Paul the apostle would not have given this warning to the church unless there was a serious threat to the sheep to be led astray. Notice that he is telling us to be on guard for both ourselves and the flock and that he is talking about wolves within the church, not the false teachers that are outside of the church which most Christians wrongly believe these warnings always refer to.
 
This is a collection of recent articles concerning the falling away happening in the church. Things seem to be speeding up dramatically on all fronts and it is difficult at times to "see to forest for the trees" so to speak, but this single sign of the Lord's return ranks number one on the list of all signs as to how close His return is.
 
For those who are new to Moriel or who may receive this as a 'forward' from a friend, please understand that Moriel is not just about pointing out error. We are first a bible-teaching ministry and are also involved in many other aspects such as church plants under certain circumstances, missions, orphanages and many other ministries in nearly every continent. I feel the need to make this statement since so many Christians do not know how to scripturally handle the exposure of false teaching and tend to view the ministry exposing the false as the persecutors and the false teachers as the afflicted or persecuted.
 
 
This is not scriptural and not of the Lord. Please, if you are not familiar with Moriel and feel offended by our direct approach to error take a look at our website and see that we are about much more than just this. This is just a necessary part of ministry that much of the church has refused to deal with and therefore has resulted in even a worse problem than it would have been.

The Word of God and The Lord Jesus Christ cannot be separated from one another. Sure there is a difference between the person, pages, and ink but not between the person and the meaning of the words conveyed. This is the message that much of the church today just does not understand. No thought, experience, belief, or anything can be true unless it is completely substantiated on the sum of the Word of God (not just one verse in the whole Bible).
 
 
When you study the whole Bible, you find that discernment is taught in nearly every book, almost every chapter and the warning of deception in a continuous theme from Genesis to Revelation. However, so are all the other major themes taught in scripture including is the gospel and the Kingdom of God.
 
As I have mentioned numerous times before, I look forward to the day that this business is no longer needed. It is not at all fun pointing out error and the worse the error becomes the more ugly this job gets, but it must be done.
 
Praise God the Yeshua is coming very, very soon!
 
BE/\LERT!
Scott Brisk

THE EVENING STANDARD of LONDON [Associated Newspapers/DMGT] - May 29, 2008
The collapse of Christianity has wrecked British society, a leading Church of England bishop declared yesterday.

It has destroyed family life and left the country defenceless against the rise of radical Islam in a moral and spiritual vacuum.

In a lacerating attack on liberal values, the Right Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, said the country was mired in a doctrine of 'endless self-indulgence' that had brought an explosion in public violence and binge-drinking.

In a blow to Gordon Brown, he mocked the 'scramblings and scratchings' of politicians who try to cast new British values such as respect and tolerance.

The Pakistani-born bishop dated the downfall of Christianity from the 'social and sexual revolution' of the 1960s.

He said Church leaders had capitulated to Marxist revolutionary thinking and quoted an academic who blames the loss of 'faith and piety among women' for the steep decline in Christian worship.

Dr Nazir-Ali said the ' newfangled and insecurely founded' doctrine of multiculturalism has left immigrant communities 'segregated, living parallel lives'.

Christian values of human dignity, equality and freedom could be lost as the way is left open for the advance of brands of Islam that do not respect Western values.

The Bishopric of Rochester is one of the ten most powerful positions in the Church of England.

Dr Nazir-Ali's attack on the decline of Christianity appears to put him in the opposite corner to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and many of his fellow bishops.

But he holds some views in common with the Church's other widely-heard and popular prelate, Ugandan-born Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.

Over the past six months, Dr Nazir-Ali has made a number of criticisms of Islam and its influence.

Among them have been charges about the spread of no-go areas for non-Muslims and worries over the impact of new mosques.

Last weekend he was one of just three bishops who backed a move in the Church's parliament, the General Synod, to encourage the conversion of Muslims to Christianity.

His latest attack once again criticises Dr Williams's backing for sharia law, saying that 'recognising its jurisdiction in public law is fraught with difficulties, precisely as it arises from a different set of assumptions than the tradition of law here'.

Dr Nazir-Ali detailed his arguments in an article in the newly-launched political magazine Standpoint.

The bishop, himself an immigrant from Pakistan in the mid-1980s, admitted that he might be thought the least qualified person to discuss British identity. But he quoted Kipling: 'What should they know of England who only England know?'

The bishop said 'something momentous' had happened in the 1960s. He quoted historians who point to a cultural revolution in which women ceased to uphold or pass on the Christian faith and to the role of Marxist revolutionaries.

Dr Nazir-Ali pointed with approval to a finding that 'instead of resisting this phenomenon, liberal theologians and church leaders all but capitulated.
 
Criticised: Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams has controversially backed sharia law

He said: 'It has created the moral and spiritual vacuum in which we now find ourselves.' In the place of Christianity there was nothing 'except perhaps endless self-indulgence'.  - - -

He is one of the bishops who has been called on by the Prince of Wales to give advice on Islam.

However, Dr Nazir-Ali does not share the prince's enthusiasm for Islamic values. He has warned Charles to give up his hope of being 'defender of faiths' because of the incompatibility of different beliefs.

Dr Nazir-Ali has accused Muslims of promoting double standards by looking for both 'victimhood and domination'; he has called for powers for officialdom to remove veils from Muslim women for security reasons; and he has warned repeatedly over the dangers of extremism.

In particular he has called on Islamic leaders to allow Muslims to abandon their beliefs and adopt other religions.

Dr Nazir-Ali has spoken up for an estimated 3,000 Britons under threat of retaliation for giving up their faith and he has condemned Islamic states that maintain the death penalty for apostasy.

His outspokenness has put him in the vanguard of opposition to hardline Islamism and made him one of the highest-placed enemies of the gay rights movement.

He angered the Archbishop of Canterbury by threatening to boycott this year's Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops from around the world.

He has criticised civil partnerships and opposed the extension of IVF treatment to single women and lesbians.

Dr Nazir-Ali has much in common with the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu. Unlike him, however, he does not have a populist touch.

This may have contributed to his failure to win the post of Archbishop of Canterbury, for which he was once considered a leading candidate.

The 58-year-old bishop has now remained in Rochester for nearly 14 years.
Read Full Report

LONDON DAILY MAIL [Associated Newspapers/DMGT] - By Steve Doughty - June 5, 2008
Labour's policies on human rights have become a threat to freedom, the Archbishop of York said yesterday.

Dr John Sentamu suggested that the Government was ' sacrificing liberty in favour of an abused form of equality'.

The Archbishop said human rights did not work without a moral foundation, yet morality had been replaced by consumer desires.

He also warned against the growth of 'diktat and bureaucracy' which he said interfered with personal beliefs.

Dr Sentamu's broadside follows last week's powerful condemnation of Britain's 'broken' society by Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester. He argued that Christianity was the keystone of dignity, equality and freedom and without it society would collapse.

Dr Sentamu, who comes second in the CofE hierarchy, is a popular figure often tipped to succeed Dr Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury.

His condemnation of human rights without religion, and his decision to point the finger at Labour, came in an address given to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.

He said: 'One of the many mantras of the New Labour party of a decade ago was that of rights and responsibilities: the idea that along with entitlement comes obligation.

'Unfortunately the combination of a rapacious consumerist appetite with this mantra has led to a situation where seemingly unfettered rights and entitlements have come to the fore while responsibility has not simply gone out of fashion but seems to have fallen off the radar.'

He added: 'Our current Government is in danger of sacrificing liberty in favour of an abused form of equality  -  not a meaningful equality that enables the excluded to be brought into society, but rather an equality based on diktat and bureaucracy, which overreaches into the realm of personal conscience.'

Describing the interference with personal belief as 'petty minded', Dr Sentamu said: 'Human rights without the safeguarding of a God reference tends to set up rights which trump others' rights when the mood music changes. Our society needs once more to rediscover the compassion and service at the heart of religion.'

The Ugandan-born Archbishop said: 'The trumpet which was once the herald of this nation's greatness was the imperative of moral responsibility, where what was right was informed by a faith-based understanding.

'Now we are told that if we push for the end of religion in the public arena, in our politics and the public square, we will free ourselves from the shackles of an enslaving and moribund moral responsibility.'

This, Dr Sentamu said, would mean morality would be replaced by consumerism and the imperative not to do the right thing but to buy the right thing.

His speech reflects deepening concern in the Church of England over Labour attempts to suppress Christian doubts about gay rights.

The are also fears that officialdom disapproves of Christianity.

Dr Sentamu has hit a chord with the public since he arrived in York in 2005.

He has praised British culture and the legacy of the British Empire while criticising the Leftwing doctrine of multiculturalism, now blamed for encouraging Muslim-only no-go areas

His defence of the right of a BA employee to wear a cross helped force the airline to back down in its ban on Christian symbols.

Last week Dr Nazir-Ali, who was born in Pakistan, condemned 'endless self-indulgence' which he said had supplanted Christian values, undermined the family and left Britain defenceless against radical Islam.

Original Report Here 

BBC NEWS [PSB operated by BBC Trust] - May 25, 2008
A traditionalist Anglican has said he will continue with a campaign for the Church of England to work explicitly to convert Muslims to Christianity.

Paul Eddy, a lay member of the General Synod, has come under intense pressure from bishops to withdraw his plan.

But he has secured enough support for his motion to be debated at the next meeting of the Church's ruling body.

The motion calls on the Church to proclaim Christianity as the only route to ultimate salvation.

Mr Eddy, who is training to become a priest, has been denounced by some Muslims, but says the Church can no longer avoid hard questions about its beliefs.

He said he had received angry e-mails and telephone calls from senior figures in the Church denouncing his motion. - - - -
Read Full Report

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS [A. H. Belo Corporation/Belo Group] - Religion Blog by Sam Hodges - March 12, 2008
Sen Max Baucus, chairman of the Finance Commitee, has joined ranking member Sen. Charles Grassley in writing four ministries, urging them to comply with Grassley's earlier request for financial information. This would suggest that Grassley's probe of the finances of the ministries, including the one run by Kenneth Copeland of the Fort Worth area, isn't going away and enjoys at least some support by Baucus.

Here's a press release from the Finance Committe. After that come letters from the senators to four non-complying ministries, including Copeland's.

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Grassley, Baucus Urge Four Ministries to Cooperate with Information Request

WASHINGTON - Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Committee on Finance, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member, have written to four ministries to urge cooperation with an earlier information request from Grassley. Baucus and Grassley lead the committee with exclusive Senate jurisdiction over tax policy; the ministry inquiry that Grassley launched last November is meant to gauge the effectiveness of certain tax-exempt policies.

"This ought to clear up any misunderstanding about our interest and the committee's role," Grassley said. "We have an obligation to oversee how the tax laws are working for both tax-exempt organizations and taxpayers. Just like with reviews of other tax-exempt organizations in recent years, I look forward to the cooperation of these ministries in the weeks and months ahead."

Grassley wrote to six ministries on Nov. 5, 2007, asking a series of questions on the non-profit organizations' expenses, treatment of donations and business practices. The questions were based on presentations of material from watchdog groups and whistleblowers and on investigative reports in local media outlets. One of the six ministries - Joyce Meyer Ministries of Fenton, Mo. - has cooperated substantially with his request and provided the requested information. Benny Hinn Ministries of Grapevine, Texas, has indicated a willingness to cooperate and provided answers to five of the 28 questions so far.

Representatives for Randy and Paula White of Without Walls International Church/Paula White Ministries, Tampa, Fla., verbally have indicated to Finance Committee staff that they will cooperate. Baucus and Grassley wrote to them on March 11 to thank them for the verbal commitment and to reiterate the committee's role.

The remaining three ministries have not cooperated, citing privacy protections or questioning the committee's standing to request the information. Baucus and Grassley wrote to them on March 11 to describe the committee's jurisdiction and role in determining the effectiveness of tax policy developed by the committee, distinct from the Internal Revenue Service's role, which is to enforce existing law.

The three ministries are: Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Newark, Texas; Creflo and Taffi Dollar of World Changers Church International/Creflo Dollar Ministries College Park, Ga.; and Eddie L. Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church/Eddie L. Long Ministries, Lithonia, Ga.

The committee's jurisdiction includes the federal tax policy governing the billions of dollars donated to and controlled by the nation's tax-exempt groups. The federal government forgoes the collection of billions of dollars to tax-exempt organizations every year.

The text of the March 11 follow-up letters to the four ministries follows here. The text of the Grassley Nov. 5, 2007, letters to the six ministries is available at finance.senate.gov. - - - -

The text to the letters are posted on the Be Alert! Blog

Original Report Here

SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS [Hearst Corporation] - By Abe Levy - May 22, 2008
A former member of Eagle's Nest Christian Fellowship filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the church and its pastor, Rick Godwin, claiming he was defamed in front of the congregation when he tried to expose how Godwin was spending church money.

Larry Nail, a businessman from Boerne who belonged to the church for 11 years, says Godwin wrongly accused him of bribery in a speech responding to San Antonio Express-News articles that, based on church documents, raised questions about Godwin's use of church funds for expensive chartered planes and lodging, luxury gifts and personal items.

In the suit, filed in Bexar County District Court, Nail wants his donations to the church returned, plus legal costs and damages.

The suit didn't specify an amount.

Nail is among dozens of church members who've left the independent congregation since the fall, dissatisfied with Godwin's spending and what they consider the church's inadequate accountability. Godwin and other church leaders believe the issue has been addressed.

The suit comes three days before the church will conduct a "dry run" dedication of its new North Side building on Marshall Road near U.S. 281. The official dedication is set for the weekend of May 31.

Complicating matters for the church has been a stream of complaints by homeowners bordering the new property who claim the church hasn't responded to their concerns about lighting, noise and other matters.

At issue in Nail's lawsuit is a statement by Godwin during a Nov. 24 service. Nail says Godwin claimed he offered bribes to three staff members to discuss the pastor's spending publicly with the newspaper, which Nail denies.

Nail declined to comment Wednesday. The suit claims Godwin used "a classic bully pulpit" to accuse Nail of the crime of bribery and other wrongdoing as a means of shifting the attention away from the spending questions Godwin was facing.

"This psychological and spiritual abuse by Godwin toward Nail demonstrated the depths to which Godwin would sink to deflect attention from his extreme misuse of his position and of the trust placed in him by Nail and others," the suit said.

Contacted about the suit Wednesday, the church's attorney, J.D. Pauerstein, declined to comment until he could discuss the matter with church leaders. A message left with a church official wasn't returned.

The spending Nail refers to in the suit involved a fund set aside for outreach and missions. After the newspaper reports, Godwin told the congregation he paid back all personal expenses and launched a new tax compliance audit, among other corrective measures. He hasn't made public when or which reimbursements were made. - - -

Nail said in the suit that church staffers were afraid of losing their jobs if they confronted church leaders about Godwin's questionable expenses. He said he offered to help them financially if they were fired and followed biblical instruction by taking the spending concerns to Godwin first and then to two elders, who were unwilling to confront Godwin.

According to the lawsuit, Nail said Godwin told him: "I'm not going to let someone eating a bologna sandwich (referring to church staff and lower-level employees) tell me how to spend money around here." - - -

Saturday, the 24-year-old church will hold its first services in the new building - 172,000 square feet of space on 68 acres of land and estimated to cost $36 million. Its official dedication the next weekend will mark its name change to Summit Christian Center. On June 7, Cornerstone Church pastor John Hagee is scheduled to speak.

The church's existing buildings on nearly 9 acres at Bitters Road and U.S. 281 are under contract and were listed for $4.5 million, according to the Realtor's Web site.

The new building has concert lighting and sound, a food court, and an 1,800-light Venetian-style carousel from the former Central Park Mall.

Godwin and his wife have executive offices on one wing with a private elevator and garage.

The building will seat 2,500 people initially with the capacity to double later, making it equal to the largest sanctuaries in the city, including Hagee's church. Godwin has said he plans to rent the facility for concerts and other community events to produce a new revenue source for the church. - - -

The outdoor lighting and noise from the large air conditioners have been the subject of several meetings and correspondence between homeowners and church leaders. The homeowners say they're frustrated that Godwin has not responded directly and sent representatives instead.  - - - -
Read Full Report
Full Report Also Posted on the Be Alert! Blog

The television evangelist Benny Hinn has an audience of millions - and makes millions
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD [Fairfax-Syme Group] - By David Millikan - March 3, 2008
There is nothing mysterious about how you earn $US200 million ($215 million) a year promising people prosperity, healing and eternal salvation. No one knows how to do it better than Pastor Benny Hinn. I was at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre last month and saw the Hinn machine in action - healing and sucking in the money.

I went with my friend Greg Toohey, who was in a wheelchair. There is nothing wrong with him - he wanted to get on the stage in front of 8000 people and pretend he was healed. The idea was to put a question to Hinn at the moment Toohey was meant to collapse under Hinn's touch, "slain in the spirit". This was the question: "Pastor Benny, is it true that the US Senate is investigating your finances?"

No one does it like Benny Hinn. In the world of televangelists, he reigns supreme. Leadership in the charismatic movement is established through "the anointing". Theological or pastoral studies mean nothing. If people are healed and you raise a lot of money, you have the anointing.

No one churns out the healings like Benny Hinn. His This Is Your Day! show is one of the most-watched Christian TV programs, with viewers in 190 countries. In the US, it runs on paid-for air time more than 200 times a week on 80 stations. It is translated into Spanish, Romanian, Norwegian, Italian, Hindi and Tamil.

No one knows how much Hinn makes personally. In 1997 he said it was somewhere between $US500,000 and a million. More recently some documents stolen from his rubbish pointed to a salary close to $US2 million. His lawyers deny this. The "parsonage" built for him cost $US3.5 million. It has seven bedrooms, eight baths, a view of the Pacific and room for 10 cars including the odd BMW and his favourite Mercedes-Benz G500.

Last November the US Senate Committee on Finance asked for audited financial statements. It wanted detailed explanations of all compensation to Hinn, housing allowances, clothing, jewellery, personal grooming, loans, credit card statements, and a list of all vehicles and aircraft, including a $US36 million Gulfstream jet that Hinn no doubt used to fly to Australia.

Hinn is outraged by these demands and sees the hand of Satan behind them. He claims to have prayed to the Lord repeatedly: "Before I injure Your name, take me out. Before I harm Your kingdom, kill me."

We arrived at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre two hours early. Already a press of people was streaming out of the car parks, many like Toohey in wheelchairs. The air buzzed with expectancy. Some walked past offering encouragements. An elderly woman put her hand on Toohey's shoulder and said: "I have faith that the Lord will be here for you tonight. Do you?" Toohey replied: "Yes I do."

We followed the signs to the "wheelchair entrance", which took us directly to the floor of the centre and our place with the sick, behind 15 rows for VIPs. Next to us was a young man with his profoundly retarded son of three or four years. His boy showed no reaction to the world around him. With infinite and loving patience this young father tended his son, rarely taking his eyes off him, adjusting his bed in the stroller, lifting and cuddling him, putting in a dummy, offering a bottle of juice. This was a life without respite for him.

Behind us a man struggled to assemble a camp bed. Since 2.30 that afternoon he had been working to get his friend to the centre. It was a painful sight. His friend in a wheelchair was desperately sick. He was dishevelled and dirty. He had on wide-legged shorts displaying pathetically thin legs. A colostomy bag balanced on his lap. An inflatable mattress was produced and after an agonising effort it was in place. He was laid on it and his friend tenderly put a pillow under his head and laid a coat over him. Within minutes he was asleep and didn't wake until it was time to go home.

Hinn brings a large group of operators with him, veterans of a hundred events like this. A Brisbane crowd of 8000 is small stuff. They have meetings of more than a million in Kenya, Latin America and Indonesia. A couple of men I recognised from Hinn's TV show cruised the rows of the sick like sharks, looking for prospects for healing. They were not interested in the profoundly ill. The man and his boy, the poor fellow asleep on his bed, were of no use to Pastor Benny.

One of them saw Toohey and came over, sleek expensive suit, suntanned face shining, reeking of expensive perfume. "What happened, brother?" he asked.

We had rehearsed this answer. It was osteoarthritis with an infection in the synovial tissue which had deteriorated to the point that he had been confined to the chair for five years.

Toohey began: "It was while I was rock climbing --- I fell off a mountain." He laughed nervously. The Hinn man laughed with him, but I was worried. I said: "This man hasn't walked for five years. That's why I brought him tonight." He looked at me: "Who are you?" "We're brothers, where ever he goes I go ---"

He seemed reassured and bent over Toohey and put his mouth beside his ear and whispered. Toohey nodded and bent his head. I put my hand on Toohey's shoulder and also bent my head. For two minutes we were locked together in prayer. Toohey shifted in his chair, and began tentatively straining his left leg. The man stood up: "Do you feel anything?" Toohey stared at his leg: "I feel a sort of tingling?" The man smiled and moved back: "Brother, the Lord is going to heal you tonight --- praise God --- praise God." Toohey nodded and muttered: "Praise God."

Hinn preached a sermon straight out of Elmer Gantry - 1950s hellfire and damnation from fundamentalist Southern American Protestant Christianity.

Several hundred people surged to the front to pray the sinner's prayer and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as saviour. They were given a booklet by Pastor Benny and an invitation to attend a list of churches that sponsored the crusade.

Then Hinn moved to money. For 20 minutes he cajoled, prophesied, pleaded, shouted and demanded. This is the engine room of the crusade. No one does this better than Hinn. His white Nehru suit glistened like a halo in the spotlight. He moved urgently around the stage. "I'm going to tell you something. This is a prophecy. You are about to see the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of the world. You are going to see prosperity like you never dreamed of. Money is being transferred from sinners to the righteous." His voice boomed out: "Are you righteous?" "Yes," we cried. "Are you righteous?" "Yes," we cried a little louder. "This is money you never dreamed of. Are you righteous?" "Yes," we thundered.

Hinn believes the great cosmic drama of the end of the world is around the corner. Because of these unusual times, when evil will abound and God will call forth extraordinary men to great things, special things are in store.

God gives money to people who use it to preach the Gospel and show the world how wonderful it is to be a prosperous Christian. Just as the children of Israel plundered the gold of the Egyptians when they were led out by Moses, the righteous with the right faith in God will plunder the wealth of this world's sinners. That was money argument one.

Argument two: "The Jews were taught by God how to give. When they brought their gifts to the Lord, it was only the best. We have lost the gift of giving. God deserves the best. You give God the best and you'll get the best from him. Are you here for God's blessing? What are you going to give the Lord tonight?"

Money argument three is used universally in charismatic churches around Australia. It is called "sowing the seed". God rewards those who sow seeds of faith. As a grain of wheat is sown in the ground and comes up multiplied by 10, even by 100. "God will multiply your gift to him. You give him a little he will multiply a little."

The close: "The Lord is going to speak to you tonight. He is not asking you to give to Benny Hinn. This is a gift to the Lord. To some of you he will say $1000, to others $2000 or $5000, to some it may be $10,000. Don't turn your back on the Lord --- "

With a 250-voice choir singing about the joys of faith, and Hinn warning us not to miss the opportunity, the envelopes were distributed around the centre. Visa, MasterCard or bank account details. He is not interested in $20 and $50 notes. Cash is small time. He needs big licks to keep his machine going. I have no idea how much he was collecting that night, but I cannot see how it would be worth it for him to come to Australia without clearing $200,000 a night. One report said his three Brisbane shows raised about $800,000.

Then came the healing time. Hinn gave us another 15-minute talk about the healing power of Jesus. His argument went like this: Jesus healed people in the Gospels. Jesus is alive today and Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. So he is healing today. "I don't care what your pastor says. I don't care what your doctor says. I can tell you what the Bible says. Jesus is here tonight and is waiting to heal you. DO YOU HAVE THE FAITH?"

Toohey struggled out of the chair and unsteadily took the handles at the back and began to move forward. I whispered: "We've got to get down the side to the front."

We found ourselves in a strange melee of people, a sad crowd urging towards the stage. If you made it, Hinn would slay you in the spirit: the final confirmation of divine intervention.

Toohey and I were stopped by a large Pacific Islander, who said kindly: "You need to stay back there." He was pointing to white tape on the floor. Why were we stopped when others were moving over? Then I overheard one of the Hinn veterans speak to another volunteer: "I told you. No one over here who is not 100 per cent healed. Don't just point --- move them out."

I whispered to Toohey: "We've got to lose the chair." In a couple of minutes we were in with the 100 per centers.

The Hinn man grabbed Toohey and pulled him into the open. He put his arm behind him and pushed: "Come on brother, praise the Lord, come on." Toohey responded until he was almost running. The man stopped and put him at the front of the line. He directed a volunteer to get the wheelchair and park it at the bottom of the stage.

I took my place beside Toohey and waited. By this stage he had perfected a stunned wide-eyed look, and was holding his hands in the air. I whispered: "Have you got a follow-up question if you get the chance?" He said: "Yes, the one about Jesus." We had in mind: "Pastor Benny, why do you live in a multimillion-dollar house and drive around in a Mercedes when Jesus lived like a poor person?"

Over the next 15 minutes people struggled over the 100 per cent line and joined us along the wall. Suddenly, a huge black security guard came over and said: "You're up first." He looked at me: "You can go up with him."

We were herded to the stairs and started up. I looked at Toohey and something worried me. I grabbed him hard on the arm and whispered: "Don't you bloody fall over, Toohey."

We burst into the dazzling light and there was Pastor Benny. Up close he looked soft, almost feminine. His skin is smooth but flabby. His hands were small and the nails were highly manicured and polished. He walked towards Toohey and asked: "What has the Lord done for you?" Toohey began muttering about falling off a mountain again. Hinn looked annoyed: "What has happened?"

Toohey returned to his story about the mountain. I was muttering to myself: "The question, the bloody question." Hinn reached out and with thumb and first finger pushed on Toohey's neck. The minders behind him reached forward and pulled him back, and Toohey collapsed. Hinn moved up stage to reveal a more obvious miracle of healing. Toohey was dragged to his feet and we left the stage, collected the chair and returned silently to our seat.

So what happened? Hinn and his handlers are seasoned professionals at the miracle game. Toohey was too contained. They needed the trembling ecstasy of a person overwhelmed by spiritual power. So in a second they had him on his back.

Could it be that my scepticism blinded me to the possibility that God was in that place? Were we mocking God's work and, despite the excesses, Hinn is an instrument of healing? It is possible that a very few were healed? But I say that is despite Hinn. I judge him by the measure of the one he claims to be following. Jesus never promised people wealth, or instant healing. He didn't promise his disciples houses on the coast. Pastor Benny has recast Jesus in his own image. He has forgotten that his Lord died, humiliated, tortured, alone and penniless. But how do you sell that?

The Reverend Dr David Millikan is a Uniting Church minister. He is a part-time producer with Channel Seven and lectures at Charles Sturt University.
Original Report Here

* Emphasis Added

Evangelicals Putting New Twist on Lent, Confession and Communion
THE WASHINGTON POST [Wash Post Group/Graham] - By Jacqueline L. Salmon - March 8, 2008; B09
Evangelicals observing Lent?

Fasting, and giving up chocolate and favorite pastimes like watching TV during the 40 days before Easter are practices many evangelical Protestants have long rejected as too Catholic and unbiblical.

But Lent -- a time of inner cleansing and reflection upon Jesus Christ's sufferings before his resurrection -- is one of many ancient church practices being embraced by an increasing number of evangelicals, sometimes with a modern twist. The National Community Church, which has three locations in the District and one in Arlington County, updated the Lenten fast by adding a Web component: a 40-day blog, where participants from as far away as Australia, Korea and Mexico discuss their spiritual cleansing.

This increasing connection with Christianity's classical traditions goes beyond Lent. Some evangelical churches offer confession and weekly communion. They distribute ashes on Ash Wednesday and light Advent calendars at Christmastime. Others have formed monastic communities, such as Casa Chirilagua in Alexandria, modeled on the monasteries that arose in Christianity's early years.

This represents a "major sea change in evangelical life," according to D.H. Williams, professor of patristics and historical theology at Baylor University. "Evangelicalism is coming to point where the early church has become the newest staple of its diet."

Experts say most who have taken on such practices have grown disillusioned with the contemporary, shopping-center feel of the megachurches embraced by baby boomers, with their casually dressed ministers and rock-band praise music.

Instead, evangelicals -- many of them young -- are adopting a trend that has come to be known as "worship renewal" or "ancient-future worship."

Those familiar with the trend say it is practiced mostly by small, avant-garde evangelical churches, though not always. Last summer, the national convention of the 2.5 million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, an evangelical wing of the Lutheran denomination, voted to revive private confession.

"I definitely sense a hunger for acknowledgment of life's mysteries and of the mystery and beauty of God," said John Witvliet, director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in Grand Rapids, Mich., which recently hosted a "worship renewal" conference for 1,500 people. "There's a hunger for deeper engagement -- 'Don't just sell me a product at church, but really put me in touch with the mystery and beauty of God.' "

But there are plenty of critics who reject the practices as "mystical spirituality" that don't belong in evangelical Christianity.

"It is the same style of meditation that is basically being performed by Eastern religion practitioners," said Deborah Dumbowski, who with her husband, Dave, started an Oregon publishing house, Web site and 25,000-name e-newsletter to oppose the incorporation of such elements into evangelical worship. "It's being presented as Christianity, and we're saying this isn't Christianity -- not according to what the Bible says. . . . We believe it really does deny the gospel message."

Defenders, however, refute that devotees of such practices are straying from bedrock evangelical beliefs.

"They're still in love with their Bible. They're still in love with their God. They still see the Bible as their primary authority," said Chris Armstrong, associate professor of church history at Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., who has studied the trend. "But their experience is one of churches that look too much like the rest of the world -- a little bit too much like malls or rock concerts."

Weekly communion -- where worshipers share bread and wine, or juice, in remembrance of Jesus Christ -- has long taken a back seat in evangelical churches, but is undergoing a revival.

At Common Table, a weekly lay-led church that gathers at a Vienna coffeehouse for an unconventional service that features skits, group discussion and Quaker-style silence, worshipers line up to take communion from bread purchased at a nearby grocery store and sip wine out of a pottery chalice or grape juice from plastic cups.

"In a church likes ours, it serves the role of being that anchor that continually ties us back to the larger Christian church and to Christian history," said Deanna Doan, a member since its founding in 2001.

First Baptist Church of the City of Washington D.C. follows the liturgical calendar observed by Catholic churches. It lights candles at Advent, and observes Epiphany Sunday and the remainder of the traditional cycle of liturgical celebrations.

"We find that following the seasons of the Christian year adds a lot of richness to our experience of worship," said the Rev. James Somerville, the church's pastor, adding: "We wouldn't want the Catholics to get all the good stuff."

For the most part, though, young evangelicals aren't just reviving ancient traditions. They are stamping them with their own updated brand.

Confession -- a staple of Catholicism -- is appearing in different formats.Thousands of people, for example, have posted anonymous online confessions on church-run Web sites like mysecret.tv, and ivescrewedup.com. Those posting have confided feelings of guilt over abortions or their homosexuality, while others have confessed to extramarital affairs, stealing, eating disorders, addictions -- even murder.

"We do believe there is value in confessing our sins to each other," said Bobby Gruenewald, pastor at Lifechurch.tv, an Oklahoma-based megachurch that runs mysecret.tv, which has received 7,500 confessions since it started in 2006. Ministers and volunteers pray over the confessions as they come in. "This process may be a more modern way of people discovering the value of that tradition."

At Seacoast Church, which draws 10,000 people in Charleston, N.C., each Sunday, worshipers write their sins on pieces of paper and pin them to a cross. Volunteers later remove the pieces of paper and pray over them. The practice, said Pastor Greg Surratt, "has ramped up the sense of God's presence and power in incredible ways."

A growing wave of "new monastics" have updated the role of traditional monks. They share apartments or houses, have outside jobs and wear street clothes instead of habits. But they still believe in collective living, caring for the poor, a humble submission to Jesus Christ, and a commitment to a disciplined, contemplative life.

The number of monastic communities has grown from about 15 to almost 100 in the last decade, according to Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, an evangelical monk in North Carolina and author of "New Monasticism: What It Has to Say to Today's Church."

Casa Chirilagua is a nine-month-old monastic community in Alexandria formed by three women and is one of six such communities in the Washington area. Casa Chirilagua residents pray every morning, have pledged to remain celibate while single, and assist low-income immigrants in the community.

Says 26-year-old Casa Chirilagua member Dawnielle Miller: "It's communal, it's intentional and we focus on loving God and loving others."
Original Report Here

WORLDNETDAILY - By Joseph Farah - March 6, 2008
There's a movement afoot to seduce evangelical Christians into anti-biblical, socialist, tyrannical politics - the kind currently energizing Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

I know this because I just read a new book by the self-proclaimed "godfather" of the movement - Tony Campolo. Yeah, you remember him as Bill Clinton's spiritual guru.

The book is a manifesto of sorts called "Red Letter Christians." Red Letter Christians are those, we learn in Campolo's book, who heed the words spoken by Jesus and recorded in the New Testament - sometimes in red letters.

I'll summarize the book for you: Christians have been paying enough attention to issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, homosexual indoctrination in schools, etc. But, says Campolo, they need to start paying attention to what the Bible teaches to do about poverty, the environment, global warming and social injustice. And, in response, we have to empower government through political activism to shoulder our biblical responsibilities.

It's a stunning treatise - breathtaking in either its naivet� or self-indulgent and willful corruption of clear biblical principles.

I've debated Campolo. We've exchanged heated correspondence. But this book stands Scripture on its head substituting collective responsibility for personal accountability to God. It presupposes that government is actually good at solving problems. It suggests we need to usher in the kingdom of God on Earth through the power of Big Government.

Let me give you a rundown on what Red Letter Christians believe:

• Capital punishment is wrong, despite the clear, unequivocal biblical commandments to take life for life.
• Most Christians are too war-like and are guilty of "not loving our enemies." 
• Universal health care should be provided by government. 
• Poverty should be eliminated by the U.S. government, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world. 
• The minimum wage should be significantly increased.
• The U.S. should sign the Kyoto Protocol as a step toward solving the phantom crisis of global warming.
• The U.S. should pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan and address the real problem of terrorism by creating a Palestinian state and addressing the root cause - poverty. 
• We should make condoms available throughout the Third World to fight AIDS.
• We should address the same-sex marriage issue by getting government out of the marriage business altogether, leaving it to churches and other religious institutions to decide who should be married and who shouldn't. (No mention of children in this chapter and the ramifications such unions might have on them.)
• We should promote tougher gun laws.
• We should spend more on government schools.
• Christians should be offering sanctuary to all illegal aliens.
• The U.S. should cut the military budget and expand wealth-redistribution programs.
• Interestingly, according to Campolo, there is no litmus test for Red Letter Christians on the issue of abortion - some are for it, others against it. (It's a big tent on this issue alone.)
• All this, by the way, from someone who describes himself earlier in life as "the kind of political conservative Rush Limbaugh would have loved." How did Campolo get this way?

This sentence summarizes the answer pretty well: "The significant changes in my thinking began to occur during the '60s and '70s, when I moved from the pastorate to academia." Bingo!

Only the most superficial scriptural references - red or black - are provided to justify Campolo's predictably leeward stands.

At one point, Campolo makes the statement that "you can only understand the rest of the Bible when you read it from the perspective provided by Christ." Given that Jesus is, as most Christians believe, the living Word, the God who spoke all of the Bible into the hearts and minds of those who faithfully transcribed its 66 books, this is somewhat disturbing. In other words, Christ's perspective pervades the entire Bible - not just the red letters. Further, there is nothing in the red letters that is at odds with the rest of the Bible. There is no contradiction between the red letters and the black letters.

The whole sickening, neo-Marxian, materialistic, utopian diatribe left me wondering what work might be left for Jesus when He returns. I even e-mailed Campolo's publisher with that question and a few others. I'm still awaiting a response that is unlikely to come before the Millennium.

Maybe you can ask Campolo when, inevitably, he or some other so-called Red Letter Christian comes to speak in your church - spreading, not the good news of sacrifice, repentance, forgiveness of sin, personal accountability, spiritual renewal and rebirth, but the bad old news of collectivism, faith in government and moral relativism.
Read Full Report

No creeds, no miracles, no Resurrection: Minister preaches faith without the symbolism
NATIONAL POST [Asper-CanWest Global] - By Charles Lewis - May 3, 2008
There is a Bible on a pedestal in Gretta Vosper's West Hill United Church in Toronto. She would prefer it did not have a special place, she said, because it is just a book among other books. In a similar way, the cross that is high above the altar has no special meaning, but there are a few older congregants for whom the Bible and the cross are still nice symbols so there they remain.

Though an ordained minister, she does not like the title of reverend. It is one of those symbols that hold the church back from breaking into the future -- to a time "when the label Christian won't even exist" and the Church will be freed of the burdens of the past. To balance out those symbols of the past inside West Hill, there is a giant, non-religious rainbow tapestry just behind the altar and multi-coloured streamers hang from the ceiling.

"The central story of Christianity will fade away," she explained. "The story about Jesus as the symbol of everything that Christianity is will fade away."

The head of the United Church of Canada, David Giuliano, who went to divinity school with Ms. Vosper 20 years ago, said if he felt the way that she does, he would not be a minister. But it is not his job to condemn, he said, and the church is structured in such a way that complaints have to come from the congregation before any action can be taken. And so far there have been no complaints. He also sees the United Church, considered the most liberal of the mainline Protestant churches, as broad enough to encompass a wide range of theologies.

Even Rev. Giuliano agrees that the name Christian -- which carries the baggage of colonialism and other ills -- should probably be phased out. Instead, he would replace "Christian" with "Follower of the Way" or "Follower of Jesus."

But it is an absolute certainty that Ms. Vosper would not go for "Follower of Jesus."

Ms. Vosper does not believe in the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the miracles and the sacrament of baptism. Nor does she believe in the creeds, the presence of Christ in communion or that Jesus was the Son of God.

In With or Without God, her book that was formally launched this week, she writes that Jesus was a "Middle Eastern peasant with a few charismatic gifts and a great posthumous marketing team."

The Bible is used in her services, but it gets rewritten to be more contemporary and speak to more people. Even the Lord's Prayer -- also known as the Our Father -- does not make the cut because it creates an image of a God who intervenes in human existence. And then there is the "Father" part that is not inclusive language and carries with it the notion of an overbearing tyrant who condemns people to hell.

So why exactly does she still call herself a Christian, let alone a minister?

"I could leave the Church because I don't hold those orthodox understandings," she said.

"[But] I think that in a generation or so we might stop using the term Christian, and I hope, perhaps we will stop using labels for every religious tradition. There is nothing wrong with a faith tradition evolving.

"And I believe that's what we're doing. It's been evolving for a long time but we're afraid to acknowledge that so this is merely the next iteration of what Christianity needs to be."

She envisions a time when there is no religious divisions and everyone shares in their common values and their only differences are cultural. Still, she said there is no conflict with this and being in the church.

"The church is extremely important because it can be a transformative element in individuals' lives and communities," she said. "And that was the root of what the Christian Church was about: transforming the way people see themselves in relation

to the communities around them and in relation to each other and about living that in community. Christianity took over that story and manipulated it into a very different story."

Ms. Vosper believes most liberal ministers do not really believe in orthodoxy and see things like the Resurrection or the miracles as metaphors, not real events. She is also chair of a group called the Canadian Centre For Progressive Christianity, which also espouses a vague form of religious belief, in which they offer a challenge to the church to do a "complete overhaul of the beliefs it has been carrying about for the last several hundred years.

"It's not that we're trying to do something new. It's that we're trying to catch up on a thousand years of backlogged progress files that have yet to be inputted into the 21st century."

In With or Without God, Ms. Vosper writes: "[It is time to live] in the current paradigm, being progressive enough to let go of the beliefs and traditions to which we've had to tip our hats and curtsy in the past but which can no longer prevail in our contemporary world."

Ms. Vosper did not change her views over time but said she felt the same way when she took her divinity degree at Queen's University in 1990. She said when the creed was mentioned, which contains those declarations of faith that acknowledge basic Christian tenants, it was uncomfortable. "I fled when I had to read the creed," she said.

For all of this, she still feels rooted in the church. She still loves the stories, metaphors though they may be. And she still measures her life against the meaning of those metaphors.

The focus of her "spiritual" life is love. And since love is the common bond between all people, it is really the only thing worth believing in.

"Here in the context of seeking out harmony with all things, the purest understanding of those values that enhance and sanctify life becomes the foremost spiritual practice," she writes.

"We call it love, radically inclusive love. It is here, in the caring, challenging, prophetic role with which it is so familiar that the church can really shine."

clewis@nationalpost.com

Original Report Here

ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Rachel Zoll, AP Religion Writer - March 10, 2008
NEW YORK -- In a major shift, a group of Southern Baptist leaders said their denomination has been "too timid" on environmental issues and has a biblical duty to stop global warming.

The declaration, signed by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention among others and released Monday, shows a growing urgency about climate change even within groups that once dismissed claims of an overheating planet as a liberal ruse. The conservative denomination has 16.3 million members and is the largest Protestant group in the U.S.

The signers of "A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change" acknowledged that not all Christians accept the science behind global warming. They said they do not expect fellow believers to back any proposed solutions that would violate Scripture, such as advocating population control through abortion.

However, the leaders said that current evidence of global warming is "substantial," and that the threat is too grave to wait for perfect knowledge about whether, or how much, people contribute to the trend.

"We believe our current denominational resolutions and engagement with these issues have often been too timid," according to the statement. "Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless and ill-informed. We can do better."

No one speaks on behalf of all Southern Baptists, who leave decision-making to local churches. Yet, the signatories represent some of the top figures in the convention.

Among them are the denomination's president, the Rev. Frank Page of South Carolina; two former presidents, the Rev. James Merritt of Georgia and the Rev. Jack Graham of Texas; and the Rev. Ronnie Floyd of Arkansas, who helped conservatives solidify control of the denomination in the 1970s and 1980s.

Also backing the effort are presidents of three prominent Baptist-affiliated schools: David Dockery of Union University in Tennessee; Timothy George of Samford University's Beeson Divinity School in Alabama; and Danny Akin of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina. More than 35 people signed the statement.

Supporters plan to collect more signatures for the declaration through baptistcreationcare.org and encourage congregations to advocate for environmental protection.

Even before Monday's statement, religious activism on climate change had broadened beyond just liberal-leaning churches. The 1993 "Evangelical Declaration on the Care of Creation" became a guiding document for the Evangelical Environmental Network. The Rev. Rich Cizik, Washington director of the National Association of Evangelicals, became a prominent environmental advocate, trying to persuade conservative Christians that global warming is real. Polls of younger evangelicals found they considered environmental protection a priority.

But many of the most conservative Christians, including some Southern Baptist leaders, remained skeptical, and vigorously challenged evangelical environmentalists. - - - -
Read Full Report

ARUSHA TIMES (Arusha) - By Valentine Marc Nkwame - April 6, 2008
The issue of receding snowcap of Mount Kilimanjaro has finally attracted the attention of the Christendom world.

Come June and the whole alliance of Lutheran churches is set to converge for a special meeting at the Arusha International Conference Center and the theme for entire sessions will be the "Melting Snow on Mount Kilimanjaro: Christian Witness Amidst the Suffering Creation."

The Arusha's meeting of the Council of the Lutheran World Federation is expected to take place here from mid June to early July this year at the AICC complex and the event is being hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT).

The Council meets from 25 June to 1 July 2008 in Arusha, dates agreed by the LWF governing body at its March 2007 meeting in Lund, Sweden. The theme was developed in consultation with the Council host church.

The LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko conveyed the event in his letter addressed to the member churches, and invited them to concerted action in view of the theme and current global environmental challenges.

In other words Christianity is set to come face to face with global climate change in Arusha. The federation of churches will observe a special 'Sunday on Climate change' here on June 29.

"This theme connects well with our concerns related to ecology and global warming, pointing to some stark realities and injustices," Noko writes. He also invited the churches to observe 29 June 2008 as a "Sunday on Climate Change" reflecting and worshipping together as they focus on the theme.

"I urge you --- to sensitize the pastors and congregations on the urgent issues related to God, suffering creation," he adds. - - - -
Read Full Report