The next 'wolf' that we are to examine is Wayne Dyer; while not a professing Christian, he does commend that people “emulate Jesus Christ” but not be a 'Christian' themselves.
His philosophy is embraced by the church almost as enthusiastically as it is by the world. For this reason, we have selected him as another 'wolf in wolf's clothing'.
He is a motivational and self-help speaker whose language was at one time in secular speech, but later on adopting a pseudo-spiritual aspect that those who adhere to New Spirituality (New Age) dogma have joyfully received as their own.
Mr. Dyer has frequented PBS television with his presentations, had written dozens of books, and has been a regular guest on Oprah Winfrey; the television talk show host and personality long known for her New Spirituality proclivities.
From Wikipedia we have the following information:
“Dyer worked as a high school guidance counselor in Detroit and as a professor of counselor education at St. John's University in New York City.
He pursued an academic career, published in journals and established a private therapy practice. His lectures at St. John's, which focused on positive thinking and motivational speaking techniques, attracted many students.
A literary agent persuaded Dyer to document his theories in his first book called Your Erroneous Zones.
Dyer quit his teaching job and began a publicity tour of the United States of America, doggedly pursuing bookstore appearances and media interviews ("out of the back of his station wagon", according to Michael Korda, making the best-seller lists "before book publishers even noticed what was happening), which eventually led to national television talk show appearances including Merv Griffin, The Tonight Show, and Phil Donahue.
Dyer proceeded to build on his success with lecture tours, a series of audiotapes, and regular publication of new books. Dyer's message resonated with many in the New Thought* Movement and beyond.
He often recounted anecdotes from his family life, and repeatedly used his own life experience as an example. His self-made man success story was a part of his appeal. Dyer told readers to pursue self actualization, calling reliance on the self as a guide to "religious" experience, and suggested that readers emulate Jesus Christ, whom he termed both an example of a self-actualized person, and a "preacher of self-reliance".
Dyer criticized societal focus on guilt, which he saw as an unhealthy immobilization in the present due to actions taken in the past. He advocated readers to see how parents, institutions, and even they, themselves, have imposed guilt trips upon themselves.
* “New Thought” is for all practical purposes a synonym for New Spirituality.
Although Dyer initially resisted the spiritual tag, by the 1990s he had altered his message to include more components of spirituality when he wrote the book Real Magic, and discussed higher consciousness, in the book Your Sacred Self.”
Mr. Dyer went on record as saying:
"My beliefs are that the truth is a truth until you organize it, and then becomes a lie. I don't think that Jesus was teaching Christianity, Jesus was teaching kindness, love, concern, and peace. What I tell people is don't be Christian, be Christ-like. Don't be Buddhist, be Buddha-like."
"Religion is orthodoxy, rules and historical scriptures maintained by people over long periods of time. Generally people are raised to obey the customs and practices of that religion without question. These are customs and expectations from outside the person and do not fit my definition of spiritual."
Here we have an essential objection to Mr. Dyer's admonition who obviously has no understanding of what a biblical Christian truly is. A true Christian is a follower of Christ; one who studies, learns and obeys the Word of God by none other than the Spirit and the grace He affords to those who are born of the Spirit.
Basically one cannot be 'Christ-like' unless they have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them, and the Bible is very specific as to how the Spirit of God comes to indwell a human being (John 3:3,5; Romans 8:11; 1 Cor. 3:16)!
Only a born again disciple, a Christian can ever be Christ-like.
ROMANS 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Another point that I take issue with Dr. Dyer about is the fact that he believes the teaching and life of Jesus is in some significant way different than how Scripture records them. That the actual Person of Jesus Christ is not accurately or fairly represented by the Holy Bible.
Yet the Scriptures themselves have been declared by the LORD, that they are a testimony of truth which teaches us all about the central theme and figure of the Word: that is, the Word Himself, God Incarnate: Jesus Christ! The LORD Himself authorized the ones He chose to record Scripture by the inspiration and anointing of the Holy Spirit, and are legitimate teaching from God, via His holy apostles and prophets (MATT. 23:34).
JOHN 5:39
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
JOHN 16:12-14
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
2 PETER 1:19-21
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (See also 2 PET.3:15-16 and here note that Peter refers to Paul's epistles as Holy Scripture, comparable to other Scripture already recognized as such).
While there is a certain amount of his statements and observations that are on a practical level, useful, one would be far better served by simply following all the counsel of God rather than 'fishing out' these tidbits from the large body of erroneous teachings.
And yet for such bold and blatant statements as these, there are professing Christians who extol the works of Wayne Dyer and count him as a viable and valuable resource of guidance and counsel!
Take this site for example, “Guilt Free Christians (Desperately Seeking Other Guilt Free Christians!)”
A “guilt free Christian” is in a very real sense a misnomer, as all sin committed by the Christian is reckoned to Christ's account because of His atonement on the Cross, having shed His blood for the salvation of souls.
All guilt is then transferred to Christ and no longer laid upon the disciple of Christ. Certainly when we commit a sin, we are convicted of it, and experience a sense of guilt, but only until repentance and confession is made for such sin and fellowship is restored as Christ offers Divine forgiveness afforded by His own propitiation.
Yet it would seem that these professing Christians are following Dyer's advice when he criticized “societal focus on guilt, which he saw as an unhealthy immobilization in the present due to actions taken in the past.
He advocated readers to see how parents, institutions, and even they, themselves, have imposed guilt trips upon themselves.”
Again, guilt is a result of a healthy conscience that recognizes when one had committed some wrong or more precisely, a sin which is disobedience to God's Holy will.
Such sin and its resulting guilt are done away with in Christ once repentance and surrender to His will is committed. No one in this world ever needs to live in guilt, but the solution is Christ and not any form of self-improvement, much less self-delusion via mental games to convince oneself that “in every day and in every way things are getting better and better”!
Wayne Dyer provides a wisdom that is born from his own mind and thinking; it can hardly be attributed to God as this form of wisdom is diametrically opposed to the wisdom of God as found in the Scriptures (as we shall soon see). God's wisdom and the wisdom of this world are anti-thetical to each other and by no means do they share any 'common ground':
1 COR. 2:4-7, 12-16
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.
From Christian Skepticism – A Reasonable Faith web site we have the following expose on Wayne Dyer, comparing his wisdom with that of God's Holy Word:
DR. WAYNE DYER vs. CHRISTIANITY
Here are a few quotes by Dr. Dyer and responses from a Christian perspective (see more of these at the web site above).
Nature of God:
Dyer - God is an energy field. God can also be equated with soul, spirit, cousciousness. God is always creating and loving and it excludes no one. It is a source that has no judgment.
Christianity - God is divine. God is personal. God judges between right and wrong, good and evil. Only those who walk in truth and righteousness may abide with him.
Nature of Man:
Dyer - You are a divine, infinite creation making the choice to be on purpose and to be connected to the power of intention. It all revolves around your being harmoniously connected to your Source. who you are is a piece of God—who you are is a piece of the source.
Christianity - Man is a finite creature subject to limitations, whose purpose is derived from and directed toward his Creator, who is the source of all life, sufficiency and truth.
Humanity's Purpose and Philosophy:
Dyer - Happiness. Enjoyment. Feeling good is what you should be doing every day of your life.. Enjoy the moment, because that is all you have. You never are going to arrive someplace else.
Christianity - Glorify God. Holiness. Our present choices have consequences. Our future [as born again Christians, destined for heaven] is real.
Humanity's problem:
Dyer - Not being in harmony with his inner self.
Christianity - Not being in harmony with God (Creator, Ruler, Judge) [due to the sin nature].
Salvation (solving humanity's problem):
Dyer - Man simply needs to go to the source of himself and get realigned
Christianity - Man needs to look outside himself to the gift of salvation that God offers based on the substitutionary atonement of Christ.
The following are more quotes (I chose three of the many found here) by Dr. Dyer on the web site www.brainyquote.com which I myself shall respond to with Scripture:
1 “How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” ~ Wayne Dyer.
Karma is a Hindu and Buddhist concept (and an ideology employed in Gnosticism as well), an integral part of that eastern religion. It's interesting that Mr. Dyer would admonish people to “not be Christian” and yet he would also tout such a word and philosophy as “karma”.
According to a site dedicated to the teachings of Buddhism, karma is defined as follows:
“. . . this inequality is due not only to heredity, environment, "nature and nurture", but also to Karma. In other words, it is the result of our own past actions and our own present doings. We ourselves are responsible for our own happiness and misery. We create our own Heaven. We create our own Hell. We are the architects of our own fate.
Perplexed by the seemingly inexplicable, apparent disparity that existed among humanity, a young truth-seeker approached the Buddha and questioned him regarding this intricate problem of inequality:
"What is the cause, what is the reason, O Lord," questioned he, "that we find amongst mankind the short-lived and long-lived, the healthy and the diseased, the ugly and beautiful, those lacking influence and the powerful, the poor and the rich, the low-born and the high-born, and the ignorant and the wise?"
The Buddha’s reply was:
"All living beings have actions (Karma) as their own, their inheritance, their congenital cause, their kinsman, their refuge. It is Karma that differentiates beings into low and high states."
“He then explained the cause of such differences in accordance with the law of cause and effect.
“Certainly we are born with hereditary characteristics. At the same time we possess certain innate abilities that science cannot adequately account for. To our parents we are indebted for the gross sperm and ovum that form the nucleus of this so-called being. They remain dormant within each parent until this potential germinal compound is vitalised by the karmic energy needed for the production of the foetus.
Karma is therefore the indispensable conceptive cause of this being.”
Eastern religions hold as a foregone conclusion that karma accumulates from our past lives and has an irrevocable effect on our present life, and how we respond to those effects in the present will determine our future condition.
Thus any who adhere to the idea of 'karma' in its strictest form must also admit to reincarnation as being a part of reality.
Scripture however does not teach reincarnation, but on the contrary unequivocally states:
HEBREWS 9:27
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
There is an element of truth to this idea of karma, but only on a rudimentary level, that whatever one 'sows' in life, one will also 'reap' (GAL. 6:7); if one invests one's life with carnal and ungodly pursuits and actions (“the flesh”) one will then receive corruption as a result.
If one invests one's life with spiritual and godly pursuits such as seeking salvation through the LORD Jesus Christ by faith alone – then one will receive everlasting life. But such deeds are confined to this life alone, the only physical life we will ever have on this Earth.
For Mr. Dyer to speak in such terms, serves only to perpetuate a lie of Eastern religious deception.
2 “What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds.” ~ Wayne Dyer.
While there is a grain of truth in this statement, the premise is flawed. Yes, having a good and correct attitude in life will go a long way in bringing about desired results, but this ability of the mind in no way is the absolute and singular influence for what transpires in our lives. The expression, “Life is what happens to us while we are busy making other plans” is suggestive of the truth of the matter.
The idea that our minds are capable of anything and nothing is impossible for those whose minds are determined on any particular course of action harks back to the philosophy of the Human Potential Movement (HPM). Here is a brief explanation of the HPM:
“Aldous Huxley envisioned a future world society totally controlled by an elite group of scientists. His best known fictional work explicating this dire prospect bore the title Brave New World. Years later he would “revisit” his prognostications only to conclude that he had underestimated the rate of change realizing his darkest fears.
Turning to mysticism, both in its meditative and drug-induced varieties, he prepared the way for the burgeoning Human Potential Movement which was initially formed at the Esalen* Institute, Big Sur, CA in the early 1960s.
The electrical engineering professor at Stanford University Willis W. Harman, who had gotten involved in researching the cognitive and societal effects of LSD consumption, conducted seminars at Esalen on “Human Potentialities”.
Under his directorial supervision at the Stanford Research Institute a scientific study entitled “Changing Images of Man” was carried out from 1972-74 with the purpose of changing the “conceptual premises underlying Western society”, including a radical modification of the rational worldview of western scientists.
As the president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences from 1977 to 1996, Harman advocated openly a mystical outlook on life claiming that a spiritual approach to scientific research and technological development would greatly enhance our understanding of the monistic [an “all is one” concept] unity of the universe.”
~ Erdmann, M Eur J Nanomed 2009; 2:31-38
*The official site of the Esalen Institute: http://www.esalen.org/
~ taken from the site: My Perspective – What Constance Thinks and the article, A Planned Destruction of Christianity?
What Dr. Dyer is advocating is more about Mind Science than merely positive thinking (though even the term, 'positive mental attitude' is likewise used in Mind Science disciplines) and Esalen as well as the Human Potential Movement are both Mind Science organizations.
The fundamental philosophy is primarily Hindu in nature: that the physical is maya – or illusion that masks the true self, which is spiritually one with the universe, and that by the power of mind, one can create one's own reality.
Mind Science embraces the lie of the serpent: “you shall be as gods”. It's close cousin, Christian Science mimics the same sentiment.
The Scriptures grant us the wisdom and insight to know that God is involved with every human life and what He decrees upon every soul overrides any determination or plan of our own:
PSALM 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
EZEKIEL 18:4-5, 9
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right [and] . . .
9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.
We cannot use our minds to affect reality to such a degree as to avoid the judgment of God, nor absolve ourselves of our responsibilities to our Creator, the Judge of the whole earth (GEN. 18:25; PS. 94:2); nor can we by the power of our own minds steer the course of our lives towards any 'higher level' of being outside of God's creation, but rather by our will we may either choose eternal life or eternal death based on whether or not we receive salvation through the LORD Jesus Christ.
JOHN 3:34-36
34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
3 “Self-worth comes from one thing - thinking that you are worthy.” ~ Wayne Dyer.
Can we genuinely affect the intrinsic worthiness of ourselves merely by thinking that we are worthy? What precisely are we believing that we are worthy of? A better life? A better career? A better partner for marriage? A higher level of spiritual power and reality?
What does Scripture have to say about “self-worth”? When we read about self (“me”) in the Bible, it pulls no punches at all! Have a look:
PSALM 51:5
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
MATT. 15:10-11, 18-19
10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:
11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
ROMANS 7:17-19
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
This is sadly, but truly the deplorable state of mankind ever since the fall of Adam who succumbed to temptation and committed “the original sin” which in turn propelled all of his progeny into a life interwoven with a sin-nature. This is humbling and terribly tragic news!
HOWEVER, there is GOOD NEWS (That's what “Gospel” means!):
We can find deliverance and salvation from sin and its subsequent results of misery, death and hell, (only) through faith in the LORD Jesus Christ, freely offered to all who will come to Him.
ROMANS 10:8-11
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
For more quotes by Wayne Dyer, have a look at this site (and seek out Scripture for yourselves to determine what he says is either true or false).
Suffice it to say that Dr. Wayne Dyer and other 'self-help gurus' such as Anthony Robbins* and countless others offer no real and lasting solutions for the purpose of man, his moral and spiritual condition, his destiny and any viable relationship with God our Creator.
Rather, they provide teachings that lead to spiritual deception and ultimately greater bondage into spiritual darkness.
* See the following interview (8 mins 24 secs) on Caryl Matrisciana's video, Wide Is The Gate, Vol. 1 “The Emerging New Christianity” where a former agent, Paris Alexander, of the Anthony Robbins organization is interviewed.
Christians should steer clear of such worldly wisdom and instead, fully embrace the godly wisdom provided for us (free of charge, no need to pay fees for attending seminars or purchasing books or dvds!) in the Holy Scriptures.
This ends the third segment of this article and in the fourth we shall examine the statements and beliefs of Ken Blanchard.
For more information on these matters, feel free to check out the following:
Overview of the Human Potential Movement By CANA ministries.
Also from CANA ministries: Wayne Dyer: The Wisdom of The New Spirituality
PARTING FROM THE WORD OF GOD IS ‘SWEET SORROW’ –
We continue now with our expose on Leonard Sweet and his Emergent Church co-horts that while espousing to be Christians or 'Christ followers' (a preferred Emergent term) they are quite apparently 'wolves in wolf's clothing'.
On the subject of 'God's dream', an idea widely promoted by Emergents, New Agers and many others, we will continue with Brian McClaren (More on Brian McClaren on The RED PILL Consortium is available by typing his name in the search engine):
“In his 2006 book The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything, alternative emerging church figure Brian McLaren proposes that Christians adopt new metaphors that the church can use to introduce the world to Jesus–a new user-friendly language to more effectively communicate with the prevailing culture of a “postmodern” world.
The first new metaphor that McLaren suggests is the old Robert Schuller metaphor, “God’s Dream.” McLaren tries to link this Schuller concept to Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech rather than attributing it to Schuller.
McLaren explains:
‘For all these reasons, “the dream of God” strikes me as a beautiful way to translate the message of the kingdom of God for hearers today. It is, of course, the language evoked by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. His dream was God’s dream, and that accounted for its amazing power’.1
We understand that this idea of fulfilling “God’s dream” is not something that a handful of people whose Christianity is dubious at best, and a farce at worst is promoting; this is something that is being promoted globally, by people with such power to influence the many people living on this globe, like Robert Muller, Assistant General Secretary of the United Nations. From The TRUTH Under FIRE’s article on Muller in the TTUF profile, FORTH COMES THE GLOBAL EDUCRATS:
“Far from being merely a political entity, the UN of which Muller had a predominant hand in forming and developing, is very much a spiritual/religious entity that reflects the values of its former Assistant Secretary General; his dream lives on in the minds and hearts of UN members, its workers and followers of Muller himself:”
“His dream seems to parallel, if not be inspired by “God’s Dream” an idea that is heavily promoted by New Agers and Emergent Leaders alike, that is, “to bring heaven to earth”; an idea which intimates that we are not to wait around for God to establish His kingdom (Dan. 2:34, 45), but must be active participants in its erection. Since Muller is by his own admission a “deeply spiritual man” one must ask where he obtained his spirituality from. This we shall look into!
My DREAM 2000
by Robert Muller
I dream
That on 1 January 2000
The whole world will stand still
In prayer, awe and gratitude
For our beautiful, heavenly Earth
And for the miracle of human life.
I dream
That young and old, rich and poor,
Black and white,
Peoples from North and South,
From East and West,
From all beliefs and cultures
Will join their hands, minds and hearts
In an unprecedented, universal
Bimillennium Celebration of Life.
I dream
That the year 2000
Will be declared World Year of Thanksgiving
By the United Nations.
I dream
That during the year 2000
Innumerable celebrations
and events
Will take place all over the globe
To gauge the long road covered by humanity
To study our mistakes
And to plan the feats
Still to be accomplished
For the full flowering of the human race
In peace, justice and happiness.
I dream
That the few remaining years
To the Bimillennium
Will be devoted by
all humans, nations and institutions
To unparalleled thinking, action,
Inspiration, elevation,
Determination and love
To solve our remaining problems
And to achieve
A peaceful, united human family on Earth.
I dream
That the third millennium
Will be declared
And made
Humanity's First Millennium of Peace.
In his “Spirituality in World Affairs” Robert Muller lists ten objectives that would promote global spirituality among the nations, with the UN as well as the URO, leading the way. These ten objectives have either been fulfilled or nearly so, since Muller wrote this article thirteen years ago.
“Among the scores of people who are talking about and promoting this false vision of “God’s Dream” are: Sri Chimnoy, Desmond Tutu, Sung Myung Moon, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Oprah Winfrey are among the New Age crowd – and those who are professing Christians?
Brian McLaren, Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Erwin McManus, Bruce Wilkinson, Shane Claiborne, and of course, Leonard Sweet who said:
“The time to save God’s Dream is now. The people to save God’s Dream are you.”
Leonard Sweet shares this vision of ‘God’s Dream’ with these others, with whom he endeavors to find this bridge of common ground; yet Wayne Dyer has explained clearly what he believes this dream is all about . . .
As described in Deceived on Purpose, (Warren Smith’s excellent expose on this and other Emergent/New Age falsehoods) Marianne Williamson’s New Age colleague Wayne Dyer has made it clear that the “One Dream” that can change everything is “God’s Dream”:
"Who is the ultimate dreamer? Call it as you will: God, higher consciousness, Krishna, Spirit, whatever pleases you. . . .
One dream, one dreamer, billions of embodied characters acting out that one dream . . . Your true essence is that you are part and parcel of the one big dream.4
This is the quintessential message that is available from all the spiritual masters . . . You, the dreamer . . . God, the dreamer.5
"I assure you that when you truly know that there is only one dream and that you are connected to everyone in that dream, you begin to think and act as if you are connected to it all, rather than attached to your separateness.6"
“. . . billions of embodied characters acting out that one dream . . . “??
WE ARE THE WORLD-CHURCH, WE ARE THE CHILDREN –
The obvious implication is that, according to Dyer (and no doubt his colleagues) this vision born in the heart of God is being realized on planet Earth by presumably all of her human inhabitants. That collectively, the people of the Earth form a kind of ‘church’ through which ‘God’ operates to fulfill His dream.
This idea is notoriously promoted by such as Barbara Marx Hubbard and others of the New Age perspective.
See False Teachings, False Peace and False Christ – Part One of Three.
More on “God’s Dream” can be found on the TTUF Profile of Rick Warren (parts 1 and 2).
Leonard Sweet routinely employs such phrases as “enlightenment, Christ Consciousness, New Light*, transformation, spiritual energies” which are stock slogans rife with New Age spirituality, and he compares the Spirit and glory of the God of the Bible with “kundalini fire” and Matthew Foxe’s “inner Light”.
*“New Light Leaders” as he calls them, and for their revelations he is grateful for, and follows are: Matthew Fox, Richard Mouw, Rowan Williams." Others that Leonard Sweet thanks include: Morton Kelsey, M. Scott Peck, Walter Bruggemann, Ken Wilber, Thomas Berry and many other New Agers.
SWEET LIES –
More from Warren Smith on Leonard Sweet.
Finally we have the following article by Sandy Simpson of Deception in the Church ministries:
“Warren Smith, in his cutting-edge book A Wonderful” Deception (an expose on Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet, and the “new” emerging Christianity), wrote two strong documented chapters specifically on the New Age views of Leonard Sweet:
“Perhaps one of the most troubling things Smith reveals about Sweet is Sweet’s statement about “the father of the New Age movement,” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Sweet calls the late panentheist Chardin “20th CENTURY CHRISTIANITY’S MAJOR VOICE” [emphasis mine].
“But Chardin does not represent biblical Christianity–on the contrary, he falls in a spiritual camp that embraces the “cosmic Christ,” which is the “I AM God” in every creature. Even though this Christ-consciousness-in-all-people belief rejects the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, Sweet has openly aligned himself with Chardin. In Sweet’s book, Aqua Church, he favorably quotes Chardin arrogantly saying:
“Christ is in the Church in the same way as the sun is before our eyes. We see the same sun as our fathers saw, and yet we understand it in a much more magnificent way.” Sweet’s alignment with Chardin’s New Age views is nothing short of heresy.”
Quotes from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the supposed “Voice of 20th Century Christianity” – you be the judge as to whether this man was a properly representative 'voice' for Christianity.
Chardin was instrumental in the forming of philosophical thought on the issue of evolution where transhumanism as a concept is concerned (Note particularly point #11) – hardly the sort of stuff for “the Voice of 20th century Christianity” to extol!
For more on Leonard Sweet have a look at this Emergent Friendly Interview:
From out of the starting gate, Sweet is asked what the ‘emergent church’ is:
LEN SWEET: It probably would mean something different to everyone you would ask, but from my perspective, the “emergent church” is an ongoing conversation about how new times call for new churches, and that the mortar- happy church of the last half of the 20th century is ill-poised to face the promises and perils of the future.
In fact, attempting to define the “emergent church” betrays the essence of the movement because the emergent consciousness questions the notion that there is such a thing. Rather, there are only individual emerging churches that are missional* in orientation that grow out of the indigenous soils in which they are planted.
In other words, no two emerging churches are alike.
And what does “missional” mean?
Bob Deeway, who has certainly done his homework on the Emergent Church Movement provides for us the answer.
“Emergent’s word “missional” does not convey this meaning. “Missional” sounds like “missionary” except that the “mission” is undefined. Emergent leaders disagree among themselves concerning the definition of their “mission,” but the mission they tend to embrace is to improve society now. They borrow much from Catholic liberation theologians and liberalism itself—that Christianity’s mission is to make the world a tangible paradise immediately. Outside of bettering society, the missional concept has no content; it specifically denies a mission of proclaiming an escape from God’s coming wrath.
"For Emergent, 'The journey is the reward,' and the journey will certainly end well for all—without exception.
According to Emergent thinking, being missional means following the journey wherever it leads as long as it corrects society’s evils. In their view, missional is more like the opposite of apathy; it is zeal to right the wrongs of society. Because the eschatological end of the journey is assured for everyone, the path the journey takes doesn’t matter much. One mission to fight social evil is as good as another; what matters most is that we are missional together.”
Sweet like most other Emergents believe the church is not prepared to reach this generation for Christ, and yet – as has been stated repeatedly by this author, God in His perfect foreknowledge included everything necessary for EVERY GENERATION to understand, believe and receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ, having provided Himself as the perfect, propitiatory sacrifice, the Holy Scriptures themselves and the Holy Spirit to empower the church to live out the truth of the Word.
The 21st century didn’t catch God off guard!!
All of this talk about changing Ecclesiastical tactics in order to reach the world has done, and will do nothing but reach the church with worldly wisdom, worldly vision, and worldly consequences before our own Heavenly Father!
In that interview with Sweet, you will notice some points he makes which are rather poignant but that in the mix of these, there are the usual Emergent sign posts that can be readily identified – just a couple of examples before we move on to our ‘second wolf’:
Sweet is asked to define some terms that are prevalent in Emergent Societies of various shades, one of which is “incarnational” –
LEN SWEET: “Incarnational: That means that Christianity does not go through time like water in a straw. It passes through cultural prisms and historical periods, which means that Christianity is organic. And like with any living thing, in order for things to stay the same, they have to change. There are some who think that Christianity is meant to stand in and for itself as a bounded discourse, impervious to cultural influences. That’s one reason it took the Vatican 300 years to come around to heliocentrism: the idea that the sun, not the earth, was at the center.”
There is a vast difference between what factual science is for and the objective of the truth of God’s Word; the Scriptures are for understanding God, not the universe and its laws (though there are texts that reveal facts of our physical universe), they are for our understanding on how to conduct ourselves (we who are Christians) in the kingdom of God, not to gain comprehension of planetary relations in our solar system – and neither of these has to do with culture specifically (though both Christianity and science will have an effect on it).
Also, Christianity has no problem adapting itself to any culture, so long as that none of the biblical truths are altered in order to accommodate any aspects of culture that would contradict it.
Then on the definition of missional:
LEN SWEET: “Does the church face inward or outward? A missional church faces outward toward the world, not like a porcupine stands against its enemies, but like water fills every container without losing its content. In fact, many in the emerging church reject the dichotomy between the church and the world. For too long, churches have faced inward, offering religion as a benefits package — something that “meets my needs” or offers good outcomes.
“I tell churches to look at their mission statement. Many of them are no more than self-statements, not mission statements. This is how you can tell. Is your mission statement based on how to get people to go into the world, or how to get more people to come to church? The missional mantra that people are saying today is this: The church is measured, not by its seating capacity, but by its sending capacity.”
I can agree with Sweet that the church for much of the recent past has become too introspective and involved with itself, like a fortress standing against and impervious to people of the world in a siege (‘them against us’) mentality, when we are supposed to be ambassadors to the world (2 Cor. 5:20), heralding the Gospel to lost souls, while at the same time, keeping ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27); the church needs to regain its passion for reaching the lost while maintaining its sanctity by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus spent time with sinners (much to the disapproval of the religious establishment of the Pharisees; see Matt.9:10-13) and yet was without sin (1 Peter 1:18-20; 2 Cor. 5:21).
While the idea of getting churched people out into the street, and having been sent out, making contact with un-churched or non-churched people is somewhat commendable (but in actuality it's not about churched and unchurched, but saved and unsaved people) – once sent, what is the message they are delivering?
The Gospel is in the charge of the body of Christ and NO other message will do! What would it matter if the Emergent Church could hand the world on a silver platter (with education, health care, job opportunities, and everything else on the Rick Warren P.E.A.C.E. plan list) to un-churched people and they lose their own souls?
MATTHEW 16:25-27
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Lastly, on the issue that “. . . many in the emerging church reject the dichotomy between the church and the world.”
The Scripture clearly states that there is a dichotomy; a God-ordained distinction between the world and the church, and what separates the two is Christ Himself (Matthew 10:32-40) – for He is the Head and Lord and Savior of the church, His body. He is not so with the world at large, because they are of the spirit of darkness and not of light.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
2 CORINTHIANS 6:14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
EPHESIANS 5:8
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
1 THESSALONIANS 5:5
Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1 PETER 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
Based on all of the reasons of what has been revealed here (and far more besides for those who do the research!) we are well able to classify Leonard Sweet as a bona fide wolf in wolf’s clothing.
We need to be sure to warn any God-fearing Christian about such false doctrines and unbiblical teachings as those taught by Leonard Sweet, and not be deceived by his prolific writings as published in so many books.
The following is a list of books written by or with contributions from Leonard Sweet.
This concludes the second part of this article; in the third article we will have a look at our next subject: Wayne Dyer. Until then, keep your eyes on the skies and don’t believe the lies, the LORD JESUS RETURNS SOON, FROM ON HIGH!
There are many deceptions and lies proliferating in the world today. The church is to be a bastion of truth and light, and yet in this day, there are those being embraced by churches as so-called Christians, and yet one can hardly find any indication at all that these leaders are the LORD’s sheep – not so much as a bit of wool or the sound of bleating.
They barely conceal their wolfish ways and yet for all that, they are still embraced . . . ?
This is an examination of the beliefs of Leonard Sweet, Wayne Dyer and Ken Blanchard – three professing (even evangelical) Christians who adhere to unbiblical beliefs.
There was a day when Christian pastors and leaders were generally viewed as being reputable in foundational truth and their understanding and exposition of the Word of God. They were believed to be true Christians.
It wasn’t until some time afterwards that they began making unbiblical statements, committing unbiblical practices and eventually made themselves known (much to our dismay) as wolves preying upon the flock; among these some have been revealed even as apostates and heretics who for all observation have left behind biblical Christianity.
Today however things are a bit different; today we have those who while claiming to be Christian, have redefined (re-imagined*, re-invented**) Christianity.
Such is the case with the New Evangelicalism Movement as aptly expounded upon by Paul Smith (brother of Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel ministries) who has observed the commencement of straying by Calvary Chapel among many of its primary fellowships, from the Word of God – and other churches as well.
*Reimagining Christianity
**Reinventing Christianity
For more about this, check out the TTUF article by Anne Kisly, a book report on this work by Paul Smith:
The New Evangelicalism: The New World Order
An excerpt from the above article:
“Living in the twenty-first century in America, we have watched a major paradigm shift affecting the mindset of many evangelical pastors. This shift includes the ‘New Evangelical’ push for the church to become postmodern in order to ‘reach’ a secular America, a reach of compromise and denial of biblical truths.
“The birth of the Emergent Church began with key players such as Peter Drucker, Rick Warren, Bob Buford and C. Peter Wagner [and too many others I might add], with a vision for an ‘optimum community’ . . . a ‘focusing on unity and a worldwide oneness reflected in the growing union between Eastern and Western cultures and thinking’.”
Find more of this in the following articles:
Emergent Is Regurgitant – Part One
WELLHAUSEIAN WOLVES –
A quote within the Emergent Is Regurgitant article is as follows:
"Religious liberals spawned by Wellhausen and others accepted biological evolution as a fact (we know that other liberals such as Westcott and Hort likewise found the theory ‘unanswerable’). They carried evolution to a next rational step: Man’s ideas have evolved upward from the primitive to the complex. And so, the religious liberal says that our ideas of God have evolved and are continuing to evolve.
"Religious change is the evolution of ideas, part of the natural order and survival of the fittest. We used to think of God as a judgmental ruler of the universe, but now know Him as a God of love. Hence, there is no sin of violation of God’s law. To the liberal theologian, sin is only lack of maturity, lack of proper evolution. The answer to sin is not the redemption of Jesus Christ, but education, man directing and controlling his own evolution, As mankind is enlightened, we will do away with war, hatred, famine and greed (see J.G. Machen, Christianity and Liberalism)."
From this root source of modern religion, we have these other so-called Christian leaders – who I believe are not a part of the body of Christ for all of their bad fruit, are not legitimate members of the LORD’s flock, and not even masquerading as sheep, but are in fact wolves dressed up in wolf’s clothing!
PARTING FROM THE WORD OF GOD IS ‘SWEET SORROW’ –
The first one we will look at is Leonard Sweet:
From a short article by Roger Oakland (Emerging Spirituality – Bridging the Gap Between Good and Evil):
“When those in the emerging church try to persuade people that we need to bridge the gap between Christians (or Christ-followers as they put it) and non-Christians, they aren’t really talking about reaching out to the unsaved in order to share the Gospel with them. They are talking about coming to a consensus, a common ground. Leonard Sweet explains: ‘The key to navigating postmodernity’s choppy, crazy waters is not to seek some balance or “safe middle ground” but to ride the waves and bridge the opposites, especially where they converge in reconciliation and illumination’ Soul Tsunami, pg. 163.
Roger Oakland responds:
“It takes a little thinking to figure out what Sweet is saying by this statement, but when he talks about bridging the opposites, he’s referring to a chasm that exists between good and evil. This tension between the two is called dualism, and at the heart of occultism is the effort to eradicate it. If that gap could truly be closed, then Satan and God would be equal. The Bible clearly states this will never happen, but it also says that it is Satan’s desire” (Isaiah 14:12-15).
Rather convenient for the wolf to bridge the gap by consensus and ‘common ground’ and affirm that there really is no difference between the wolves and the sheep. The only genuine reconciliation a wolf would want with a sheep would involve the sheep ending up on the menu!
ILL FAVORED ILLUMINATION –
As for ‘illumination’ – this is not, nor has it ever been the doctrine or practice of the church: to seek illumination (via esoteric knowledge and, or meditative practice) in order to obtain salvation or any other spiritual goal. This is Gnosticism, plain and simple and has nothing to do with the Gospel, the Word of God and true spirituality in accordance with the LORD’s kingdom!
Yet we see Gnosticism blooming anew in all of its New Age splendor in various neo-Gnostic societies, and its devilish dogma is permeating our society in ways both subtle and non-subtle.
For more about this, see The RED PILL Consortium's own article on GNOSTICS KNOW THE EYE.
These two videos that will help to get a grasp on Gnostic and Illuminati beliefs, watch these: the first one, from GOOD FIGHT ministries:
Gnosticism Exposed (10 min 32 sec)
Rise of Gnosticism (part 1 of 8; 15 mins 01 sec)*
* Gnostic ambitions of bringing ‘heaven to earth’ as it were, is also the mission of the Emergent Church Movement (“bringing the kingdom of God to earth”); this is hardly a coincidence (see the other 7 parts of this presentation as found on youtube).
(Note: The Red Pill is a reference to the film, The Matrix which is a vehicle to promote Gnosticism, however my blog The RED PILL Consortium does not endorse, nor promote Gnosticism, but contrariwise stands opposed to it and all false religious teachings. I use the term ‘Red Pill’ for my own analogy of receiving the Truth of God’s Word so that one might awaken from the sleep of deception and see the world as it really is: the domain of the evil one, Satan and his program of lies and deception that will lead mankind into Luciferian worship).
EMERGENCE VIA MERGING –
Efforts have been made to amass an amalgam of beliefs as found in the East (primarily Hinduism) and dress it up as the New Age (Old Lie: “ye shall be as gods”) Movement and now we are finding this blasphemous bridge yoking up Christianity and New Age into a ‘New Spirituality Christianity’ – which is something that Brian McLaren himself has stated that we need: “Not a new Spirit but a New Spirituality”.
See also: How Eastern Religion Invaded the West.
Sweet’s attempt in this post-modern society to “navigate these choppy, crazy waters and bridge opposites” would entail the church, which is to walk in the light (1 John 1:7) to join with its opposite and do what?
Have fellowship with Hindus, New Agers, mystics and those that are, according to the Scriptures, in spiritual darkness??
EPHESIANS 5:8-11
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
GOD’s DREAM or DECEPTIVE SCHEME?
Another point regarding Leonard Sweet and so many of his Emergent colleagues and even New Age/Spirituality adherents is this slogan that they use: “God’s Dream”.
Here is an article by Warren Smith, God’s Dream or Deceptive Scheme?
Emergent Leaders, New Age gurus, and others are using this phrase with greater frequency (I personally have heard this phrase used by many of today’s contemporary Christian musicians in their lyrics and in their address to audiences).
What is a dream if not some sort of vision? They might be meaningless (too much of the proverbial pizza) but this is not the case with the sort of vision that is being discussed by these people, this “dream of God”.
When it comes to visions supposedly from God, Scripture is quite clear – we are not to accept any vision that comes along, or the spirit by which it is conveyed without testing it by the rule of Scriptural truth!
1 JOHN 4:1-3
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Too many of these false teachers want to denigrate the LORD Jesus, to lower Him down to the level of a “Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi (so said Brian McLaren)”; yet the office of the Christ belongs to God the Son and by no means can He be compared to mere sinful mortals!
They will make the attributes of Christ as not the sole personification of the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth (according to the likes of Marianne Williamson and other New Age leaders) but the inheritance of everyone who accepts the belief that “all is God” including ourselves (this is pantheism and panentheism).
“In his 2006 book The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth That Could Change Everything, alternative emerging church figure Brian McLaren proposes that Christians adopt new metaphors that the church can use to introduce the world to Jesus–a new user-friendly language to more effectively communicate with the prevailing culture of a “postmodern” world.
The first new metaphor that McLaren suggests is the old Robert Schuller metaphor, “God’s Dream.” McLaren tries to link this Schuller concept to Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream” speech rather than attributing it to Schuller.
McLaren explains:
‘For all these reasons, “the dream of God” strikes me as a beautiful way to translate the message of the kingdom of God for hearers today. It is, of course, the language evoked by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963. His dream was God’s dream, and that accounted for its amazing power’.1
Here we will end our examination of Leonard Sweet - 'wolf number one'. We will pick up where we left off and complete this examination in part two, and then proceed in our examinations of Ken Blanchard and Wayne Dyer. Until then, walk in truth and light as found in the LORD Jesus Christ so that you will not be deceived by the perditious pied piper, the father of lies, Satan himself.
