July 12, 2004

A  Church Transformed?

It is a sad thing to watch what happens as a wave of deception crashes over a small Evangelical church, sweeping many away, from the leadership down through to the congregation. Even those who want to fight it have little or no power to do so and eventually will have to choose to get on the wave and ride with it or jump off and take their chances if they want to survive. With any "new" move of God or what is known as a "paradigm shift," casualties are an acceptable risk or at least that is the understanding we are taught to believe. And this move is not really new at all but is as old as the lie of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.

I have been attending a small church that has recently been going through a transformation of sorts. Even as warnings have been communicated to the Pastor of the dangers that this church will face in the event he does not discern the truth and protect His (Christ's) flock, he has slowly, ever so gradually yeilded to the subtle deceptions that have been introduced to bring changes in the direction of the congregation eventually leading to a change in many of their doctrinal beliefs.

To add to this, in our local area, this has and is happening in other small churches that once stood fast against this rising tide of deception but have either grown weary in the fight or have been seduced with all of the bells and whistles of the "Third Day" renewal.

Almost two years ago, a young man began attending this small congregation with the purpose of gaining experience towards becoming an ordained pastor. Slowly growing in his relationships with the congregation and establishing himself as an accepted member of the church, people began to take notice. This was an important move on his part to be able to share with them his expressions of worship and even be able to share his own doctrinal views as he was given the opportunity to speak and to preach. Many were impressed by his ability to freely worship and how he encouraged everyone to join with him but others remained cautious, not quite ready to jump in.

And what is the real motive here? How do I know that he might actually have an ulterior motive and not just be a sincere brother in Christ trying to find and establish his place in this church? Is his motivation really to bring destructive heresies into this church?  That only the Lord knows, but in the Scriptures we are told that we can judge them by their fruits:

In most cases we think of fruit as being "the fruit of the Spirit" but what a man or women speaks or teaches can also be viewed as fruit. If I introduce aberrant teachings that are not in line with the word of God, this is a fruit that can easily be judged. If a man's heart is corrupted by receiving false teachings, then we must be careful not to listen to what he has to say or we become partakers of his folly:

Luke 6

⁴⁵A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Clearly, after speaking with him and hearing him preach from the pulpit, I could hear the doctrines of Kingdom Theology being promoted. The plan was to bring this church under the covering of the local Apostolic ruling authority being established in our area, by whatever means, to transform a simple Evangelical congregation into a Third Day church.

I have spoken to some local pastors who have recognized the purposes of the New Apostolic Reformation and its plan to implement apostolic rule over all the local churches using whatever means necessary and because of this they will not allow anyone to bring ministry into their churches that even hints at being in agreement with this plan.

I keep asking myself if this is really happening or is it just my imagination. This young man, who has become one of the congregation has now been ordained as a pastor and is now an accepted part of the leadership picture. He is now in the position to further promote Kingdom Theology or the Third Day agenda..

Part of the plan to transform this church has been to bring in worship groups from a well know Latter Rain/Dominion/Kingdom Theology bible college every other Friday night, to introduce those who are willing from this church to become a part of this new "worship experience" and hear the "new doctrine" preached by this new pastor. With a green light in effect, he can begin to bring the doctrines he has learned to the forefront.

Even from the pulpit on Sunday mornings, this "new thing" is being promoted as a great move of God coming to this little church. According to the Pastor, the "River" will rise up until the church can no longer contain it and it will begin to flow out of this little church and to the surrounding area to bring sweeping changes to the spiritual atmosphere of the community so that many will come into the Kingdom of God. Others in the congregation are now encouraging participation in this "new move" of the Holy Spirit, for us to jump into 'the River of God' (I realize that this is not new for most areas in the world but for this little country church that I once thought safe, this is very new indeed.).

Why should I or anyone be concerned with a few subtle changes in doctrines or the way worship is expressed or experienced in any congregation? Is this Third Day experience really God or is it another Christ, another spirit or another Gospel?

What is this Third Day theology that we are being asked to embrace without question? Matt Slick, of Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry gives us a definition:

Third Day theology is a prophetic movement within Christianity that focuses on biblical scriptures that mention the phrase "third day" and seeks to apply what it sees are the benefits and promises of those scriptures for our time.  Adherents claim that the third day is now, the third thousand years of Christ's reign.  Sequentially, the third day follows the first and second days.  The first day is where we leave the old ways behind.  The second day is the process of holding onto the promises of God that have not yet been fulfilled.  Day three is the victory and receiving of the promises of God with an emphasis on personal development and spiritual improvement.  Therefore, a third day church is a church that is looking for new ways to "do church" by leaving the old ways and moving onto the new ones that will be revealed, allegedly, by the Holy Spirit unto greater spiritual growth and prosperity.  Generally, Third Day Churches are charismatic, pentecostal, emphasize present day apostles, prophets, prophetic utterances, and approve of women pastors.

The basic doctrines for the Third Day church come from Latter Rain/Dominion/Manifested Sons of God/Kingdom Theology teachings which can be explained with this brief description from Apologetics Index:

It may seem like I am now writing in opposition to any move of the Holy Spirit but that is far from the truth. I believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit did not end with the death of the Apostles but have continued down through time as men and women have turned their hearts and lives in surrender over to God to be used by Him for His purposes, He empowers us by the Holy Spirit, to walk in holiness, and to boldly preach the Gospel.

I have watched countless churches go through this very same experience over the last ten to fifteen years with little fruit to show for all they have done. It becomes a hyper-Charismatic, experience driven, self-centered Christianity rather than a walk of faith they find themselves in, (I am sure that there are a few that have walked through the "River" that continue to walk with Christ but it is a difficult place to walk in the truth of God's word being surrounded by deception and delusion.) looking for the next experience or spiritual high to keep them from crashing and burning. I know, I was there too, in over my head and wanting more!

The NT Scriptures describe very clearly that we are to walk by faith and not by sight:

2 Corinthians 5

⁷(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

And to not be enticed by anyone into any experience that is contrary to God's word:

2 Peter 2

 I will continue to voice my concerns of the impending dangers this church will face following this new way of thinking and I will love and  encourage this congregation to turn to the Scriptures to discern the truth regarding these "new" Third Day experiences. According to 1 John 4:1 we are commanded to test the Spirits, to know if they are of God. We are also warned by Paul as he writes to Timothy:

1 Timothy 4

¹Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;(Emphasis mine)

Paul warns again in:

2 Timothy 4:3-4

Despite the warnings, the choices have been made. I would only ask for your prayers for those who could be snatched out of the fire. Each of us is ultimately responsible for what we hear and for what we accept as the truth; for the decisions we make to walk into deception.

For more information on Latter Rain, Dominion, Manifested Sons of God and Kingdom Theology please see the many articles listed at Latter Rain

For the Third Day Church go to New Apostolic Reformation

Steve Muse, Eastern Regional Watch

Please send us any comments at: smuse@erwm.com