Nazarene Youth Conference 2023 Bad News: Beware of These Speakers (Possibly Others)

Parents of Nazarene youth need to vet all speakers and music artists at every Nazarene youth event going forward, including NYC. They cannot afford not to do it anymore. The spiritual wellbeing of their children is at stake. To allow young people to be potentially indoctrinated with unbiblical ideas should outrage every Bible-believing parent and church leader.

Scripture talks about the contrast between light and darkness, and these two things, both literally and spiritually, cannot co-exist together.  It is impossible. Ephesians 5:11 is a classic admonishment from God’s word: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

There is an attempt to mix light and darkness at Nazarene Youth Conference, 2023, at Tampa, FL in July. Unfortunately, there have been some unwise choices for guest speakers or music artists. I talk about three of them here today, but it’s possible there are more, and speakers should be vetted thoroughly. NYC organizers also should announce their entire speaker lineup before accepting any registration money, or at least be able to offer refunds within a reasonable time period after the final speaker is announced. That will allow parents to make the best decision possible for their teens.

Following are the speakers/music artist in question. Who organized this event, and who scheduled these bad choices? What do the General Superintendents think about these people? Please prayerfully consider this information, and decide if these are the kind of speakers you want your teens to be exposed to.

[Favorably quotes these false teachers on his Twitter page; all of them are pro-homosexual]

Richard Rohr: Pro-Homosexual, contemplative Mystic, New Age panentheist (God is in all things, and all is in God).  Does not believe homosexuals need to repent. Denies biblical doctrine of the blood atonement. Believes that people of all religions worship the same God. He is a champion for the idea of a global world religion. Rohr integrates pagan contemplative practices with that of ancient Catholic “saints.” He has adapted practices such as Buddhist koans and Hindu mantras. Many evangelicals, including Gloria Gaither, have been bewitched by this heretic. Does Braatz agree with Rohr’s false teachings?

Brian McLaren: Pro-homosexual. Considered the godfather of the emergent church movement. Performed a commitment ceremony at his son’s “marriage” to another man. Says that the Bible is not clear on homosexuality. (“Frankly, many of us don’t know what we should think about homosexuality. We’ve heard all sides but no position has yet won our confidence so that we can say “it seems good to the Holy Spirit and us.”). Does Braatz agree with McLaren that the Bible is not clear on homosexuality?

Juergen Moltmann: Pro-homosexual. Quoted by Braatz multiple times.  Moltmann is a German theologian who is a universalist and believes homosexuality is not a sin. Quote: “I will not say that a lesbian or a homosexual partnership is equal to a marriage, because a marriage is intended to father children, while these partnerships are not intentionally directed to adopt children. But I have no problems in blessing such a partnership. Why should I not bless a partnership between human beings? And homosexuality is neither a sin nor a crime.”

Tony Campolo: Pro-homosexual. A once popular speaker at Nazarene colleges. Campolo is in favor of same sex marriage and has no problem with homosexual “Christians.” Does Braatz agree with Campolo? If not, why does he favorably quote Mr. Campolo?

Rachel Held Evans: Pro-homosexual.  Rachel passed away in 2019, but her public support of homosexuality was evident. Her message was that you can be both homosexual and a Christian, and anyone who disagrees is wrong. She was a false teacher who deceived many. Why does Brady Braatz quote a woman who promoted sinful behavior as something good? Quote: “In short, I affirm LGBTQ people because they are human beings, created in the image of God. I affirm their sexual orientations and gender identities because they reflect the diversity of God’s good creation, where little fits into rigid binary categories. I affirm their (healthy) relationships. I affirm them because theology that refuses to accept their personhood is deadly.”

Rob Bell: Pro-homosexual. Bell is one of the foremost leaders to come out of the emergent church movement. He announced his support of same sex marriage several years ago. Does Braatz agree with him?

And Braatz quotes the Dalai Lama, who is a Buddhist Tibetan monk and a self-proclaimed Marxist.

As described on his website, Rich Villodas is the “lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church in Queens, NY”. He is the author of several books, including one titled ‘The Deeply Formed Life.’
It is a book grounded on contemplative mysticism as well as racial and other cultural approaches. In the Amazon book description, it says that Villodas “offers an expansive and interconnected vision of  spiritual formation based on the five key paths of monastic, multiracial, emotional, sexual, and missional values.”

Villodas is a follower of contemplative mysticism proponents such as Peter Scazerro, who did the foreword for his book. Villodas also leads an online discipleship class using Scazerro’s “Emotionally Healthy Discipleship”, a book filled with contemplative mysticism ideas and false doctrine. Anyone who follows and works with Scazerro so closely is a danger to the spiritual health of Christian youth and adults.

On his website, it says that Villodas “enjoys reading, preaching and writing on contemplative spirituality.” Contemplative spirituality is an unbiblical spirituality system based on Eastern mysticism, which teaches practices such as “the silence”, which is a ritual of emptying the mind as to allow it to be “filled” by God.
No such idea is remotely taught in scripture, yet Villodas promotes this as well as other contemplative practices.

Villodas is listed as a resource on the website of Renovaré, an organization founded by Richard Foster, a Quaker theologian who many consider to be the modern day father of contemplative mysticism.  Foster promotes the same kind of Eastern mysticism that Villodas follows. Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline, has been used by many Nazarene pastors over the years, and was featured at General Assembly in 2009. David Cloud gives a good synopsis of the false spirituality Foster promotes in this article.

Rich Villodas is also a racial and social justice ideologist. He is obsessed with Critical Race Theory, a racist ideology that blames white people for racism, teaches that all white people are inherently racist, and that America’s institutions are all deeply infused with racism and needs to be completely reformed. As part of this racially charged nonsense, evangelical “white churches” are also thrown under the proverbial bus, and are seen as being complicit in the racial ills of America. Ironically, such views are themselves racist. (See examples in his own words at the end of this post).

Villodas is an ecumenicalist who favors Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. He has praised heretics such as Thomas Merton and Karl Barth. Some of their heretical beliefs are summarized below.

Villodas’ Recent Praise Of Two False Teachers: Thomas Merton and Karl Barth

Quote: “Thomas Merton and Karl Barth. Both have shaped my understanding of God in profound ways.”
How exactly can these false teachers shape anyone’s “understanding of God in profound ways”?

Karl Barth was a neo-orthodox theologian. Mr. Barth was a very highly intellectual theologian, but he made complex the simplicity of scripture and rejected its complete inspiration by the Holy Spirit. Here is a good summary of neo-orthodoxy from gotquestions.org, which indicates how neo-orthodoxy is very dangerous: 

“Neo-orthodoxy defines the Word of God as Jesus (John 1:1), and says that the Bible is simply man’s interpretation of the Word’s actions. Thus, the Bible is not inspired by God, and, being a human document, various parts of it may not be literally true. God spoke through “redemptive history,” and He speaks now as people “encounter” Jesus, but the Bible itself is not objective truth.

Neo-orthodoxy teaches that the Bible is a medium of revelation, while orthodoxy believes it is revelation. That means that, to the neo-orthodox theologian, revelation depends on the experience (or personal interpretation) of each individual. The Bible only “becomes” the Word of God when God uses its words to point someone to Christ. The details of the Bible are not as important as having a life-changing encounter with Jesus. Truth thus becomes a mystical experience and is not definitively stated in the Bible.”

Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk who was a universalist (all will eventually be saved). Trevecca President Dan Boone has praised Merton, calling him a “spiritual giant”, and Merton seems to be a favorite of many Nazarene pastors. But Merton was not a spiritual giant- he was a monk who said that he was “deeply impregnated with Sufism” because he believed that Eastern mysticism was compatible with and could be incorporated into Christianity.  He placed Mary high on a level equal to Jesus, and he prayed to many Roman Catholic saints.  He was influenced by Aldous Huxley, who found enlightenment through hallucinogenic drugs.

Would Villodas agree with the following statements by Merton?

 “I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity … I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.” (The Springs of Contemplation, p. 266)

“It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, … now I realize what we all are …. If only they [people] could all see themselves as they really are …I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other … At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusions, a point of pure truth … This little point …is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody.” (Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1989 edition, 157-158)

For five minutes in an interview, he could not answer a question with biblical clarity about homosexuality, and instead such words will lead to confusion, doubt, and lead youth away from a clear biblical view of homosexuality. Lecrae is a double-minded man.

The fact that Lecrae is appealing to the world and seeking greater acceptance from the world by using a worldly form of music should be very concerning. Did not our Lord Jesus Christ say in Matthew 16:15… “And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Lecrae is trying to have it both ways; to make the world happy, and Christ happy. It’s not possible to do both. And yet, Lecrae is trying to impart the idea that you can be both a Christian, and also be worldly. That is not a biblical view.

There is a serious problem with Lecrae working directly with worldly artists whose views on faith as well as their lifestyles are contradictory to the teachings of Jesus Christ. His musical influences have included Lauryn Hill, Tupac, and Outkast. He has high praise for them and their supposed ability to insert spirituality onto “good music.” Others who he says are some of his greatest inspirations include Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar. It remains to be seen if he will soon have any musical collaborations with them. At the very least, Lecrae has a serious lack of spiritual discernment, and is ignoring biblical instruction to avoid those who oppose the true doctrines of Jesus Christ.

Lecrae was a featured performer at Together 2016, a day-long ecumenical Christian event. It also featured Pope Francis as a speaker, and the event was a call to “unity.” Lecrae apparently forgot that true unity is only with those who believe in a biblical Gospel of salvation by faith alone.

When the movie The Shack came out, Lecrae not only worked on the soundtrack for this heretical depiction of God, but he gave rave reviews of the movie. The Shack presents a distorted view of God and compromises scriptural truth by presenting a view of “universal” salvation.

Lecrae also has directly spent time at political rallies for politicians who fully support abortion. He has denied that he has any political leanings at all, but the documentation is pretty damning. Lecrae has said on FaceBook: “I’m a Christ follower. I’m politically agnostic. I don’t endorse abortion.”

Right. And yet, on inauguration day for Joe Biden, the guy who claims to be “political agnostic” said this: “Feels good to be on the right side of history. “Which of course is the anti-racism, pro-life from womb to the tomb, care for the marginalized, anti-Christian nationalism, anti-abuse of power side.”

Apparently for Lecrae, the right side of history belongs to the Democrat liberal administration which is pro-abortion all the way. And in all his appearances with politicians, it has always been with Democrats only; liberal, leftist, abortion loving, race-obsessed Democrats. (Lecrae’ Progressive Politics and Double Minded Artistry)

Lecrae on Chic-Fil-A Owner Being Anti-Homosexuality

Lecrae is a double-minded man.

28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. (Acts 20:28-31)

False Teachers That Rich Villodas Has Quoted or Associated With:

These are the ones I have found: Brian Zahnd, Thomas Merton, Peter Scazzero. These three are all proponents of contemplative mysticism. (Merton passed away in 1968).

Examples of Villodas’ Lack of Discernment:

Below is another example of his approval of contemplative mysticism. Going to a monastery and practicing the silence are not biblically grounded activities. These are centers for promoting Eastern style practices that are bot based in scripture. Practicing the silence essentially teaches you to empty your mind, in order to “hear from God.” Instead, it is a way of inviting demonic voices to fool you into thinking you are communing with God.

Thomas Merton was a false teacher and universalist who mixed Eastern religions with Christianity.

Below are examples of Villodas’ obsession with and support of racial division, by way of Critical Race Theory ideas, support of the Black Lives Matter organization, and generalizing a kind of institutional racism in evangelical churches.

Other Links:

Rob Bell on homosexuality: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/rob-bell-and-andrew-wilson-discuss-homosexuality-some-thoughts/

Tony Campolo on homosexuality: (Why Gay Christians Should Be Fully Accepted Into The Church).

Juergen Moltmann on homosexuality: https://postbarthian.com/2014/07/17/jurgen-moltmann-homosexuality-vs-fundamentalists/

Richard Rohr on homosexuality: https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=655

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Are there Pro-LGBT Faculty Teaching Ministry Students at Northwest Nazarene University?

Earlier this year, I came across what is now a 34 page letter outlining some concerns about NNU by a recent graduate of the school, Sean Killackey (BA Religious Studies). This letter covers several topics, most notably LGBT issues. If what it says is accurate, there are several pro-LGBT professors within the College of Theology and Christian Ministries (CTCM).

Shortly after reading this letter and looking through the various pieces of evidence this student had accumulated, I wrote to several CTCM faculty whom he had mentioned. I asked them questions such as: “Do you believe that homosexual practices and gay marriage are sinful transgressions of God’s law?” While I did not receive any direct answers to these questions from the faculty whom I had contacted, I did have a brief email correspondence with one of the professors, Dr. Richard Thompson, Professor of New Testament and Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion.

Our conversation did not remove the concerns that I had as a result from reading this letter. While he described it as “filled with material taken out of context, misconstrued, misquoted . . . if not perhaps fabricated, and/or seriously misunderstood,” his characterization seemed to ring hollow. He and his faculty refused to answer what I believe to be very straightforward questions. If what this former student was saying about them (i.e., that several of them are pro-LGBT) was not correct, why not deny that directly? Moreover, if all of the things this student had said about current and former NNU professors, such as Dr. Bankard, Dr. Smerick, and Dr. Riley (see below) were false, why was Dr. Thompson unwilling to refute the particular pieces of evidence I had mentioned?

Professor Thompson was willing to deny at least one of the statements that Sean had ascribed to him, namely, that if there were enough loving homosexual couples then what the Bible means for us today would have to be reassessed. He says that he did not say this. However, if this is meant to be an indication that the letter as a whole is unreliable, it was not persuasive to me. At best it is a stand-off between two contrary recollections of what was or was not said in a certain conversation that neither you or I were present for. It is possible that this student misrecalled what Dr. Thompson had said (though, for a few reasons, I do not think this is that likely). Even if he had mis-recalled what was said, there are other claims that are directly confirmed by emails, recordings, screenshots of social media statements, etc., that appear to be accurate.

Recently, I discovered that about two months ago the former student had sent out a brief letter to Nazarene churches in the northwest United States that links to a one-and-a-half page summary document. I encourage anyone who is interested in this matter to read it. Below are a few quotations from it:

Dr. Bankard, Professor of Philosophy

He has preached several pro-LGBT sermons. In one of these, “Hide and Seek: Say No to Fear” (September 24, 2017), he relates a time when a student came out as gay to him. [Evidence] This may be the same student whom several persons refer to when they say that one of their female relatives came out as gay to Dr. Bankard and Dr. Oord, whose pro-LGBT views are well known.

Dr. Smerick, Professor of Philosophy

She has often tweeted, liked, or retweeted pro-LGBT and pro-abortion messages. Among these are several messages expressing support for students protesting against Seattle Pacific University, a private Christian college, to get them to revise their student handbook, remove its prohibition against homosexual practices, and hire LGBT faculty. [Evidence]

Dr. Kipp, Professor of Youth and Family Ministry

On several occasions, despite being asked Dr. Kipp has refrained from giving his opinion on the permissibility of homosexual practices. [Evidence] [Evidence] [Evidence] However, he was willing to say, “Wesleyans have a wide range of views of marriage (‘gay marriage’),” and, “I’m confident that our OT and NT scholars in CTCM [Dr. Riley, now at the University of Denver, and Dr. Thompson] will not agree, wholeheartedly, that St. Paul or the writer of Leviticus, is describing the same behaviors that a same-sex marriage would include.” [Evidence]

My Followup Questions To Dr. Akkerman, Dr. Peterson, and Dr. Thompson

In preparation for this post, I recently reached out again to three NNU faculty members: Dr. Jay Akkerman, Assistant to the President for Congregational Engagement; Dr. Brent Peterson, Dean of the College of Theology and Christian Ministries; and Dr. Richard Thompson. The only significant response I received (as of writing this) has been from Dr. Thompson. I will relate that in a future post. Suffice it for now to note that he continues to insist that what Sean has claimed is unreliable. He states that he and his faculty all continue to support and uphold the Manual’s statement on sexuality, even if they do not feel obligated to affirm every “jot and tittle” in it.

A Sample of Some of the Evidence

Below are just a few examples of the sort of evidence that Dr. Thompson alleges are ‘cherry-picked’. Judge for yourselves.

1) This is an excerpt from Sean’s longer letter about NNU’s College of Theology. It contains two verifiable quotations from Dr. Bankard, a philosophy professor at NNU.

2) This is a screenshot of one of the pro-LGBT tweets that Dr. Smerick, a philosophy professor at NNU, liked. Is it proper for a philosophy professor at a Nazarene university to celebrate LGBT activists bullying a Christian college?

3) This is a screenshot of just one of Dr. Riley’s many pro-LGBT and pro-abortion tweets, retweets, and liked tweets (“biology is not destiny” is a pro-transgenderism sound bite, “reproductive rights” is an euphemism for abortion, and “sexual . . . rights” is probably an assertion of a pro-gay marriage position).

The Removal Of A Dangerous Teacher Must Be Supported

If your pastor stood up at the pulpit and said to you that “God cannot know the future,” what would you think?

If your pastor stated also that “God makes mistakes and that He learns from those mistakes,” what would you think?

If your pastor said that Adam and Eve were simply allegorical tales, and that they were not really historical figures as written in the Bible, what would you think?

If your pastor stated to the congregation that Genesis 1-11 is not fact, and that we were really created through a wildly random process of “evolution,” what would you think?

I would hope that most Christians would be outraged, and would most likely call for the resignation of that pastor.  These are all unbiblical beliefs which should not be tolerate of any ordained minister in the church.

Well, Dr. Tom Oord, who is also an ordained elder in the Nazarene church, has been terminated from his position as a theology professor at Northwest Nazarene University.  I will be following up with another post regarding this outcome, but for now, I want to encourage every Christian on this list and who reads my blog, to go to the following link and express your support for the termination of this professor.  This is not a time to gloat or celebrate the loss of anyone’s job; yet this is also a time to feel some relief, that at least one more professor will not be allowed to teach heretical views to so many students at a Christian school.

I was there at ENC several years ago, when after a lecture by Dr. Oord, and after I quoted relevant scripture to him, he politely disagreed with my position on the origin of sin and death, and solidified my conclusion that he is a false teacher.  He is not alone, and I will expound on that next time.  But for now, I urge you to go to the change.org website and express your support of his termination.  Although the official reason stated was regarding budgetary reasons, I hope and pray that the proper reason that should have been said, was that he was let go because of his anti-biblical views.

If you agree, please go to the site and support Dr. Alexander’s removal of a dangerous teacher:

https://www.change.org/p/dr-david-alexander-we-support-your-removal-of-dr-tom-oord?recruiter=36611337&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition

For further information on Tom Oord’s (and others) false teachings:

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/open-theism-and-christian-evolution-at-eastern-nazarene-college/

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/mocking-and-rejecting-god-and-his-word/

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/nazarene-scholars-continue-to-undermine-belief-in-gods-word-with-evolutions-lie/

Nazarenes Exploring Evolution: Spreading Evolution’s Lies, Rejecting God’s Word

“These men are dried-up springs, mere clouds driven by a storm. Gloomy darkness is reserved for them.”  2 Peter 2:17

Evolution is a farce.  It is unprovable.  It is at best a hypothesis, and not even rises to the level of a theory.  It is not based on the scientific method of provability.  And one of its most amazing assumptions, that some living things amazingly transitioned to a totally different living thing (such as fish to mammal), does not have one shred of evidence and has never been observed to have happened.

Yet, it seems Nazarenes Exploring Evolution are trying their best to turn the Nazarene denomination into one that first and foremost holds to the false and unfounded teachings of the religion of evolution, while grudgingly letting faithful Bible-believers hold on their “silly” notion that the Bible does mean what it says when God explains creation in the book of Genesis.

The latest indication of a corrupted mind comes from a recent article written by Mark Maddix, Professor of Practical Theology and Discipleship at Northwest Nazarene University.  In an article titled “Evolutionary Theory and Moral Development”, he gives further proof that the Nazarene universities are a breeding ground for false teaching, and are a “great” place to send your child if you wish to have his or her faith shattered by the time the graduate.  Northwest Nazarene is clearly near the top of the list of the worst, along with Point Loma and the Nazarene Theological Seminary, yet we cannot recommend a single Nazarene university today that is holding true to biblical principles, and that has not fallen for the emergent ideology and the “spiritual formation” programs which are corrupting our youth.

Dr. Maddix is also known for his promotion of contemplative spirituality (the true name of spiritual formation).  At General Assembly this year, he led a presentation which ended up promoting the usual forms of contemplative spirituality that has so infected practically all Christian universities today.  When I stood up to challenge him on his premise that Roman Catholics believe the same way we do, we could tell that he was not only steadfastly defending that position, but that he and his colleague were wrong on the side of history, claiming that the Bible came from the Roman Catholic Church.  These are the kinds of dangerous things being allowed by the General Superintendents and the board of directors at these schools.

In his article, Maddix says this:

 “Growing up in a Christian home, evolution was only referred with negative connotations. I was taught that evolution was an atheistic theory which undermined the authority of Scripture in general and specifically Genesis 1 and 2.”

So in his early years, he was taught the right thing.  Evolution is an atheistic theory, it has never been close to being proved and cannot be proved with any facts whatsoever.  So what made Dr. Maddix change his mind?  Was it compelling evidence from Holy Scripture?  Sadly, no.  His authority is not the Bible, as is evident now.

He goes on to say that when he went to a Christian university, that is where he changed his mind.  He was persuaded, not by God’s word, but by the words of a professor.  He believed the professor who said that “the author of Genesis, probably not Moses, (that created another anxiety) had no understanding of modern science and was writing to show God’s relationship with God’s creation.”   So then Maddix explains that “His explanation changed the course of my understanding of the creation-evolution debate and helped me understand Genesis 1 and 2 as theological not scientific.”

He then goes on to tell how he subsequently became confused by a young earth creationist’s explanation of our origins.  He then stayed confused until a biology professor “affirmed his belief in evolution by stating that Darwin’s theory was the best way to explain how God created the universe.”  He accepted the professor’s explanation that “”Believing in evolution does not reject Scripture, since Scripture was not written for such purposes.”  Dr. Maddix goes on the state that “My Christian liberal arts education provided me with a clearer understanding of a Wesleyan view of Scripture, particularly as it related to the creation accounts and a view of creation that could include evolution.”

Thus he bought into the lie, and thus that is where he is now.

You must read on through his entire article in order to appreciate the kind of thinking that is causing great harm to Christian students in our universities.   A other quote by Dr. Maddix:

“In my search for understanding how persons grow and develop morality, I first asked whether humans are born with the capacity to know what is right or wrong (nature), or is morality shaped primary by our environments (nurture).”

He is searching for answers, but he seems to not search in the right place.  His search for understanding can only fully be fully arrived at in the pages of the “great book” as John Wesley called it.  As he and others distort the history of John Wesley for their purposes, they forget that John Wesley believed entirely in the complete inspiration of Scripture, and that it has no error whatsoever.  And therein lies the problem.  They do NOT believe that the Bible is God’s word.  They pick and choose and decide for themselves what the Bible says, not what it really says.

Dr. Maddix concludes:

“Evolutionary ethics does not contradict a Biblical view of human persons Instead it provides a scientific explanation for how God created humans with the capacity to be moral, and through our environments, we grow and develop morally.”

How truly sad.  How pathetically sad.  Yet he will answer to God for the damage he is causing.  But Dr Maddix is not alone; he is but one example of the many members of Nazarenes Exploring Evolution who are causing great harm today.  One is a former professor of mine in Greek New Testament.  Another is Tom Oord, also from NNU, who also promotes such false teachings as process theology and open theism.  Another is Dr. Dan Boone, president of Trevecca Nazarene University, one of the most dangerous and influential men in the denomination today.  It is a long list of “learned men and women” who cannot seem to accept the plain taught facts of Scripture.

As I wrote in a previous article:

Believing in evolution means you must accept that, among other things:

-Adam and Eve were not real historical figures as described in Genesis;

-Jesus was not truthful when he talked about Adam and Eve in a historical context;

-You reject God’s account in Genesis that He created everything in six days;

-You reject the ​truthfulness of the​ genealogical account of the Lord in the book of Luke, which includes Adam;

-The account of the first 11 chapters of Genesis is only allegory;

-You accept that death came into the world many years before any Adam and Eve, contradicting Romans 5:12 and its explanation of how sin and death came into the world;

-You pick and choose what you want to believe, instead of accepting God’s historical account at face value;

-You choose to use your own intellect and human reasoning and philosophy to validate the Bible, instead of letting the Bible validate itself;

-You reject the inerrancy and reliability of Scripture as the sole and final written authority for our faith and practice, and instead accept that the Bible has errors and is written deceptively.

Quoting a friend who recently commented on Maddix’s article: “What was it someone said to Paul, “Great learning has driven you mad.”  This fellow, like many in our universities, has had Christianity educated out of them.  So sad.”

Well, we know that Paul certainly was not mad, as he was clearly preaching and teaching the truth.  He himself claimed that the words that came from him were “not man’s word, but God’s words.”  Dr. Maddix and his friends do not believe the Bible is God’s inerrant word, and until they accept God’s word for what it teaches, they will be lost like a ship in the storm.

Related Articles:

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/prominent-nazarenes-reject-gods-word-and-promote-ungodly-evolution/

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/what-they-believe/

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2013/10/07/square-peg-nonsense-in-false-theology/

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/responding-to-nazarenes-exploring-evolution/

https://reformednazarene.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/you-say-toe-may-toe-i-say-toe-mah-toe/

Why Can’t They See It? Demonic Activity In Nazarene Schools and Churches

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  James 4:4

An Alarm That Needs to Be Sounded But Will Largely Be Ignored
(John Henderson)

http://youtu.be/Nk_I3fNCWxQ   ENC Harlem Shake
http://youtu.be/iExjofik6wg  Unmasked Version of Harlem Shake
http://youtu.be/9dxWxv376xM  “Original Version” at Mid America
http://youtu.be/Tm23MxS6xz8  Olivet Nazarene University
http://youtu.be/yNCP7YOM3Pk  Olivet Coaches
http://youtu.be/4kHaOnOSGNc  Point Loma Nazarene University
http://www.treveccalive.com/angelotate/harlem-holiness-shake/  Trevecca “Holiness” Shake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9gh-XlOMvm0#!  Northwest Nazarene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpUABrTCfY  Southern Nazarene

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dtn1Fp5e8A Africa Nazarene University

The above You Tubes clearly demonstrate there is something wrong in our Church of the Nazarene.  Except possibly for the second one (and there were others so vile I could not share them here), they are all at Nazarene Universities.  The one at Olivet is set up by who is apparently the chaplain.

I might say that this is the ultimate emergent heresy unabashed and out of control.  I would be right.  I might say it is just a cousin to the demonic kundalini and I would be right because it is demonic through and through.  People who are demon possessed are not born again because God’s saved cannot be demon possessed.  They can be harassed but not possessed of demons.  These people are demon possessed.

What I do say is a serious question:  Where on God’s green earth are the university presidents, administration, and faculty?  Where, in the precious name of Jesus are the university board members?  Where are the general superintendents, department heads, district superintendents, and major pastors in the Church of the Nazarene?  Why is no one calling a halt to this?

It is ironic that we Nazarenes who stand for the truth of the Scriptures are snubbed, insulted, and demeaned because we raise a voice against this stuff from hell!  It is ironic that pastors are bemoaning the exodus of people and offerings from their churches while they “hee-hee” this filth and continue to offer up cultic substitutes for worship and prayer.  It is ironic that we wring our hands at the consequences of the lawsuit out of the Bethany sex scandal that now forces every Nazarene church to conduct a “background” check on everyone who has direct contact with its children.

Isn’t it high time that we Nazarenes start being Nazarenes?  I tell people that I am a traditional Nazarene, that I am not an emergent Nazarene, a postmodern Nazarene, a new age Nazarene, a progressive Nazarene, and so on.  I take the Bible at its word—God’s Word to be precise.  I believe the creation was a real event.  I believe that God is omnipotent, omni-present, and omniscient—that He knows the future just as if it was today.  I believe that sin is awful and damning and that if anyone is not fully trusting Christ as Savior that person is lost and has only Hell to anticipate and dread.  I believe the Bible is totally true and accurate by divine action.

I believe that God expects us to live above the world in attitude, conduct, speech, and even our outward appearances—we are to live beyond the world-order in holiness of heart, mind, body, and soul.  We are not of the world so we are not to take on its identity in any form.

This world cannot teach us a thing.  We are on a divine mission to win and teach them.  There is to be no compromise or accommodation on our part.  We have a clear message that has often been summarized accurately in three words—repent or perish.

It is so pitiful that we have received a call to intercessory prayer by our denominational leaders leading up to the 2013 general assembly.  It is clear that we need to do that.

A Failure Of The Shepherds To Exercise Leadership In The Church Leads To Such As This
(Manny Silva)

The worldwide phenomenal popularity of a new dance video craze called the Harlem Shake is clearly obvious.  YouTube videos with well over 40 million hits collectively prove that.  It is yet another fad that soon will die out as many other fads do.  Briefly explained, as described in an article by Stand Up For The Truth:

First you see a subdued, well-behaved group or crowd. Suddenly you hear music audio declaring, “Con Los Terroristas!” A sole individual is then seen dancing while wearing a helmet or mask, while the others seem oblivious to the gyrations in their midst. When the song breaks into “Do the Harlem Shake!” the video cuts and shows the room filled with people in costumes dancing wildly and seductively. It is reminiscent of the Golden Calf scene in the Ten Commandments movie.

By the way, Con Los Terroristas  means “with the terrorists.” When you see one of these from a Christian viewpoint, it is clearly a worldly performance that most of the time looks demonic.  Much of it is sensual, oftentimes bordering on the pornographic, with many of the participants often scantily clad, dressed in devilish costumes, and making extremely vulgar gestures.  Certainly not something any professing born again Christian would do, right?

Wrong.

It is now a craze that is sweeping evangelical Christian schools and even church youth groups.  In the Stand Up For The Truth article, they document how Christian organizations such as Liberty University, Rick Warren’s Saddleback Youth Ministry, Kentucky Christian University, Cedarville University, and others, have jumped onto this bandwagon and brought this phenomenon into their chapels and churches!  In one of the videos from a church in San Antonio, Texas, you even see this being performed in the middle of a sermon, with the pastor joining in enthusiastically.  And in a blasphemous performance, a C3 church in Australia did it while re-enacting Jesus Christ’s crucifixion.

But… what about Nazarenes?  After all, we are a holiness denomination, are we not?  Surely not us!

Out of curiosity, I did some research.  Why am I not surprised?  The first one I found was actually from my alma mater, Eastern Nazarene College. Probably the many years of a liberal “kids will be kids” attitude, coupled with an ecumenical philosophy and the emergent rejection of doctrine in favor of being like the world, has poisoned the minds of our youth.  And this is the result.  Worldliness in a Nazarene school, or a Nazarene church, and many of the youth and many of the adults have no problem with this at all.  More likely, they think this is cute and so much fun, and think that the world will love how we like to have a good time.

Such is the state of the church, and how it continues to go deeper and deeper into worldliness until it will no longer have any kind of distinction from the non-believers.  (At the end, you will find a full list of what I have found (so far) at our Nazarene universities, churches and youth group meetings).

And will anyone in Nazarene leadership say a word?  Why should they?  They have not taken a serious stand on all the apostasy that has started to destroy the Nazarene denomination, so clearly I do not expect any of our General Superintendents, or our District Superintendents, or any of our college presidents, to say a peep about this.

But if I’m wrong, I guess I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

You make your own judgment about this, but I agree with my friends who have said that this is nothing but demonic activity, and it is truly sad how our university and church leaders have contributed so poorly to the spiritual development of our youth.  The result is this and much more that we have already sounded the alarm about.  And the majority of the sheep sit quietly in the pews, meekly listening to feel good sermons and bragging about how they are proud to be Nazarene.  Well, for the first time in my life, I am no longer proud to be a Nazarene.

As Scripture clearly teaches us, those who are in such positions as supposed shepherds in the church will have much to answer to the Lord someday.

 “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”  James 3:1

APPENDIX: (Viewer discretion advised.  As John said, some of these are pretty vile in their content)

Mid-America Nazarene University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dxWxv376xM

Wenatchee Nazarene Student Ministries:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSwhbacXGz0

Muncie First Church:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MZViVviAgE

Point Loma Nazarene University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laryefkPsTY

Olivet Nazarene University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhK6pfgo72U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iExjofik6wg

Bethany First Church Youth Ministry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25UqkFylwHY

Chicago First Church, Edge Student Ministry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe1iI8Y-iEQ

Maysville Nazarene Church:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG-YBKawRkg

Southern Nazarene Univ. student bus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FpUABrTCfY

Eastern Nazarene College:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk_I3fNCWxQ

ENC’s Facebook page brags about it:  http://www.facebook.com/EasternNazarene

Trevecca Nazarene University:
http://www.treveccalive.com/angelotate/harlem-holiness-shake/

Northwest Nazarene University:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9gh-XlOMvm0#!

A Nazarene church in MN:
http://www.ffnaz.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=555:harlem-shake-youth-ministry-style&catid=22:youth-ministry&Itemid=132