Posted from Andrew Strom's Newsletter ...IMPORTANT: Please note that the "Emerging Church" movementthat is spoken about here bears little relation to the "Out-of-church"or 'House-church' movements at all. It is actually a movement tryingto appeal to those who are sick of "church as normal" - but bybringing in such things as candles and New Agey 'self esteem'teaching and by loosening up certain beliefs, etc. It is quite avague, but increasingly influential movement in the church. Thefollowing hard-hitting article was found at- www.NewsWithViews.com"GOD's SHOCKING MESSAGE to the EMERGING CHURCH"-by Paul Proctor. (Nov 14, 2005).The ABPnews.com headline read: "Waco pastor Kyle Lake killedin freak baptism accident." I thought to myself: "Yeah, I guessthis one just slipped by the Sovereign God of the Universe... 'Hiseye is on the sparrow' but evidently not on a prominent EmergingChurch leader standing in a baptistery full of water holding anelectronically charged microphone before a crowd of 800 onSunday morning following a prayer where he petitioned the Almightyto "surprise me.""Now before some of you go indignant on me for my lack ofsympathy over this pastor's sudden demise, I would ask you toconsider the late Ananias and the Apostle Peter's caustic commentto his wife Sapphira before she dropped dead in front of that congregation:"…behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are atthe door, and shall carry thee out." - Acts 5:9I couldn't help but notice that he didn't gently take her hand andtry to comfort or console her over the untimely death of herhusband before breaking part two of the bad news. Was Peterbeing un-Christ-like in his terse remarks to her or was he busyteaching onlookers something more important, like the necessityof fearing and obeying God?And what about that little diatribe the Apostle Paul wrote to hisyoung protégé' in 1st Timothy 1:20 about having "delivered untoSatan" Hymenaeus and Alexander "that they may learn not toblaspheme?" Where's the love here, for crying out loud? Kind ofmakes you want to ask Rick Warren what Paul's "S.H.A.P.E."was, doesn't it? He also cited another false teacher named"Philetus" in, shall we say, less than endearing terms over in2nd Timothy 2.I think it's safe to say that comments like those from Peter andPaul would pretty much render them unsuitable for staff jobs atSaddleback or Willow Creek because you see, unlike the cowardlyand enabling church leader today, they used to name the namesof heretics and blasphemers; and today's glass house gospeldoesn't really allow that sort of thing any longer. So, if you areplanning a career in ministry, just remember; when it comes tocriticizing your corrupt contemporaries, mum's the word.My how things have changed…"Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." -1 Tim 5:20.So, were they being cruel, unloving and disobedient to God bysaying such things to the brethren? Where's all the kind, gentle,caring and coddling compassion we are constantly commanded toshow today's false prophets and their underlings who incessantlylead others astray from the pulpits of perdition in a choreographedconfusion directed by the "father of lies?"And then there was that perverse fellow Paul so harshly addressedin his first letter to the Corinthians, who had an incestuous affairwith his father's wife; commanding the church there to: "… deliversuch an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that thespirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." (1 Cor 5:5)Wow! Talk about "mean-spirited!" Imagine hearing that in yourSunday morning announcements! This can't be the same fellowthat penned chapter 13, could it?And let's not forget those memorable words from the Author of loveand compassion Himself, Jesus Christ, when He addressed thosewho would dare fracture the faith of a child:"And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe inme, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,and he were cast into the sea." - Mark 9:42Do you get the uneasy feeling that a completely different gospel isbeing preached today? Yeah, me too…Terry Esau, a visiting speaker to UBC and witness to the horribleelectrocution of Rev. Lake that morning in Waco, was quoted in aWorld Net Daily article as saying:"I think he [Kyle] would have said, 'There are laws of nature,electrical laws, and they were violated that day and I was in areally bad place where the violation happened.'"I would only add that the Emergent Church is also in a really badplace right now; that many spiritual laws are also being violated;and they would do well to heed the Word of God and repent beforetheir artsy-craftsy plans for the future are unexpectedly altered,like Rev. Lake's.Clearly, any man or woman who disobeys the physical laws Godhas established in this earthly domain risks dying a physicaldeath, as evidenced by the tragic event at Baylor. It should alsobe noted that those who violate the spiritual laws of God riskdeath, as well; and anyone who has researched with anydiscernment, conviction and knowledge of Scripture, the unbiblicalteachings and practices of the Emerging Church movement knowsall too well that the laws of the Lord and His Word are not onlybeing violated for the sake of the sensual; but also that the leadersof this new spirituality are teaching others to emulate them andpractice many ungodly things in the name of Christ such as newage mysticism, the empty-minded mantras of contemplative prayer,labyrinths, the trivializing and minimizing of God's absolute truthsand the casual dismissing of doctrine as divisive, destructive andunnecessary so as not to infringe upon one's own personalexperience and opportunities for entertainment, excitement,enlightenment, illumination, stimulation and gratification.University Baptist Church posted the closing remarks of the lastsermon their pastor gave that fateful day on their web site. Itcontains the words they evidently would most like you and I toremember him by. To say the least, they are quite revealing:" Live. And Live Well. BREATHE. Breathe in and Breathe deeply.Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On acrystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows andFEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun. Ifyou run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool Autumn dayto FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE. Getknee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time. If you bike, pedalHARD… and if you crash then crash well. Feel the SATISFACTIONof a job well done-a paper well-written, a project thoroughlycompleted, a play well-performed. If you must wipe the snot fromyour 3-year old's nose, don't be disgusted if the Kleenex didn'tcatch it all…because soon he'll be wiping his own. If you'verecently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And Grieve well. At thetable with friends and family, LAUGH. If you're eating and laughingat the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke. And ifyou eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to yourday. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in theoven. And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounceof friendship. Taste every ounce of Life. Because-it-is-most-definitely-a-Gift."Where's the call to repentance - the willing self-sacrifice of theredeemed - the grateful suffering and faithful testimony of ablood-purchased saint? Where is the dire warning to the rebelliousabout an eternity in hell that awaits those who refuse to heed thecall? And, what about God's eternal, unchanging and indisputableWord, and the Cross of Christ that is repeatedly referred tothroughout? a Cross that was selflessly and sacrificially enduredby His only Begotten Son to deliver us from this fallen world andpay for your hideous sins and mine.Is he preaching a tantalizing message of sensory gratification,psychotherapy and escape to pleasure seekers on holiday orobediently pointing sinners toward an undeserved opportunity foreternity with Jesus Christ in a Kingdom not of this world? Justwhose life, death, kingdom and words are being exalted andmemorialized here; those of a dying man or a living God?Compare his priorities to those of Jesus:"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, andwife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own lifealso, he cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:26Frankly, Rev. Lake sounds like someone who was absolutely inlove with his life, the world around him and everyone in it, which isthe expressed reverse of what the Bible teaches:"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyman love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." -1 Jn 2:15.Just how is the Lord glorified in the worship of the world, theadulation of men, the gratification of the flesh, the satisfying of thesenses and the personal pursuits, ambitions and "unequally yoked"relationships of the here and now in a Sunday morning sermon?"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendshipof the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be afriend of the world is the enemy of God" - James 4:4Notice the stark contrast between Lake's seductive words andthose of the Psalmist:"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." -Psalm 111:10In fact, nothing in Scripture even remotely resembles the heraldedexpressions and whimsical aspirations found in Rev. Lake's finalmessage. One might just as easily find such things in a secularbookstore among the esoteric writings of an atheist, agnostic,pagan or occultist; or in a romance paperback from some cornermarket; in the songs of a struggling Starbuck's singer on aSaturday night; or in the syrupy script of an afternoon soap.I downloaded the entire sermon he prepared and saw the name of"Jesus" mentioned only once in passing; and even then He wasnot identified as the Christ, much less the Son of God or someonewho died on a cross for the sins of the world. The Gospel wassimply not preached! This is the new spirituality; and it troublesme deeply that many are not going to hear it because today'spreachers won't preach it!Can you think of anything more tragic than lost souls being baptizedbefore an applauding audience of their peers and spending the restof their doomed lives thinking they're saved because of it? How doyou back up and undo that kind of deceitful damage and convincethem that what they underwent so innocently in front of everyonewas a farce initiated by their pastor? Don't grieve for Kyle Lake,my friends; grieve for all of those who never heard the words"sinner," "shed blood," "repent," "resurrection" or the Gospel ofJesus Christ preached!And please don't write me to say what a kind, wonderful, generous,loving and funny person Rev. Lake was because that's not asufficient replacement for proclaiming the whole counsel of God;and I'm quite sure Ananias, Sapphira, Hymenaeus, Alexander andPhiletus were all dearly loved and treasured by their friends, familyand followers as well. There is only one true God, one true Gospeland One Name in all of Creation that saves; and that name isJesus Christ!"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none othername under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." - Acts 4:12The folks at University Baptist Church and The Associated BaptistPress might consider Rev. Lake's death an accident; but I assureyou, as Romans 8:28 clearly teaches, there is no such thingbetween the Alpha and the Omega.It happened; and it happened for a reason.
