Vinny, good one.  I'll send this one on.

earlier, Vinny Samarco, wrote:
>Hi,
>    Read this one prayerfully, and you will see that it is almost right on.
>Vinny
>----- Original Message ----- From: "RJ" <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2008 5:51 PM
>Subject: [CCNV] Trojan Horse in the Church
>
>
>Trojan Horse <http://www.gregoryreid.com/id180.htm>
>
>*"…That Day shall not come unless there come a great falling away first." (2
>Thessalonians 2:3)*
>
>*We know by these words that before Jesus returns, great deception will come
>to the church. Right now, we are totally unprepared for it.  One of the
>crying alarms in my heart is the almost total lack of discernment in the
>church. We have come to a place where we are so conditioned to the slow
>infiltration of all things sensual and worldly, that we judge the rightness
>of a thing based on how we feel, how something looks, how big and how
>popular something is. Humans by nature are trend junkies. The church,
>through compromise, have become trend junkies. There is always the "latest"
>thing to make your church a success, make your program work, etc. There is
>something to be said for the steady faithfulness of a tiny church. In
>Revelation I never read Jesus commending a church for their astonishing
>growth. He does commend them for faithfulness under fire.*
>
>*The thing about "phenomenal church growth" that concerns me is, who is
>populating the "growth?" Why are they really there? How many are truly
>committed to following Jesus for a lifetime?*
>
>*My concern is that in all the growth, there are scarce few watchmen. In
>fact, because of the "bigness", which to most means God has to be behind it,
>any watchmen who raise a concern are seen as divisive troublemakers, and are
>marginalized, scoffed at and dismissed as irrelevant in the face of this
>"big" thing "God" is doing.*
>
>*I need to make it plain that I do not agree with or want to be seen as like
>so many self-appointed "watchmen" who viciously attack anything related to
>Christian counseling or the gifts of the Spirit or anything that is not cut
>and dry traditional. There is a difference between mean-spirited
>heresy-hunters and true watchmen, and I am always trying to stay on the
>right side of that line.*
>
>*But the problem certainly NOT that we have a bunch of "heresy hunters"
>making life miserable, or even that there are many true watchmen raising
>concerns. In fact there are precious few, and their voices are extinguished
>or silenced very quickly, and rarely get any real hearing in the Christian
>media. When it comes to mega-church movements, dissenters are as welcome as
>a party crasher at a Quincenera. *
>
>*And THIS is how the Trojan Horse of deception is going to get in: No one
>will be watching the gates, because everyone's so awestruck at the size and
>the majesty of this Horse. And anyone who opposes it will be ridiculed as a
>"chicken little" doomsday preacher.*
>
>*Let me give you a little history lesson, which is necessary because most
>believers are either unaware of, or have forgotten, the alarm of the 1980's
>concerning the "New Age Movement." Lawyer-turned-advocate Constance Cumbey
>wrote an astonishing and accurate book called, "The Hidden Dangers of the
>Rainbow." She exposed the powerful and committed agenda of the New Age,
>which was - and is - the heart and core of the coming one world religion
>that the antichrist will lead. The book exposed the New Age's gradual
>infiltration of the media, politics, education, and especially the church.*
>
>*Unfortunately, the church's concern and alarm about all of this was just a
>"trend junkie" fix and the New Agers retaliated and wiped Cumbey out, and we
>quickly forgot and moved on to the next "thing". Now when you mention it,
>most Christians say, "New Age What?" The problem is, though the church has
>forgotten that the New Age has an agenda, the agenda remains. And that
>agenda, as clearly stated long ago by the New Age teachers, is the
>"blending" of Christianity as just one of many religions. Those who did not
>go along would be marginalized, isolated and eventually eliminated if
>necessary, or as one said, "Evolved to the next life."*
>
>*As I've watched several generations of Christians pass by since 1969, I see
>how this is being carried out. There were key elements - solid pillars of
>the church - that had to be weakened, and "new ideas" had to be put in their
>place. This is how it has evolved:*
>
>*The dumbing down of the Word of God.*
>
>*The serious study and application of the Word of God has always been a
>cornerstone of the true church. Less than 30 years ago, believers in the
>former Soviet Union were murdered for even possessing a Bible. In some
>countries, they still are.*
>
>*Today, if you want a Bible, going to a Christian bookstore is like a huge
>smorgasbord. There are dozens of translations, cool covers, devotional
>Bibles for everyone from golfers to pet lovers. Most are designed for
>Snippet readers - a little bite, not too much, with a warm-fuzzy story to go
>with it. "Devotional reading" has replaced real study.*
>
>*Have you noticed how the big "megachurch" movements push certain
>translations? "So we'll all be on the same page." Problem is, many of these
>new translations can't even be called scripture (like "The Message") so
>greatly have they been altered from true scripture.*
>
>*I'm not a "King James only" person, but I'm getting close, especially as I
>learn more about many "new" versions and how they have eliminated key verses
>and words about the Lordship of Jesus and His shed blood. You would do well
>to do an online search on "King James Debate" and make your own conclusions.
>It rattled me enough to pare down my Bible collection to a few proven,
>sturdy ones rather than the plethora of spurious "new" ones.*
>
>*Every generation has become less studious and more "devotional" to where
>now, you need only "follow the bouncing ball" on Powerpoint once a week at
>church and that suffices as "scripture study." I'm grateful for some of the
>young people I know who are comparing these new "translations" with the old
>and saying, "Hey, that's NOT what it says!" *
>
>*The dumbing down of the scriptures has led to compromise in every area -
>sexuality, "lifestyle" and relationships. The result is, discernment is
>utterly gone. Counterfeits are supposed to be good; only if you know the
>REAL, inside and out, does that precious gift of discernment rise up to
>contest the lies. And that REAL is only found through committed study of the
>Word of God.*
>
>*Christian Media: Diluting and merchandising.*
>
>*One of the biggest joys of my early Christian walk was to visit Christian
>bookstores. They were full of substance, Spirit-filled music and great books
>and tools for evangelism.*
>
>*Now, they are like a homey mini-mart. And it's all about trends, popularity
>and money. They cater to "trend junkies." They are overrun with Christian
>romance books. The non-fiction bestsellers are vapid and weak and empty,
>books that are making a fortune on "principles" so basic that most
>Christians should have had them down in the first month of their walk, and
>instead are being touted as "great revelation." You have to special order
>anything of real value - Amy Camichael, AW Tozer, Spurgeon. The music
>section is filled with trendy bands that sound like the world but have no
>redeeming power. There are exceptions, but they are rare, and they are not
>in the "top ten" rack. *
>
>*Why are we shocked? Almost all of the major Christian book and music
>companies are owned by powerful secular corporations. As a result, MONEY is
>what dictates what fills the store - what sells - and secular corporations
>care only for what will sell, and not for the truth. Thus most Christians do
>not even have the opportunity to taste of the richness of true Christian
>literature. This part of the "Trojan Horse" is crucial - those who control
>the flow of information into the hearts and minds of believers, will control
>what they read and what they think and what they follow. The wholesale
>control over Christian media by secular corporations has nearly guaranteed
>that books that are controversial, challenging or don't "follow the flow"
>are never going to see the light of day.*
>
>*The "Inward" Life*
>
>*The church is never stronger than when they are bringing people to Christ.
>Former revivals brought thousands to Jesus and closed down bars. (Now
>Christian performers want to "cross over" and PLAY in bars.) Evangelism is
>powerful. Therefore it is necessary for satan and those who carry out the
>"new age" agenda to neutralize it.*
>
>*The "new evangelism" is gutting us. It starts by making believers
>introspective. "FIND your purpose. Look inside! Use breath prayers and
>contemplative thought. Read the `desert masters'!" The desert masters,
>unfortunately, that are gaining a new audience in the church, lived in
>isolation and took much of their teaching from Buddhist and Hindu religion.*
>
>*I believe in meditation, yes, but not the "new way" it's being taught. Yes,
>Elijah had to wait for a still, small voice. But just as often, God spoke
>powerfully through visions, prophetic utterance and knocking someone off of
>their horse! True meditation is ACTIVELY engaging your mind and heart in
>scripture, not EMPTYING your mind and waiting for an "impression" or
>"feeling."*
>
>*Beware of the new "contemplative Christian prayer" trend. It is repackaged
>New Age teaching. It is virtually indistinguishable from New Age thought,
>and includes new age tools such as "prayer labyrinths", and will do nothing
>but keep believers from their evangelical purpose as they turn more and more
>inward looking for the next "Holy Spirit" hit.*
>
>*I recently viewed a new DVD series designed for teens and college kids.
>It's slick, MTV quality and "cool." It is going to be marketed - and
>accepted - hugely in youth groups. It's called the "Nooma" series by Mars
>Hill Pastor Rob Bell. I watched one entitled "Bullhorn" and it made me
>spiritually sick. The background for Bell's message is a fat, bald,
>coke-bottle glasses middle aged man with shirt tail hanging out and passing
>out literature and using a bullhorn to do street evangelism.*
>
>*Bell went on to make the preacher come across as a fool, and worse - he
>proclaims that this man is actually turning people AWAY from Christ, and
>that he thinks even Jesus thinks he's an embarrassment.  Bell peppers his
>short message with new-age words like "diversity", "inclusiveness" etc. It
>was very slick, and yes, many of us have seen someone like that. But the
>real message was, underlying it all, that evangelism is uncool and
>unnecessary, that we need to reach people by caring and putting and arm
>around their shoulder, and listening. These "bullhorn" types are a terrible
>offense, and Jesus thinks so too.*
>
>*What a damnable lie.*
>
>*Our problem is not that too many bullhorn preachers have taken to the
>streets. The real problem is that the overwhelming majority of Christian
>youth don't share their faith AT ALL. They have NEVER evangelized, never
>been on the street and WILL not. This DVD, if it gains a wide audience, is a
>preemptive strike designed by satan to GUT this generation of its mandate to
>evangelize! They already do not know how and do not want to. This DVD's
>message is, it is WRONG to, it is UNCOOL to, and Jesus doesn't like it
>either!*
>
>*This part of the Trojan Horse is extremely crucial to the New Age agenda,
>which wants to make the church "inclusive", "diverse" and harmless. They
>will ostracize anyone who still wants to "shove religion down people's
>throats." Be ready to hear more and more talk about how we need to see how
>much we have in COMMON with other religions, rather than what makes us
>DIFFERENT. One World Religion won't initially try to take away your faith;
>they will just neutralize it, TAME it, and get it to SHUT UP.*
>
>*Syncretism and "NewSpeak"*
>
>*Syncretism is essentially molding the Gospel to fit the culture. I
>understand we don't need to take an "Americanized" Gospel to third world
>cultures, but this current trend toward syncretism is different, and it is
>going way too far. We have gone so far in dressing up the Gospel in worldly
>clothes to fit the culture that we have forgotten we are called to be a
>SEPARATE people. We do not take our cues from the world; we take everything
>from the scriptures, whether it is socially acceptable or not. We are not
>called to make the Gospel fit people's lives; the Gospel makes people fit
>the Kingdom Life, which is UTTERLY SEPARATE from this world system.*
>
>*I believe the church has an identity crisis. Because our weak programs and
>powerless efforts have failed to get the world's attention, we decided to
>become "the good guys." The megachurch movements have suddenly become a huge
>self-help and relief agency. Believe me - the church should ALWAYS feed the
>poor, care for the destitute, the widow, the orphan. But it is not the
>center of the Gospel, and I am concerned that we are doing much of this
>because we want so much to be relevant, to be LIKED. The megachurch movement
>is becoming absorbed in good social works, but the Gospel message is
>becoming more and more diluted and muted, so as "not to offend." Instead of
>"silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee, in the Name of
>Jesus Christ RISE UP AND WALK", it's "Here's some silver and a voucher. God
>bless!", leaving the soul unsaved, unhealed.*
>
>*Again, the New Age masters cannot complete their vision without doing
>something about the Christians. And the Trojan Horse here is to slowly
>transform it from evangelical and separate to inclusive, helpful and
>nonoffensive.*
>
>*Perhaps if you understood the basis of Luciferian philosophy and goals,
>which underpins the New Age, you would see the danger. Their vision is a
>world as one religion, one nation, without God, because YOU are "God."
>Sharing wealth, healing the world. Megachurch programs promoting a "peace
>plan" which seeks to cure disease, stop wars, erase poverty etc., but in a
>weak, safe religious context, are MORE than acceptable in Luciferian/New Age
>context. It is in fact the best way to absorb the church, dilute the message
>and eliminate the divisive hard-line "religious fanatics." Can I spell out
>the message? "Come join us in healing the world. We like Jesus too. Just
>don't push your religion on us and we will accept AND applaud your efforts!"
>And so they are. Megachurch world-healers keep dangerous company and seem to
>have no problem cozying up to new age thinkers and spokesmen, as long as it
>"gets the job done", choosing to see what they have in COMMON rather than
>what makes them DIFFERENT.*
>
>*Why am I bothered that the world is beginning to applaud the efforts of the
>church world-healers? Because frankly, the number of horrible things said
>about me personally over the internet tells me I'm doing my job. I do not
>want the world's accolades. "They hated me", Jesus said, "They will hate you
>also." And, "Beware when all men speak well of you." The Gospel is an
>OFFENSE to those who do not believe. Shouldn't we be concerned if we
>suddenly are becoming the world's harmless darling? We should, indeed.*
>
>*If you've read George Orwell's 1984, you might recall the concept of
>"newspeak." It is the interjection of a new vocabulary to brainwash people.
>Repeat it enough, it will alter people's thoughts and behavior.*
>
>*The New Age has their own NewSpeak. This part of the Trojan Horse is
>beginning to change the church's vocabulary. Words, and some of these words
>I will list, aren't necessarily bad, but they are charged with new age
>meaning. This is just a partial list:*
>*Global; Inclusive; diversity; radical shift; emerging church; paradigm
>shift; syncretism; Oneness; inner work; contemplative; possibility thinking;
>fulfilling your dream; finding your destiny; positive message.*
>
>*You get the idea. Not one of these words or concepts are in scripture. But
>slowly, NewSpeak is prevailing, and God help those who cry caution; they
>will be labeled divisive and haters and dissenters. How, dear Jesus, did we
>get so far from the pure, unvarnished powerful message of the Gospel?*
>
>*"Last Days"*
>
>*In order to succeed, a cloud of absolute confusion has to come concerning
>the last days. It was so simple when I first believed; Jesus was coming
>back. We believed, we waited, we spoke it to one another: "Maranatha!" We
>cut our teeth on Hal Lindsay's Late Great Planet Earth. It may not have been
>100%, but it was a good scriptural guide on what to watch for. No, He has
>not yet come, but we watch, we wait, expect, love His appearing.*
>
>*Today, a vast number of churches and believers do not talk about His
>return, do not preach it and many new believers don`t even know to expect
>His return. When was the last time you heard a message on His coming?
>Emphasis on the return of Jesus has nearly gone from our midst, which suits
>the New Age agenda well; they don't want this silly talk of Jesus returning.
>Why not just repair THIS world instead of pining for the "pie in the sky by
>and by"?*
>
>*I do not know how it will happen. I doubt very much it will turn out like
>the fiction series has portrayed, or that the Antichrist's name is Nicolae.
>I do not know the when, or the how of His return, but I know He WILL, and we
>are commanded to WATCH and look for the signs and wait.*
>
>*But in the midst of a growing ignorance about the last days, there is a
>renewal of the "preterist" movement, largely revived by Hank Hannegraff's
>"Anti-Left-Behind" fiction book "The Last Disciple" whose message is,
>"Revelation happened already. Nero was the Antichrist, get over it."*
>
>*How nicely this fits the New Age agenda! "Don't expect doomsday, it
>happened. Christ HAS come again - IN YOU! So get with the program, stop all
>this negative last-days talk and get busy repairing the world!" The church,
>either having either a fictional and flawed version of the last days, or a
>belief that Revelation is irrelevant, will stop expecting His return or
>believing that "the end of all things is at hand."*
>
>*And now, the last underpinning of Biblical prophecy is slowly being
>discredited: The Timepiece of God, Israel. She is woven into every aspect
>and detail of true Biblical last-day prophecy from Scripture.*
>
>*It is no surprise that a great surge is developing in the church that is
>teaching that the CHURCH is the new Israel, that God abandoned Israel for
>crucifying Jesus, and that the church should abandon their support for
>Israel in exchange for the "Roadmap for Peace."*
>
>*All these things the scriptures told us beforehand: The great falling away;
>doctrines of demons; lovers of this world more than God; one world, one
>religion; All the world turning on Israel, and then the man with a "peace
>plan". It's all there. And for the first time, I can see how many Christians
>will miss it and believe the lie.*
>
>*It's easy to see why. These things are not taught, believers are not
>warned, the lies are not contested. But the primary reason: The Book is not
>READ. Today's church is as Bible ignorant as anytime since the Dark Ages
>when they COULDN'T read it. Deluged by variety and Vanity Bibles, we are
>nearly Scripture Snippet Christians, who embrace the positive and eliminate
>- or IGNORE - the negative.*
>
>*And oh, look! What a BEAUTIFUL horse!*
>
>*Gregory Reid*
>
>--
>___________________________________
>Rick Johnson
>http://oldsarges.blogspot.com/
>http://www.myspace.com/rebelfire77
>[log in to unmask]
>http://www.kutsalkitap.com/?p=0&l=1
>http://www.truthformuslims.com/listen.htm
>http://www.sc-20062.com
>
>
>
>Founder Samuel Adams noted,
>"It does not take a majority to prevail ...
>but rather an irate, tireless minority,
>keen on setting brushfires of freedom
>in the minds of men." We know you
>are one of the "tireless minority"
>of conservative activists, and we
>thank you for your vigilance.
>
>Somewhere in Kenya
>a village is missing their idiot.
>
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>But if the watchman sees the sword coming and
>does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and
>the sword comes and takes the life of one of
>them, that man will be taken away because of
>his sin, but I will hold the watchman
>accountable for his blood."  Ezekiel 33:6 (NIV)
>______________________________________________________________
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>- Release Date: 11/10/2008 7:53 AM

John