--Ingrid Schlueter, Slice of Laodicea
My latest column has been posted at Christian Worldview Network, “The Moses Code Movie Blasphemy and the Big Shift”. It is a summary of many of the things covered here at Slice recently regarding the tidal wave of New Spirituality deception sweeping the globe and how it is being presented by various teachers and authors from the same script. I point to the fact that just as the Lord assigns us roles in the Kingdom of God to do His will, the enemy has servants who do his will. You will find low-level proponents of eastern spirituality and occult teachings in every town in America. These are the people who open their living rooms to meetings discussing Neale Donald Walsch’s latest book, or Oprah’s latest author/shill for the anti-Christ. These are the ones who will be holding some of the thousand screenings and prayer vigils worldwide with the opening of the Moses Code Movie. Then you go on up the chain. There are the intermediate false teachers and leaders who work on a regional level or who take the writings of the big kahunas and spread them far and wide.
Then there are those who promote wickedness in high places. That would be men like Congressman Dennis Kucinich who works in the halls of Congress promoting his Department of Peace along with his New Age friends. There are all the authors and speakers who sell millions of books like Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle and so forth. The enemy has his own in the media like Oprah Winfrey who serve as fountainheads of this spiritual poison. Oprah right now is featuring a 365-day course on the Course in Miracles on her satellite radio program, taught by Marianne Williamson herself. Oprah made Marianne Williamson what she is by featuring her book, A Return to Love: Reflections on a Course in Miracles, many years ago. Overnight, she was a bestselling author. Oprah is now pushing The New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle. There is no false prophet she will not promote to millions. She’s a big one.
Then there are those who work within the ranks of evangelical Christianity. These subversive false teachers are assigned various audiences. Some are given the task of deceiving the unthinking, shallow masses. These false teachers smile a lot and hand out spiritual bubble gum to all takers. These are popular guys who don’t talk about big shifts or the great emergence, they tell you that God wants you to be happy! God wants you to have your best life now. They speak of wealth and prosperity and they lead their followers around because of the lust of the eyes and the flesh. They have an easy job to do because everybody loves a circus and they are only too happy to provide one.
For some audiences, Satan chooses men and women who are gifted with great subtlety. These are the ones who spend their careers undermining confidence in the Word of God. They question old truth, they redefine, they re-imagine, they twist and distort. They travel to conferences far and wide where evangelical pastors and youth leaders attend. Their special script reads, “Yea, hath God said?” They are described in Jude:
But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
They are assigned to deceive the thinking people. This target audience is deeply sincere, highly intelligent but they are poorly taught in biblical truth and sound doctrine. These are often young people burned out on circus church. They hunger for something substantive and real. But because their feet are not solidly on the rock of Christ, they are vulnerable to these gifted, forked-tongue leaders. These false teachers are hand picked because of their specific gifts in producing error on an intellectual level. No bubble gum here, just a hard core push for the rejection of Scriptural authority and a sneering contempt for those who hold to biblical truths. These are men in black turtle necks with a charming, witty presentation. They are educated, erudite, articulate, and as subtle as the serpent. They play off the insecurities and frustrations of young people utterly fed up with McChurch. They speak at colleges where these young people are alone for the first time, away from the guidance of Christian parents. These are higher order false teachers and they are legion today in the publishing world.
In times like these, we need to see what the enemy is doing so we are not, as St. Paul wrote, ignorant of his devices. Error needs to be met with truth. Scripture tells us to contend, and to put on our armor first. God is responsible for the results. We will not stop the tidal wave of error, but we will have sent truth forth for those remaining souls who have ears to hear.
Though the cause of Evil prosper, yet ’tis Truth alone is strong,
And, albeit she wander outcast now, I see around her throng
Troops of beautiful, tall angels, to enshield her from all wrong…
Careless seems the great Avenger; history’s pages but record
One death-grapple in the darkness ‘twixt old systems and the Word;
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,-
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
--James Russell Lowell
Wow. Just wow.
This lady knows of which she speaks at least when she quotes Jude ("But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.")
She is calling "wicked" the notion of a Department of Peace!!
Otherwise, she does not seem to know of which she speaks. Are you posting this as a GOOD thing? Or to expose this sort of "Up is down, good is evil" kind of thinking she has just displayed?
Wow. Just wow.
Irony has died in her world, it appears.
By all means, if you think that a dept of peace is a bad idea, then express it. BUT IT IS NOT A WICKED IDEA and only a moron or a wicked person would say so.
Do you think planning for peace is a wicked idea? Really?
Why are we literate but not peaceful? Because we are taught to read.
Those who fail to plan for peace choose to plan for war.
????????
WHAT did I accuse her of? SHE SAID, and I quoted, "Those who promote wickedness...like Kucinich...works promoting Department of Peace..."
I didn't accuse her of anything. SHE SAID that those who promote the notion of a Department of Peace are among the wicked.
She is either a moron, a liar, or just plain diabolical herself. I don't know which.
Again, please, learn to read what people are actually saying. IF you can't interpret the plain meaning of words then you'll never be able to learn to read between lines and get to deeper nuances like some of you are striving to do with the Bible.
You place WAY too much confidence in political leaders to find peace.
...said the lady who places her trust for her defense in a BIG *#%@-ing ARMY and not in God.
You people sometimes are just a parody of conservatism.
In other words, are you assuming this is a bad thing based on not knowing anything at all about it?
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn " 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
I went to the Peace Alliance website, and on th
e surface, again, there's nothing wicked about it.
So I read the legislation. Here's an excerpt, with emphasis added:
"Citizens across the United States are now uniting in a great cause to establish a Department of Peace, seeking nothing less than the transformation of our society, to make non-violence an organizing principle, to make war archaic through creating a paradigm shift in our culture for human development for economic and political justice and for violence control. Its work in violence control will be to support disarmament, treaties, peaceful coexistence and peaceful consensus building. Its focus on economic and political justice will examine and enhance resource distribution, human and economic rights and strengthen democratic values.
"Domestically, the Department of Peace would address violence in the home, spousal abuse, child abuse, gangs, police-community relations conflicts and work with individuals and groups to achieve changes in attitudes that examine the mythologies of cherished world views, such as 'violence is inevitable' or 'war is inevitable'. Thus it will help with the discovery of new selves and new paths toward peaceful consensus.
"The Department of Peace will also address human development and the unique concerns of women and children. It will envision and seek to implement plans for peace education, not simply as a course of study, but as a template for all pursuits of knowledge within formal educational settings."
Can anyone say "re-education camps"? Places where every single element of curricula would have to be filtered through a "peace template." The part about enhancing resource distribution, is code for redistribution of wealth which only comes from eliminating private-property rights, the backbone of liberty and freedom.
It would appear that the Department of Peace would absorb the Departments of State, Education, and Health and Human Services. Kucinich doesn't explicitly state that it would eclipse the Department of Defense, although you could argue that it would make it superfluous. The costs of such an expansion would be enormous, of course, and the intrusion on freedom of thought and speech would be disastrous. Bear in mind that the people supporting this proposal/nonsense are the same ones who demand a repeal of the Patriot Act as an unconscionable affront to civil rights. What irony.
But is Kucinich wicked? For promoting a Department of Peace that would effectively strangle personal liberty? Perhaps, perhaps not. Had I been writing Ingrid's piece I would not have used that specific word. "Loopy" would have sufficed for me.
But unlike you, I'm not willing to toss out the entire article simply because I object to one statement. The rest of the article is not reduced to over-wrought hyperbole.
Your objection is noted. But as someone has already stated [I don't feel like rereading all this to give proper credit] you place far too much confidence in political leaders, especially those you like. Dennis Kucinich may very well be a good decent man with good intentions, but that doesn't mean he can't be misguided about anything.
All things Kucinich aside, do you have anything to say about the rest of the article? Or are you tossing the whole thing out because you find one element objectionable?
The question then is, who is Kucinich working with to promote the Department of Peace? Are they New Age pushers? Has Kucinich ever expressed faith in Jesus Christ? If so, why does he associate with New Age pushers... assuming he does...?
Let's discuss that. Who is he associating with in this endeavor? After all, if he is not saved, it then should come as no surprise that he has aligned himself with New Age pushers. If he IS saved, his judgment/discernment is then called into question.
Ingrid's point... that the enemy assigns roles... is true regardless.
Maybe....Satan? Hmmm?
I believe that the Baptist Peacemakers group are working with those who want to establish a DOP. Quakers. Mennonites.
Pacifists. Just Peacemakers. Conservatives who truly believe in war as a last chance.
But I certainly was being lazy and not wanting to look up the references. If you'd like, here are some:
Supports Dept of Peace:
The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
Amnesty International, Pax Christi, Tikkun (a Jewish organization), Veterans for Peace, Peace Action, Pace e Bene, Buddhist Peace Fellowship and many others are listed here.
Additionally, I know (because our church is part of the Bapt Peace Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists) that it is on the radar with these two groups. Additionally, it is talked about in Mennonite circles and the Bruderhofs, amongst Presbyterians and United Methodists.
Do you really want me to find each and every link of all the churches and civic groups of Patriotic, Peace-loving Americans who support the notion of a Dept of Peace? Will that somehow make a difference to you or will you dismiss them all as a bunch (hundreds of organizations, tens of thousands of individuals) of "liberal commies"?
Because if it doesn't make a difference, I'll pass. If you're just going to twist what we actually SAY we support (Peacemaking efforts) into some kind of socialist, passivist agenda, I'll pass. If you're just going to repeat the lie that we who want to trust God for our defense are somehow trusting in a political party, I'll pass.
If you're seriously interested in more endorsements, let me know.
Judging strictly from the legislation itself... leaving Kucinich out of the equation... there are more reasons to send it back to committee than to allow it to pass. It is well-meant, but misguided. It will institute a regimen of re-education/indoctrination that destroys personal liberty. The concept is admirable, the implementation is down-right scary.
Nothing wrong with Peace. Nothing wrong with wanting a Ministry of Peace-- except for all the negative Orwellian connotation.
Jesus did say, 'blessed are the peace makers,' but that's not a good enough reason to enact a bad piece of legislation.
Would you care to discuss the merits of this article or continue to bemoan Miss Schlueter's use of the words 'wickedness' and 'Kucinich' in the same breath? If that's what you want, I believe I'll pass.
The last paragraph of the article she mentions is illustrative of the intent of "The Enemy Assigns Roles"
"With the full counsel of God in our hands, we are without excuse if we choose to participate in the Big Shift. The Shift is here, but those who serve the risen, ascended and glorified Lord Jesus Christ will stay separate. They will reject the anti-Christ doctrine of "oneness" of the New Spirituality and they will stay faithful at all costs."
Amen. Be ye separate. Come out from among them. Touch not the unclean thing. Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers.
This is what I'm talking about Eric. The Dept of Peace advocates have said nothing about re-education/indoctrination as you're suggesting. You are twisting what they advocate, as is this woman. It is not wicked. It just isn't.
I think she is a shallow thinker, demonizing those she disagrees with. Literally demonizing them, in her case, suggesting they are agents of the Devil.
She said:
These subversive false teachers are assigned various audiences. Some are given the task of deceiving the unthinking, shallow masses. These false teachers smile a lot and hand out spiritual bubble gum to all takers.
Another thing I note is that she holds low opinions of people - those "unthinking, shallow masses."
Those who thusly despise and diminish our fellow humans strike me as bitter, shallow people who have a hard time with God's Grace and love. IF I were a psychologist (and I'm not), I might guess there was some self-loathing going on. But who knows what lurks in the hearts of men and women?
Do I think there are those teachers and preachers who misunderstand God's grace and teachings? Sure. As I indicated once already, I think she's hitting the nail on the head in describing herself (without ever realizing it).
Do I think these misled teachers are part of some vast plot or demonic plan? No.
There is enough confusion, fear and loathing in our hearts to manage this misleading on our own.
It appears that you'll believe anyone who touts peace and safety. I don't know what to think of the 'Department of Peace' and its supporters, and I'm honest enough to say so. But you dismiss one detractor because the idea of 'Peace' cannot possibly be bad?
It also appears you have little or no ability to read between the lines of anything; not the Bible, and certainly not a piece of legislation where, because it IS legislation, each word is heavily weighted with portent.
You're reacting to this article with your heart, not your head.
Why is that?
Because I insist on sticking to the actual words of the Bible and not some human's interpretation?
Dan, I'm not sure when you even began to do that. I remember some statements you have made referring to "where the Bible was silent" and you used your own intelligence. Mom2
Words have meaning Dan. They are, believe it or not, strung together in constructs we refer to as sentences. Sentences are likewise strung together to create paragraphs. And while each individual word has its own individual meaning, when they are strung together they take on larger, more complex meanings. They say more than their individual components ever could, or DO.
Your entire argument, if you insist on predicating it upon "the actual words" of the Bible, has no foundation; and the towering structure of logic you've built topples at the slightest breath of wind. Words have meaning, but by themselves they cannot relate LARGER meaning. Every one of your own "interpretations" is based on larger meanings contained within a body of words... not individual words. Your continuing series on "Bible Economics" is a prime example, as is your series on the "Sermon on the Mount" from last year.
If you were sticking to the actual words of the Bible you'd have to accept that God saw it necessary to command the Israelites to kill entire peoples; men, women, children, livestock. You'd have to believe so many things you presently refuse to accept.
You'd have to believe Moses penned the first five books of the Bible.
You'd have to believe that a time of tribulation is coming very soon. You'd have to believe in the rapture.... not because the word is found in any modern English translation, but because it's found in the Latin and Greek texts. Words have meaning. Sometimes their lost in translation.
Thing is, you pick and choose the things you want to believe and discard the rest as being irrelevant for the times in which we live, or worse, as the fevered imaginations of well-meaning but uneducated, unsophisticated men.
You do NOT "insist on sticking to the actual words of the Bible." You inject your own interpretation to the scriptures while castigating others for doing the same.
Come on, Dan. You're not thinking, you're reacting!
And that he had the remarkable ability to write after his own death. (Deuteronomy 34)
As happens even today when authors die with works unfinished, Deuteronomy 31 and on are likely the work of someone who finished what Moses could not. That doesn't invalidate his authorship of the first five books of the Bible.
And the wickedness lies in the fact that the enemy can use "peace", "love", "compassion", and a host of other beautiful sounding words to achieve his ends, yet so many, too many will fall for his schtick on the basis of using such words and notions. "Peace" and "violence" have little to do with good and evil. One can use either for good or ill. Now Schluter doesn't say the idea of a Dept of Peace is wicked, but that such buffoons, like Kucinich, are perfect for use by the enemy to promote something, anything, that will lure people away from truth. As to whether or not this so-called Dept of Peace is doing so is another matter. Whether or not they might without the intention to do so is more to the point of the article.
I also take exception to Dan's accusation of the author's opinion of the average joe. Dan likes to believe the general population means well in all they do. They are human and lacking perfection you see. But Dan holds the same opinion of those from the general population who rise to loftier heights than does he, such as politicians (who aren't working towards a Dept of Peace), corporate heads, and members of the traditional and mainstream Christian Church. These people Dan holds in a bit of contempt, and that seems wicked in its judgemental attitude.
The fact is the author speaks of people being led astray by servants of the enemy, and that many of these servants do not see themselves as evil or wicked. This is not indicative of her opinion of the average citizen. It is an acknowledgement of the power of the enemy and the very same imperfections of which Dan speaks to spread over his less than effective rebuttals to arguments with which he refuses to agree.
Hello.
The Scriptures are inspired by God.
That doesn't mean it's inerrant, or infallible, etc. To insist they are, because they are inspired, flies int he face of everything else in Creation that is imperfect, and every other enterprise of inspired human beans -- all of which are imperfect.
The bottom line, I think, is we each, at our worst, regard each other as "weak in the faith."
I've let my own opinions cause me to judge you in ways I'm embarrassed by lately. I ask for forgiveness.
7For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
8For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.
9For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
10But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
11For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
13Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.
14I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
I accept this, not "because it's in the Bible and the Bible is unassailable as the 'inerrant Word of God,'" which I do not believe, but because no one doubts that Romans came from Paul's heart, mind and experience, and I defer to him as a forefather in the faith.
WE are the Lord's.
Peace.
Something wrong, Dan?
---
And ER, thanks for Romans 14.
I gather from a relatively recent post at your place that you were looking for some "Lenten" reading?
I know I offered some selections then, but I just pulled a book out of my own library a few days ago that I think would bless you greatly....
Heaven, by Randy Alcorn. Per my and Dan's comments regarding sticking to the actual words of the Bible, here is a book that clearly, and to my mind unequivocally demonstrates that truth CAN be read between the lines, or inferred by what the ENTIRE word of God has to say about any given subject.
Randy Alcorn takes what the bible says about Heaven and paints a very compelling and utterly fascinating picture, based wholly on scripture, of what Heaven will be like. No one knows for certain everything Heaven will have in store for us, but much can be discerned.
Take a gander at this one. I believe it will bless you greatly.