning individual must examine exactly what a prayer entails.  This is the case with the prayer promoted by Lucis Trust, The Great Invocation:

 

The Great Invocation is a world prayer translated into over fifty languages and dialects, and is used by all triangle members. It expresses certain central truths which all people innately and normally accept; that there exists a basic intelligence to whom we give the name of God. That there is a divine Evolutionary Plan in the universe- The motivating power of which is love, that a great individuality called by Christians the Christ-the World Teacher-came to Earth and embodied that love so that we could understand that love and intelligence are effects of the purpose, the will and the Plan of God. Many religions believe in a World Teacher, knowing him under such names as The Lord Maitreya, the Imam Mahdi, and the Messiah, The truth that only through humanity itself can the divine Plan work out. (12)

 

The quotations listed above are the very essence of the Luciferic plan for whole system transition to a planetary society that Lucis Trust calls a “new world order.”  This plan is captured in the answers to the questions posed a few paragraphs back: 

 

·        How would this group educate the human mind?

By deception.

·        What are the spiritual principles to be recognized and practiced?

Those on which all of humanity can agree, and around which all can unite.

·        Whose values should be recognized and practiced?

Only those who advocate tolerance and “nonseparativeness.”

·        What is the definition of an “interdependent world society?”

A one-world government ruled by “The Christ.”

 

 

 

THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN ACCOMPLISHING THE GOALS OF THE LUCIS TRUST

 

The answers to the questions reveal that this so-called “Plan of God” are not consistent with the plan of the true God of the Bible.  This “plan,” is a strategy to bring peace on the Earth with the revelation of the coming “World Teacher, or the “Christ.” One must understand that the term “Christ” is not a reference to one single person, but to the individual who holds the office of the Christ.  Additionally, the occultist believes that many have held the office of the Christ, and Jesus of Nazareth is readily acknowledged by occult sources as one who held this very office.  However, by their estimation, he was but one of many so-called “christs” that include the likes of the Lord Maitreya, Krishna, Buddha, Quetzalcoatl, and the Imam Madhi.

 

In other words, this world teacher heralded by Lucis Trust (as well as other occult religions, individuals, and organizations) is not the returning Jesus Christ who will appear with His saints at the “Second Coming” in fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel.  Antithetically, a more than cursory reading of the description of the Great Invocation and the information from the New Group of World Servers reveals that this world teacher is none other than Antichrist himself, and that many who call themselves “Christian” will embrace the false christ as the true Messiah.

 

This is the true essence of the Luciferic plan to defeat God, and those “Evangelicals” who are willing to forsake expository doctrinal preaching and the other biblical commands for the structure of the local church as outlined in I Timothy and II Timothy for a new “seeker friendly,” purpose-driven, or outcome-based approach to ministry are playing right into the hands of the deceptive plan of the false messiah.  As stated by Alice Bailey in her major occultic work, Externalization of the Hierarchy:

 

“The Christian Church in its many branches can serve as a John the Baptist, as ‘a voice crying in the wilderness,’ as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished.” (13)

 

 

How could this be true, and how could those who call themselves “Evangelical” or “Fundamentalist” in reality even accept, much less promote, a Luciferic agenda?  There is but one answer to this question: Those who name the Name of Jesus Christ are not immune to deception, and any of this number who do not hold their leaders accountable to the Word of God---or---those who do not know the teachings of the Word of God well enough to hold their leaders accountable—are suspect to the same snare as the children of Hamlin who followed the Pied Piper.  For the Bible is very explicit in its teachings that false teachers will infiltrate the Church and will lead the undiscerning astray.  This pattern of apostasy is seen from the Church’s earliest days, and the battle to defend the Faith against false teachers is nothing new.

 

For those older readers of this manuscript who recall the great “Ecumenical Movement” of the 1960s and the mass exodus from mainline Protestant churches, many Bible-believing “Defenders of the Faith” in that period were convinced that the Ecumenical Movement was in fact the “Great End-time Apostasy” described in Scripture (14).  However, when one closely scrutinizes all of the evidence without emotional intervention, the truth of the matter is that the Protestant denominations as a whole were never in complete conformity to the Word of God.  Even the most orthodox embraced aspects of Catholicism, and were never pure in their complicity to Scripture.

 

However, the great warriors of the Faith from the 1930s to the 1970s who defended the Truth and separated from the doctrinal impurity of those who allowed Modernism into their churches, seminaries, and other agencies sought to establish churches of scriptural purity.  Tragically, these very churches now face the onslaught of the “Church of the New Paradigm” that threatens to drive the children and grandchildren of formerly stalwart defenders of the Faith to a position of compromise and ultimate apostasy. 

 

This apostasy will not manifest itself by an attack on the great fundamental doctrines of the Faith as did Modernism.  As a matter of fact, even the very leaders of the “church revolution” ostensibly hold to doctrinal positions that even Charles H. Spurgeon would have approved.  However, the subtle infusions of “theistic evolution,” mysticism, occult terminologies, globalism, behavioral sciences, outcome-based processes, and veiled doctrinal irregularities threaten to destroy the very foundations of the Faith to the point that the “Evangelical” church will implode and collapse upon itself for lack of a solid foundation.

 

The overwhelming danger of the current assault on Fundamental Christianity is simply the subtlety of the assault.  While many may contend this coincidental, a similar plan has manifested itself on the political side of one-world globalism with the goal of establishing another facet of the so-called “new world order.” This plan, known as piecemeal functionalism, was proposed by Richard Gardner in the April 1973 issue of Foreign Affairs Magazine, the magazine of the Council for Foreign Relations:

 

“In short, the ‘house of world order’ will have to be built from the bottom up rather than from the top down...an end run around national sovereignty, eroding it piece by piece, will accomplish much more than the old-fashioned frontal assault…” (15)   

 

This same strategy has now been purloined to instigate a “church revolution.”  That is not to say that the leaders of this revolution are intentionally forsaking conformity to the Word of God, but the facts certainly compel one to seriously question not only their motives, but even their spiritual disposition.

 

Going back to John MacArthur’s assessment of the current situation, the addition of mysticism to doctrinally deprived, seeker sensitive, purpose-driven, outcome-based church growth strategy is the final step toward a major spiritual disaster or broad-based shift.  Furthermore, a close scrutiny the CGM and particularly the “purpose-driven” model reveals an infusion of “creeping occultism” embedded within these programs. 

 

 

EMBRACING PANTHEISM

 

Not only did Lucifer lie to Eve when he told her “ye shall not surely die,” but he also lied when he said, “ye shall be as gods.”  The basic premise of pantheism is the godhood of not only man, but everything else as well.  The addition of monism rounds out the modern “westernized” version of immanence: God is everything and “in everything.”  While this concept was foreign to the American mind for almost a century, its arrival in the 1960s initiated changes that would not only permeate, but profoundly influence Western culture.  As a matter of fact, the whole of Western culture is relatively new to Eastern religious concepts.

 

For more than 1200 years, the Roman Catholic Church dominated the culture of Western Europe to the extent that very few individuals possessed any inkling of Eastern Religions.  However, when the Church of Rome  decided to claim the Holy Land for its own property, an unexpected side effect included the introduction of Eastern Mysticism into the Western psyche.  This dubious infusion of occult knowledge was transmitted by knights returning from the Crusades. 

 

The Roman Church reacted to this affront to its dominance by attempting to force the mystics underground or exterminate them entirely.  However, in spite of Rome’s best efforts, mysticism and occultism triumphed to the degree that launched the occult knowledge manifested in the Renaissance.  As a result, along with the Renaissance came the widespread study of Eastern Religions and the occult.

 

However, with the Protestant Reformation, an alliance of sorts between the Church of Rome and her wayward protestant offspring confined these studies and philosophies to the intellectual and scientific community or other fringe elements such as “secret societies.”  The intimate knowledge of the occult would remain, as a general rule, suppressed until the 1960s.  In this decade of radical change, the British rock group, The Beatles, introduced the “flower generation” to Maharaja Maharish Yogi.  This began a new infusion of Eastern mysticism into Western society that mushroomed into the New Age Movement of the late 1970s.  As a result, Eastern thought now permeates many facets of western culture, and the principles of pantheism are far and away more prevalent in everyday Western culture than many realize.

 

While the infusion of monistic pantheism into the broad-based culture is quite disturbing, the introduction of these principles into the Church is far more devastating.  In spite of the obvious, Dr. Rick Warren, in his best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life, makes the statement: “The Bible says, ‘He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything.’” (16)   However, does the Bible actually make this statement?   The truth is that the particular Bible quoted by Dr. Warren does, in fact, make this exact statement. (Dr. Warren seemingly resorts to multiple translations to prove his points.)  This particular statement is made based on Ephesians 4:6 in the New Century Version:

 

          “He rules everything and is everywhere and in everything.” (17)

 

However, a comparison to the King James Version produces quite an anomaly.  The KJV renders the same passage:

 

          “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all,

            and in you all.” (18)

 

The last phrase in this verse is not rendered “in you all” because the Apostle Paul was from southern Tarsus (as those in the southern U.S. would use the phrase “you all”).  The text is rendered “in you all” because the Apostle is relating the Biblical principle that the Holy Spirit of God indwells every believer—for the book of Ephesians was written to believers who were members of the Church at Ephesus—not to the world as a whole.  Thus the phrase “in you all” does not state that God is “in everything,” but does state the fundamental doctrine of the Scripture that declares that God Himself indwells every believer.  

 

The truth is that God is not “in everything.”  As the Creator, God is “above all” and therefore possesses power over all of His creation. Mankind also witnesses the power and the might of the Creator by observing the creation.  But God does not indwell every atomic fiber of the universe, nor is He some mystical energy force that makes up all of His created works.  He is over the creation, He holds His creation together, but He does not inhabit the creation. God only indwells the believer—who as a result, becomes the “temple of the Living God.” 

 

Therefore, the   principle of the immanence in all creation is not a biblical principle but rather, a monistic or pantheistic principle.  Conclusively, the New Century Version cannot be trusted, and neither can Dr. Warren be trusted.  Intentional or unintentional, the concept of immanence is but one aspect by which Dr. Warren is subtly and deceptively injecting monistic or pantheistic principles into the Church and accelerating the “creeping occultism” of the New Paradigm Church.   

 

CONCLUSION

 

The strategy of Lucifer in his war against God is multifaceted.  He does use the grotesque and the macabre to influence those whose minds and consciousnesses are seared to the point that they are sold out to an extreme position.  He also uses possession, mental oppression, immorality, and criminal activity to initiate the fall of many. In all of these cases, Lucifer successfully presents evil (even extreme evil) as good.  Even in the case of “church people,” Lucifer appears the Bible states, “as an angel of light.” As so succinctly stated by Warren Smith in his book, Deceived on Purpose,

                  

“The Bible is clear that the truth cannot be mixed with

                    untruth or half-truth when bringing people to the Lord.

                    That’s how people end up spiritually deceived.”  (19)

 

The primary weapon in Lucifer’s arsenal is that of deception, and deception will be the ultimate downfall of those within the New Paradigm Church who attempt fulfill the “Great Commission” by “rebuilding the Tower of Babel.”    

 

Return to Table of Contents

 

Endnotes

 

(1)    Houston, Jean. “Whole System Transition and the Move to a Planetary  

            Society”, Audio Tape of speech given to The Association of Supervision   

       and Curriculum Development, 1989.

(2)      II Thessalonians 2:11

(3)      MacArthur, John.  Reckless Faith, Crossway Books, 1994, pp.154-155.

(4)      Warren, Rick.  “The State of the Church,” DVD, Saddleback Community   

       Church, October 2004.

(5)      Taylor, Ian.  In the Minds of Men: Darwin and the New World Order,  TFE Publishing, Minneapolis, MN, 1991, pp.77-79,130-132.

(6)       Ibid. p.78.

(7)       Lucis Trust promotional brochure. Lucis Publishing, New York, 1996.

(8)       Ibid.

(9)       Ibid.

(10)  World Goodwill Newsletter, “The Purpose of World Goodwill,” Lucis Trust, New York, 1998.

(11)  The New Group of World Servers. Promotional Brochure, World 

        Goodwill, New York.

(12)   Ibid.

(13)   Bailey, Alice. The Externalization of the Hierarchy, Lucis Trust, New  

         York, 1932, p.510.

(14)   II Timothy 3:1-5.

(15)  Gardner, Richard. “The Hard Road to World Order”, Foreign Affairs,  

        April 1974.

(16)  Warren, Rick. The Purpose-Driven Life, Zondervan Publishing, Grand 

         Rapids, MI, 2002, p.88.

(17)   Ephesians 4:6  KJV

(18)   Ephesians 4:6 New Century Version. Ft. Worth, Texas: Worthy  

  Publishing, 1987.  

(19)  Smith, Warren. Deceived on Purpose, Conscience Press, Ravenna, 

         Ohio, 2004, p.162.

 

  Introduction

Chapter 1

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