Conversation With A University President

As they say on Fox News, “we report, you decide.”  I have been in a back and forth dialogue with the President of Trevecca Nazarene University, Dr. Dan Boone, since I posted my article, Trevecca Nazarene University Promoting Mysticism and Pagan Practices.  We have had a cordial conversation, in spite of the harsh criticism of Trevecca that I have given in my article.  In fact, this is the first real “conversation” of substance that I have had with anyone in Nazarene leadership in the past year and a half, and that is greatly appreciated, because dialogue is what concerned Nazarenes have been looking to have for a long time.  All we have been asking for is direct answers to the questions we have about some things that have been troubling us in the past several years.

So I am posting an exchange between Dr. Boone and me (he has given me permission to share them). Here are the emails, unedited and uncensored.  Dr. Boone’s words are in blue text, my original words are on black, and my added comments are in red).

Brothers and sisters, please read this carefully and judge for yourself but only in the light of scripture.

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From:            Boone, Dan
Sent:            Tue 2/02/10 10:04 PM

Dear Manny,

Greetings friend. I just got home from a campus revival service. Over 500 students gathered for great worship. The song Be Thou My Vision captivated us in worship and praise. The preacher has been walking us through the Lord’s Prayer. (Monday night) – Hallowed name = the sanctification of the name of God in his people remaking us in the image and likeness of God. (Tuesday morning) – Kingdom come/will be done = the deliverance from self-rule and self-sovereignty for a life of obedience to God and his mission in the world. (Tonight) Give us bread = to be human is to be needy before the provision of God and humble enough to receive it. About 100 were at the altar praying tonight.

Leading up to revival, we always create a prayer room where our students can prepare themselves for revival. There are 5 prayer stations. At the first one, students read and meditate on the Psalm, “search me and know my heart, try me and know my ways….” At the second station, they pray for the entire campus to be open to the preaching of the word. At the third station, they pray for lost friends on the campus to be saved during the meeting. At the fourth station, they pray for our chaplain, the musicians, and the evangelist. And at the fifth station, they pray for their family and church back home. Two years ago we called this a prayer labyrinth. This identification bothered some people because of the association with pagan labyrinths. So we stopped calling it that. But the Concerned Nazarenes have never explained what we were doing, nor stopped hammering us about being pagan/emergent/liberal/and any other bad names they can come up with. I have answered this hundreds of times. I wish they would stop taking one word, filling it with deceptive suggestion, and labeling us. It is beneath the dignity of holiness folk.

You’ve probably also seen the accusation that we force students to take yoga as a way of introducing them to Hindu spirituality. For the record, in 110 years, Trevecca has never had a yoga class. A campus visitor saw an ad for a yoga class on our intercampus TV network. It was sponsored by Trevecca Towers, an independent HUD housing project for the elderly. They have a yoga class to increase the mobility of their residents. Most of the folk in the class are over 65 and many of them are retired Nazarene pastors and missionaries. We haven’t lost any to Hinduism that I know of.

I regret the pain you have experienced in your church and I wish you God’s healing. I can assure you that those who are targeting Trevecca as anti-Christian will not bring you much peace. They are full of fear and anxiety. I pray for them and stand ready to forgive.

Blessings,

Dan Boone

From:   Boone, Dan
Sent:    Fri 2/05/10 11:38 AM

To:       Manny Silva

Good morning Manny. Please call me Dan.

It is a joy to reply to you. I’ve regretted that 98% of the concerned Nazarenes/reformed Nazarenes communication has felt like a drive-by shooting – with the exception of one email, no one except you has even called or written me.

I am thankful for your concerns that the church be rooted in the scriptures, and also that our Wesleyan heritage be valued. As a Wesleyan, I concur with the quadrilateral of scripture, tradition, experience, and reason. This has guided the holiness movement across centuries.

In your email below I have tried to respond to the objections you have raised. Also, please note my closing note to you at the end of your letter.

From: Manny Silva
Sent: Thursday, February 04, 2010 7:53 AM

To: Boone, Dan

Dear Dr. Boone,

Thanks for getting in touch with me, although I should have sent the article to you right away. I appreciate the response, as many of us have been seeking answers from leadership to questions about the emerging/emergent church, contemplative spirituality practices, Roman Catholic works-based rituals, Open Theism, and other teachings that have caused us to be concerned, and not just simply a few of us who are “officially” connected to Concerned Nazarenes.  Please understand that I and others are equal opportunity critics, and have been also raising questions about practices and teachings at such schools as Northwest Nazarene, Point Loma, and Eastern Nazarene College, where I attended for several years.

Thank you for the thought regarding my experience at my church, but sadly, it is but one of many similar stories of faithful Nazarenes being forced out of their churches because of this emergent ideology.  It is not an isolated incident, and I keep receiving more and more of these stories from folks around the country.  Did you know that many people are leaving the Nazarene denomination, sometimes starting their own church instead of putting up with pastors who don’t completely trust the Bible?  Much of it is due to the contemplative spirituality, emergent philosophy, and introduction of Roman Catholic practices and rituals to students and churches.  Why are these things being welcomed into our holiness denomination?   To be holy is to be set apart, yet we seem to be going the other way.

Regarding the prayer stations you mentioned, I object to those and see them as inappropriate for Christians.  Nowhere is something like it found in the Bible, and they are simply a man made ritual originating from old Roman Catholic traditions similar to the Stations of the Cross.  The same goes for prayer labyrinths, of which the school prominently displays on the website.  Prayer labyrinths are in use now in Nazarene churches as well, and it is a practice borrowed from pagan religions which has absolutely no biblical justification for its use, and certainly is not part of our wonderful Nazarene heritage.  If I am wrong on both of these, I still wait for men much more learned than me, to justify the use of these with the scriptures.

Dan Boone: I think things like this actually are found in the Bible. The practice of the OT people of God in the temple includes Psalms of individual confession of sin, thanksgiving, offering up sacrifice, prayers for their nation and king. The practice of Jesus was to go into the mountains and pray with the Father. His followers were so moved by his practice that they asked to be taught to pray as he has prayed. In the Sermon on the Mount we are instructed to go into our prayer closet, close the door and pray to the Father in heaven. The epistles are full of instructions regarding the kind of prayers we are to pray. Please read these words from my earlier email as a model of this kind of praying – “Leading up to revival, we always create a prayer room where our students can prepare themselves for revival. There are 5 prayer stations. At the first one, students read and meditate on the Psalm, “search me and know my heart, try me and know my ways….” At the second station, they pray for the entire campus to be open to the preaching of the word. At the third station, they pray for lost friends on the campus to be saved during the meeting. At the fourth station, they pray for our chaplain, the musicians, and the evangelist. And at the fifth station, they pray for their family and church back home.” We learned to pray like this from the Bible. The fact that some of these forms were practiced by the Catholic Church is incidental. Given they were the only church for 1500 years after Christ, it would be expected that the church formed in the Protestant Reformation would do some of the same things they did.

I grew up in a church that had cottage prayer meetings, 48 hour continuous prayer at the church altar, and open altar times during the early morning. I learned this from people much older than me, not from emergent theologians or Catholics. And given the setting of a college campus, with 4 to 8 people living in a suite of rooms, it is hard for students to find space and place to pray alone. To set aside a room where they can pray is a very Biblical thing to do. For someone to grasp the word labyrinth and fill it with meaning that is pagan, and accuse us of those type practices, is either a gross misunderstanding or an intentional lie.

I also believe that the trip to the Abbey at Gethsemani is wrong and should not be allowed to happen.  Students all over the country seem to be getting introduced to Roman Catholic practices and monastic rituals on a regular basis, and I ask again, why?  Why are Nazarene students going to this monastery to “fellowship” with those whose basis for salvation is works based, and not by faith alone in Jesus alone.  Why is it that your university, along with others, is increasingly promoting these events, as well as promoting the use of books by such authors as Thomas Merton, a man who equated Buddhism with Christianity, and Henri Nouwen, who was a universalist.  Do you embrace the official teachings of Roman Catholicism as being  par with our Wesleyan heritage?  I have a love for Roman Catholics, but I want to present the true gospel to them, not fellowship with them and thereby give our tacit approval to their heretical teachings by associating with them in such a manner.  I have seen the agenda for this retreat, and it is disturbing.

Dan Boone: The trip to the Abbey started in the late 1960’s with Dr. Bill Strickland, one of our religion professors. We choose the Abbey for our silent retreat for several reasons. It is affordable room and board for our students. The monks there run a retreat business that is highly hospitable. It is a beautiful setting for a retreat. It also is designed for minimal distractions – no TV’s or radios in rooms, no lobby music blaring, no fast food restaurants up and down the street. Students today live in the middle of noise all the time. We think it is important to teach them to practice the command – “Be still and know that I am God”.

The monks neither teach nor participate in the retreat.

(* Clarification: The opening prayer is scheduled to be delivered by a monk, and the students are given options to participate in some of the regular hours of prayer that the monks participate in).

We show them common Christian courtesy by inviting them to welcome the group and tell us about the Abbey requirements, much as would happen on any camp ground being leased. To leap from renting a retreat facility to embracing the Catholic theology or the works of Thomas Merton is like saying that someone who stays in a Marriott Hotel is being Mormonized. A Mormon family, or maybe it’s a Latter Day Saints family, owns Marriott. I actually like to stay there because I get a good room rate and they are clean. I am not approving their teachings by renting a room from them. This retreat is a model of what Jesus did – leaving the crowds and the noise to go into the mountains to pray, to get alone with God, to listen to the Father. The occurrence of the words “hear”, “listen”, “what the Father says”, and other similar phrases are all over the Bible. Jesus got away, quieted himself, and listened to the Father.

Manny, I am shell-shocked that any Christian would attack us for teaching students to do this and providing the most affordable, hospitable, quiet place we could find that would be conducive to this experience. We’re raising up a new generation of praying college students. Being called pagan and Catholic and new age and heretical is just unreasonable. I still have a hard time understanding this type attack.

I was not really aware of the yoga story you mentioned, but (with all due respect) I question the discernment of Nazarene pastors and missionaries who would participate in yoga, of which there is nothing Christian about it.  It is again, the incorporation of a pagan religious practice, and that cannot be separated from it.

Dan Boone: I don’t even have a dog in this hunt.

Dr. Boone, there are many of us who will not let up in asking for answers and for accountability.

Dan Boone: have hereby accounted for what we are doing, defending it as Biblical, Wesleyan, reasonable, and rooted in a common Christian experience of generations of Nazarenes. I have also included Judge Charles Davis on the email as the Chair of our Board of Trustees, to whom I as President am accountable for my leadership of Trevecca. I also am fully aware that I stand accountable to the church and have included the two General Superintendents that you have been corresponding with, along with the GS in Jurisdiction of Trevecca. Above and beyond this, I am accountable to God and am fully at peace that we are following the ways of Jesus and seeking to live as holy servants.

All we are doing is really… to try to warn you about a serious danger to the church.  We love our denomination too much to ignore what is spreading throughout the Christian world like cancer. We are in no way hateful Nazarenes, or mean-spirited, although admitting we are not perfect.  I would disagree with one of your comments, and would say that it would be beneath our dignity, not to say anything and speak out.  We are dedicated to one thing right now, and that is to preserve the purity of the gospel, which was “once for all entrusted to the saints.”

May I also offer a warning? The doctrine of Holy Love, entire sanctification is being muddied by unfounded accusations, insinuations of evil intent where there is none; and all this (with the exception of you and one other) is being done on a public website rather than person to person. It is based on a word (labyrinth) and a retreat place (the Abbey). We no longer use the word because we seek not to offend you, and the practices associated with the word  never occurred. We’ll keep using the prayer retreat site because it is a good place for our students to get alone with God.

(*If the word labyrinth is not being used anymore, is the practice still happening?  Because it is the practice or ritual which we find wrong, not whatever it is called).

What we are seeking is answers to questions such as these, and perhaps you or someone from the theology department can answer these questions:

1. Is the use of prayer labyrinths justified by scripture?  If so, please show me.

Dan Boone: We’ve stopped using the word, please stop beating us over the head with it.

(* See: The Labyrinth: A Walk to Life or A Walk To Death?)

2. Are prayer stations biblically justified?

Dan Boone: I really don’t know. I actually don’t care whether you call the place you pray a prayer station, a prayer closet, an altar, a bedside, or a quiet retreat place. But I am absolutely certain that providing places to pray, confess, intercede for others is Biblically justified.

3. If it’s okay to fellowship with Roman Catholic monks at a monastery, is it also okay to fellowship with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons, who also say they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior?

Dan Boone: If you believe all Catholics to be lost and unsaved (which I don’t), this would make them sinners. I recall that Jesus was accused of fellowshipping with sinners quite frequently. I guess I am guilty. I actually think God wants us to be with them.

(*Clarification from Manny: I do not believe all Catholics are lost.  I do believe the institution of the RCC does teach heretical doctrines, such as: praying to Mary or the saints; purgatory; the communion wafer and wine being the actual body and blood of Christ; works-base salvation. Therefore, creating a doctrine contrary to the gospel is in direct disobedience to Jesus Christ and His command to obey Him in everything).
** Further clarification: A Catholic who believes in the same heretical dooctrines as the RCC teaches, and believes in works-based salvation- well, that Catholic could not be saved, because that would be believing in another Jesus.  Same goes for Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.  These folks are not truly saved).

4. Is practicing the silence (as advertised for in the retreat) a spiritual discipline, and if so, where is that taught in the Bible?

Dan Boone: “Be still and know that I am God.” Numerous Psalms that speak of quieting the heart. All the commands to listen and hear. The practice of Jesus getting alone with the Father – mountains, Gethsemane.  John on the Island of Patmos, Paul praying in the prison. I can’t believe God wants us to do all the talking. I’m sure God prefers that we get silent and listen.

(* Note from Manny: See my post regarding Psalm 46:10, which is used as the main reason to practice contemplative prayer).

5. Is there such a thing as Christian yoga, and should Christians incorporate this into their lives as a good thing?

Dan Boone: I have no opinion on this. I do think exercise is good for the body. You are more than free to make your case against yoga. I just have other things that I see as more valuable to oppose – human trafficking, alcohol destruction, hunger, etc. I am not suggesting that you don’t care about things like this, but the websites I see attacking us don’t mention these kinds of issues – only yoga, labyrinths, Catholics, and other stuff.

6. So if I listen long enough, I can hear the voice of God?  How do I know that what I hear is really the voice of God?

Dan Boone: What God says is in keeping with the written word of God, it is aligned with the character of Jesus, it is faithful to the doctrine that has been handed down to us by our Wesleyan-holiness fathers and mothers, it is confirmed by the common experiences of other believers, and it is reasonable… being that God is a God of order.

I have so many other questions to all of the universities and even to our General Superintendents, for example: how can I trust God if I believe that God makes mistakes?  (Open Theism).  But that can be another day I guess.  There are many Nazarenes who truly believe that there has be a serious correction, a repentance, throughout our universities and churches, by those who are pushing the emergent/contemplative/Roman Catholic practices in the Nazarene denomination, or serious judgment will come because of a failure to recognize and respond to this crisis.  We love our church.  Why would we otherwise pay such a price that we have paid, for what we have stood for?  Either we are confused and are disobeying God, or it is the result of faithfulness to God, and an indication of what was promised in 1 Tim 3:12:  “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

I sincerely am praying that this event will be canceled.  I understand that many were at the altar praying at that revival, but I would rather see one contrite person who has responded to the true gospel, than see 100 people praying, of which some perhaps are putting their trust in man made practices and rituals that have no basis in scripture.

Sincerely in Christ,

Manny Silva

Dan Boone: I respect your right to question these practices. I hope my response has been helpful to your understanding of the truth. One of the things I try to do when I disagree with someone is to look for signals that God may be blessing what they are doing. The fruit of Godly living, Christian service, and holy witness being borne by the students and faculty of Trevecca is easy to see. Come visit us. I wish you continued healing in your life.

Blessings,

Dan

YOUR COMMENTS ARE  WELCOME.  PLEASE DEFEND YOUR POSITION BASED ON SCRIPTURE, NO MATTER WHICH POSITION YOU DEFEND.

Trevecca Nazarene University Promoting Mysticism and Pagan Practices

On its website promoting yet another retreat to a monastery, Treveccca Nazarene University states the following:

“In order to help students strengthen their Christian faith and establish spiritual disciplines, the school year at Trevecca includes times and events that focus on spiritual formation.” (Trevecca website)

Sounds good.  You might think it’s just another way of expressing how we ought to grow as Christians, and for me when I first heard of it, things came to mind such as regular prayer, Bible study, worship, and fasting, as ways to grow as a Christian, as prescribed to us in the Bible.  But beware, this is not what it means now in many Nazarene universities, or many other Christian schools for that matter.

Alarm bells should go off when you hear the term spiritual formation.  If you hear “spiritual formation” mentioned by your pastor, a preacher, or a professor, it would be advisable to ask them to explain what they mean, and to explain it completely and honestly.  However, it is clear to me that spiritual formation as practiced at Trevecca is not coming from a healthy biblical foundation.  In fact, this university seems to be the one that is most outrageous in its display of the “new spirituality” that is being promoted and touted as a must-have part of our lives if we are to grow as Christians and get closer to God.  Yet, is it helping students get closer to God, or it is helping them stray further away from the Bible as sole authority for our Christian faith and practice?

You see, Trevecca has a prayer labyrinth right on campus.  There is absolutely nothing scripturally warranted in the use of this clearly pagan practice, so why does a Nazarene university use this tool?  Thinking of sending your kids there?  You may want to write to President Dan Boone, or the theology department, and ask them if they can justify the use of labyrinths, and ask them to make sure that they can justify it according to scripture.  Otherwise, why is this being used on a Nazarene campus?

But let’s get to the upcoming issue at hand.  Yet again, Trevecca has scheduled another Spiritual Formation Retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky.  It’s called “Silence and Listening For the Voice of God”.  One of their comments regarding this retreat is the following:

“Union with God in prayer requires us to learn to quiet ourselves–yes, from the noises which surround us, but also from inward noises (restlessness, fears, our agenda’s, etc.)  It is this stillness and emptiness which allows us to be open to hearing the voice of God.” (Emphasis in red mine)

This stuff, if you are a discerning Christian, is right out of contemplative mysticism.  It is often justified by the misuse of Psalm 46:10, a sorry out of context reading of what is a passage that clearly teaches us not to go into any silence, but to relax and stop worrying so much about the turmoil in our life, because God is in control).

It is the seeking of silence, and worst still, of emptiness, that warning bells should be ringing for every Christian who reads this.  It is nothing more than a call to empty your mind, albeit masquerading as Christian spirituality.  Emptying the mind is the exact goal of transcendental meditation, and this is the very thing that spiritual formation subtly tries to promote.  Friends, if you empty your mind in some type of altered state of consciousness, can you guarantee that it is God’s voice you are hearing?  And where in the Bible are we ever directed to get into a state of “emptiness” and “silence” in the manner directed by mystics.  This is really just a resurrection of traditions created by the Desert Fathers.  However, tradition, as we should understand, does not necessarily equate to being biblically grounded.

They also categorize silence is one of the spiritual disciplines.  Really, where does the Bible teach us that?  This is nothing but adding to the word of God, which we are forbidden to do.  This is nothing more than Oprah Winfrey spirituality!

Sure, prayer and fasting, studying the scriptures, those can be called spiritual disciplines.  But not silence.  And certainly not labyrinths and prayer stations (a form of Stations of the Cross).  And not even things like journaling, which has become popular and often suggested as necessary for Christian growth.  When did we begin to forget that all that is sufficient for our daily Christian growth is faith in Christ, and trusting in His word which he has given to us? Anything else, and you are dangerously adding to the word of God, which according to scripture is a very serious offense!  And what about listening to God’s voice? If I told you the voice of God spoke to me last night (other than through His Word), how would I convince you that it was God’s voice, and not the voice of some other spirit that was not of God?

You also need to know that the Abbey of Gethsemani is a Roman Catholic monastery that is dedicated to Mary.  It is famously known as the spiritual home of Thomas Merton.  Their website has a page dedicated to him.   Remember this name, because it is becoming very popular amongst Nazarenes, along with such other monks as Henri Nouwen, who learned much from Merton and who believed that there are many paths to God, not just Jesus!  Spiritual formation programs and books rarely omit Thomas Merton as a resource, but instead he is looked at as a great spiritual source of wisdom for Christians.  There is no avoiding the influence of his teachings if you are going to a retreat at this monastery.

Merton was a Roman Catholic monk who was a mystic, and he experimented with Eastern religions mixed with Christianity, as many other monks such as Henri Nouwen did.  (Henri Nouwen has also become popular with Nazarene pastors as a “Christian” resource, which is unbelievably irresponsible and reckless). But as a professed Christian, Merton was a serious promoter of interspirituality.  He saw no problem between Christianity and Buddhism:

“I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity … I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.”  (David Steindl-Rast, “Recollection of Thomas Merton’s Last Days in the West” (Monastic Studies, 7:10, 1969)

In the final year of his life, he spent time in various Eastern countries in search of the answers to spirituality (he could have searched the Bible).  He later visited a Buddhist shrine in Sri Lanka, and described his visit as an experience of great illumination, a vision of “inner clearness.”
Six days later, he was accidentally electrocuted in a cottage in Bangkok by a faulty fan switch. (Contemplative Mysticism, David Cloud, p.315).

This kind of relationship Trevecca has with the teachings of folks such as Merton is unbiblical.  Will the prayer by Father Damien on opening night at the retreat involve praying to Mary or other saints as they normally do?  Do Trevecca’s leaders realize that praying to Mary, and participating in the Catholic Mass, is unbiblical and equates to idolatry?  Or do they think this is typical reflection of Nazarene doctrine and practice?

We are called to “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Eph. 5:11).  It would seem to me that associations with folks who adhere to Merton’s philosophy qualifies for the category of fruitless deeds of darkness!  Or am I missing something here?  If someone could correct me with the scriptures, I will apologize for my error.  I doubt if that will happen, because this is not the first time I have asked these folks in leadership to correct me or those who are questioning these practices.  By the way, their recommended resources for spiritual formation reads like a who’s who of teachers such as Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, Ruth Haley Barton, and several other usual suspects of the spiritual formation movement.

So Trevecca Nazarene University needs to openly explain clearly to all prospective students, and their parents, what is the biblical authority for participating in retreats such as this, and for participating in pagan rituals such as prayer labyrinths.  If not, perhaps feeling the pinch of the pocketbook, from less enrollments, and less donations, will draw their attention.  Just follow the money, it seems to be the order of the day, and if that is what will get some answers, perhaps we should do it.

Additional Resources on Trevecca’s plunge into Contemplative Spirituality:

Trevecca Nazarene University Promoting Contemplative Spirituality in No Small Way

Proclaiming The Gospel, Or Leading Sheep To The Slaughter?

“and with all the deceit of unrighteousness in those who perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thess. 2:10-12

My last post talked about Jay McDaniel and his lecture at Northwest Nazarene University.  This lecture took place in October, 2006, although only recently was it made public. Yet, it is still a relevant example of the extreme liberal ideology and emergent thinking that has permeated this and other Nazarene universities and is still going on, therefore its relevance.  Brian McLaren was there in 2008 with his three day Everything Must Change tour.  It seems the university has a penchant for inviting very liberal speakers to the campus, with little opportunity for debate from anyone with traditional Christian and/or Nazarene theology.
Now comes Sister Helen Prejean.  She is scheduled to speak Wednesday night (1/27) on campus, and I wonder if there will be an equally opposing viewpoint presented in a significant way?  Sister Helen is the Catholic nun on which the movie Dead Man Walking was based.  She has since been shown to be at least very erroneous in many of her writings, or even purposely deceiving, in her work to oppose the death penalty by defending murderers who have clearly been found guilty of their heinous crimes.  Her support for the gay lifestyle and ordination of gays is certainly not a standard Nazarene position, and she is a supporter of ecumenical interfaith movements.

Scheduled to be the headline speaker at the annual Wesley Center Conference in February is Philip Yancey, author of “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”  Yancey is clearly not Wesleyan in his thinking, and he equivocates on or supports the gay lifestyle as well as ordination of gays.  He also is an advocate for the contemplative spirituality movement.  So the beat goes on to bring in speakers with aberrant views to NNU on a regular basis, to say whatever they want, and most likely, without anything but a token opposition by way of a weak disclaimer.

I encouraged everyone to view Dr. McDaniel’s lecture and see for themselves the kind of heresy that is being presented to our students at some of our Nazarene universities. I viewed it again and took notes, so here you can have the opportunity to learn of some of the more outrageous and unbiblical things that were said by Dr. McDaniel.

Many today are being led as sheep to the slaughter because of all the false teachers and preachers who are perverting the word of God.  By the very words that he spoke in that lecture, I cannot see how Dr. McDaniel can even be called a Christian.  Jesus said in Matthew:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

What is the fruit of Dr. McDaniel’s teachings, and of those who were complicit in allowing him to bring such false teachings to vulnerable, impressionable students who are not grounded in the word of God?  Are we ourselves complicit in some way, if we don’t speak out?  If you have a college bound child right now, ask yourself this: could he or she be in this precarious position someday, and will you regret sending them to a school such as this?  Are you willing to take the chance that your child will be exposed to this kind of teaching in such a way as to have it passed off as truth to them?  Perhaps it would be better that they go to a secular school instead.  At least there, they would know that what they listen to must be judged carefully; whereas, how many students would even think to distrust any professor or lecturer at a Christian school?

One of the most painful things I heard from the lecture was not from Dr. McDaniel, but from a student, who asked him: “How do we merge our faith… how do we gather these truths and make it available to our congregations, to our people without making people nervous?” Let me translate what she is really asking, even though she may not realize it: “How can I bring this heresy you are passing off as truth, back to my church, without upsetting those who still believe that Jesus is the only way to God?”

If some think that Dr. McDaniel is bearing good fruit, let me give you some more detail of what is coming off his tree, and being presented to gullible students, much like what satan presented to Eve in the garden.  In fact, it is the same thing, because either the fruit being produced in our lives is of God, or it is of satan.  It can’t be both, because a lie cannot be mixed together with truth, and produce good fruit.  Dr. McDaniel was clearly feeding lies to students at a Nazarene university.  Who will be held responsible for this now, and more seriously, later on in front of God and His judgment?  I pray that the blood of these students will not be on my hands or yours; instead, will you meet the challenge to be a watchman on the wall for the Lord?

Here are just a few of Dr. McDaniel’s “best” thoughts, and if you do watch the video, most of you will be very upset.  During his lecture, I do not recall a single quote from scripture.  I do recall repeated uses of the phrase “I think.”  That is how it is with false teachers like this.  They want to teach you what they think, rather than teaching you what God thinks, and what God clearly speaks through His word.  In 2 Timothy, we are given a serious warning of these kinds of men:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”  2 Tim. 4:3-4

And instead of asking him, “but what do the scriptures say”, undiscerning students take it in as easily as a small child being given poisoned candy, without question.  They instead praise his “wisdom.”

1. Here Dr. McDaniel is talking about his story, and some of the things he learned in life:

“So I went looking for writers who would give me an image of a more open kind of Christianity- and I turned to this writer named Thomas Merton.  He’s a Catholic.  And he was one of the first Christians who I encountered who I would say had deep roots in Christianity-and strong wings- he was open to truth wherever he found it.“

Dr. McDaniel tells us he has learned much from a man who was into mysticism, worshipped Mary, and believed all kinds of heresies, and who saw no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity- and who was accidentally electrocuted shortly after beginning a search for “wisdom” during a pilgrimage to several Eastern countries.
But truth is not found “wherever” you find it.  Truth is found in only one source: God.  And that truth is manifested in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and also through the only written source of Truth, the Bible.  Yet this professing Christian chooses to ignore the Source of truth, and declares that truth can be found in many places.  And if you watch the lecture, you will be simply amazed at how he twists the meaning of John 14:6, and fails to answer the question: “Is Jesus the only way to God?”

2. He talked about a Buddhist friend, and he says that he once asked his friend the following:

“What do you know that I don’t?  And his Buddhist friend answered, “I know that I am you, and you are me too, but you don’t know that.”

This comment is a reflection of what this man believes in: panentheism, the teaching that God is in all, and that really means ALL; all people, all trees, all rocks, everything.  He believes this, as shown in this link to a piece he wrote: In Pan-entheism, God Exists in Beings Everywhere.  So that would include satan I suppose, because he is a being, and that would include those who reject God outright.  But this is simply a lie, and God is not IN all things, but rather when we repent and turn to faith in Christ, he gives us the Holy Spirit, which guides us into all truth.

He goes on to say, “maybe my Buddhist friend can help me think about God in a fresh way.” Really? Let’s have a Nazarene pastor say this during a sermon, and let’s see how many discerning Christians will buy into this foolishness.  Remember again, he claims to be a Christian.  But so did Thomas Merton, who blended his Roman Catholic beliefs with Eastern religions.  If this is good for Northwest Nazarene University, hey, let’s bring it to all of our schools and seminaries and churches.

He continues:

“And so the simple point I am explaining to you is, I, to this day, feel grateful to a Buddhist  for helping me understand my own faith more deeply.  He knew something I needed to know.”

Where does it come close in the scriptures where it teaches us such nonsense?  We can understand our faith better from the teachings and life experience of a Buddhist, or perhaps a Daoist, Hindu, or Muslim?  Can you see why I and some others who viewed this lecture struggled with watching it in one sitting?  This lecture started going down the wrong road in the first five minutes when he was being introduced.

He goes on:

” And can our receptivity- indeed even our vulnerability- You have something to teach me…..can that be a part of our good news to the world?  Can our good news to the world be that… we will listen, with a willingness to be touched.  With a willingness to be moved? With a willingness to be in a way, converted into deeper forms of love, with their help?”

This man is a universalist, or at least sympathizes with that ideology, as will be evident if you listen to all that he says.  Later on, he answers the question: “Who goes to heaven?  Is Christ still the only way to get to heaven? Does John 14:6 still apply?”

I can tell you that he never answered a straight yes or no.  But read one part of his three part answer here:

“I think my Hindu friend can be open to Christ, without confessing Jesus.  And if she is saved… in a way she is saved through Christ, even if that does not mean that she believes in Jesus. I don’t know who goes to heaven. And I don’t think it’s important to know that.  I don’t think its important to be able to say to yourself or to the world…I know who goes to heaven, and I know who doesn’t.

Again, a universalistic philosophy is being taught here by a professed evangelical Christian, to students at a Nazarene university.  And I’m afraid, some of them are soaking it up as truth!  Because that is clearly what he is espousing here.  But that’s okay, because after all, it’s a liberal arts school, right?  And because it is, that gives us the excuse of throwing every kind of false teaching at our students, and even if some are being led to the slaughter… well, at least we made them think, right?

4. Here is another quote as part of his answer to that question:

“And I know that God meets me through Jesus…but not only through Jesus.  God meets me through the hills and the rivers and the trees and the stars. God meets me through my family.  God meets me through John Coltrane (he’s a jazz musician).  God meets me through music.  I’m not going to restrict the ways God meets me- to Jesus.  And I don’t think Jesus would want me to.  But who goes to heaven… let’s just wait and see.”

5. Finally, from a report by the editors at Lighthouse Trails Research:  McDaniel stated that if Jesus had meant to say that He himself was the way, the truth, and the life, it would have been egocentric and arrogant of Jesus – He only meant to point people in the right direction – letting go of ego and grasping love. McDaniel stated also that Buddhist mindfulness (eastern meditation) is just as truth filled  as doctrine and theology. He said there was an overemphasis in the church on doctrine calling it bibliolatry (idol worship of the Bible).

Perhaps from this, more Christians will become aware of just one example of the evil being fed our students at some of these Nazarene universities.  Got a child close to college age?  Beware, you had better do your homework, if you are of the same mind as me, that this is dangerous stuff, and it does not belong in our Christian universities.  If you don’t have a child going to school soon, you ought to still be concerned.  These kids are either our brothers and sisters in Christ, or they are unbelieving students who will be led to believe in another Jesus, another gospel, which will lead them straight to the gates of hell.  But we ought to care about all of them, not only those we know personally.

Sorry if my directness and bluntness might disturb anyone, especially folks at NNU, but this is the truth of what is happening almost everywhere, in all denominations, and this is a deadly, serious game that we cannot afford to allow to continue unchallenged.  To those who believe we should speak the truth in love, this is what exactly what some of us are doing.  When it comes to false teachers, remember what the scriptures say:

Ephesians 5:6-11 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

I pray that more of us will wake up to this, and voice their strong concerns to our leadership and to those who are inviting these wolves in sheep’s clothing into our schools, where so many vulnerable sheep are awaiting for real truth to be spoken to them, but may instead buy into a lie.  Those who are responsible for bringing these speakers and professors to our universities should be held accountable, and perhaps the way to start doing that is by using the power of the checkbook- and withholding it!

False Teaching Welcomed At NorthWest Nazarene University

I thought I had seen the worst in this emergent/extreme liberal/man-centered movement that is creeping into our denomination ever so quickly and quietly as each day goes by.  But I have not yet, and I’m afraid there will be worst to come.  The infiltration of emergent ideology and all its various cousins of  New Age, universalism and pantheistic thought is just marching on, seemingly with nary a word from our leadership.  One major concern is the influence on the universities, and the students that are being introduced to heretical teachings- but not with the intention of showing them what is wrong with these ideologies.  Oh no, my friends, believe me, this is a trend which has been going on for a while, and these professors (some are guests, some are Nazarene professors) are being welcomed, and allowed to spread their poison, unchallenged, masquerading their teachings as if they should be accepted as part of normal Christian belief!

My friend Pastor Joe has posted a link on our FaceBook site to a video of a guest lecture by Dr. Jay McDaniel at Northwest Nazarene University.  Feel free to go there and read some of the dialogue and concerns amongst Nazarenes and other Christians, especially as each of them viewed the video and had difficulty getting through it all.  I went back several times to Dr. McDaniel’s video, and have not yet finished it.  In the introduction alone, I heard enough that turned my stomach, and I asked, what else is coming in the rest of the lecture, which lasts about an hour, plus some questions and answers after that.

Northwest Nazarene University has its own Dr. Tom Oord as a professor there.  He is known for his support and advocacy of the twin heresies of Open Theism and Process Theology.  At the lecture, you will see Dr. Oord later towards the end as he walks around with a microphone for questions for the audience.  I had been to a lecture by Dr. Oord at Eastern Nazarene College, where he spoke as a guest speaker.  I challenged him on some issues related to death and how it came into the world, and I recall that his response to me when I quoted Romans 5:12 as the reason why death came into the world, was that he disagreed with me on that answer.  Dr. Oord also supports evolution and does not believe in the biblical account of creation.  If I am wrong, I hope he can correct me on that.  (Disclaimer: not all professors at NNU  have bought into this emergent/contemplative ideology, but NNU is a hotbed of emergent and contemplative false teachings).

Here is the link to the lecture by Dr. McDaniel.  It is 80 minutes long, including the Q&A, but I urge you to watch as much as possible, because this goes to yet another level that many of us would not have imagined as Nazarenes.  This man is promoting heretical ideology to our students, unchallenged as far as I know, and I believe he is another false teacher, based on his very words.  He is apparently a big admirer of Thomas Merton, a Roman Catholic monk who mixed Eastern religions with Christianity and was a panentheist, which is the belief that God is IN ALL THINGS.

Dr. Jay McDaniel at Northwest Nazarene University

From an excerpt of his writings, and the lecture, it seems Dr. McDaniel is an advocate of pantheism, the belief that God is in ALL.  He apparently is also a universalist, based on listening to his lecture.   Just for starters, here is a brief transcript of the introduction of Dr. McDaniel.  This was disturbing enough, but you really need to see the entire lecture in order to see the impact of it:

Introduction: “….Theology of Reverence For Life, and Ghandi… See More’s Hope of Learning From Other Religions as a Path to Peace. While a student at a Methodist seminary many years ago he was influenced by the writing of the late Catholic monk, Thomas Merton, whose interest in other religions, especially Buddhism, began to shape his own life. At the same time, he was asked to be the English teacher for a Zen Buddhist monk from Japan and their friendship affected him deeply, as well. He began to believe that Christianity can be and is a way of living in the world that is open to truth wherever you find it, including other religions and including the felt presence of the Earth.”

Here are some additional transcripts which I had written down (my words in red):

“I was influenced by the Catholic writer, Thomas Merton who was a monk.”

“Thomas Merton was a wonderful writer”

“I was interested in Merton because I wanted to be a Christian with roots and wings.”

“I had fallen into a kind of Christianity that I would say had inflexible roots, but no wings. Now that is a metaphor for a way of being Christian that is so tied to a tradition or a set of beliefs that they become a box. And you can’t learn anything new. You can’t look outside the box.”

McDaniel admired Merton “because he was open to truth wherever he found it.”

He quotes a Buddhist who he spent some time teaching English “I know that you are me, and I am you too, but you don’t know that.”

“By the way, if one of my children happens to go to hell, I would like to go there with them.”

“Maybe my Buddhist friend can help me think about God in a fresh way.”

“I, to this day, feel grateful to a Buddhist for helping me understand my own faith more deeply. He knew something I needed to know.”
And so that made me begin to wonder: can we Christians be more open? Can we be more receptive to people of other religions, than we so often have historically?
Can that be part of our good news to the world?…can our good news to the world be that we will listen, with a willingness to be touched? With a willingness to be moved? With a willingness to be in a way, converted, into deeper forms of love, with their help?”

Finally, here is a link that shows you some of his clear affinity for panentheism, the belief that God is IN ALL:

http://wildfaith.homestead.com/mcdaniel.html

These are just some short excerpts.  The rest is very disturbing, and I believe a great majority of Nazarenes will be upset as well.  Particularly if you have children who are going to, are will soon go to, a Nazarene university, you will want to, at the very least, ask some hard questions of the administrators at NNU and other colleges.   If NNU and any other schools refuse to uphold Nazarene principles, then they ought to the Nazarene name from the school, and  not call it Nazarene.  I for one will not give a penny to NNU if they asked, until they repent from the direction they are going.  How much more should we tolerate and allow to go on without raising our voices?  What else can we expect our universities to bring in, in the name of “educational freedom?”

I have sent a link to this video to our General Superintendents, and I hope they will be able to see this.  I have asked them if they could possibly sent me their thoughts on whether they believe this is acceptable or not at any Nazarene university or seminary.

May God open the eyes of many in our denomination, and bring them discernment.  We are fighting heresy, plain and simple.
I urge all Nazarenes who are as concerned about this, to start asking more questions of our leadership, until we get answers.

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent.” (Isaiah 62:6)

Do I Worship The Same God As Emergents Worship?

Emergents worship a god who is imperfect and learns from his mistakes.  I worship a God who is sovereign and never stumbles.

“Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite” Psalm 147:5

Emergents worship a god who does not know the future.  I worship a God who knew me before I was born, and whose prophesies are always right.

“Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD…All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:4, 16

Emergents say we should not judge (even though they do), and scold others who dare to point out the obvious, unbiblical errors of their theology and “doctrine”.  I obey Jesus’s commands to beware of false prophets, and the apostle’s teaching that we should be like the Bereans and hold everything up to the light of scripture.

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:15-20

“These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”  Acts 17:11

Emergents believe we need to accommodate and change according to the culture, in order to reach the post-modern world.  I believe that we need to bring the gospel to all people and all cultures, and allow the unchanging gospel to change them.

“For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!”  1 Cor. 9:16

Emergents have compared God with the modalistic, magician-like god of that blasphemous emergent bible, The Shack.  My God is the “one God in three persons” revealed in the Holy Bible, and He will always be addressed with fear, reverence and complete respect.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4

Emergents believe that “relationships” and “community” are the key to bring people into the Kingdom.  I believe that the gospel is the only effective and true way to bring people into the Kingdom.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written,  “The just shall live by faith.”  Romans 1:16-17

Emergents believe the church is for the unbelievers.  The church is for the body of Christ, who are to feed on God’s word so they can bring the gospel to the unbelievers.

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”  1 Cor. 12:12-13

Emergents cast doubt on the Holy word of God, and call it a book of “stories” or “narratives” whose meaning changes based on the whims of our changing culture.  I trust in God’s everlasting and unchanging word completely, and believe in it’s inerrancy and timeless truths for all cultures.

“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” Psalms 119:89

Emergents trust the fancy and scholarly words of skeptical professors in order to learn what the Bible “might” be saying to them.  I trust completely the “God-breathed” words of the scriptures to teach me what is right, and to keep me on the narrow road.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  Psalm 119:105

Emergents do not like to preach or hear sermons on sin and repentance and eternal damnation.  We (especially unbelievers) need to hear ALL the hard truths, that we were born totally worthless sinners in the eyes of God, undeserving of anything but punishment, but by the grace He offered us we are made righteous.

“For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” Acts 20:27

Emergents will sometimes close their churches on a Sunday, and go around fixing neighborhoods without preaching the gospel.  I believe our churches should remain open for the brethren to be fed God’s word, and that we not forget that all our righteousness and good deeds, by themselves, is as filthy rags in the eyes of God.

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”  Romans 10:13-14

Emergents say they rely on scripture to guide them, but we must balance that with experience, tradition, and reasoning.  I depend on and trust only one source completely: God’s infallible holy Word.  All other sources can and will fail.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”  2 Tim. 3:16

Emergents need to bring in pagan rituals and contemplative prayer (extra-biblical methods of prayer) in order to pray to God and “experience” Him in a “deeper” way than we’ve ever experienced.  There is only one way prescribed by the Bible to pray.  Prayer is comprehensible communication with God, not a mystical meditation.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

“The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” Psalm 119:160