In 2000, Christian publisher Thomas Nelson bought the Women of Faith franchise and has a strong influence in the organization. Nearly all of the regular Women of Faith speakers are Thomas Nelson authors, and Thomas Nelson books are sold at the Women of Faith conferences, thus women attending the conferences will get a hearty dose of Thomas Nelson.
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“The Church of the Nazarene is fast becoming an apostate denomination. It has for quite a while now been embracing Rome, notwithstanding anything that the leaders might tell you. And don’t think you can look to the General Superintendents for help- because they are part of the problem. They are either going fully along with these false teachings and ideologies, or they have abdicated their responsibility to protect the flock. For many of us, it has been an absolute nightmare reading their “non-responsive” responses to our concerns. They will have much to answer for their negligence.”
Many Christians today have a hard time dealing with reality regarding what’s happening in their “beloved denomination.” We may not know all the details, but there are some things that are for certain regarding the end times. There will be no great revival, but there will be a great apostasy, of which we may well be in the midst of it now. Those who preach about a great revival as the precursor before Christ’s return do not know their scripture, or perhaps they do know and are simply ignoring the truth of what Revelation teaches us.
In this video excerpt we see two events: in 1988, John Paul II led a worldwide service for peace that included spiritists, Buddhists, and other religions; and the other event depicted shows Pope Benedict leading an ecumenical prayer service, it seems almost unreal, but this “ecumenical spirit” continues today, as evangelicals are falling over each other in a race to be seen as full of love and unity with all “Christians”, regardless of doctrinal differences.
You will notice various evangelical denominations represented in the prayer service, with some going so far as to kiss the pope’s hand. If this is not idolatry, what would you call it? This procession of misguided “Christian” leaders did not include anyone from the Nazarene denomination-yet; but give it time. After all, there are already many prominent leaders in the Nazarene denomination who are calling Roman Catholics our “brothers and sisters”, and who are introducing RCC traditions and rituals to Nazarenes in many churches and districts.
January was the occasion of the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. From the website atonementfriars.org, it states that the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity invites the whole Christian community throughout the world to pray in communion with the prayer of Jesus “that they all may be one” (John 17:21). It is an ecumenical venture that has been around for a long time, and is proud of making connections and joining hands with any group that simply proclaims the name of Jesus, even if they are all over the place in doctrine. The goal is unity- no matter what the differences. Their theme this year is Has Christ Been Divided? And so they state that: “We continue to be divided by doctrine, polity, and practice, and to maintain our own religious identity, yet our pilgrimage towards unity continues under God’s guidance.”
Does God really guide such kinds of ventures? And is God guiding the Church of the Nazarene into joining with those who are marching slowly and steadily to join hands with Rome and the one world religion? Are there really no serious differences between the evangelical church and the Roman Catholic Church that would hinder fellowship between them? Apparently not to many of the Nazarene leadership, and it seems Nazarenes are joining the bandwagon happily, and ignoring the serious differences between the two.
For me, I have been made strongly aware of it in the past five years or so, but for others, they have seen this coming for a long time. On the above mentioned website, you will read that a Nazarene pastor, Rev. Ken Ardry from New York, participated in this endeavor. He has also written a document that is available from the site that reflects his views about this ecumenical event and what it means to him. Rev. Ardry is in good company in the Nazarene church, and therefore should not even fear any serious criticism for this. He will most certainly be applauded by the leadership. Here is an excerpt from that paper/talk he penned (see attached for complete text):
“To my Wesleyan, Reformed, Calvinistic, Pentecostal brothers and sisters… God really does use our Catholic brothers and sisters to bring people who have no faith into reconciliation with their creator God. To my Catholic brothers and sisters, and I know I preach to the choir this evening because you wouldn’t be here praying for Christian unity if you didn’t believe this, but to my Catholic brothers and sisters God really does use us Protestant types to bring people who are lost without their God into reconciliation with him.
As we seek to build Christian unity Paul sets an example for us in his attitude toward the Corinthian church.”
To those who have bought into the idea that for Roman Catholics and Nazarenes (or any evangelical Protestant) there is nothing that should cause them to break fellowship, I can see them nodding their heads and saying “amen. Perhaps they believe that the Reformation was a waste of time and should never have happened. And now leaders in the church are working hard to bring the Nazarene denomination a step closer to Rome. I recall at this year’s General Assembly, when at Mark Maddix’s seminar promoting contemplative spirituality practices, I was rebuked by him and several others who approached me later. Why? Because I spoke the truth and said that Roman Catholicism is a false religion.
The evidence is everywhere. We have seen it with programs in every university and the seminaries promoting Eastern style mysticism (contemplative spirituality) under the guise of a better sounding phrase, “spiritual formation.” We have seen pagan prayer labyrinths at Trevecca Nazarene University and various churches, as well as trips to a monastery to “practice the silence” and mingle with the nuns and monks in their rituals. We saw this continuing promotion of contemplative prayer sponsored by the seminary itself, at the General Assembly in Orlando in 2009. Two years before that the seminary sponsored the same thing just before the M-7 Conference. Then there was also the Roman Catholic style prayer rooms at General Assembly, with books by mystic Richard Foster prominently displayed next to a Bible.
We have seen books sold at Nazarene Publishing House that promote to the youth such practices as prayer beads, creating their own labyrinths, lectio divina, and recommending going on pilgrimages to the Taize interspiritual center in France. (SEE: www.taize.fr/en) And at least one university, Point Loma Nazarene, has organized its own trip for youth to Taize. Then along came Ashes to Fire, a devotional book that continues the trend towards Roman Catholic practice. Remember the Nazarene video promotion showing someone receiving ashes to the forehead, Roman Catholic style? And then, the Nazarene pastor taking confessional at St. Peter’s in Rome, reminding his friends that he did not want to forget “his roots.” Or what about the heavy promotion of books by Catholic mystics recommended for a Nazarene camp in New Hampshire?
You believe in biblical inerrancy? Big problem! Confessional in Rome? No problem.
We now see a Facebook group, Sacramental Nazarenes, heavily promoting and talking about all the latest fads in rituals and ceremonies that they can all share and perform in their churches. The new president of Nazarene Theological Seminary proudly has displayed an icon of an Eastern Orthodox “saint” on her Facebook page. It’s all about ritual, and tradition, now for these people, and less about scripture and doctrine. And if you see the list of members of Sacramental Nazarenes, you will see leaders in the church, such as former General Superintendent Jesse Middendorf, and GS David Busic; Carla Sunberg, new president of the seminary; district superintendents, pastors, college professors and president – because they have bought into these ideas!
There are so many more signs that the Church of the Nazarene is no longer the church that was used by God to bring the Gospel to my father and rescue him from Roman Catholicism and its false religion. Have you noticed pastors quoting Mother Teresa and other Catholic mystics in their sermons? The jesus of Catholicism is not the Jesus I know. So if that is true, how can there be unity? In fact, can there be unity when the official position of the Roman Catholic Church is that all of us are lost, unless we repent and return to Rome? Don’t these Nazarene leaders even know that much? Don’t they know what the RCC teaches?
There is much more that is destroying the Nazarene denomination. There is the emergent church culture, that doubts most of Scripture. There is the godless evolution movement, being promoted aggressively by leaders in the church. There is now the signs and wonders movement, with many Nazarenes under the influence of such as Bill Johnson and Dan Bohi. There is the contemplative spirituality movement, which is bringing Eastern mysticism into the church. And finally, there is the fundamental denial that God’s word is inerrant, and if you dare to preach otherwise, or preach against the emergent church- you will lose your ordination unless you recant. And that has already happened.
“The Church of the Nazarene is fast becoming an apostate denomination. It has for quite a while now been embracing Rome, notwithstanding anything that the leaders might tell you. And don’t think you can look to the General Superintendents for help- because they are part of the problem. They are either going fully along with these false teachings and ideologies, or they have abdicated their responsibility to protect the flock. For many of us, it has been an absolute nightmare reading their “non-responsive” responses to our concerns. They will have much to answer for their negligence.”
The only hope right now are the faithful churches that are standing against the emergent movement, regardless of criticism- and they do get it. They get it from district superintendents who are pushing the agenda. And the casualties along the way are the many faithful, Bible believing Nazarenes who have no choice but to leave their churches, and find another church. I urge those who have not any good options left, to shake the dust off their shoes, and leave the Church of the Nazarene. Don’t become part of Rome.
For further reference:
Roman Catholic Heresies: http://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/roman-catholicism-and-its-heresies/
Message about A Nazarene Heresy:http://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/message-about-a-nazarene-heresy/
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