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Monday, June 17, 2013

NANCY LEIGH DEMOSS "HEARTS REVIVED", BUT AT WHAT PRICE? A VENEER OF CHRISTIANITY HIDING SPIRITUAL FORMATION DISCIPLINES, CONTEMPLATIVE MYSTICISM & WITCHCRAFT?

BEFORE:
AFTER:

BACKGROUND:
From: http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/authordetail.php?aut_id=121#_:
A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Nancy grew up in a family that was deeply committed to Christ and to the mission of world evangelization. At an early age, she surrendered her life to Christ and to His call to serve His Kingdom.
Nancy graduated from the University of Southern California, with a degree in piano performance. After completing college, she served as the Primary Children's Ministries Director at Thomas Road Baptist Church, in Lynchburg, Virginia. Since 1980, Nancy has served on the staff of Life Action Ministries, a revival ministry based in Niles, Michigan. Until 2001, she served as the Director of Women's Ministries and as the editor of Spirit of Revival magazine.
For more than 25 years, Nancy has communicated her burden for both personal and corporate revival in conferences and retreats throughout North America and abroad.
Nancy is author of Choosing Forgiveness, A Place of Quiet Rest, Lies Women Believe, Walking in the Truth, A Thirty Day Walk with God in the Psalms, Brokenness: The Heart God Revives, Surrender: The Heart God Controls, Holiness: The Heart God Purifies, and she co-authored Seeking Him, an interactive Bible study on revival. She is also the general editor of Biblical Womanhood in the Home. Her books have sold over 1,000,000 copies.
Nancy is the host and teacher for Revive Our Hearts and Seeking Him, two nationally syndicated radio programs, heard each weekday on nearly 1,000 radio station outlets.

From: http://powertochange.com/blogposts/author/ndmoss/:
Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an author, speaker for both personal and corporate revival in conferences, and teacher on two nationally syndicated radio programs. Nancy has served in various roles: Primary Children's Ministries Director at Thomas Road Baptist Church; staff member of Life Action Ministries; Director of Women's Ministries and editor for "Spirit of Revival" magazine.
________________________________________________________________________

Nancy Leigh DeMoss ministers to Christian women along with other prominent Christian women who are self appointed and unbiblical "church leaders" and ministry heads, some being Pentecostals, Dominionists, feminists and/or contemplatives. 
Priscilla Shirer is covered at Apprising here: 
http://apprising.org/2010/07/26/priscilla-shirer-and-contemplativecentering-prayer/, and here:
http://apprising.org/2012/02/27/women-pastors-priscilla-shirer-and-the-southern-baptist-convention/, and here: http://apprising.org/2010/08/28/priscilla-shirer-promoting-contemplativecentering-prayer/, and here: http://apprising.org/2010/09/23/priscilla-shirer-points-us-to-richard-rohr/ (Catholic monk), and here: http://apprising.org/2012/08/23/true-woman-conference-speaker-priscilla-shirer-hears-gods-still-small-voice/.
Janet Parshall is reported by Apprising as supporting the Catholic leaning Alpha Course of Nicky Gumbel, and has connections with other dominionists. See Mark Batterson endorsement of the Alpha Course and his use of it at all six of his churches here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKJ1WAhMvH and below.
http://apprising.org/2012/11/20/the-alpha-course-receives-praise-from-moody-radios-janet-parshall/, and
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=7390.



Her "Revive Our Hearts" website https://www.reviveourhearts.com/, an outreach of "Life Action Ministries" https://www.lifeaction.org/, offers "freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ" and schedules "tours" focused on the female perspective. 
In addition to her questionable associations, there are some troubling concerns about DeMoss's recommendations not generally known or reported on:


Ken Silva of Apprising has disclosed at:

NANCY DEMOSS TURNS LISTENERS TO 

RICHARD FOSTER FOR GUIDANCE

http://apprising.org/2012/06/28/nancy-demoss-turns-listeners-to-richard-foster-for-guidance/,

that DeMoss has quoted Richard Foster, contemplative proponent, and Brother Lawrence, Catholic Carmelite monk, in her radio address.

Brother Lawrence: http://www.carmelites.net/news/brother-lawrence-of-the-resurrection/.


Additionally, but no less important is DeMoss's incorporation of occultic chalk magic prayer circles to help women meditate and receive inspiration:
See: Wikipedia article "Magic Circle", an analysis 
of the occultic witchcraft uses of chalk circles here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_circle


See: The Velvet Covered Brick blog's story "Prayer Circles" http://velvetbrick.blogspot.com/, describes how Jamie McMullan attended a True Women conference and saw and heard the following:
Quote: 
"I recently attended the True Women Conference with Nancy Leigh DeMoss via simulcast. During the simulcast Nancy shared an illustration of a British gypsy evangelist from the 1860s, 
Gipsy Smith, 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gipsy_Smith, and http://www.biblebelievers.com/gypsy_smith/and http://bennieblount.com/Books/Smith,%20Gipsy/Gipsy%20Smith%20His%20Life%20and%20Work/Gipsy%20Smith%20His%20Life%20and%20Work.pdfwho encouraged people to 
“Go home, lock yourself in your room, draw a circle around yourself, and pray fervently that God would start a revival within that chalk circle.”  
Then Nancy, pointed out they have chalk circles around the auditorium for people to go pray in and she had a circle around herself at the podium; they were used throughout the conference. 

DeMoss with other women standing in a chalk circle around podium:



A Rope Circle is also used by witches:



At the end of the conference, two men named Byron Paulus and Bill Elliff gave a presentation of their ministry movement called OneCry http://www.onecry.com/, inspired by the teachings of Gipsy Smith. See 20 page manual from One Cry on how to use chalk circles here: http://www.onecry.com/media/filer/2012/03/07/draw-a-circle-digital.pdf.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Gipsy Smith." See: http://www.truewoman.com/?id=2250.
Jamie McMullan also points out:
Quote:
"Seeing all this at the True Women conference gave me pause. The first time I saw circles like this in the church is from a book I saw being promoted on YouTube called The Circle Maker, by MarkBatterson, the Pastor of National Community Church(es) in Washington D.C., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Community_Church, and which meets in movie theaters http://theaterchurch.com/.
    Mark Batterson is the pastor of National Community Church, a multisite church in Washington D.C. Mark has been a church planting pastor since 1994. He and his wife Lora have three children—Parker, Summer, and Josiah. Batterson is the author of five books, including his most recent one, the Circle Maker. Batterson went to the University of Chicago on a basketball scholarship, majoring in pre-law. His life was drastically turned around when God called him to full-time ministry. His ministry in D.C. began as an inter-city ministry, and God has prospered it to grow into a six-location church with a thriving network of local and international ministries. They even manage the biggest coffee shop on Capitol Hill. Batterson's ministry is all but conventional. Besides the fact that he doesn't wear suits when he preaches, several of the church sites actually meet in movie theaters. 
Batterson actually says "You can't just read the Bible; you need to start 'circling the promises'" here:
Mark Batterson promotes, uses and recommends the Alpha Course:
Apprising reported that Chris Rosebrough of Fighting for the Faith experienced having his biblical critiques deleted from Batterson's blog and being called a Pharisee at: 

"THE COMMENTS THAT MARK BATTERSON DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE":

See: http://apprising.org/2010/01/02/the-comments-that-mark-batterson-doesnt-want-you-to-see/, in which Rosebrough says "Please note how Batterson NEVER addresses the content of my critiques. In fact, minutes after deleting my comments Batterson posted a blog post response where he calls me a Pharisee."

Instead of calling people to revival, Mr. Batterson promotes a prosperity message that is centered on praying for God to make your hopes and dreams to come true by praying in a chalk circle or circling the promises in scripture. In his book and website, http://www.markbatterson.com/uncategorized/the-one-thing-you-cannot-delegate/, Mark Batterson, sites as his examples, Gipsy Smith and Honi the circle maker, a Jewish legend in the Talmud who drew a circle on the ground and sat in it until God answered his prayer for rain." See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honi_ha-M%27agel.
HONI THE CIRCLE MAKER & CAROB TREE PLANTER ON YOUTUBE VIDEO: 

Honi Comes Full Circle (A Tale for Tu B'shvat):

Trip to Honi's hometown in Israel: See YouTube video: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZZuctwJx1M.
Published on Mar 3, 2012

This was taken at Honi's tomb in Hatzor HaGlilit, a small village in the Galilee. While the events mentioned in Mark Batterson's book took place in Jerusalem, his home was here. It is the story about praying for rain, told in Hebrew and translated.

Challies reviews the "Circle Maker here: 
http://www.challies.com/book-reviews/the-circle-maker.

Pilgrim's Light Ministries exposes the "Circle Maker" in this video. See: http://www.pilgrimslight.org/articles.cfm?feature=2348102&postid=1573535:

Chris Rosebrough of Fighting for the Faith has a three part analysis called
 "Debunking the Circle Maker":
Part 1 of 3:
Part 2 of 3:
Part 3 of 3:
                                      


Published on Mar 5, 2013 on YouTube:
False teaching in the book called Circle Maker by Mark Batterson discussed on Worldview Weekend Radio program with Chris Rosebrough & Brannon Howse:

________________________________________________________________________

Report from True Woman  '12 

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/revive-our-hearts/report-true-woman-12/:

Quote:
"Nancy (conf): There was an old-time revivalist whose name was Gipsy Smith. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. The story is told that Gipsy Smith would go to a town to preach—he was an itinerant preacher. He would come to the town where he had been invited, and he would come to the outskirts of the town. He would stand and draw a circle in the ground, in the dirt on the outskirts of town. Then he would step inside that circle, and he would begin to pray for God to move in that town. He would say, “Lord, please send revival to this community. But, oh God, let the revival start inside this circle. Let it begin in me.”
Holly Elliff: I loved that during the conference around the auditorium and in various places there were circles.
Leslie: Here’s workshop leader Holly Elliff. 
Holly: And those circles were symbolic because they represented the fact that every woman wanted to put herself there, draw a circle around her own life and say, “God, what do You want to do in me?”
Nancy (conf): And as you pass by those in the days ahead, I want to encourage you, if there is room, to just step inside one of those circles.
Bill Elliff (conf): And those circles just remind us that it’s always personal.
Leslie: This is Pastor Bill Elliff.
Bill (conf): We can get real theoretical about revival and awakening. But it starts with me. And if it doesn’t start with me, if it doesn’t start with you, then it doesn’t start.
Leslie Bennett: I can’t live on yesterday’s revival.
Leslie: This is workshop leader Leslie Bennett. 
Leslie Bennett: The white chalk circles all around this conference center were a constant reminder that I need revival. Every moment of every day I must humble myself before God and ask Him to come into my heart to do what only He can do as I seek Him and I’m repentant before Him—that He will make my heart afresh. He will make my heart anew and fan the flames of my heart for Jesus. I so appreciated that reminder as we went about the conference all weekend long. Revival starts with me.
Nancy (conf): Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Leslie: Not with anybody else. It’s not them. It’s me.
Nancy (conf): It’s not my brother, not my sister, not my mother, not my pastor, not my friend who came with me. It’s me, oh, Lord, standing in the need of You.
Bob (conf): One of the unique things about the way the stage is set up this year is that the speaker’s podium, the platform podium, there’s a large white circle around it.
Nancy (conf): Because seeking Him starts right here in our hearts as we’re speaking.
Bob (conf): And so as we’re calling women to seek God and to seek Him for revival in their own lives and then in their churches and then in our nation, we’ve drawn a circle around the podium.
Joni: Because all the speakers had an opportunity to stand in it. And of course, I had an opportunity to wheel inside that circle. May revival begin with me.
Juli: I’m preaching to myself first. I’m the first one who needs the very messages coming out of my mouth.
Bob (conf): You can’t go and call women to a place if you’re not ready to go there yourself. That’s hypocrisy.
Joni: May renewal in the church begin with me inside that circle.
Nancy (conf): And to step inside that circle and say, “Lord, would You send revival to my family? Would You send revival to my church? Would You send awakening to our nation, to our world? We desperately need it. But oh, Lord, would You start the revival inside this circle? Let it begin in me.
Janet: So let me tell you what happened for me as a speaker when I stepped into that circle. I was under very strong conviction. David said, “My sins are ever before me.” That’s what I felt when I was in that circle. I thought, “Lord, I’m not here to teach these women. I’m here to seek Your face.”"
_______________________________________________________________
From Living With Power: http://www.livingwithpower.org/words-with-friends/: Lina Abujamra reports: "In the course of my 2 day “True Woman” experience I heard Nancy Leigh Demoss mention that she liked to play 'Words with Friends'". Lina Abujamra prayed in her chalk circle and her prayer was answered sometime later:  "I was being invited to play Words with Friends with my new “friend” Nancy Leigh Demoss."
_______________________________________________________________

Michelle Obama requests prayer circles and clean spirits:



Even the Obamas cannot seem to function without the support and help from "prayer circles" whose members are "keeping the spirits clean around us":









NAZARENES FINDING LIKE MINDS IN THE APOSTATE CLUB

General Assembly 2013: Death Of The Church of the Nazarene, Or Repentance?
A warning to those who are leading the Church of the Nazarene astray: you need not fear those of us who are trying to wake up the church.  You ought to fear a Holy God whose wrath will come down on those who reject Him and who are leading the sheep astray. 
When I think of apostate denominations, I think of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, which just recently elected its first openly homosexual bishop.  It has long been an apostate church.  Another apostate group is the Presbyterian Church (USA), which among other things, continues to accept practicing homosexuals as members in good standing who can also participate in the Lord’s Supper; and also the church is okay with ordaining celibate gays.  The apostate Episcopalian Church appointed Eugene Robinson in 2003 as its first openly gay bishop.  The Metropolitan Community Church is a homosexual denomination.  There are many more, but there is a pattern that one of their failings always involves - the question of homosexuality, which has been clearly answered in Holy Scripture.
As a lifelong Nazarene, I have been watching closely for four years what is going on in the churches and the universities.  What I and other Nazarenes have seen leads us to believe that the Church of the Nazarene is moving down the road of apostasy as hard and as fast these others.  And one of the issues that could be its downfall is the same issue that has helped destroy the aforementioned denominations.  There are many other problems: the emergent church, spiritual formation (contemplative mysticism), open theism, process theology, evolution, the G-12 movement (Master’s Plan), extreme environmentalism, social justice, ecumenicalism, hyper-pentecostalism, dominion theology.  Now, add acceptance of homosexuality to the list of what is creeping in - one church, one pastor, one university at a time.
The Church of the Nazarene will hold its General Assembly from June 19-27, in Indianapolis, IN, with about 35,000 Nazarenes attending from around the world.  Worship services will be held; dozens of workshops conducted; resolutions will be passed and voted down; and new leaders will be appointed, including at least two new General Superintendents. Many Nazarenes will be hopeful and celebratory; but many others are grieving.  Quite a few have left the denomination, and it is possible many will leave after this Assembly ends. Much will depend on what happens.
We have documented the many concerns regarding homosexuality in the denomination, including the universities.  Point Loma Nazarene University with its former student chaplain who came out as a homosexual at the school, and its LGBT group; the welcoming of Soulforce, a radical pro-gay group, at Northwest NazareneSouthern Nazarene UniversityMid-America Nazarene, and Trevecca Nazarene University; an LGBT support group, called “Love Of God Bringing Triumph” approved by the administration of Eastern Nazarene College.  I also wrote on how Corey McPherson, the chaplain at ENC, preached a message last year in chapel (Homosexuality: What Does God Think?) that one would think would warrant his removal by the leadership.  Among the things he was proud of was when his church got together with a homosexual pastor and his congregation to worship together and take communion.  That is an abomination.  You can read the entire transcript of this message, along with comments from a Nazarene pastor, here.
Something related to General Assembly that was said by Corey McPherson in his message is the following:

​"​
This afternoon, the chaplains from the Nazarene schools will be gathering together for our development sessions and we will be working on a proposal to submit to the General Assembly of the Church of Nazarene next year to change the wording and statement of the wrath of God and other changes in the statement in our manual.  We’re not changing the theological stance but the wording behind it must change.  We will submit it to the church and hopefully it will [bring] it to vote next year.
​"​
It remains to be seen if this is submitted, but it is troubling that the chaplains of the Nazarene schools could be planning to go against God’s word and water down what Scripture clearly tells us will happen to those who reject God and live in unrepentant sin.  What else are the Nazarene college chaplains teaching the students?
So, the idea of affirming homosexuality as compatible with Christian living is making headway in the Church of the Nazarene.  Thanks to heretics such as Rob Bell, who revealed his approval of gay marriage, as well as others such as Brian McLaren, Nazarene pastors are following suit and defending people who promote such foolish thinking.  There is no biblical conviction in their words, but instead they sound like the secular world of today with its politically charged promotion of and demand for complete acceptance of homosexuality.

Proposed Resolutions At The Assembly
God’s word never changes, but in the fickle lives of humans, there is constant changing of positions and doctrinal statements.  Dozens of resolutions have been submitted for consideration, and the passage or rejection of some of these could be a further indication of the spiritual direction of the church.  Two resolutions (CA-701 and CA-703) by the North Florida District make a powerful statement to clarify the biblical position on homosexuality, which would effectively push back at those who want to water down the biblical view of homosexuality to one of “affirmation” and “acceptance.”  In a section of document CA-703, the authors rightly state that “the Christian church has been invaded, the authority of Scripture has been challenged, and the laws that govern our civilization are being overturned by the world-wide homosexual community that wants nothing less than the complete acceptance and normalcy of homosexual behavior.”
Another resolution from the Tennessee District (CA-712) fights back against the dangerous ideology of process theology, a heresy which teaches that God learns from His mistakes.  Will it pass, or will it be rejected in deference to false teachers such as Tom Oord who also promote open theism and theistic evolution?
Resolution JUD-815 proposes amending the Manual to include new language regarding infant baptism.   It is interesting to note that the Church of the Nazarene has traditionally performed infant dedications, rather than baptism.  This could be a result of the Roman Catholicization that has been happening in the church, from emphases on Lenten season, to Ashes To Fire, to prayer rooms, prayer labyrinths, and retreats to Roman Catholic monasteries.
Resolution SR-752 proposes a theology conference, at a cost of about $14,000, to discuss redefining the meaning of the doctrine of atonement.
Resolution MED-500 proposes the establishment of a new College of Theologians, which would have much influence in deciding theological matters for the church.  If successfully passed, this could spell disaster for the church, depending on who is chosen to be on this select group.
There are other resolutions, some innocuous compared to others, but others will be of great importance in reflecting the “emerging” theological re-birth of a denomination that has always emphasized “holiness unto the Lord.”  The full set of resolutions can be viewed here.

The Forgotten Resolution: The Inerrancy Of Scripture
We have great concerns for a resolution that does not appear to be listed, which is now four years old.
 At General Assembly in 2009, the following amendment submitted by the Southwest Indiana District failed to be voted on, and instead was referred to the Board of General Superintendents for further study.  The recommended change is highlighted in bold:
RESOLVED that Manual paragraph 4 be amended as follows:
IV. The Holy Scriptures
4. We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, [inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation] inerrant throughout, and the supreme authority on everything the Scriptures teach so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.
(Luke 24:44-47; John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:20-21)
Where is this now?  Why has this not been re-submitted?  Is there a reluctance to strengthen this statement by acknowledging the inerrancy of God’s Word?   Is the district from Southwest Indiana and other Nazarenes being ignored?  Are the General Superintendents hoping that this all goes away after they committed this to four years of study?  Is this resolution going to be re-presented for consideration and vote, as it should?
The answer could simply be that the leadership of the church does not believe in the whole of Scripture as being infallible, but only partially inerrant.  What a tragedy if that is the case.  But  these leaders, who are responsible for the doctrine of the church, have a duty to respond this year to this question.  If they don’t, it would be total neglect and dereliction of duty on their part.
Final Thoughts
From what many of us have seen, and from the lack of meaningful leadership action to stem the tide, we do not hold out much hope for the denomination as an organization. That does not mean I am saying it is absolutely lost. Yet it looks like that to many Nazarenes, barring a work of God in the hearts of the leaders and the people who know what is going on.  There are Nazarenes sitting around for the last four years who don't like the false teachings going on, but are sitting in their pews totally asleep - by choice.
We see most likely a continued move down the apostasy road, with "pockets of resistance" in the form of individual churches trying to resist their district's attempts at indoctrinating them with emergent heresies.  More  pastors will be punished for their opposition, as has already happened.  As in one prospective pastor’s case in the New England District, ordination will be denied because of taking a stand that you believe in biblical inerrancy.  Yet, if you believe in evolution and that Adam did not exist, you may have no problem.  Trouble-making pastors may also see their churches closed and merged with other churches.

Then there are districts such as North Florida, and others, whose leadership is strong - at the moment. What happens when the leadership changes, and an emergent D.S. comes in? What happens when a strong church's pastor retires, and the replacement is straight out of NTS and is a heretic in sheep's clothing?  What then?  We have received reports regarding large churches whose attendance has plummeted because of the introduction of emergent heresies.

A warning to those who are leading the Church of the Nazarene astray: you need not fear those of us who are trying to wake up the church.  You ought to fear a Holy God whose wrath will eventually come down on those who reject Him and who are leading the sheep astray.  The Bible has clearly called faithful Christians to not only preach the Gospel but to also bring to the light for all to see the evil deeds and teachings of the false teachers.  The call from us to the leaders is to come to repentance before it is too late.  And if the leaders do not repent and do not unambiguously reject all these false teachings, then separation must occur, and Bible-believing Nazarenes must not stay in the denomination out of a misguided loyalty.
There will most likely be the many individuals and families who will leave the denomination for lack of a decent Bible-believing Nazarene church in the area. However you look at this, it does not look like a bright future for the Nazarene denomination. The leadership may declare a bright future at the end of this General Assembly and may declare that God is blessing the Church of the Nazarene. But apostasy, in God's eyes, is not the plan He has for us.
We’ll have to wait and see, but time is running out.

Related Articles:
 
Manny Silva
Stand For Truth Ministries
"The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever." Psalm 119:160

Blogging at www.reformednazarene.wordpress.com
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