Blue squares indicate quakes in the last 24 hours.
Activity includes
MAG 6.9 2009/10/30 07:03:39 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAG 6.0 2009/10/29 17:44:31 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
Click on image for details from the USGS.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Unusual String of Large Quakes Across Asia
Activity includes
MAG 6.9 2009/10/30 07:03:39 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
MAG 6.0 2009/10/29 17:44:31 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
What's Driving The Purpose Driven Church? Part II
A picture is worth a thousand words...from James Sundquist:
Watch Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church by James Sundquist:
Video Part I
Video Part II
Watch Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church by James Sundquist:Video Part I
Video Part II
What Really Drives The Purpose Driven Church?
Southwest Radio Ministries and Rock Salt Publishing announce the release of award-winning author and producer, James Sundquist's new DVD entitled: Who’s Driving the Purpose Driven Church?, based on his two books entitled Who's Driving the Purpose Driven Church?, one of Southwest Radio Ministries’ best sellers (several printings and now translated into Chinese by Dr. Christian Wei) and Rick Warren's Global Peace Plan vs. Scriptural Teachings on Peace.
It features his speeches at Southwest Radio’s Prophecy Conference and updated PowerPoint Presentation color charts with the latest news, new links and resources. This presentation has already been used around the world to help equip and counsel churches and countries which have been hijacked by Warren's Purpose Driven and Global Peace Plan programs, be set free.
The documentary includes the expose of Warren's evolution/occult-based Carl Jung personality profiling and forced covenants, which in true Big Brother style has been imposed on church members, was also published in two Conservative Christian Theological Journals:
Journal of Biblical Apologetics (Fall 2007) and The Conservative Theological Journal (Aug 2005 and Dec 2005).
James Sundquist was the featured guest on Watchman on the Wall national radio show on October 19 and 20, 2009, also archived online at:
http://www.swrc.com/ministry/schedule/schedule.html
See more about author, publisher and conference speaker James Sundquist here.
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's 'Open Nerve' Manipulation
PD Network Webcast THE JESUS MODEL FOR RECOVERY July 16, 2009
Rick Warren: And the point is, in our Life’s Healing Choices Program which is ongoing, we have two different things: we do the boot camp, this is the second time we’ve done the boot camp—
John Baker: Right.
...Gerald Sharon: Yeah, now and in the Life’s Healing Choices that we’re doing this fall that doesn’t mean you’re going to have to immediately launch Celebrate Recovery—
Rick Warren: Nope.
Gerald Sharon: —but it’s a step to begin helping people—
Rick Warren: Yeah.
Gerald Sharon: —in their church find that healing and making those choices.
John Baker: And that’s why Life’s Healing Choices is going to reach out and appeal to a lot of people that are not, you know, that maybe never come to a recovery meeting—
Rick Warren: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rick Warren: But I want to guarantee you that if you go through this journey with us, we’ll hold hands together; and imagine if twenty thousand, thirty thousand churches, like we did with 40 Days of Purpose, held hands together said ―we’re going to focus on renewal, recovery, revival, restoration, the steps of spiritual formation and the Beatitudes, you can’t get better than the words of Jesus.
Rick Warren: If I were starting a church today, this would be the first series I teach. You know, if I were planning a church today I would start with this. Why, because everybody’s hurting somewhere and this is going to be an enormous community outreach. The people are going to feel very comfortable bringing their friends to a small group to learn about their habits, hurts, and hang-ups, and how Jesus wants to heal their hurts. I mean you can’t get more—Leroy Eims use to call this ―open nerve evangelism. Find the open nerve, okay. And anybody can be won to Christ if you find the key to his heart, and the key to his heart is where is he hurting.
Rick Warren: Okay, now let me explain that. “Blessed are those who are poor in Spirit.” What does it mean to be poor in Spirit? He’s not talking about financially poor; poor in Spirit means I recognize my need for God. And the reason why most people never get healed—and you’re not going to get any chance to go any more on these—
Rick Warren: —you’re not going to get any chance—the reason why we don’t get well is we won’t be honest to God, we won’t be honest with ourselves, we won’t be honest with other people, we live in denial, we will not be poor in Spirit; but if we say ―God, I’m helpless, my life is unmanageable, I cannot control the uncontrolled, but you didn’t intend for me to control those things and you’re God and I’m not,that’s what it means to blessed of the poor in Spirit, and it is the first step to spiritual maturity, it’s the first step to Christlikeness, it’s the first step to healing and wholeness.
John Baker: And that’s why Life’s Healing Choices is going to reach out and appeal to a lot of people that are not, you know, that maybe never come to a recovery meeting—
Rick Warren: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
John Baker: —but will join a Life’s Healing Choices small group and freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.
Rick Warren: Let me make a bold statement: Everybody needs recovery. Why? Because everybody’s broken. We live on a broken planet, we are sinful people, all have sin, and that means everybody, and so because of the sin we have hurt others and we have been hurt by other people. Everybody needs healing—
John Baker: Yeah.
Rick Warren: —in their heart.
John Baker: Yeah, and if you don’t believe you’re broken
See related articles: Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Imitation Sanctification , Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Imitation Sanctification Part II , Saddleback Videos Back Online
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's 2009 Celebrate Recovery Videos...Now You See Them... Now You Don't , Rick Warren's Life's Healing Choices: The Non-Addicted Version of Celebrate Recovery
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren Bends The Beatitudes For A Better Life, Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Psychology Driven Therapy
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's and A.A.'s Common Ground , Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Dance With Demons?
The Psychological Manipulation of the "Invitation"
From LaneChaplin.com
"That's what the cults do." - Paul Washer
Many people think that because they prayed a prayer, walked an aisle once in their life, and/or raised their hand when all the heads are bowed because their "autonomous" emotions convinced them to at a certain point in time that they are saved even though they live as worldly and carnal as everyone else in the world. My question is "When do we just start saying that if a person continues in unbelief, worldliness, and carnality regardless of what they did at a point in time then the are unbelieving, a worldling, and carnal? Do we really need votes that much as to forsake their soul?" We need preachers like Paul Washer; not politicians behind pulpits.
See also The Idolatry of Decisionalism
"That's what the cults do." - Paul Washer
Many people think that because they prayed a prayer, walked an aisle once in their life, and/or raised their hand when all the heads are bowed because their "autonomous" emotions convinced them to at a certain point in time that they are saved even though they live as worldly and carnal as everyone else in the world. My question is "When do we just start saying that if a person continues in unbelief, worldliness, and carnality regardless of what they did at a point in time then the are unbelieving, a worldling, and carnal? Do we really need votes that much as to forsake their soul?" We need preachers like Paul Washer; not politicians behind pulpits.
See also The Idolatry of Decisionalism
Obama signs 'hate-crimes' bill into law
'It's a very sad day for America and for religious liberties'
From WorldNet Daily by Chelsea Schilling:
A "hate crimes" bill opponents claim will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, was signed into law today by President Obama.
...Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the bill because it hands out federal money to states and local governments in pursuit of "preventing" hate crimes. The bill creates federal protections and privileges for homosexuals and other alternative lifestyles but denies those protections to other groups of citizens.
American Family Association President Tim Wildmon warned that the new law "creates a kind of caste system in law enforcement, where the perverse thing is that people who engage in non-normative sexual behavior will have more legal protection than heterosexuals. This kind of inequality before the law is simply un-American."
Wildmon said the legislation creates possible situations where pastors may be arrested if their sermons on sexuality can be linked in even the remotest way to acts of violence.
"It threatens free speech and freedom of religion and is totally unacceptable," he said.
From WorldNet Daily by Chelsea Schilling:
A "hate crimes" bill opponents claim will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, was signed into law today by President Obama.
...Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the bill because it hands out federal money to states and local governments in pursuit of "preventing" hate crimes. The bill creates federal protections and privileges for homosexuals and other alternative lifestyles but denies those protections to other groups of citizens.
American Family Association President Tim Wildmon warned that the new law "creates a kind of caste system in law enforcement, where the perverse thing is that people who engage in non-normative sexual behavior will have more legal protection than heterosexuals. This kind of inequality before the law is simply un-American."
Wildmon said the legislation creates possible situations where pastors may be arrested if their sermons on sexuality can be linked in even the remotest way to acts of violence.
"It threatens free speech and freedom of religion and is totally unacceptable," he said.
UN chief calls for ‘global governance structure’ to oversee greenhouse gasses
When conspiracy becomes reality, the time to act becomes history...
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in an opinion piece published by The New York Times, laid out a number of benchmarks for success in the upcoming global climate talks, planned to be held in Copenhagen.
Among them, Ki-moon argued in the Tuesday edition that a "global governance structure" must be levied to ensure that nations collaborate on how resources are deployed and managed.
The editorial, entitled "We Can Do It," urges world leaders toward the accomplishment of three key points: Curbing emissions, investing in green growth for third world nations and establishing a supranational structure to oversee resources.
"Every country must do its utmost to reduce emissions from all major sources, including from deforestation and emissions from shipping and aviation," Ki-moon wrote. "Developed countries must strengthen their mid-term mitigation targets, which are currently nowhere close to the cuts that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says are needed. Developing countries must slow the rise in their emissions and accelerate green growth as part of their strategies to reduce poverty."
He continued: "A deal must include an equitable global governance structure. All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed. That is how trust will be built."
See related articles: Global Warming Tied To Global Government? , Global Warming Caused By The Sun , Great Global Warming Swindle , Green Lies and Amazing Truths
U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming ,Global Warming or Global Governance
The Seeds of the Global Warming Police State? WHY ARE AMERICANS IGNORANT OF 'AGENDA 21'? , Man Made Global Warming Hoax , Global Warming or Global Governance
UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims, Climate Change: Stand Against False Gospel , NEWS FLASH: Sun's Magnetic Field May Impact Weather And Climate
WARNING: The Coming Solar Storm , Astrophysicist Says Global Warming Related To Sun , Climate Change Causes Rise in Tide of Ecumenism , Solar Storms + Weak Magnetic Field = Disasters , Climate Change Now The Main Driver of Natural Disasters
See more related articles on climate change here.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in an opinion piece published by The New York Times, laid out a number of benchmarks for success in the upcoming global climate talks, planned to be held in Copenhagen.
Among them, Ki-moon argued in the Tuesday edition that a "global governance structure" must be levied to ensure that nations collaborate on how resources are deployed and managed.
The editorial, entitled "We Can Do It," urges world leaders toward the accomplishment of three key points: Curbing emissions, investing in green growth for third world nations and establishing a supranational structure to oversee resources.
"Every country must do its utmost to reduce emissions from all major sources, including from deforestation and emissions from shipping and aviation," Ki-moon wrote. "Developed countries must strengthen their mid-term mitigation targets, which are currently nowhere close to the cuts that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says are needed. Developing countries must slow the rise in their emissions and accelerate green growth as part of their strategies to reduce poverty."
He continued: "A deal must include an equitable global governance structure. All countries must have a voice in how resources are deployed and managed. That is how trust will be built."
See related articles: Global Warming Tied To Global Government? , Global Warming Caused By The Sun , Great Global Warming Swindle , Green Lies and Amazing Truths
U.S. Senate Report: Over 400 Prominent Scientists Disputed Man-Made Global Warming ,Global Warming or Global Governance
The Seeds of the Global Warming Police State? WHY ARE AMERICANS IGNORANT OF 'AGENDA 21'? , Man Made Global Warming Hoax , Global Warming or Global Governance
UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims, Climate Change: Stand Against False Gospel , NEWS FLASH: Sun's Magnetic Field May Impact Weather And Climate
WARNING: The Coming Solar Storm , Astrophysicist Says Global Warming Related To Sun , Climate Change Causes Rise in Tide of Ecumenism , Solar Storms + Weak Magnetic Field = Disasters , Climate Change Now The Main Driver of Natural Disasters
See more related articles on climate change here.
Catholic University Holds Interfaith Meditation Event
Common Ground for People of All Faiths
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 26, 2009— The recent deaths of three people meditating for hours in an Arizona “sweat lodge” shined a spotlight on the extreme variety of methods people use in pursuit of well-being, wisdom, healing, or stress management.
An October 30 conference at Santa Clara University will explore the positive side of contemplative practices, including how various religions incorporate meditative contemplation into their faith: “Centering prayer” for Christians; the five daily prayers for Muslims; the Sabbath observance for Jews; the well-known meditative mindfulness of Zen Buddhism.
“Spirituality and contemplative practices from the various religious and spiritual traditions can be an excellent tool for stress management, but they are often overlooked by health care and mental health care professionals who have historically distrusted organized religion,” said Tom Plante, professor of psychology and director of the spirituality and health institute at Santa Clara University. Plante is also the editor of the book based on the conference, Contemplative Practices in Action: Diverse Paths for Well Being, Wisdom, and Healing. “This conference will educate practitioners and others on how to share or educate their clients about the healing tools they possess within their own faith traditions.”
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 26, 2009— The recent deaths of three people meditating for hours in an Arizona “sweat lodge” shined a spotlight on the extreme variety of methods people use in pursuit of well-being, wisdom, healing, or stress management.
An October 30 conference at Santa Clara University will explore the positive side of contemplative practices, including how various religions incorporate meditative contemplation into their faith: “Centering prayer” for Christians; the five daily prayers for Muslims; the Sabbath observance for Jews; the well-known meditative mindfulness of Zen Buddhism.
“Spirituality and contemplative practices from the various religious and spiritual traditions can be an excellent tool for stress management, but they are often overlooked by health care and mental health care professionals who have historically distrusted organized religion,” said Tom Plante, professor of psychology and director of the spirituality and health institute at Santa Clara University. Plante is also the editor of the book based on the conference, Contemplative Practices in Action: Diverse Paths for Well Being, Wisdom, and Healing. “This conference will educate practitioners and others on how to share or educate their clients about the healing tools they possess within their own faith traditions.”
Thousands gather as Virgin Mary set to make major statement at Irish shrine
Thousands of Irish people claim to have witnessed apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the skies over Knock shrine in Co Mayo.
About 5,000 people gathered at the holy Catholic shrine earlier this month amid a Dublin-based clairvoyant's predictions that an apparition would appear on October 11.
They reported that they could see images of the Virgin Mary shimmering in the sky as the sun danced nearby.
Another apparition has been predicted by the same clairvoyant, Joe Coleman, for this weekend and several thousand people are expected to make the pilgrimage to Knock.
Mr Coleman claimed: “I have seen her twice in recent months in the Gable chapel at Knock. The statue comes alive, she opens her arms, a lovely pink cloak comes around her, there are stars above her head, she turned into Jesus, then to Padre Pio and then back to herself. While the vision is happening, I can see nothing else in the chapel.
“She has told me she wants to make the biggest statement she has ever made on this earth. Knock is the spiritual heart of Ireland."
Learn more about Marian apparitions and the danger of deception here.
UN: Jerusalem must be capital of both Israel and Palestine
www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-29
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Jerusalem must be the capital of two States -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all, if peace in the Middle East is to be achieved, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Wednesday.
"This is the road to the fulfillment of both the vision of (the United Nations) Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, and the yearning for peace of people from all over the world," he said in a message to the Jerusalem International Forum in Rabat, Morocco, in which he stressed that the international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem.
The secretary-general cited as obstacles to peace continued Israeli evictions and house demolitions in East Jerusalem, the latest occurring on Tuesday, closure of Palestinian institutions there, and the expansion of settlements contrary to international law and the Roadmap peace plan espoused by the Quartet -- the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States --that seeks a two-State solution to the conflict.
UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Jerusalem must be the capital of two States -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all, if peace in the Middle East is to be achieved, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Wednesday.
"This is the road to the fulfillment of both the vision of (the United Nations) Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, and the yearning for peace of people from all over the world," he said in a message to the Jerusalem International Forum in Rabat, Morocco, in which he stressed that the international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem.
The secretary-general cited as obstacles to peace continued Israeli evictions and house demolitions in East Jerusalem, the latest occurring on Tuesday, closure of Palestinian institutions there, and the expansion of settlements contrary to international law and the Roadmap peace plan espoused by the Quartet -- the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States --that seeks a two-State solution to the conflict.
Sharp Increase In Central US Quake Activity
MAG 1.4 2009/10/26
SW of Ridgely, TN
MAG 1.6 2009/10/26
SW of Ridgely, TN
MAG 2.5 2009/10/26
WNW of Greenbrier, AR
MAG 2.7 2009/10/26
Maynard, AR
MAG 2.9 2009/10/26
Greenbrier, AR
MAG 2.3 2009/10/25
Bismarck, MO
MAG 2.4 2009/10/24
WNW of Tiptonville, TN
MAG 2.5 2009/10/24
NW of Greenbrier, AR
MAG 2.6 2009/10/24
NNW of Greenbrier, AR
MAG 2.6 2009/10/22
SW of Letona, AR
MAG 1.8 2009/10/21
ENE of Steele, MO
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Pastor: Keep, Feed and Protect The Flock
And my heart aches for pastors these day, it really does, because it’s seemingly more difficult now than it was in past years. We live in an anti-authority culture, we live in a culture that has lost all respect for people in positions of influence and authority. It’s tear down everybody, tear down everything. It’s a destructive culture and it’s hard for us to survive in that because even our churches are filled...it seems to me that this is the age of Diotrephes, people want to rise to have the preeminence. You know, they’ve been fed a steady diet of you should have your way, this is a self-esteem kind of mentality, and you should get what you want and your opinions are equal to everybody else’s. And I know it’s challenging. Very few guys are bolted out of churches because of a poor sermon. They usually run out because of conflict with somebody who struggles to be in the power. And I know it’s a challenging thing. And I know there is not only that kind of intimidation, but there’s the intimidation of all the internet pastors, all the big media pastors, all the big church pastors, and it can be very, very intimidating. You get discouraged because you don’t have more people, or your church isn’t growing. You go to some seminar and somebody gives you a bag of tricks how to get more people, and books are written about how to increase your numbers. And you go to another seminar and somebody tells you how to impact your culture and how to penetrate your community, and how to come up with this program and that problem...that program so you can reach beyond the church and grasp the culture and revolutionize the culture., and pastors get beleaguered with this stuff, they get discouraged with this. It’s all intimidation. It really is, and it’s really off the point of what we do, and I want to tell you what the point is as simply as I can.
If you’re a pastor, you have one job...you have one job. It’s this, Shepherd the flock of God among you....that’s your job. You are not a cultural evangelist, you are not a society penetrator, you’re not an entrepreneur, you’re not a revolutionary, you are a feeder of the flock of God. - Dr. John MacArthur
Read and listen to this message by Dr. John MacArthur here.
If you’re a pastor, you have one job...you have one job. It’s this, Shepherd the flock of God among you....that’s your job. You are not a cultural evangelist, you are not a society penetrator, you’re not an entrepreneur, you’re not a revolutionary, you are a feeder of the flock of God. - Dr. John MacArthur
Read and listen to this message by Dr. John MacArthur here.
Ahmadinejad: 'The Zionist regime is a threat to all nations'
The Jerusalem Post: "The Zionist regime is a threat to all nations ... it cannot tolerate the existence of any strong country in the region," said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday, according to Teheran news agency Press TV.
Iran's president praised Erdogan's stance over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the Turkish leader's "clear stance toward the Zionist regime has had a positive impact on the world of Islam."
At an international conference in January, Erdogan strongly condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza and the steep Palestinian casualties inflicted there. The Iranian leader is known for his anti-Israeli remarks since 2005, when he said the Jewish state should be "wiped off the map."
Iran's president praised Erdogan's stance over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the Turkish leader's "clear stance toward the Zionist regime has had a positive impact on the world of Islam."
At an international conference in January, Erdogan strongly condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza and the steep Palestinian casualties inflicted there. The Iranian leader is known for his anti-Israeli remarks since 2005, when he said the Jewish state should be "wiped off the map."
Archbishop enters row over Ireland's 'sun miracle'
Independent.ie AN unholy row has broken out between a Catholic archbishop and a group of pilgrims over claims of "supernatural events" at Our Lady's Shrine in Knock.
Dozens argue they witnessed the sun dancing in the sky after they flocked to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary. They insist they saw the sun shimmer on October 11 outside the old parish church -- the scene of the reported 1879 apparition.
But yesterday the Archbishop of Tuam discredited this notion, arguing the event could risk "misleading God's people and undermining faith".
Joe Coleman, a psychic who had predicted the event, argued that what happened was similar to the 'Miracle of the Sun' at the Portuguese shrine of Fatima.
See related article: Thousands Watch Sun Dance Awaiting Marian Appartion
Dozens argue they witnessed the sun dancing in the sky after they flocked to see an apparition of the Virgin Mary. They insist they saw the sun shimmer on October 11 outside the old parish church -- the scene of the reported 1879 apparition.
But yesterday the Archbishop of Tuam discredited this notion, arguing the event could risk "misleading God's people and undermining faith".
Joe Coleman, a psychic who had predicted the event, argued that what happened was similar to the 'Miracle of the Sun' at the Portuguese shrine of Fatima.
See related article: Thousands Watch Sun Dance Awaiting Marian Appartion
Monday, October 26, 2009
Recovery Program For Pastors Addicted To Popularity and Pragmatism
In endeavoring to say a word of challenge to the men tonight and also to all of you who are here to give you a perspective of what lies before them and to put you in a position of accountability to hold them to it, I am drawn to a passage, not far away from one read earlier in the same neighborhood. 1 Timothy 4, and it seems to me that in this text from verses 6 to 16, there is a wonderful summary of what ministries should look like. These are not things that the men do not know. They are things they know very well. They are certainly truths that most of you know very well. But they seem to be rarely displayed today. In fact, as I was thinking through this text, I was drawn to the fact that there are basically twelve things that the apostle Paul says to Timothy, twelve things, twelve essential features or elements of effective ministry. And so, I thought this is kind of a twelve step program. This would rival AA and all other twelve step programs which are very popular today.
Such programs have been developed for all kinds of human malfunctions and become very popular in the world and even very popular in the church. In many churches you can find a plethora of twelve step programs. But in many churches, the one who really needs a twelve step recovery program is the pastor because he has lost sight of what he should be doing and become addicted to marketing cultural relevance, politics, social reform and other substitutes for the real thing.
So this is a twelve step recovery program for pastors that we hope none of you will ever have to enter because you'll never be in a position to defect from it. The key phrase in 1 Timothy 4:6 is the phrase, "You will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will be a good servant." - Dr. John MacArthur
Read and listen to 12 Marks of Excellent Pastoral Ministry from Dr. John MacArthur.
Such programs have been developed for all kinds of human malfunctions and become very popular in the world and even very popular in the church. In many churches you can find a plethora of twelve step programs. But in many churches, the one who really needs a twelve step recovery program is the pastor because he has lost sight of what he should be doing and become addicted to marketing cultural relevance, politics, social reform and other substitutes for the real thing.
So this is a twelve step recovery program for pastors that we hope none of you will ever have to enter because you'll never be in a position to defect from it. The key phrase in 1 Timothy 4:6 is the phrase, "You will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will be a good servant." - Dr. John MacArthur
Read and listen to 12 Marks of Excellent Pastoral Ministry from Dr. John MacArthur.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Northeast US Quake Activity Continues
MAG 2.9 2009/10/21
(10 mi) N of Medusa, NY
MAG 2.0 2009/10/21
(10 mi) N of Medusa, NY
MAG 1.8 2009/10/20
(10 mi) E of Middleburgh, NY
MAG 2.2 2009/10/18
(5 mi) SSW of Lyon Mountain, NY
MAG 1.1 2009/10/18
(18 mi) W of North Conway, NH
Experts research central Pa. 'earthquake swarm'
The Associated Press
DILLSBURG, Pa. - Residents in Dillsburg, York County, have experienced about 600 small earthquakes over the last year, and now researchers have released a 20-page report looking into why.
Earthquake expert Charles Schamberger is one of the researchers. He says most of the earthquakes are happening where there are two different types of rocks in contact with each other. The rocks in the area are already weakened by mining, and they can slide.
Schamberger teamed up with other earthquake experts and Columbia University to study the Dillsburg quakes. They term the 600-plus events an earthquake swarm.
Schamberger said in other earthquake swarms, the little quakes were not followed by big ones.
DILLSBURG, Pa. - Residents in Dillsburg, York County, have experienced about 600 small earthquakes over the last year, and now researchers have released a 20-page report looking into why.
Earthquake expert Charles Schamberger is one of the researchers. He says most of the earthquakes are happening where there are two different types of rocks in contact with each other. The rocks in the area are already weakened by mining, and they can slide.
Schamberger teamed up with other earthquake experts and Columbia University to study the Dillsburg quakes. They term the 600-plus events an earthquake swarm.
Schamberger said in other earthquake swarms, the little quakes were not followed by big ones.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Pope Lets a Thousand Liturgies Bloom
From The Wall Street Journal by FRANCIS X. ROCCA Vatican City
The Vatican's announcement this week that it will allow former Anglicans who join the Catholic Church to retain a collective identity, using many of their traditional prayers and hymns in their own specially designed dioceses, is an event with profound implications for both Anglican and Catholic life.
The decision, made to accommodate Anglicans upset with their church's growing acceptance of homosexuality and of women clergy, is likely to transform ecumenical relations between the churches. It will also heighten the internal Catholic debate over the requirement of priestly celibacy (which is to be routinely waived for married Anglican clergy who convert under the new rules, extending an exception made on a limited basis till now).
Perhaps the most striking effect of the Vatican's move is the likelihood that, within the next few years, Catholic priests around the world will be celebrating Mass in a form that draws largely from the Book of Common Prayer. This resonant text, in its many versions, has informed Anglican worship since shortly after King Henry VIII led the Church of England away from Rome nearly five centuries ago.
Startling as that may sound, the Vatican's adoption of a liturgy with Protestant origins is merely the latest—and hardly the most exotic—addition to the Catholic church's liturgical smorgasbord. The range of worship forms has grown ever wider in recent years as the global church has become ever more diverse.
The Vatican's announcement this week that it will allow former Anglicans who join the Catholic Church to retain a collective identity, using many of their traditional prayers and hymns in their own specially designed dioceses, is an event with profound implications for both Anglican and Catholic life.
The decision, made to accommodate Anglicans upset with their church's growing acceptance of homosexuality and of women clergy, is likely to transform ecumenical relations between the churches. It will also heighten the internal Catholic debate over the requirement of priestly celibacy (which is to be routinely waived for married Anglican clergy who convert under the new rules, extending an exception made on a limited basis till now).
Perhaps the most striking effect of the Vatican's move is the likelihood that, within the next few years, Catholic priests around the world will be celebrating Mass in a form that draws largely from the Book of Common Prayer. This resonant text, in its many versions, has informed Anglican worship since shortly after King Henry VIII led the Church of England away from Rome nearly five centuries ago.
Startling as that may sound, the Vatican's adoption of a liturgy with Protestant origins is merely the latest—and hardly the most exotic—addition to the Catholic church's liturgical smorgasbord. The range of worship forms has grown ever wider in recent years as the global church has become ever more diverse.
AS THE LORD MAY LEAD
Please Stand with Apprising Ministries:
We certainly do appreciate the increase of readers, as well as the many kind letters of encouragement every day here at Apprising Ministries. And, as I’ve said before, at this time AM doesn’t have any radio programs to make appeals from; nor do we have any product to sell, because a work like is dependent entirely upon the generosity of God’s people.
So if you’ve been blessed through the work here perhaps you might consider helping to support this labor. We remain hopeful that a church or two might consider taking AM on as even a small part of their mission giving and at this time a gift of any amount—whether one time or on a regular basis—will go a long way toward helping to keep AM available along this Internet Front.
APPRISING MINISTRIES
P.O. BOX 340
Claremont, NH 03743
We certainly do appreciate the increase of readers, as well as the many kind letters of encouragement every day here at Apprising Ministries. And, as I’ve said before, at this time AM doesn’t have any radio programs to make appeals from; nor do we have any product to sell, because a work like is dependent entirely upon the generosity of God’s people.
So if you’ve been blessed through the work here perhaps you might consider helping to support this labor. We remain hopeful that a church or two might consider taking AM on as even a small part of their mission giving and at this time a gift of any amount—whether one time or on a regular basis—will go a long way toward helping to keep AM available along this Internet Front.
APPRISING MINISTRIES
P.O. BOX 340
Claremont, NH 03743
The Coming Mass Deception
Official disclosure of extraterrestrial life is imminent
An official announcement by the Obama administration disclosing the reality of extraterrestrial life is imminent. For several months, senior administration officials have been quietly deliberating behind closed doors how much to disclose to the world about extraterrestrial life. Dissatisfaction among powerful institutions such as the U.S. Navy over the decades-long secrecy policy has given a boost to efforts to disclose the reality of extraterrestrial life and technology.
The impending disclosure announcement follows upon the secret implementation of a year long openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Over the period February 12-14, 2008, the United Nations held closed doors discussions where approximately 30 nations secretly agreed on a new openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life in 2009. The openness policy was implemented but never publicly announced due to threats against UN diplomats not to disclose details of the secret agreement. h The secret UN agreement was based on two conditions. First, UFOs would continue to appear around the world; and second, the openness policy would not lead to social unrest in liberal democracies. Both conditions have been satisfied making it possible for the next stage to begin – official disclosure of extraterrestrial life.
Obama’s September 24, 2009 chairing of the UN Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, signaled his emerging leadership role in tackling major global issues such as nuclear weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize was an important step in giving global legitimacy to President Obama in making an extraterrestrial disclosure announcement. Obama is therefore poised to play a prominent role in the increased global governance that will be necessary after an extraterrestrial disclosure announcement. The timing would most likely coincide sometime soon after his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on December 10, 2009 in Oslo, Norway.
An official announcement by the Obama administration disclosing the reality of extraterrestrial life is imminent. For several months, senior administration officials have been quietly deliberating behind closed doors how much to disclose to the world about extraterrestrial life. Dissatisfaction among powerful institutions such as the U.S. Navy over the decades-long secrecy policy has given a boost to efforts to disclose the reality of extraterrestrial life and technology.
The impending disclosure announcement follows upon the secret implementation of a year long openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Over the period February 12-14, 2008, the United Nations held closed doors discussions where approximately 30 nations secretly agreed on a new openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life in 2009. The openness policy was implemented but never publicly announced due to threats against UN diplomats not to disclose details of the secret agreement. h The secret UN agreement was based on two conditions. First, UFOs would continue to appear around the world; and second, the openness policy would not lead to social unrest in liberal democracies. Both conditions have been satisfied making it possible for the next stage to begin – official disclosure of extraterrestrial life.
Obama’s September 24, 2009 chairing of the UN Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, signaled his emerging leadership role in tackling major global issues such as nuclear weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize was an important step in giving global legitimacy to President Obama in making an extraterrestrial disclosure announcement. Obama is therefore poised to play a prominent role in the increased global governance that will be necessary after an extraterrestrial disclosure announcement. The timing would most likely coincide sometime soon after his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on December 10, 2009 in Oslo, Norway.
Get Your Sunday Sermon Deal Here !
Hey, pastor... sleep in late and order sermons from:
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Welcome to the Recycle Bin of Consumer Christianity.
Jordan Seeks Pope's Help Over Jerusalem
Jordanians seek pope’s help over Jerusalem
AMMAN: Jordan has sought assistance from Pope Benedict XVI to stop Israel’s “unilateral measures” in East Jerusalem, which the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Middle East war, an official statement said Thursday.
The request was made by Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh who met the pontiff at the Vatican on Wednesday and relayed to him a “verbal message” from King Abdallah.
“Jordan rejects the Israeli unilateral measures which seek to change the identity of the holy city and endanger the sacred Islamic and Christian places there,” Judeh was quoted as telling Benedict.
The Jordanian foreign minister also presented the pope with a “file detailing various Israeli measures and provocations in Jerusalem and the holy places there”.
Judeh called for an “unequivocal attitude by the world community for confronting the Israeli excavations that threaten the safety of the Islamic and Christian holy sites and the attempts which seek to change the city’s demographic structure through forcing its Arab inhabitants to emigrate,” the statement said.
AMMAN: Jordan has sought assistance from Pope Benedict XVI to stop Israel’s “unilateral measures” in East Jerusalem, which the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Middle East war, an official statement said Thursday.
The request was made by Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh who met the pontiff at the Vatican on Wednesday and relayed to him a “verbal message” from King Abdallah.
“Jordan rejects the Israeli unilateral measures which seek to change the identity of the holy city and endanger the sacred Islamic and Christian places there,” Judeh was quoted as telling Benedict.
The Jordanian foreign minister also presented the pope with a “file detailing various Israeli measures and provocations in Jerusalem and the holy places there”.
Judeh called for an “unequivocal attitude by the world community for confronting the Israeli excavations that threaten the safety of the Islamic and Christian holy sites and the attempts which seek to change the city’s demographic structure through forcing its Arab inhabitants to emigrate,” the statement said.
Can You Say " Communism?"
This blog has avoided the politics of the day. But now, out of conviction and conscience, sworn to uphold the Constitution, the following is posted:
Our New Paymasters: Wage controls are politically easier than genuine reforms.
In the annals of what used to be known as American capitalism, yesterday will go down as a sorry day: The Treasury and Federal Reserve announced wage controls on private American companies. So once again our politicians are blaming bankers, rather than addressing the incentives the politicians themselves created for bankers to take excessive risks.
President Obama cheered the pay reductions as "an important step forward" and urged Congress to "continue moving forward on financial reform to help prevent the crisis we saw last fall from happening again." The pay curbs are intended to feed the official political narrative that the bankers caused the entire crisis, and that cutting their future pay will prevent the next one. Only a politician could really believe this, or at least pretend to.
We certainly have no sympathy for bankers who've been bailed out, and the most defensible of yesterday's pay curbs are those announced by Treasury "pay czar" Ken Feinberg. He was handed the task of determining compensation for 175 executives at seven companies that are still using money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program: Citigroup, AIG, Bank of America, General Motors, Chrysler, GMAC and Chrysler Financial. These companies—and executives—owe their survival to political intervention, and the price of such taxpayer help is inevitably some populist retribution.
Editor's note: This is not shared in defense of bankers...it is shared as a sign of the times...the prophesied One World Government is at the door...HOLDFAST.
Our New Paymasters: Wage controls are politically easier than genuine reforms.
In the annals of what used to be known as American capitalism, yesterday will go down as a sorry day: The Treasury and Federal Reserve announced wage controls on private American companies. So once again our politicians are blaming bankers, rather than addressing the incentives the politicians themselves created for bankers to take excessive risks.
President Obama cheered the pay reductions as "an important step forward" and urged Congress to "continue moving forward on financial reform to help prevent the crisis we saw last fall from happening again." The pay curbs are intended to feed the official political narrative that the bankers caused the entire crisis, and that cutting their future pay will prevent the next one. Only a politician could really believe this, or at least pretend to.
We certainly have no sympathy for bankers who've been bailed out, and the most defensible of yesterday's pay curbs are those announced by Treasury "pay czar" Ken Feinberg. He was handed the task of determining compensation for 175 executives at seven companies that are still using money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program: Citigroup, AIG, Bank of America, General Motors, Chrysler, GMAC and Chrysler Financial. These companies—and executives—owe their survival to political intervention, and the price of such taxpayer help is inevitably some populist retribution.
Editor's note: This is not shared in defense of bankers...it is shared as a sign of the times...the prophesied One World Government is at the door...HOLDFAST.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
One World Government Soon To Move from Conspiracy To Reality
When conspiracy becomes reality, the time to act becomes history...
Copenhagen: a step closer to one-world government?
Lord Monckton believes that climate change hysteria is being exploited by the green liberal left – watermelons, as they’re nicknamed: green on the outside; red on the inside – to usher in a form of one world government. He claims to have seen evidence of this in a draft treaty due to be signed off by world leaders at this December’s Copenhagen climate change conference.
It will, he believes, in rich nations having as much as 2 per cent of their GDP diverted to third world countries – supposedly to compensate them for the evils wrought by two centuries or so of Western industrialisation; and tough new climate change rules to be imposed on Western economies by UN bureaucrats over which sovereign nations (and their electorates) will have no control.
See more on the rise of the Fourth Kingdom and the man-made global warming lie.
Copenhagen: a step closer to one-world government?
Lord Monckton believes that climate change hysteria is being exploited by the green liberal left – watermelons, as they’re nicknamed: green on the outside; red on the inside – to usher in a form of one world government. He claims to have seen evidence of this in a draft treaty due to be signed off by world leaders at this December’s Copenhagen climate change conference.
It will, he believes, in rich nations having as much as 2 per cent of their GDP diverted to third world countries – supposedly to compensate them for the evils wrought by two centuries or so of Western industrialisation; and tough new climate change rules to be imposed on Western economies by UN bureaucrats over which sovereign nations (and their electorates) will have no control.
See more on the rise of the Fourth Kingdom and the man-made global warming lie.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Thatcher adviser: Copenhagen goal is 1-world government
From WorldNet Daily: By Jerome R. Corsi © 2009 WorldNetDaily
A former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says the real purpose of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Dec. 7-18 is to use global warming hype as a pretext to lay the foundation for a one-world government.
"At [the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in] Copenhagen this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed," Lord Christopher Monckton told a Minnesota Free Market Institute audience on Thursday at Bethel University in St. Paul.
"Your president will sign it. Most of the Third World countries will sign it, because they think they're going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regimes from the European Union will rubber stamp it. Virtually nobody won't sign it," he told the audience of some 700 attendees.
See more on Global Warming or Global Governance?
HEAT OF THE MOMENT
Thatcher adviser: Copenhagen goal is 1-world government
'Global warming' to be used as 'pretext' for 'change'
Posted: October 17, 2009 By Jerome R. Corsi © 2009 WorldNetDaily
A former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says the real purpose of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Dec. 7-18 is to use global warming hype as a pretext to lay the foundation for a one-world government.
"At [the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in] Copenhagen this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed," Lord Christopher Monckton told a Minnesota Free Market Institute audience on Thursday at Bethel University in St. Paul.
"Your president will sign it. Most of the Third World countries will sign it, because they think they're going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regimes from the European Union will rubber stamp it. Virtually nobody won't sign it," he told the audience of some 700 attendees.
"I read that treaty and what it says is this: that a world government is going to be created. The word 'government' actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity.
"The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to Third World countries, in satisfaction of what is called, coyly, 'climate debt' – because we've been burning CO2 and they haven't. We've been screwing up the climate and they haven't. And the third purpose of this new entity, this government is enforcement."
In an hour and a half lecture illustrated by slides featuring scientific data on a wide range of climate issues, Monckton refuted claims made by former Vice President Al Gore in his movie and book entitled "An Inconvenient Truth," as well as scientific arguments made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Monckton argued that President Obama will sign the Copenhagen treaty at the December meeting, without seeking a two-thirds ratification of the treaty by the Senate, or any other type of Congressional approval.
A former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says the real purpose of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Dec. 7-18 is to use global warming hype as a pretext to lay the foundation for a one-world government.
"At [the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in] Copenhagen this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed," Lord Christopher Monckton told a Minnesota Free Market Institute audience on Thursday at Bethel University in St. Paul.
"Your president will sign it. Most of the Third World countries will sign it, because they think they're going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regimes from the European Union will rubber stamp it. Virtually nobody won't sign it," he told the audience of some 700 attendees.
See more on Global Warming or Global Governance?
HEAT OF THE MOMENT
Thatcher adviser: Copenhagen goal is 1-world government
'Global warming' to be used as 'pretext' for 'change'
Posted: October 17, 2009 By Jerome R. Corsi © 2009 WorldNetDaily
A former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher says the real purpose of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on Dec. 7-18 is to use global warming hype as a pretext to lay the foundation for a one-world government.
"At [the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in] Copenhagen this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed," Lord Christopher Monckton told a Minnesota Free Market Institute audience on Thursday at Bethel University in St. Paul.
"Your president will sign it. Most of the Third World countries will sign it, because they think they're going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regimes from the European Union will rubber stamp it. Virtually nobody won't sign it," he told the audience of some 700 attendees.
"I read that treaty and what it says is this: that a world government is going to be created. The word 'government' actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity.
"The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to Third World countries, in satisfaction of what is called, coyly, 'climate debt' – because we've been burning CO2 and they haven't. We've been screwing up the climate and they haven't. And the third purpose of this new entity, this government is enforcement."
In an hour and a half lecture illustrated by slides featuring scientific data on a wide range of climate issues, Monckton refuted claims made by former Vice President Al Gore in his movie and book entitled "An Inconvenient Truth," as well as scientific arguments made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Monckton argued that President Obama will sign the Copenhagen treaty at the December meeting, without seeking a two-thirds ratification of the treaty by the Senate, or any other type of Congressional approval.
Pope announces plans for Anglicans to convert en masse
From the UK's Telegraph
The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict is setting up special provision for Anglicans, including married clergy, who want to convert to Rome together, preserving aspects of Anglican liturgy. They will be given their own pastoral supervision, according to this press release from the Vatican:
“In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”
The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict is setting up special provision for Anglicans, including married clergy, who want to convert to Rome together, preserving aspects of Anglican liturgy. They will be given their own pastoral supervision, according to this press release from the Vatican:
“In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Imitation Sanctification Part II
More from Rick Warren's Jesus Model of Healing and Life's Healing Choices...
And if you want to do Life’s Healing Choices with us, the end result is that emphasis will end after eight weeks but the groups will continue. And we once started over two thousand small groups with one campaign, with one emphasis; and the way we did it, as I said, I need you to become a host.
...but we can help you start groups and then we can help you sustain them because we are creating the Sunday school material of the 21st century.
My sinful habits and patterns of life, I’ve spent a lifetime developing them and I’m not going to get over them overnight. And so there’s a process of growth, and that’s really what the Beatitudes are. It takes us through these eight steps that starts with stopping the denial. I God I know I need you—
The reality is we grow through a step-by-step process and it’s a sequential growth process, and of course here at Saddleback we call it a Purpose Driven process. You don’t have to call it that, just call it the Jesus Process. It’s one day at a time one step at a time.
Number seven—this is really important too—Jesus modeled for us over and over again that change requires multiple reinforcement. Change requires multiple reinforcement. And I talked about this earlier in that, growing up, I saw people who went to church every week for forty years and didn’t change. Why? They only had one reinforcement: they were using the ear gate; they heard things. But we forget ninety to ninety-five percent of what we hear within seventy-two hours; so it just goes out the next day. That means by Wednesday people have forgotten ninety-five percent of what the pastor says.
That means over—I taught at Saddleback for thirty years, because if my people aren’t taking notes they’ve forgotten ninety-five percent of everything I’ve taught. So you have to have the ear gate—hear it; you got to have the eye gate—read it; you got to have the mouth gate—talk it, discuss it; you got to have the hands and feet gate—do it; you got to have the mind gate—memorize it; and this is what we call the multiple reinforcement of the spiritual boot camp. The multiple reinforcement of a spiritual journey experience campaign.
The only way to be blessed is to teach our people through multiple reinforcement. And we’ve been doing this now for well over twenty years, we figured out how to do this and that’s why the members at Saddleback grow so fast. Multiple learning styles—
—Multiple reinforcements. You’re going to need some tools to change and we’ll talk to you if you want to be a part of our next journey together.
Lasting change requires developing new habits, lasting change requires developing new habits. Jesus said it like this, “you can’t put new wine in” what?—
"Old wine skins.” You got to have new wine skins. These are the new habits and you are the sum total of your habits. And what we do in these spiritual journeys is we teach people basic habits that are going to go on long after the one month, the two month, the three months or forty days or six weeks or eight weeks they continue in the quiet time, they continue in Scripture memory, they continue in their small group. Your people are only as strong as their spiritual habits. Now, for two thousand years they were called the spiritual disciplines, they were called the devotional acts, the devotional life, and we call them habits because if we call the disciplines it sounds kind of— —I don’t want discipline.
We call them devotional practices; you know, quiet time and tithing and fellowship and fastening and listening. They are the habits of spiritual growth; and during Life’s Healing Choices journey we’re going to do the habit of quiet time, the Habit of small group, and the habit of self-evaluation, and a number of other habits that are necessary for growth.
Number nine— a truly changed life, a truly transformed life—oh by the way, at the same time a truly transformed church—what is the mark of a genuinely transformed church or generally transformed life? The answer is reproduction.
How do you know when a church is mature, it starts reproducing. It starts having baby churches. How do you know when a believer is mature, it starts having other baby Christians.
Now, these are the nine foundations of where we’re going this fall in the Life’s Healing Choices campaign because Jesus gave us the Beatitudes which are the steps for spiritual transformation.
In the Q&A session Rick Warren asks Celebrate Recovery founder John Baker "How many people have gone through the process of the Beatitudes now, the recovery process?"
John Baker stated that over 11,000 people have gone through Celebrate Recovery, he described it as a step study.
Oh, it’s an evangelism tool that you can’t get better than the word of Jesus, the Beatitudes, it’s an evangelism tool and it is a leadership factory. No ministry—we have over four hundred ministries in our church—no ministry has produced more leaders than Celebrate Recovery in this church, in children’s ministry, student ministry, music ministry, and everything else.
And if you want to do Life’s Healing Choices with us, the end result is that emphasis will end after eight weeks but the groups will continue. And we once started over two thousand small groups with one campaign, with one emphasis; and the way we did it, as I said, I need you to become a host.
...but we can help you start groups and then we can help you sustain them because we are creating the Sunday school material of the 21st century.
My sinful habits and patterns of life, I’ve spent a lifetime developing them and I’m not going to get over them overnight. And so there’s a process of growth, and that’s really what the Beatitudes are. It takes us through these eight steps that starts with stopping the denial. I God I know I need you—
The reality is we grow through a step-by-step process and it’s a sequential growth process, and of course here at Saddleback we call it a Purpose Driven process. You don’t have to call it that, just call it the Jesus Process. It’s one day at a time one step at a time.
Number seven—this is really important too—Jesus modeled for us over and over again that change requires multiple reinforcement. Change requires multiple reinforcement. And I talked about this earlier in that, growing up, I saw people who went to church every week for forty years and didn’t change. Why? They only had one reinforcement: they were using the ear gate; they heard things. But we forget ninety to ninety-five percent of what we hear within seventy-two hours; so it just goes out the next day. That means by Wednesday people have forgotten ninety-five percent of what the pastor says.
That means over—I taught at Saddleback for thirty years, because if my people aren’t taking notes they’ve forgotten ninety-five percent of everything I’ve taught. So you have to have the ear gate—hear it; you got to have the eye gate—read it; you got to have the mouth gate—talk it, discuss it; you got to have the hands and feet gate—do it; you got to have the mind gate—memorize it; and this is what we call the multiple reinforcement of the spiritual boot camp. The multiple reinforcement of a spiritual journey experience campaign.
The only way to be blessed is to teach our people through multiple reinforcement. And we’ve been doing this now for well over twenty years, we figured out how to do this and that’s why the members at Saddleback grow so fast. Multiple learning styles—
—Multiple reinforcements. You’re going to need some tools to change and we’ll talk to you if you want to be a part of our next journey together.
Lasting change requires developing new habits, lasting change requires developing new habits. Jesus said it like this, “you can’t put new wine in” what?—
"Old wine skins.” You got to have new wine skins. These are the new habits and you are the sum total of your habits. And what we do in these spiritual journeys is we teach people basic habits that are going to go on long after the one month, the two month, the three months or forty days or six weeks or eight weeks they continue in the quiet time, they continue in Scripture memory, they continue in their small group. Your people are only as strong as their spiritual habits. Now, for two thousand years they were called the spiritual disciplines, they were called the devotional acts, the devotional life, and we call them habits because if we call the disciplines it sounds kind of— —I don’t want discipline.
We call them devotional practices; you know, quiet time and tithing and fellowship and fastening and listening. They are the habits of spiritual growth; and during Life’s Healing Choices journey we’re going to do the habit of quiet time, the Habit of small group, and the habit of self-evaluation, and a number of other habits that are necessary for growth.
Number nine— a truly changed life, a truly transformed life—oh by the way, at the same time a truly transformed church—what is the mark of a genuinely transformed church or generally transformed life? The answer is reproduction.
How do you know when a church is mature, it starts reproducing. It starts having baby churches. How do you know when a believer is mature, it starts having other baby Christians.
Now, these are the nine foundations of where we’re going this fall in the Life’s Healing Choices campaign because Jesus gave us the Beatitudes which are the steps for spiritual transformation.
In the Q&A session Rick Warren asks Celebrate Recovery founder John Baker "How many people have gone through the process of the Beatitudes now, the recovery process?"
John Baker stated that over 11,000 people have gone through Celebrate Recovery, he described it as a step study.
Oh, it’s an evangelism tool that you can’t get better than the word of Jesus, the Beatitudes, it’s an evangelism tool and it is a leadership factory. No ministry—we have over four hundred ministries in our church—no ministry has produced more leaders than Celebrate Recovery in this church, in children’s ministry, student ministry, music ministry, and everything else.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Saddleback Videos Back Online
Earlier this morning in this post Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's 2009 Celebrate Recovery Videos...Now You See Them... Now You Don't, it was reported that the Saddleback servers had denied public access to the archived videos from the 2009 Celebrate Recovery Summit that promoted the fall campaign of Life's Healing Choices.
Well now, the videos are accessible once again. Click here to listen to Rick Warren decribe the benefits of Celebrate Recovery and Life's Healing Choices.
One will quickly recognize the bending of Scripture for the desired, predetermined results.
Well now, the videos are accessible once again. Click here to listen to Rick Warren decribe the benefits of Celebrate Recovery and Life's Healing Choices.
One will quickly recognize the bending of Scripture for the desired, predetermined results.
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's 2009 Celebrate Recovery Videos...Now You See Them... Now You Don't
Saddleback's server responds: Video Not Found.
The following download error message indicates that the security settings have been changed for local viewing only...
Runtime Error Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons) It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine (emphasis mine).
Why did Saddleback change the settings? The videos were available for public view last week. The clip below came from one of the online videos. Could it be the fact that the Celebrate Recovery announcers plainly indicated at this 2009 Celebrate Recovery Summit that the fall 2009 Life's Healing Choices campaign for churches across the country is simply Celebrate Recovery for the nonaddicted?
Why would Saddleback block the videos that claim to heal your hurts, habits and hangups?
See what may have prompted Saddleback to pull the plug on the videos:
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Imitation Sanctification
Rick Warren's Life's Healing Choices: The Non-Addicted Version of Celebrate Recovery
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren Bends The Beatitudes For A Better Life
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Psychology Driven Therapy
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's and A.A.'s Common Ground
Friday, October 16, 2009
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Dance With Demons?
From the book, 12 STEPS TO DESTRUCTION: Codependency/Recovery Heresies by Martin & Deidre Bobgan
Serious Problems with Problem Solutions.
People are attempting to address serious problems. Some are suffering in relationships that have little or no resemblance to the kind of love demonstrated and taught in the Bible. Numerous people are entangled in their own destructive sinful habits and in the life-dominating sins of those around them. Relationships that are supposed to reflect the love relationship of Christ and His church may indeed more resemble a macabre dance of death.
Yes, there are serious problems. However, we question the diagnoses, answers, formulas and systems that are being offered in the name of help, in the name of love, and even in the name of Christ. Beneath many programs that purport to be Christian lurk ideas, philosophies, psychologies, and religious notions that are antithetical to biblical Christianity.
Codependency/recovery books, groups, programs, and therapists attempt to rescue people from what they believe to be unhealthy relationships. They give so-called codependents strategies to empower the self, build self-esteem, emotionally separate from others, and focus on their own
feelings, ideas and desires. Most systems of codependency and addiction recovery are based upon various psychological counseling theories and therapies and upon the religious and philosophical teachings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). In short, such programs are based upon the wisdom of man and the worship of false gods.
While the Bible may be used, it is not used in its fullness nor as solely sufficient for all matters of life and conduct. Instead, the Bible is placed in a subservient role to support popular psychological theories, therapies, and techniques. Furthermore, God is repeatedly redefined according to the limited understanding of human beings.
Besides serious theological problems inherent in the codependency and addiction recovery movement, there are many questions about the effectiveness of such programs and about the high rate of recidivism. We will be citing research which shows that faith in recovery programs is misplaced because of their lack of proven effectiveness. There is no scientific reason to add the philosophies and psychologies of the recovery movement to the principles and promises in the Bible. And there are strong theological reasons not to.
In voicing our concerns we are not minimizing the problems being addressed. Instead, we believe the problems are even more serious than any of the propagators of popular programs and systems of help realize. While such programs aim at helping a person solve certain problems and unsatisfactory patterns of living, we must remember that there are eternal consequences.
In this book we will look at relationships in dire need of repair, at habitual attitudes and behaviors that characterize those who are now calling themselves “codependent,” and at the remedies and religious ideas offered through Twelve-Step recovery programs, therapy, and self-help books. And we will contrast them with what the Bible says. The purpose of this book is to point out the dangers of popular codependency and addiction recovery programs in order to encourage both Christians and nonChristians to turn to the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in the midst of problems. Our hope is that those caught in the riptide of habitual, life-dominating sin might find Jesus Himself sufficient for overcoming the power of sin. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
See related articles:
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Imitation Sanctification
Rick Warren's Life's Healing Choices: The Non-Addicted Version of Celebrate Recovery
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren Bends The Beatitudes For A Better Life
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Psychology Driven Therapy
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Psychology Driven Therapy
From the Berean Call: Psychology and the Doctrines of Devils
...Jung’s teachings are doctrines of demons, gleaned directly from seducing spirits: the unconscious and the collective unconscious represent an impersonal form of God; archetypes are viewed as psychological rationalizations for demons, the anima and animus are terms for the female and male entities within each person; psychological “types” are determined characteristics within our make up. Jung promoted all things occult, including astrology, alchemy, the I-Ching, mysticism, necromancy, visualization, dream interpretation, the active imagination, yoga, meditation, etc. Incredibly, his theories and recommended practices are endorsed in the teachings of some of the most influential people in evangelical Christianity. In many cases, ignorance is the principle reason, yet the demonic lies are nevertheless readily promoted and accepted among the sheep.
Rick Warren’s 30 million copies of The Purpose-Driven Life include Jungian concepts, such as psychological “types.” Saddleback Church’s “Celebrate Recovery” program (see TBC Oct ’05), which has been exported to 4,500 churches and Prison Fellowship Ministries, is based on A.A.’s 12-Step principles. A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson received the 12 Steps during the time he was in contact with spirit entities. He later wrote a personal letter to Carl Jung thanking him for his influence:
...[A.A.] actually started long ago in your consulting room, and it was directly founded upon your own humility and deep perception....You will also be interested to learn that in addition to the “spiritual experience,” many A.A.s report a great variety of psychic phenomena, the cumulative weight of which is very considerable. Other members have—following their recovery in A.A.—been much helped by [Jungian analysts]. A few have been intrigued by the “I Ching” and your remarkable introduction to that work.
Warren is not the only witting or unwitting promoter among evangelicals of what Jung learned from demons. He is just the most successful and the best known. Others include Christian psychologists, inner healers, and pastors. Jung’s occult methodologies, especially his demonically inspired techniques of visualization, guided imagery, meditation, and working with spiritual directors, are foundational to the Emerging Church interests of evangelical youth and the contemplative movement supported by Richard Foster, Eugene Peterson, and a multitude of others.
This astonishing development in the evangelical church is symptomatic of the abandonment of God’s Word. The result will be the advancement of the apostate “Christian” church. The antidote is found in Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
...Jung’s teachings are doctrines of demons, gleaned directly from seducing spirits: the unconscious and the collective unconscious represent an impersonal form of God; archetypes are viewed as psychological rationalizations for demons, the anima and animus are terms for the female and male entities within each person; psychological “types” are determined characteristics within our make up. Jung promoted all things occult, including astrology, alchemy, the I-Ching, mysticism, necromancy, visualization, dream interpretation, the active imagination, yoga, meditation, etc. Incredibly, his theories and recommended practices are endorsed in the teachings of some of the most influential people in evangelical Christianity. In many cases, ignorance is the principle reason, yet the demonic lies are nevertheless readily promoted and accepted among the sheep.
Rick Warren’s 30 million copies of The Purpose-Driven Life include Jungian concepts, such as psychological “types.” Saddleback Church’s “Celebrate Recovery” program (see TBC Oct ’05), which has been exported to 4,500 churches and Prison Fellowship Ministries, is based on A.A.’s 12-Step principles. A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson received the 12 Steps during the time he was in contact with spirit entities. He later wrote a personal letter to Carl Jung thanking him for his influence:
...[A.A.] actually started long ago in your consulting room, and it was directly founded upon your own humility and deep perception....You will also be interested to learn that in addition to the “spiritual experience,” many A.A.s report a great variety of psychic phenomena, the cumulative weight of which is very considerable. Other members have—following their recovery in A.A.—been much helped by [Jungian analysts]. A few have been intrigued by the “I Ching” and your remarkable introduction to that work.
Warren is not the only witting or unwitting promoter among evangelicals of what Jung learned from demons. He is just the most successful and the best known. Others include Christian psychologists, inner healers, and pastors. Jung’s occult methodologies, especially his demonically inspired techniques of visualization, guided imagery, meditation, and working with spiritual directors, are foundational to the Emerging Church interests of evangelical youth and the contemplative movement supported by Richard Foster, Eugene Peterson, and a multitude of others.
This astonishing development in the evangelical church is symptomatic of the abandonment of God’s Word. The result will be the advancement of the apostate “Christian” church. The antidote is found in Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's and A.A.'s Common Ground
Advocates and adherents to Rick Warren's Celebrate Recovery and Life's Healing Choices recovery systems are quick to distinguish these step - recovery programs from that of Alcoholic's Anonymous.
In this compelling article, Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounders Were Not Christians , the uncanny resemblance between Warren's programs and Alcoholic's Anonymous is alarming. Both use the term "recovery". Both use the "step" approach. Both emphasize group accountability and confidentiality. Both bend the Beatitudes.
Alarming excerpts from the article:
"The 12 Step experience becomes an idol-long-term involvement almost always results in a transference of faith. Bluntly stated, when it comes to sobriety, many Christians end up with more faith in the power of the 12 Step program than in Jesus Christ."
This idol worship is by no means limited to those in AA, but applies to many in "Christian 12 Step" groups.
This transference of faith is subtle, gradual, and frequently inevitable. The result is that sobriety without the 12 Step program will not even be considered. Biblical wisdom, given by concerned and caring believers, is rejected.
Interestingly, the description of the Mason god, the Great Architect, is similar to the higher power worshiped in Alcoholics Anonymous. Masonic researcher Carl H. Claudy notes, "Masonry does not specify any god or creed; she requires merely that you believe in some Deity, give him what name you will…. A belief in God is essential to a Mason but…any God will do…"[6]
Alcoholics Anonymous teaches the "higher power" could be a doorknob, a spirit, a fruit salad, the universe, the Dallas Cowboys (when they are winning), a new age version of Jesus, or anything else. Like the Masons, it doesn't matter what god you believe in-only that you believe in something.
It seems that someone as allegedly devout and well versed in the Bible as Dr. Bob would stay far away from spiritualism and the Masonic organization. He most emphatically did not. Equally perplexing is Dr. Bob's enthusiasm for Emmet Fox's sweet-sounding but heretical book, 'The Sermon on the Mount.'
'The Sermon on the Mount' is based on Fox's heretical interpretation of Scripture. So why would Bible-believing Christians have anything to do with such a book? Would a Christian cofounder of AA really participate in using it as a teaching tool? Or place such heresy in the hands of another alcoholic? AA cofounder Dr. Bob Smith did just this.
"...Some have tried to explain early AA's enthusiasm for various New Thought books simply because the people were, well, voracious readers. But Emmet Fox's 'The Sermon on the Mount' was used to teach."
Rick Warren's twisting of The Sermon on the Mount is heretical. Life's Healing Choices will replace Bibles in the pulpits and study groups across the country, much in the same way as Warren's best selling omnidominational / almost interfaith Purpose Driven Life.
In the same way as the Purpose Driven Life, Life's Healing Choices uses multiple non scholarly versions of the Bible throughout the book to support this therapeutic approach to hurts and hangups.
What's the difference between Alcoholics Anonymous and Rick Warren's systems? Alcoholics Anonymous doesn't' claim to be a church.
See related articles:
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Imitation Sanctification
Rick Warren's Life's Healing Choices: The Non-Addicted Version of Celebrate Recovery
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren Bends The Beatitudes For A Better Life
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren's Imitation Sanctification
“Others would formally affirm Christ’s sovereignty and spiritual headship over the church, but they resist His rule in practice. To cite just one instance of how this is done, many churches have set various forms of human psychology, self-help therapy, and the idea of ‘recovery’ in place of the Bible’s teaching about sin and sanctification.” …”So wherever the work of God’s Word is being replaced with twelve-step programs and other substitutes, Christ’s headship over the church is being denied in practice.” - John MacArthur, The Truth War, pg.159
Rick Warren on the Life's Healing Choices 2009 Fall Campaign...
(WARNING: Warren's interpretation and application of The Beatitudes is not supported by Scripture or scholars)
"Now, there are choices that you must make to grow spiritually; and actually this fall Saddleback and thousands of other churches, we’re going to do a spiritual growth journey together called Life’s Healing Choices. We’re going to look at the eight most significant choices you have to make in life in order to grow and what are they, they are the Beatitudes."
Choice 1 ~ Admitting Need
Choice 2 ~ Getting Help
Choice 3 ~ Letting Go
Choice 4 ~ Coming Clean
Choice 5 ~ Making Changes
Choice 6 ~ Repairing Relationships
Choice 7 ~ Maintaining Momentum
Choice 8 ~ Recycling Pain Choice
I didn’t make these choices up. This is not my plan; this is the two-thousand-year-old Jesus Model plan where he says, “You’ll be happy if you do this.” Think about this: the greatest sermon ever preached—the word blessed means ―happy, translated happy in many translations and Jesus starts off, “Let me tell you eight ways to be happy.” And Jesus’ way of happiness is the exact opposite of the world’s happy. He said “You’ll be happy if you choose to do this, you’ll be happy if you choose to do this, you’ll be happy to do this.” We call that Life’s Healing Choices and so we’re going to have to go through those stages together making those choices.
...And by the way, we’ll be doing it for eight weeks because there’re eight beatitudes, but there’s another reason: psychologists have discovered that it takes about six to eight weeks to make a habit. It takes about three weeks for you to get comfortable doing something, and it takes about another three weeks for you to really pound it in your life. And the reason why most people have never stayed consistent in a quiet time is they’ve never gone six to eight weeks without a break.
"...the Bible doesn’t teach resisting temptation; the Bible teaches resisting the tempter, and the Bible teaches reflecting and refocusing and changing your attention. Whatever you focus on you move towards. Now I want to give you the solutions to how God changes us.
( Editor's note: Really? The Book of Proverbs is part of the Bible. It is full of admonitions to resist temptation Proverbs 1, 4, 5, 7.
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.)
Now, what we’re going to do today is not the process of change but we’re going to look at the principles underlying change. There is a process that God uses and it’s called the Beatitudes.
There are eight steps, the eight steps of the Beatitudes... And those steps are an actual step on how God transforms us, and they’re actually step-by-step procedure when you understand...I want to lay the foundation to understand how Jesus changes people. It’s very important since you’re in the life-changing business that you understand that the tools Jesus uses for change, he modeled for us. And if we don’t use the tools Jesus gave us, we don’t use the principles Jesus gave us, we’re going to miss out."
But our ultimate goal is not to be happy or to be contented or to be balanced or even to be successful. God has a much bigger picture for our lives. Our goal is holiness. Happiness comes from holiness. If you’re holy you’ll be happy, but you can’t have true genuine happiness without holiness in your life.
The Bible says, “We should see him and as he is we will become like him,” but right now we’re in a slow-by-slow, step-by-step process of becoming like Jesus and there’s a word for that. It’s called discipleship. It’s also called renewal; it’s also called recovery; it’s also called spiritual development; it’s also called formation. I don’t care what you call it, just do it—
...So the goal of spiritual maturity, the goal of recovery, the goal of renewal is to become like Jesus.
So there’s a God part and there’s a you part; and in recovery, in growth, in renewal, in spiritual formation you have to understand both parts.
Both God and you have a part in spiritual development and in recovery from the brokenness of our sinfulness.
Change always begins with choices...Change always starts with a choice and really your character is the sum total of your choices and your destinies be determined by a thousand little choices that you make every day that don’t seem significant but they all add up.
And again, this fall when we do Life’s Healing Choices, we’re going to talk about the truth, the eight truths that Jesus said in the Beatitudes that set us free.
Number five—the fifth principle of how Jesus transforms us, transforms our lives—is (this is extremely important; most people don’t get this in America): Lasting change requires community.
You know that perpetual in your life, that habit that you can’t break, that you’d like to change, you’re never going to get well on your own, you’re never going to get freedom on your own, you’re never going to get release from it on your own, if you could you would but you can’t so you won’t because God wired us in such a way that we need each other in order to grow, in order to be transformed.
So the journey we take in all of these spiritual growth emphasis—these spiritual growth journeys, the experiences, the campaigns, whatever you want to call them—the key to them is not the preaching, the key to them is the small groups.
Choice 1 ~ Admitting Need
Choice 2 ~ Getting Help
Choice 3 ~ Letting Go
Choice 4 ~ Coming Clean
Choice 5 ~ Making Changes
Choice 6 ~ Repairing Relationships
Choice 7 ~ Maintaining Momentum
Choice 8 ~ Recycling Pain Choice
I didn’t make these choices up. This is not my plan; this is the two-thousand-year-old Jesus Model plan where he says, “You’ll be happy if you do this.” Think about this: the greatest sermon ever preached—the word blessed means ―happy, translated happy in many translations and Jesus starts off, “Let me tell you eight ways to be happy.” And Jesus’ way of happiness is the exact opposite of the world’s happy. He said “You’ll be happy if you choose to do this, you’ll be happy if you choose to do this, you’ll be happy to do this.” We call that Life’s Healing Choices and so we’re going to have to go through those stages together making those choices.
...And by the way, we’ll be doing it for eight weeks because there’re eight beatitudes, but there’s another reason: psychologists have discovered that it takes about six to eight weeks to make a habit. It takes about three weeks for you to get comfortable doing something, and it takes about another three weeks for you to really pound it in your life. And the reason why most people have never stayed consistent in a quiet time is they’ve never gone six to eight weeks without a break.
"...the Bible doesn’t teach resisting temptation; the Bible teaches resisting the tempter, and the Bible teaches reflecting and refocusing and changing your attention. Whatever you focus on you move towards. Now I want to give you the solutions to how God changes us.
( Editor's note: Really? The Book of Proverbs is part of the Bible. It is full of admonitions to resist temptation Proverbs 1, 4, 5, 7.
Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.)
Now, what we’re going to do today is not the process of change but we’re going to look at the principles underlying change. There is a process that God uses and it’s called the Beatitudes.
There are eight steps, the eight steps of the Beatitudes... And those steps are an actual step on how God transforms us, and they’re actually step-by-step procedure when you understand...I want to lay the foundation to understand how Jesus changes people. It’s very important since you’re in the life-changing business that you understand that the tools Jesus uses for change, he modeled for us. And if we don’t use the tools Jesus gave us, we don’t use the principles Jesus gave us, we’re going to miss out."
But our ultimate goal is not to be happy or to be contented or to be balanced or even to be successful. God has a much bigger picture for our lives. Our goal is holiness. Happiness comes from holiness. If you’re holy you’ll be happy, but you can’t have true genuine happiness without holiness in your life.
The Bible says, “We should see him and as he is we will become like him,” but right now we’re in a slow-by-slow, step-by-step process of becoming like Jesus and there’s a word for that. It’s called discipleship. It’s also called renewal; it’s also called recovery; it’s also called spiritual development; it’s also called formation. I don’t care what you call it, just do it—
...So the goal of spiritual maturity, the goal of recovery, the goal of renewal is to become like Jesus.
So there’s a God part and there’s a you part; and in recovery, in growth, in renewal, in spiritual formation you have to understand both parts.
Both God and you have a part in spiritual development and in recovery from the brokenness of our sinfulness.
Change always begins with choices...Change always starts with a choice and really your character is the sum total of your choices and your destinies be determined by a thousand little choices that you make every day that don’t seem significant but they all add up.
And again, this fall when we do Life’s Healing Choices, we’re going to talk about the truth, the eight truths that Jesus said in the Beatitudes that set us free.
Number five—the fifth principle of how Jesus transforms us, transforms our lives—is (this is extremely important; most people don’t get this in America): Lasting change requires community.
You know that perpetual in your life, that habit that you can’t break, that you’d like to change, you’re never going to get well on your own, you’re never going to get freedom on your own, you’re never going to get release from it on your own, if you could you would but you can’t so you won’t because God wired us in such a way that we need each other in order to grow, in order to be transformed.
So the journey we take in all of these spiritual growth emphasis—these spiritual growth journeys, the experiences, the campaigns, whatever you want to call them—the key to them is not the preaching, the key to them is the small groups.
String of 6.0+Magnitude Quakes Continue To Rock World
MAG 6.3 2009/10/16 09:52:53
SUNDA STRAIT, INDONESIA
MAG 6.1 2009/10/15 18:33:36
SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAG 6.0 2009/10/15 12:11:18
INDONESIA
MAG 6.3 2009/10/14 18:00:22
SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
MAG 6.4 2009/10/13 20:21:55
FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAG 6.0 2009/10/13 11:38:06
HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
MAG 6.5 2009/10/13 05:37:22
FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAG 6.2 2009/10/12 09:37:24
SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAG 6.1 2009/10/12 03:15:47
MAURITIUS - REUNION REGION
Southeastern US Quake Activity
MAG 1.4 2009/10/13 01:18:56
La Fayette, GA
MAG 1.2 2009/10/10 07:00:41
Philadelphia, TN
MAG 1.9 2009/10/10 04:01:56
Summerville, GA
Northeastern US Quake Activity
MAG 1.8 2009/10/13 12:46:44
ENE of Massena, NY
MAG 1.1 2009/10/13 02:00:03
WSW of Lancaster, NH
MAG 1.5 2009/10/12 02:38:47
E of Cumberland, Canada
MAG 2.4 2009/10/10 21:49:52
ESE of Harrisville, NY
MAG 2.1 2009/10/09 17:23:08
Ocean Grove, NJ
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Arkansas experiences Triple Tremors
NW of Greenbrier, AR
MAG 2.7 2009/10/15
W of Greenbrier, AR
MAG 2.8 2009/10/15
NNW of Quitman, AR
MAG 2.8 2009/10/15
Rick Warren's Life's Healing Choices: The Non-Addicted Version of Celebrate Recovery
Hear direct from Saddleback church leaders how Rick Warren's Life Healing Choices campaign is simply Celebrate Recovery for the non-addicted.
See why Celebrate Recovery is a Christianized 12-step version of Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program.
See T.A. McMahon's first hand account and analysis of a Celebrate Recovery summit at The Berean Call. Watch the complete video , The Jesus Model For Healing 1, August 8, 2009 at the Celebrate Recovery 2009 Summit.
See why Celebrate Recovery is a Christianized 12-step version of Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program.
See T.A. McMahon's first hand account and analysis of a Celebrate Recovery summit at The Berean Call. Watch the complete video , The Jesus Model For Healing 1, August 8, 2009 at the Celebrate Recovery 2009 Summit.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Life's Healing Choices: Rick Warren Bends The Beatitudes For A Better Life
Churches across the country are currently immersed in Rick Warren's latest 40+ day campaign called Life's Healing Choices. Warren say's at his blog:
"every single person – as a member of the human race – deals with a hurt, hang-up, or habit at some level, in some form. That’s why we’re launching a national journey to spiritual renewal this fall. Life’s Healing Choices is a new church wide study of eight principles from the Beatitudes. These are the principles Jesus gave us for finding true, godly happiness and healing."
Rick Warren's announcement also infers the insufficiency of scriptural preaching of God's Word:
The multiple reinforcements you will receive in Life’s Healing Choices are what will make this experience so special. I discovered a long time ago that just talking about something isn’t good enough (emphasis mine). Sermons will inform, but it takes multiple reinforcements to transform. The truth is, we all learn in different ways. This campaign will help your people learn the eight transforming principles through a variety of fresh, experiential encounters. They include:
• Eight weekly sermons from the Beatitudes that you can adapt for your church
• Eight small group video lessons taught by me on DVD
• Small group discussion guides and group leader coaching
• A free one-year membership to the Purpose Driven Connection magazine, including small group curriculum in each issue and free access to the web community
• Deep discounts on the companion book, Life’s Healing Choices, by John Baker, founder of Celebrate Recovery
The campaign is based on the book, Life's Healing Choices. The author is Saddleback's Celebrate Recovery founder, John Baker. Baker claims that in his book, "you will find eight choices that lead to wholeness, growth, spiritual maturity, and happiness. Isn't that what we all really want?"
"...no matter where you find yourself, you can choose to emit your need, you can find help...
Using the Beatitudes of Jesus as a foundation, Senior Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church and John Baker, who is also a pastor at Saddleback, developed the eight choices shared in this book."
Warren reveals his theological understanding of Matthew Chapter 5 in Life's Healing Choices magazine:
"Jesus began his most famous sermon the Sermon On The Mount by identifying eight ways to happiness. Each of these eight "healing choices" called The Beatitudes begins with the word blessed...Hapiness is a choice, and the Beatitudes are the habits of happiness...you are as happy as you choose to be."
Perhaps Rick Warren should have studied the structure of The Sermon on the Mount before going to print by stating that there are eight Beatitudes. The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon counts seven:
"every single person – as a member of the human race – deals with a hurt, hang-up, or habit at some level, in some form. That’s why we’re launching a national journey to spiritual renewal this fall. Life’s Healing Choices is a new church wide study of eight principles from the Beatitudes. These are the principles Jesus gave us for finding true, godly happiness and healing."
Rick Warren's announcement also infers the insufficiency of scriptural preaching of God's Word:
The multiple reinforcements you will receive in Life’s Healing Choices are what will make this experience so special. I discovered a long time ago that just talking about something isn’t good enough (emphasis mine). Sermons will inform, but it takes multiple reinforcements to transform. The truth is, we all learn in different ways. This campaign will help your people learn the eight transforming principles through a variety of fresh, experiential encounters. They include:
• Eight weekly sermons from the Beatitudes that you can adapt for your church
• Eight small group video lessons taught by me on DVD
• Small group discussion guides and group leader coaching
• A free one-year membership to the Purpose Driven Connection magazine, including small group curriculum in each issue and free access to the web community
• Deep discounts on the companion book, Life’s Healing Choices, by John Baker, founder of Celebrate Recovery
The campaign is based on the book, Life's Healing Choices. The author is Saddleback's Celebrate Recovery founder, John Baker. Baker claims that in his book, "you will find eight choices that lead to wholeness, growth, spiritual maturity, and happiness. Isn't that what we all really want?"
"...no matter where you find yourself, you can choose to emit your need, you can find help...
Using the Beatitudes of Jesus as a foundation, Senior Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church and John Baker, who is also a pastor at Saddleback, developed the eight choices shared in this book."
Warren reveals his theological understanding of Matthew Chapter 5 in Life's Healing Choices magazine:
"Jesus began his most famous sermon the Sermon On The Mount by identifying eight ways to happiness. Each of these eight "healing choices" called The Beatitudes begins with the word blessed...Hapiness is a choice, and the Beatitudes are the habits of happiness...you are as happy as you choose to be."
Perhaps Rick Warren should have studied the structure of The Sermon on the Mount before going to print by stating that there are eight Beatitudes. The Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon counts seven:
The Beatitudes before us, which relate to character, are, seven; the eighth is a benediction upon the persons described in the seven Beatitudes when their excellence has provoked the hostility of the wicked; and, therefore, it may be regarded as a confirming and summing up of the seven blessings which precede it.
Life's Healing Choices totally misses the key and foundational concept of mourning over the sinner's depravity in this current age, and the coming glorification in the next age. Spurgeon continues:
The seven Beatitudes mark deepening humiliation and growing exaltation." In proportion as men rise in the reception of the divine blessing, they sink in their own esteem, and count it their honour to do the humblest works.
...Not only do the Beatitudes rise one above another, but they spring out of each other, as if each one depended upon all that went before. Each growth feeds a higher growth, and the seventh is the product of all the other six. The two blessings which we shall have to consider have this relation. "Blessed are they that mourn" grows out of "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Why do they mourn? They mourn because they are "poor in spirit." Blessed are the meek" is a benediction which no man reaches till he has felt his spiritual poverty, and mourned over it. "Blessed are the merciful" follows upon the blessing of the meek, because men do not acquire the forgiving, sympathetic, merciful spirit until they have been made meek by the experience of the two benedictions. This same rising and outgrowth may be seen in the whole seven. The stones are laid one upon the other in fair colours, and polished after the similitude of a palace; they are the natural sequel and completion of each other, even as were the seven days of the world's first week.
Dr. Steve Lawson describes the Beatitudes as a paradox of the Christian at the 2009 Resolved conference:
- in order to have the blessings of heaven, you must declare spiritual bankruptcy on earth
- God's wrath is propitiated through Christ's blood and God's grace is bestowed
- only those that confess their spiritual poverty before God receive the riches of his grace.
Lawson states that the Kingdom of God is antithetical to this world. He points to Christ's words. If you are to be:
- rich, you must be poor
- comforted, you must mourn
- mighty, you must be meek
- satisfied, you must hunger and thirst
- he who exalts himself will be humbled
- the humbled will be exalted
- you must die so that you may live
- if you try to keep your life, you will lose it
- if you lose you lkife, you will keep it
Lawson summarizes by saying that only one who is supernaturally born again can see the Kingdom of God.
Rick Warren as a pastor would better serve the Church by teaching on these eight points toward a "happier" life:
- sin
- gracy
- mercy
- sacrifice
- redemption
- regeneration
- sanctification
- glorification.
Life's Healing Choices may offer good advice. To use The Sermon on the Mount as the vehicle to deliver what amounts to self-help psychology is depriving people what they need most. The understanding of our depraved nature in the stayed hand of a Holy and Righteous God who's soon return will cause every head and knee to bow.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Fight The Flood, Stand With Apprising Ministries
From Pastor Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries:
...I’m asking that if you’ve been blessed through the work here perhaps you might consider helping to support this labor. I’m regularly receiving even more letters from pastors all over this nation who’re looking for help in discerning issues, or asking me to do additional research; and as before, we remain hopeful that a church or two might consider taking AM on as even a small part of their mission giving.
In any event, at this time a gift of any amount—whether one time or on a regular basis—will go a long way toward helping to keep AM available along this Internet Front. If you’d like to donate via PayPal click here; or you can make your checks/money orders payable to Apprising Ministries and send them to:
APPRISING MINISTRIES
P.O. BOX
340Claremont, NH 03743
...I’m asking that if you’ve been blessed through the work here perhaps you might consider helping to support this labor. I’m regularly receiving even more letters from pastors all over this nation who’re looking for help in discerning issues, or asking me to do additional research; and as before, we remain hopeful that a church or two might consider taking AM on as even a small part of their mission giving.
In any event, at this time a gift of any amount—whether one time or on a regular basis—will go a long way toward helping to keep AM available along this Internet Front. If you’d like to donate via PayPal click here; or you can make your checks/money orders payable to Apprising Ministries and send them to:
APPRISING MINISTRIES
P.O. BOX
340Claremont, NH 03743
Thousands Watch Sun Dance Awaiting Marian Appartion
Heavenly show treat for faithful
By Tom Shiel Monday October 12 2009
THOUSANDS of people who flocked to Knock shrine hoping to see an apparition of Our Lady yesterday claimed instead to have witnessed the sun dancing in the sky.
More than 5,000 applauded the solar occurrence, said to have happened at around 3.15pm.
Onlookers said the sun "danced in the sky" and shimmered for about 10 minutes before it was obscured by cloud.
...Thousands had flooded to the Co Mayo shrine yesterday after a prediction by Dublin-based clairvoyant Joe Coleman that Our Lady would appear at the old parish church -- scene of the 1879 apparition -- at 3pm.
By Tom Shiel Monday October 12 2009
THOUSANDS of people who flocked to Knock shrine hoping to see an apparition of Our Lady yesterday claimed instead to have witnessed the sun dancing in the sky.
More than 5,000 applauded the solar occurrence, said to have happened at around 3.15pm.
Onlookers said the sun "danced in the sky" and shimmered for about 10 minutes before it was obscured by cloud.
...Thousands had flooded to the Co Mayo shrine yesterday after a prediction by Dublin-based clairvoyant Joe Coleman that Our Lady would appear at the old parish church -- scene of the 1879 apparition -- at 3pm.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
UN calls for new reserve currency
The United Nations called on Tuesday for a new global reserve currency to end dollar supremacy which has allowed the United States the "privilege" of building a huge trade deficit.
"Important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the reserve currency country?s 'privilege' to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity," UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang, said.
Speaking at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Istanbul, he said: "It is timely to emphasise that such a system also creates a more equitable method of sharing the seigniorage derived from providing global liquidity."
He said: "Greater use of a truly global reserve currency, such as the IMF?s special drawing rights (SDRs), enables the seigniorage gained to be deployed for development purposes," he said.
"Important progress in managing imbalances can be made by reducing the reserve currency country?s 'privilege' to run external deficits in order to provide international liquidity," UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Sha Zukang, said.
Speaking at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Istanbul, he said: "It is timely to emphasise that such a system also creates a more equitable method of sharing the seigniorage derived from providing global liquidity."
He said: "Greater use of a truly global reserve currency, such as the IMF?s special drawing rights (SDRs), enables the seigniorage gained to be deployed for development purposes," he said.
Pope asks Abbas about Netanyahu meeting
Pope asks Abbas about Netanyahu meeting
Published: 10.08.09, 14:06 / Israel News
Pope Benedict XVI has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican and asked about his encounter last month with the Israeli prime minister. Benedict greeted Abbas in the Apostolic Palace, and the two spoke for 15 minutes in private.
As they sat down at the pope's desk, Benedict asked Abbas about his September 22 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Barack Obama hosted the two leaders at a New York hotel on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a bid to prod them to restart peace talks. (AP)
Published: 10.08.09, 14:06 / Israel News
Pope Benedict XVI has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican and asked about his encounter last month with the Israeli prime minister. Benedict greeted Abbas in the Apostolic Palace, and the two spoke for 15 minutes in private.
As they sat down at the pope's desk, Benedict asked Abbas about his September 22 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Barack Obama hosted the two leaders at a New York hotel on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a bid to prod them to restart peace talks. (AP)
Mid-Atlantic States' Earthquakes
ESE of Columbia, VAMAG 1.7 2009/10/06 07:07:52
Laurel Park, NC
MAG 2.5 2009/10/03 21:44:19
New Market, TN
MAG 2.5 2009/10/02 15:28:47
Decatur, TN
MAg 1.8 2009/10/02 00:45:04
RED ALERT: Record Setting Earthquake Activity
Something is getting ready to blow...
SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAG 6.5 2009/10/08 08:34:38
VANUATU
MAG 6.8 2009/10/08 08:28:49
SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAG 6.6 2009/10/08 02:12:39
VANUATU
MAG 5.7 2009/10/07 23:48:53
SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
MAG 5.3 2009/10/07 23:38:09
VANUATU
MAG 7.3 2009/10/07 23:13:49
SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
MAG 7.7 2009/10/07 22:18:26
VANUATU
MAG 7.8 2009/10/07 22:03:16
CELEBES SEA
MAG 6.7 2009/10/07 21:41:15
EAST OF SEVERNAYA ZEMLYA
MAG 5.9 2009/10/07 20:52:14
UK Church Planting Group Says Christendom is Coming To An End
The future face of US emergent faith and the global religious system...
Urban Expression is an urban mission agency that recruits, equips, deploys and networks self-financing teams pioneering creative and relevant expressions of the Christian church in under-churched areas of the inner city.
Crucible: Creating Church on the Margins
Christians across western culture are facing profound challenges and fresh opportunities. The long era of ‘Christendom’ is coming to an end. We now live in a plural society, with multiple religious options alongside the prevailing secular assumptions, in which Christianity has lost its position of dominance and privilege and churches are on the margins of society. Although we seem to be declining in numbers and influence, this context offers many new possibilities – if we have the courage and imagination to grasp them...
Urban Expression is an urban mission agency that recruits, equips, deploys and networks self-financing teams pioneering creative and relevant expressions of the Christian church in under-churched areas of the inner city.
Crucible: Creating Church on the Margins
Christians across western culture are facing profound challenges and fresh opportunities. The long era of ‘Christendom’ is coming to an end. We now live in a plural society, with multiple religious options alongside the prevailing secular assumptions, in which Christianity has lost its position of dominance and privilege and churches are on the margins of society. Although we seem to be declining in numbers and influence, this context offers many new possibilities – if we have the courage and imagination to grasp them...
Monday, October 5, 2009
Willow Creek and Focus on the Family Promote Contemplative Prayer Proponents
Willow Creek and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality will join forces to promote Contemplative Prayer
Contact: UndergroundNews.us, 608-469-7956 Steve McConkey,President.
MADISON, Wisc., Sept. 22 /Christian Newswire/ -- Starting on September 15, Willow Creek will distribute the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Church-wide study, which includes a kit, the EHS book, the EHS Group workbook, the teaching DVD, and The Daily Office.
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality was co-founded by Pete and Geri Scazzero. It is an organization that is supposed to "apply emotional health to biblical spirituality in order to transform leaders, relationships, churches and organizations" according to the EHS website.
Tenet 4 of the 12 Foundational Tenets on the website states, "the church today parallels that of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th century. Following the example of Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist and Jesus, the desert fathers fled to the desert to seek God, we too must find our deserts in the midst of our activity for Christ. We can learn a great deal from the contemplative, monastic tradition as we seek to remain rooted as we engage the world with the gospel."
However, many believe the desert fathers received many of their meditative techniques from Eastern beliefs or they developed spontaneously to be like the meditative techniques used in false Eastern religions.
The father of Contemplative Prayer, Thomas Merton, is widely recognized as the person in the twenty-first century who promoted Contemplative Prayer. On page 17 of "Spiritual Classics" edited by Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin, it is said, "His (Merton's) interest in contemplation led him to investigate prayer forms in Eastern religion. Zen masters from Asia regarded him as the preeminent authority on their kind of prayer in the United States."
Also, on June 21, 2009, Focus on the Family put an article on their website called "Taking Off Our 'Happy Faces' at Church" by Lynne Thompson. The article freely promoted the Scazzero's and their book "The Emotionally Healthy Church" (Zondervan) despite the Scazzero's promotion of Contemplative Prayer.
Other endorsers of the Scazzero's include John Ortberg (Menlo Presbyterian Church) and Dr. Jack Hayford (President of the International Foursquare Churches).
Contact: UndergroundNews.us, 608-469-7956 Steve McConkey,President.
MADISON, Wisc., Sept. 22 /Christian Newswire/ -- Starting on September 15, Willow Creek will distribute the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Church-wide study, which includes a kit, the EHS book, the EHS Group workbook, the teaching DVD, and The Daily Office.
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality was co-founded by Pete and Geri Scazzero. It is an organization that is supposed to "apply emotional health to biblical spirituality in order to transform leaders, relationships, churches and organizations" according to the EHS website.
Tenet 4 of the 12 Foundational Tenets on the website states, "the church today parallels that of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th century. Following the example of Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist and Jesus, the desert fathers fled to the desert to seek God, we too must find our deserts in the midst of our activity for Christ. We can learn a great deal from the contemplative, monastic tradition as we seek to remain rooted as we engage the world with the gospel."
However, many believe the desert fathers received many of their meditative techniques from Eastern beliefs or they developed spontaneously to be like the meditative techniques used in false Eastern religions.
The father of Contemplative Prayer, Thomas Merton, is widely recognized as the person in the twenty-first century who promoted Contemplative Prayer. On page 17 of "Spiritual Classics" edited by Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin, it is said, "His (Merton's) interest in contemplation led him to investigate prayer forms in Eastern religion. Zen masters from Asia regarded him as the preeminent authority on their kind of prayer in the United States."
Also, on June 21, 2009, Focus on the Family put an article on their website called "Taking Off Our 'Happy Faces' at Church" by Lynne Thompson. The article freely promoted the Scazzero's and their book "The Emotionally Healthy Church" (Zondervan) despite the Scazzero's promotion of Contemplative Prayer.
Other endorsers of the Scazzero's include John Ortberg (Menlo Presbyterian Church) and Dr. Jack Hayford (President of the International Foursquare Churches).
Taiwan evacuates over 6,000 as typhoon lingers
(AP) TUNGSHAN, Taiwan — Taiwan had evacuated more than 6,000 villagers by Monday as Typhoon Parma lingered in seas near the island, bringing heavy rains and causing landslides, a rescue official said.
The evacuations, some of them forced, were concentrated in south Taiwan, which saw the heaviest losses from Typhoon Morakot in August, as fears mounted that the downpours could cause mountainsides to collapse.
"The evacuees have been relocated in shelters arranged by township offices. They're all safe," said Andrew Cheng, a Taipei-based official with the National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission.
"The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical. We'll watch closely how much more rain Typhoon Parma will bring in," he told AFP.
More than 3,000 residents in Pingtung county in south Taiwan and almost 2,000 people in neighbouring Kaohsiung county have left their homes, while the rest were evacuated in east Taiwan's Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties.
Russian Volcano Erupts
Eurasia tallest volcano spews hot magma to 100 meters
PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - Eurasia's tallest volcano, the Klyuchevskoy, on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East, has shown signs of intensified activity throwing red-hot rocks to a height of 100 meters (about 330 feet).
The Klyuchevskoy, which lies 220 miles north of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world and reaches an altitude of 15,584 feet. It erupts about every 2 years.
"At present, the Klyuchevskoy spews out magma to a height of 100 meters with 1- to 6-minute intervals," said Alexei Ozerov, a leading researcher at the Far Eastern Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
"This eruption, [which started on October 3], unlike many others, started slow, but its intensity is rapidly growing," the scientist said, adding that the volcano is dangerous only to tourists at this point.
However, the increased activity of the volcano could soon bring lava flows and high-altitude ash emissions, which could threaten air traffic in the region.
Seismological stations near the Klyuchevskoy are registering over 100 local tremors every 24 hours.