Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The World is Changing
Mar 1st, 2010
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

The world as we have known it is rapidly passing away.

Did you know that:

** China is soon to become the largest English speaking nation on the planet?

** 25% of India's population with the highest IQ is greater than the entire population of the USA? India has more honour students than America has kids.

** The top in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004? We are now preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist.**  By 2013 there is expected to be a super computer which will exceed the computational capabilities of the human brain. Sometime after that there will be a super computer, which will sell for as little as thousand dollars, which will exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human race. This will be available to millions of people.

**  During the last 5 minutes:

    67 babies were born in America, 274 babies were born in China 395 babies were born in India? 

**  100% of the college graduates in India speak English?

**  The first commercial text message was sent in December of 1992 and that today the number of text messages sent every day exceeds the total population of the planet?

Our world is changing at lightning speed. The Word of God is filled with the message that one day the world as we know it will pass away. Daniel used the terminology, "The time of the end". Jesus said, "Then will the end come". Paul said, "In the last days". The Bible is filled with the message that someday the world as we have known it will be terminated and the world will be restored to the pristine condition which God originally intended.

Fulfilled prophecy is absolute proof that the Bible is the Word of God and that God knows the end from the beginning. Over 2500 years ago the Spirit of God, speaking through the prophet Daniel, foretold events which would transpire in our day. Daniel 12:4 "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words of the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." 

Notice the phrase "The time of the end", there is an end coming to this present world. That end time is near. Daniel proceeds to verify this. He says "Many shall run to and fro", in Daniel’s day a camel travelled at the speed of 8 miles per hour. By the 1880’s locomotives reached the speed of 100 mph. It took the world 6000 years to reach that speed, in just 60 more years aircraft reached the speed of 400 mph. In 20 years more, military aircraft were travelling at the speed of 4000 mph. In 20 more years men were orbiting the earth at 24,000 MPH.

Daniel also says, "Many shall run to and fro".  In the forty period between 1950 and 1990, the number of US air passengers increased from 2 million to 200 million per year. Today at any given time of the day there are between 5 and 10 million people in the world's airspace travelling at high speed around the globe.

Daniel goes on to foretell, "In the time of the end knowledge shall be increased". That has been fulfilled in our day. After almost 6000 years, by the 1800's the sum total of man's knowledge had doubled once. By the 1990's man's knowledge was doubling every 18 months. Today more than 3000 books are published every day. It is estimated that more bits of unique information will be generated this year than in the previous 5000 years. Let me ask the honest heart, is the Bible the Word of the living God?

The Bible has much to say about a coming climactic end to the present age. We are seeing exponential growth in many areas which indicate that this present age is running out of time.

Exponential growth in:

---  Military Power. In early times one man could kill one man with the sword. Today one man can kill millions with a nuclear device. Jesus said, "Except those days should be shortened, there should be no flesh saved". Time is running out.

---  Medicine and Science. They tell us that 90 % of all the scientists that ever lived are alive in the earth today. 90% of medications used today were unknown ten years ago.                    

---  Population.  In the days of the Roman Empire there were approximately 250 million people in the world.  By 1800  1 billion  -  By 1950  2 billion -  By 1975  3 billion - In the decade of the 1990's the population increased by 1 billion - By the time this decade is over the population will have increased  2 billion more, to 7 billion. That is exponential growth.

---  Construction. From 1970 to 2000 there was more construction than in the previous 5,000 years.

--- Technology. It is estimated that the sum of technological knowledge doubles every 9-10 months.

---  Evil. Through Television, Videos and the Internet evil has increased and spread exponentially. Paul foretold this in    2 Timothy 3:13.

We are living in the last days of the last days. The world as we have known it is about to be terminated. Jesus Christ is about to come and take His Bride, the Church, home to heaven to dwell with Him forever.

Are you ready for Christ’s return?  Are you a part of the bride of Christ?  Have you been born again?  Jesus said plainly, "...Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3.  Later in the same discourse He said, "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The Promised Land
Mar 1st, 2010
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy;The Nation Of Israel

In Jeremiah 2:7, the Lord called the Promised Land, “My Land”.  God promised this land of Canaan to Israel as an everlasting possession (Genesis 17:8).  He repeated the same promise to Isaac and Jacob and He repeated it many times.

In Ezekiel 36, the enemies of God and of Israel claim possession of the Land that God has stated is ‘His’ land.  “....Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession”, verse 2.  There is evidence to indicate that the Palestinians (PA) are descendants of the Edomites, (also called Idumeans). In speaking of the end times, Ezekiel referred to these same Palestinians. “Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey,” Verse 5.  We have been witnessing for some time now this attempt by the Palestinians to claim and possess Israel’s land and to drive them off the heritage God has promised to them.

This week Israel has designated a number of places as heritage sites. Among those sites are ‘Rachel’s Tomb’ and the ‘Patriarch’s Cave’.  

The following news item appeared this week.  “The Prime Minister announced earlier this week that the ancient tomb, located immediately south of Jerusalem, and the Patriarchs’ Cave (Me'arat HaMachpelah) in Hebron, are Jewish heritage sites that will be refurbished. Genesis Chapter 23 describes the purchase of the Patriarch's Cave by Abraham in order to bury his wife Sarah, and Genesis 35: 19 describes that Rachel "died and was buried on the road to Ephrata which is Bethlehem...the sign of her grave stands until today."

Noam Arnon stated that the Patriarch’s Cave “Was a Jewish site thousands of years before Islam ever existed.”

In response to this announcement we have the following news item. “The entire Muslim world has protested Israel’s initiative, and the United Nations has expressed “concerns.” Hezbollah, Iran, Egypt, Syria and Jordan warned that the move is a provocation, and Hamas out rightly called for violence. Abbas, visiting in Brussels, told the Belgian parliament in Brussels that the move is a “serious provocation which may lead to a religious war.”

Such audacity, that the enemies of Israel should make themselves the enemies of God and defy the living God. We are reminded of the audacity of Satan himself as he dares to claim that which is God’s in Isaiah 14:13-14, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Perhaps the most shocking of all is the response of the Obama Administration.  On Wednesday the US added its voice to those harshly condemning Israel over its official recognition of the Cave of the Patriarch and Rachel's Tomb as national heritage sites.

America has made itself the enemy of God and has joined with those who determined to drive Israel off the land that the living God has promised to her.

Another news item this week further indicates the extent of America’s betrayal of Israel,    “Recent meetings between the Obama administration and the Palestinian Authority revealed the White House is on board to support a Palestinian threat to unilaterally ask the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state outside of negotiations with Israel,” a senior PA negotiator told WND. 

It is amazing how this whole scenario is playing out.  America has been travelling down this road for some time now.  All the while the decline of America is progressing in sync with their betrayal of Israel and so very few seem to comprehend what is taking place

The Coming War
Mar 1st, 2010
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

The leaders of Iran have boasted that they will wipe Israel off the map.  They have been working to develop missiles and nuclear weapons to carry out their threats. Recently, the leaders of Iran stated that they are now a “nuclear power”. We do not know exactly how close they are to sending nuclear missiles to wipe Israel off the map. We do know that the day when they can accomplish their boast is approaching quickly.

At some point in the future Israel will attempt to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. It is not an “if” but a "when".  The consequences of such an attack are awesome to consider, however, for Israel the failure to do something will be terminal.  Many Israelis realize that the Iranian nuclear threat, for them, is a matter of life and death.

Iran is preparing for the coming war on another front. It has been revealed that Iran has smuggled, through Syria, to Hezbollah, the new Fatah, 110 missiles with a range of 250 km, well able to reach Israeli cities. Israel has reacted to this development by warning Syria that any war with Hezbollah will bring a devastating attack on Syria. Hezbollah has its own arsenal of other missiles and rockets. They have the SA-2, the SA-3 and as many as 4,000 to 6,000 Iranian Fair 3 and Fair 5 rockets which have a range of 75 to 80 kilometers. The IDF estimates that Hezbollah has about 40,000 rockets of different types and sizes and that the stockpile is growing daily. They also have a growing inventory of conventional weapons. It seems that Syria, Hezbollah and Iran are preparing for the inevitable conflict with Israel. Iran and Syria are insisting that Israel is about to attack them. This seems to be a propaganda ploy to cause the world to blame Israel if and when a war breaks out.

Ahmadinejad and Bashur Assad have mocked and threatened Israel saying that they envisioned a New Middle East free of Zionists. Ahmadinejad went on to say, “The new Middle East will be a Middle East without Zionists and without Imperialists. With Allah’s help, this will happen.”

We have reliable information indicating that Syria has been attempting to obtain both nuclear and biological weapons. In 2007 Israel bombed, what was evidently a nuclear weapons facility in Syria, consisting of materials obtained from North Korea. Just this last week the Israeli foreign minister warned that Israel would deliver a devastating blow to Syria if they or Hezbollah attacked Israel.

There seems to be a potential scenario in which Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas would launch an all out assault on Israel.  This could be an assault involving thousands of missiles, possibly with chemical and/or biological weapons and even, perhaps, involving nuclear warheads.  If Israel were to bomb Iran, which seems inevitable, this war would almost certainly be triggered. Israel’s very existence would be threatened.

Israel has a plan called the “Samson Option.” It is named after Samson who sacrificed himself to destroy his enemies. In the event of Israel’s imminent destruction, it would launch its nuclear weapons to destroy its enemies.
It is now obvious that Syria is totally committed to utterly destroying Israel. The capital of Syria is Damascus; the Bible has some ominous words for Damascus.

Isaiah says, “The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” Isaiah 17: 1.

Damascus is the oldest city on earth, and though it has been conquered many times, it has never been destroyed, but has remained intact until this day.

This timing of the destruction of Damascus is revealed in verse 4, at a time when Israel is greatly threatened and is reduced to a state of peril and fear.

Another indication of the timing of this attack is implied in Ezekiel 38 & 39. The fact is that although Syria is now closely allied with Russia and Iran, they are not mentioned as being a part of that war, implying that the destruction of Damascus may well be imminent.

It is obvious that Syria, with the help of Iran, Russia and North Korea, is preparing an arsenal of biological and possibly nuclear weapons to destroy Israel. I believe the moment Israeli Intelligence is alerted that an attack is imminent they will exercise the “Samson Option”. Israel has low yield weapons which give off minimum radioactive fallout. These weapons could be used with pinpoint accuracy.

The whole scenario is falling into place. It is amazing how after 2800 years Isaiah’s prophecy seems about to be fulfilled.

A full scale nuclear war by Iran does not seem to fit into the end time Biblical scenario, nevertheless the whole Mid-east crisis is rushing toward some kind of cataclysmic event which would finally set up the world for a Peace Treaty, even though it will be a false peace, by a false Messiah.

Isaiah 17:14 may well be a description of the fate of Damascus. “And behold at eventide trouble, and before the morning, he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us and the lot of them that rob us” (seek to take the Golan Heights).  These are awesome, momentous days in which we live!                                                                                                  

Earth - Man's Home
Mar 1st, 2010
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

Scripture tells us that God created earth as a beautiful home for man.  We also know that when man sinned the earth was cursed. (Genesis 3:19, Romans 8:19-23)  God does not intend that man should go on in his sin and enjoy the blessing of God on his life.

For man to enjoy the blessing of God he must repent and turn from his sin. The curse of God is upon men who do not repent.

There is a principle in scripture which tells us that God sends all kinds of disasters and difficulties upon men to warn them to repent. A classic text in this regard is Amos 4:10 “I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt:  your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet ye have not returned unto me, saith the Lord.”

Further examples in scripture of this principle are the flood and the fire that fell on Sodom. I believe that today such things as hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes are further warnings of God to our generation to repent. I do not necessarily believe that those who come directly under such disasters are necessarily more sinful than others around them. The message to all men is to repent.

These things have always been in the world since the fall of man. Jesus warned that in the last days these things would greatly increase in intensity and frequency.

In Matthew 24:3 the Disciples asked the Lord a question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the age (world).”

Jesus listed signs which would precede His return to the earth. The signs were in two categories; the first category was called the beginning signs. Concerning the beginning signs we read, “and there shall be famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes in divers (various) places.” The clear implication is, when you see these things multiplying and happening in an unusual way, wake up, the Day of the Lord is at hand.

They tell us that there are now a million earthquakes a year, many of them quite small, however the USGS recorded 112 major earthquakes in a recent span of five days.

More recently we have seen the devastating earthquake in Haiti as well as a heavy earthquake in Japan. On February 28, 2010 there was a major earthquake in Chile.

Weather-related disasters and earthquakes made 2008 the second most costly year for insurers after 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck the United States, according to a leading insurer. Losses in 2008 were around $160 billion (US); it was surpassed only by 2005, when Katrina contributed to losses of $220 billion (US).

The world around us may be oblivious to these things, but as believers we can interpret what they mean.  “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.  Ye are all the children of the light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”  1 Thess. 5:4, 5.  God has a purpose in revealing prophecy to us; we must not miss that purpose!  Here is a major purpose!  “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

 Someday soon Christ will return to the earth and the pristine world that God created and intended for man will be restored.

Come As You Are
Mar 1st, 2010
Main StoriesA. W Tozer (1897- 1963)
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Bible Salvation

Let me say this to any of you who are still trying to add up your human merits - look away in faith to the Lord of abundant mercy!

Fixing yourself over and trying to straighten yourself out will never be sufficient - you must come to Jesus as you are!

Our Lord told about two men who went up into the temple to pray. One said, "God, here I am - all fixed up. Every hair is in place!" The other said, "Oh God, I just crawled in off Skid Row. Have mercy on me!"

God forgave the Skid Row bum, but sent the other man away, hardened, unrepentant and unforgiven.

We come to Him just as we are but in humble repentance. When the human spirit comes to God knowing that anything it receives will be out of God's mercy, then repentance has done its proper work!

God promises to forgive and forget and to take that man into His heart and teach him that all of God's kindnesses are due to His mercy. What more can a sinner ask?             

Canadian Media, Ontario Legislature, Condemn ‘apartheid Week’
Mar 1st, 2010
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

The legislature of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, and major Canadian dailies have railed against the use of the term ‘apartheid” and the "Israel Apartheid Week” campaign. However, 500 Montreal artists rallied behind an anti-Zionist call to boycott Israel.

Ontario’s resolution condemned the annual anti-Israel event, which opened this week. “I want to be clear about what it is I’m trying to do,” Ontario legislator Peter Shurman said. “I want the name changed. It’s that simple. It’s just wrong.”

The legislature unanimously agreed with him and passed a resolution against the name, which Shurman says in effect means a monologue, not a dialogue. “The name is hateful, it is odious and that’s not how things should be in my Ontario.” he declared. “It’s a term that frankly I’m sick of hearing. Get rid of this word apartheid,” he said the term "is close to hate speech.”

The resolution was passed less than three months before Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is to lead a trade mission to Israel.

In the predominantly French-speaking city of Montreal, 500 artists, including several Israelis, promoted a petition supporting Israel Apartheid Week and backing the Arab claim of the "right of return” for millions of Arabs claming ancestry to those who fled Israel during the wars in 1948 and 1967. Ample historical evidence has shown that the Arab world encouraged most of them to leave to allow the Arab Legion to complete what it thought would be the annihilation of the Jewish State.

The National Post’s David Frum sharply condemned Toronto’s York University for setting different rules for pro-Israelis and anti-Zionists. He charged that the university placed stiff conditions on the campus group, Christians United for Israel, which applied to use university space for a program of pro-Israel speakers.

Frum said the university insisted that the group pay for heavy security and provide a full list in advance of the speakers and the content of their speeches. The university also prohibited advertising the program on campus. The organizers canceled the event after declining to comply with the requirements.

The hate-Israel program

Referring to 'Israeli Apartheid Week' events, Frum wrote, “The hate-Israel program is not required to pay for its own security. It is free to advertise. Its speakers are not pre-screened by the university.... The logic is impressively brazen: Since the anti-Israel people might use violence, the speech of the pro-Israel people must be limited. On the other hand, since the pro-Israel people do not use violence, the speech of the anti-Israel people can proceed without restraint."

After asking the university if “York imposes precisely the same requirements on all student groups,” a spokesman responded, “All student groups that request university space, yes.”

Writing in a column published from Vancouver to Montreal, Leonard Stern wrote that Israel Apartheid Week gives Israel the “assigned the role of Jew among the nations — singled-out, cursed and harassed….The whiff of something medieval hangs over this March ritual. This isn’t about Jews, say the organizers. It’s about Zionists. Problem is, the activist groups behind Israeli Apartheid Week are doing everything to erase the distinction.”

He pointed out that an Ottawa research group in 2998 refused to promote a lecture on African development “because Jewish students at the University of Ottawa happened to be organizing it. The event had zero connection to Israel but [the group] said it wouldn’t partner with the Jewish students’ union due to the latter’s 'relationship to apartheid Israel.'” 

Big Quake Question: are They Getting Worse?
Mar 1st, 2010
Daily NewsMsnbc
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues;Warning

Seismic shockers are to be expected, but planet seems to be more active

Bible Pages Used to Set Church Bus on Fire
Mar 1st, 2010
Daily NewsNews Channel 5.com - Jeff Tang
Categories: Today's Headlines

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Investigators said arsonists in Rutherford County used an unthinkable item to add fuel to their fire, the Bible. Authorities said a group of teens used the pages to set fire to a church bus. 

Fire officials believe this is the work of some teens trying to have fun, but investigators and church members are not amused one bit. 

"The disrespect to God's property is how we see it," said Assistant Pastor Joel Young. 

Charred corners of the Bible are still scattered on the Middle Tennessee Baptist Church parking lot, now part of an arson investigation scene. 

On Thursday evening, authorities believe two teens set pages of the holy book on fire then threw it inside one of the church's buses. Investigators suspect the teens had a change of heart and tried to use the extinguisher to put out the fire. 

The extinguisher and the bible are pieces of evidence that could link authorities to the culprits, who took off before anyone could stop them.

"Hopefully we'll get some information from it," said Assistant Chief Allen Swader with the Murfreesboro Fire Department. 

The bus only received only minor damage. Assistant Pastor Joel Young said each Sunday they are used for an important mission. 

"These buses are the heartbeat of the church. Some of the buses you see go pick up children who can't get rides come to the church. We provide that for them," said Young. 

As for the burnt Bible, Pastor Young worries less about the charred pages and more about the messages they carry.

"Even in my earliest youth I had respect for the word of God. I couldn't imagine doing something like that to a Bible. I don't know what folks were thinking when they chose that to burn," said Young.

Attempted Army Coup Throws Turkey Into Crisis
Mar 1st, 2010
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

 Turkey faces a deep crisis following the arrests by the Erdogan administration of top army commanders who allegedly plotted to bomb mosques and overthrow the increasingly Islamic-oriented government. More than 200 people, including military officers, lawyers and politicians, have been arrested on charges of trying to promote chaos in the country and stage a crisis with Greece.

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is “poised on the brink of disaster,” the Times of London stated Monday morning. Financial markets have fallen sharply and fears and rumors are sweeping the country. The powerful military has ousted four governments since 1950.

The army never has been comfortable with Prime Minister Tayyip Edogran’s Justice and Development Party (AK) party since it came into power in 2003. Army officers, along with academics and many Turkish intellectuals, fear a growing fundamental Islamic influence that threatens free expression and the power of the military.

The army in Turkey traditionally has been a representative of secular democracy but has been beyond government control. The latest arrests represent a tear in the fabric of Turkish society

"The authority of the army has never before been challenged in this way in this country,” according to leading Turkish columnist and author Cengiz Aktar.

The Erdogan government three years ago defeated an attempt by the army to intervene in presidential elections through court appeals, and it fears another legal bid to ban the anti-secular AK party.

Art's Commentary.....Slowly and steadily over the last year Turkey has been slipping away from Europe and falling into the Islamic Fundamentalist camp.  It seems that Turkey has arrived at the tipping point, it would appear that the next few days or weeks will determine Turkey's future. Turkey is a part of the alliance of nations in Ezekiel 38-39, an alliance that will come against Israel in the early days of the tribulation period. The stage is being set for Turkey to fulfill her last days role.  Just one more piece of the puzzle falling into place.

Ahmadinejad Maneuvering Hizbullah and Israel Into War?
Mar 1st, 2010
Daly NewsArutz - Hana Levi Julian
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is reportedly angling to start another war between Israel and the Lebanese Hizbullah terrorist group in order to deflect attention away from his own lack of popularity at home. Ahmadinejad has faced constant friction from grassroots opposition movements since last June, when lopsided election results re-electing the president raised red flags among suspicious voters, who suspected the government had rigged the polls.

“As Israel is beating the war drums four years after its humiliating military defeat against Hizbullah, many believe that Ahmadinejad might exploit another conflict between Israel and the militant group as a way of resolving his own lack of legitimacy inside Iran,” wrote Iran's Green Voice newspaper.

The publication, which represents the “green” anti-government protest movement in Iran, noted that many Hizbullah terrorists were involved in the violent post-presidential election crackdowns on protestors who demonstrated for weeks against the results.

The newspaper identified as one example Hossein Manif Ashmar, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard force that attacked the northern Tehran campaign office of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi on election day, June 12, 2009. The paper said Ashmar, who has been living in the country since the mid-1990s, also works at Hizbullah headquarters in Iran. Two of his brothers died as “shaheeds” (martyrs) – both as members of the Hizbullah terrorist group.

Infusion of Funds for Hizbullah Terrorists

The report also alleged that Hizbullah was the beneficiary of a gift of $400 million from its Iranian handlers last month during “Iran-Lebanon Friendship Week.”

The transaction allegedly took place through the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, according to Green Voice, which reported that the cultural event provided the cover for the funds transfer.

Mehrdad Bazrpash, adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was the agent who carried out the transaction. Prior funds transfers to the terrorist group had apparently been sent through Iran's Saderat bank. According to the report, however, international sanctions have now blocked that channel – hence the personal trip by Bazrpash to the embassy in Lebanon.

A Dilemma of Deception: Erwin McManus 'Barbarian Way'
Mar 1st, 2010
CommentaryRoger Oakland
Categories: Contemporary Issues;Apostasy;The Church

Note:With the growing tide of spiritual deception among leading Christian figures, ministries and organizations, it is essential for believers to recognize how this deception is entering the church. The following article by Roger Oakland addresses Erwin McManus’ role in this dilemma of deception. Sadly, popular and trusted pastor and author David Jeremiah told his church that he wants to use McManus’ book, The Barbarian Way to help bring his church into a “major paradigm shift.”

"The Barbarian Way", by Roger Oakland

In a Relevant Magazineinterview, Erwin McManus, pastor of a church called Mosaic and a popular author and speaker, states the following:

Because people don’t know where to put our community [Mosaic] they put us in the “emergent” category, and we really are a different animal than emergent. We’re not against emergent, but we are not like them.1

In the interview, McManus says, “Our dilemma is that we are trying to create an entire new category and people keep trying to put us in different ones.”2 While McManus may not be part of the emergent team, he is helping to propel emerging spirituality. Of Dan Kimball’s book, The Emerging Church, he states:

The future of the church in North America hinges on innovators like Dan Kimball and the ideas presented in The Emerging Church. Vintage Christianity can be applied to new and existing congregations to help reach the next generation.3

 In 2003, McManus was one of five authors in the book, Church in the Emerging Culture. Two of the other authors were Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet. McManus’ disclaimer that he is not part of the emerging church does not line up with his words and actions.

In McManus’ book The Barbarian Way, he tells readers they have been “recreated to live in a raw and primal spirituality” and that “Barbarians are not welcome among the civilized and are feared among the domesticated.”4 The theme of The Barbarian Wayis a comparison of the “refined and civilized”5 and the barbarian, who McManus says we should become like.  Christianity is something that stands in the way though. McManus explains:

The way of Jesus is far too savage for their sensibilities [those who are “civilized”] … Why a reckless call to awaken the barbarian faith within us at the risk of endangering this great civilization we have come to know as Christianity? … It is time to hear the barbarian call, to form a barbarian tribe, and to unleash the barbarian revolt. Let the invasion begin.6

When, as I mentioned earlier, McManus said it was his “goal to destroy Christianity,” the previous statement reiterates those convictions, and the following statement shows that McManus includes not just Christianity in this upheaval but Israel as well. McManus says that Jesus doesn’t like Israel (7) (although in fact the Bible says He wept for her). He says that since God decided to destroy Israel, we should not think He wouldn’t destroy Christianity too:

Two thousand years ago, God started a revolt against the religion He started. So don’t ever put it past God to cause a groundswell movement against churches and Christian institutions that bear His name.8

McManus erroneously states that God revolted against Judaism, which simply isn’t true. In reality, God established the Law and the Prophets through the Jew whom He refers to as the “apple of His eye”:

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.  (Deuteronomy 32:8-10)

Jesus came as a sacrificial Lamb to save, and He informed His followers that the time is fulfilled—he wasn’t overthrowing a religion—He came to fulfill prophecy. And now McManus’ thinking extends to Christianity, suggesting now God will revolt against it as well.

McManus’ use of words like barbarian, savage, and other warlike terms belittle and mock anything that calls itself Christian. He exhorts readers by saying:

When an opponent beheads one barbarian, he better be prepared, for we will return in force.… We need to move together as God’s people, a barbarian tribe.… There’s a future to be created.9

The Barbarian Waytries to show that to be a barbarian is to live radically for Jesus. But explaining the barbarian life in terms of beheadings, mysticism, and rejection of Christianity will at best give a confusing message to many young readers.

McManus’ “new category” of spiritual quest sounds very much like the emergent quest.  By his own admission, McManus resonates with the one element consistent throughout the emerging church—mysticism. For example, at Bethel Theological Seminary where McManus is a professor for the Doctor of Ministry of Emerging Leaders program, he teaches with his brother Alex McManus, author of Into the Mystic (a promotion of mysticism). McManus sees mysticism as an integral part of the “barbarian’s” spiritual walk. He explains:

[W]e have to learn how to see the invisible and hear the inaudible. We are called to join the barbarian tribe and to embrace our call as mystical warriors.10

 In another interview with Relevant Magazine, McManus explains what is the “core” of his book. He states:

The Barbarian Way was, in some sense, trying to create a volatile fuel to get people to step out and act. It’s pretty hard to get a whole group of people moving together as individuals who are stepping into a more mystical, faith-oriented, dynamic kind of experience with Christ. So, I think Barbarian Way was my attempt to say, “Look, underneath what looks like invention, innovation and creativity is really a core mysticism that hears from God, and what is fueling this is something really ancient.” That’s what was really the core of The Barbarian Way. 11

On McManus’ website, Mosaic Alliance, he includes a section called “Awaken Humanity,” which “serves the purpose of history by maximizing the divine potential in every human being.”12

(This article is an excerpt from Roger Oakland’s book, Faith Undone, pp. 206-210)