I cannot help but address this issue. We are witnessing much in the Body of Christ that is being attributed to the Holy Spirit. But, I ask you, can we honestly say that all that is being acclaimed as being initiated by the Holy Spirit of late, really of the Holy Spirit or, could it be something else?

The names of Kathryn Kuhlman and William Branham have been invoked by the leadership of the Lakeland, Florida revival. Kathryn Kuhlman has been likened to a so-called angel named “Emma”. And, we are told, that an angel of healing that was long ago associated with the ministry of William Branham is supposedly also in operation at this particular revival.

But, I ask you, did you ever see or hear of anyone at one of William Branham’s meetings “barking like a dog”, or “flapping their arms while clucking like a chicken” or “hopping like a frog”. I don’t think you can say that anything like this ever happened in one of Branham’s meetings. And, I would like for someone to find me a video clip showing William Branham coming onto the platform and falling onto his back in a fit of phony laughter so as to “light up the crowd”. Find the video clips, post them on You Tube and direct me to them. You can’t, because they don’t exist.

Next, remember how Kathryn Kuhlman used to come onto the platform with such grace and dignity. Oh the respect that she would show for the moving of the Holy Spirit. Can you imagine what would have happened if in one of her meetings someone would have started “barking like a dog”. Just imagine. Needless-to-say, that person would not have been allowed to stay very long.

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A civil war is brewing in the church in the United States and it is evolving out of two different camps within the Body of Christ. On the one side we have the Messianic Jewish camp and on the other side we have the Emergent Church camp. The enormity and scope

of this cannot be fully addressed in a brief post such as this one, but, my intention is to simply look at this problem in general terms.

First, let’s look at the Messianic Christian or Messianic Jewish camp. In this camp, we have churches and fellowships that are placing an emphasis on “finding your Jewish Roots”. It is really unclear exactly what is meant by this phrase. It seems to be a catchall for a lot of loose theology. These churches believe that Christians should incorporate Old Testament rituals and customs into their lifestyles and worship services. It is a growing trend and has serious theological pitfalls when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ and His absolute role in the history of mankind. In particular, is the doctrine of “dual covenant” that has evolved in the theology of some of these groups.

Then, there are those who are now calling themselves “Christian Zionists”. This is a sub-group that has become very emphatic on the idea that Christian Churches should align themselves with the State of Israel. Some of these churches have the flag of Israel draped over their pulpits, and their services are heavily influenced by Jewish ritual and custom. And, they are militantly pro-Israel. In a sense, it almost seems as if these groups worship the State of Israel rather than the Messiah of Israel.

What is of concern is that the leaders of these churches imply that if you don’t adopt “Christian Zionism” as a belief system, then somehow, you are outside of God’s favor. These churches incorporate a lot of politics into their preaching. And, Arab States are portrayed as evil and enemies of God. This is unfortunate because Arabs make up one-sixth of the world’s population. That’s right. There are approximately one billion Arabs in the world. So, how are the Arabs of the world going to show or prove their Jewish Roots so they too can receive favor from God? Are we to exclude one billion Arabs simply because they are Arabs? The truth of the matter is that God loves the Arab as much as He loves anyone else. That’s right. Jesus gave His life and shed His blood to save the Arab as much as anyone else. Jesus loves the Arabs as much as He does anyone else. Jesus loves the Arabs as much as He loves the Jews. Jesus gave His life to save all people regardless of race or nationality.

On the other side we see the camp of the Emergent Church or the Emerging Church. These churches and leaders are emphasizing an ecumenical approach to the Gospel. They are teaching and preaching that Jesus is one of “many ways” or “paths” to God. Thus, they are implying that Jesus isn’t the only way to get to Heaven. They are also teaching a form of prayer or meditation called “contemplative prayer” or “soaking prayer”. This type of prayer has its origin in Eastern Mysticism. It is the ancient art of “emptying out” one’s mind and allowing yourself to be “open” to special truth or deeper truth that can only be achieved or apprehended by this technique. It is extremely dangerous because if you empty your mind out, and then expose yourself to the spiritual realm in the process, you become vulnerable to demonic forces.

The Emergent Church leaders are abandoning the ancient paths of the tried and true gospel. The Emergent Church leaders are giving up on defending the gospel. The Emergent Church leaders are forsaking the truth for a lie. They are giving up wholesale the positions that the church has held for the two millennia that it has existed. They are denying that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. The Emergent Church leaders are seeking to portray Jesus as a mere philosopher rather than the Savior of the world. The leaders of this camp are emphasizing that we can take the “good” out of all of the world’s religions and then somehow incorporate these “good parts” into one singular belief system. It will be kind of a “religion designed by committee”. And, most alarmingly, is the additional emphasis of lacing this new belief system with their own political concepts and ideas. Thus, at the end of it, you will have a quasi political/religious system that will be the “solve all” for all the world’s problems. Sounds far-fetched you might be saying at this point. Then, read up on it for yourself. Listen to these leaders for yourself.

And, the Emergent Church is aligning itself with other governments of the world that are very unfriendly toward the State of Israel. The leaders of the Emergent Church are meeting with State leaders of various sorts and taking positions on political issues with these leaders.

All of this is a potent mix for the Body of Christ in America. On the one hand, you have the Christian Zionists promoting one political party and its candidate for President, and on the other hand, you have the Emergent Church leaders promoting the other political party and its candidate for President. And, both groups are saying it’s God’s will for their candidate to win.

This is not good news for the church. This is not good news for the country. Because when the election takes place and the choice is made, then, how does the losing side explain how God “let them down”. I mean after all, you have taught that God was on your side and you were supporting God’s man. Right? But, you have the other side saying the same thing. Now what? And, that is my concern. You see, American Christians, by and large, have been insulated from the political and religious turmoil that we read about going on in other parts of the world.. I mean that’s “those people over there”. Right? They just need to “learn how to get along”. They need a lesson in good old American philosophy and then everything will be just fine. Right?

The American Christian, by and large, doesn’t understand the ferocity of the forces these two camps are “playing around with”. It is not a game. American Christians continue to think that they have the luxury of coming up with all sorts of new ideas and new theologies and trying them out on an experiential basis. And, that somehow people around the world are waiting to be enlightened by the new found truth discovered by the American Christian. However, I can tell you that other people in other parts of the world take their religions and their beliefs and their moral codes very, very seriously. Unfortunately, there are some leaders in the American Church who think they can address and solve issues that have been ingrained in other societies and other cultures for centuries, with a mere sound bite. This approach is dangerous. These same leaders think they can write a brief little booklet and “wow” everyone with their philosophy and solve all of the issues that divide the people of the world.

The problem with all of this is that it pulls the church away from its true mission and that is to preach Jesus as the Savior of the world. To preach that Jesus died for all and that He alone is Lord and there is no other.

The compass of the church in America is spinning. The church in America has fragmented beyond belief. If we don’t get some focus and direction and get back to some good old fashioned preaching and teaching of the gospel, then, I’m afraid we are headed for some very stormy waters. 

Publish Date: June 12, 2008

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I would like to begin this article by citing a couple of Biblical stories about angelic encounters so as to establish a frame of reference for the discussion that follows.

First, we read in Isaiah chapter 6 the story about the great prophet and statesman Isaiah having an encounter with angels called seraphim. We see that in the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah has a vision of angels in Heaven. Isaiah is allowed to see into the throne room of God. In this room there were angels called seraphim. They were unique in their appearance having six wings each. They were flying around the throne of God and then they began crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy” unto the Lord. At their voices, the whole place started shaking, filled with smoke and Isaiah thought to himself “I am ruined”.

Next, we read in Daniel chapter 10 the story about the great prophet Daniel being visited by a messenger angel sent from God. Upon seeing this angel, those who were with Daniel fled in fear and, Daniel himself fell to the ground on his face as a dead man.

By these two examples, we can see clearly that an angelic visitation is not something to be taken lightly. It is not an experience that one would speak of trivially or casually. And, by these two examples, we see clearly that angels function in a way that draw attention to God and serve to bring Him glory.

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