TEFLON CHURCHIANITY..?

American Teflon Churchianity & the Koinonia Deprivation Syndrome:The 30-Story Orange Juice Machine That Gives One Cup a Month

Is society being flim-flammed by an 'urban religious myth' that minimalizes being transformed by the Holy Spirit in Christ, and meaningful Chriistian fellowship--and maximizes simply showing up at a steeple box..?

Is it a religious myth that just 'church attendance' constitutes--or will provide--the meaningful fellowship, 'koinonia', and biblical assembling together needed in order to survive and thrive as a member of the community of the redeemed..?

1. Can just 'going to a church' fail to heal Koinonia Deprivation Syndrome (KDS), social alienation, loneliness, touch-deprivtion (God-to Man--or Man-to-Man)--or meet Christ's healing manifesto regarding Himself based on Isaiah 61:1-3..? (Notice that Jesus and Paul did not go to the synagogue for fellowship.)

2. Can just 'going to church' generally be viewed as a tribal custom and (essentially secular) pop-cultural practice which brings with it as many problems as the solutions it claims to offer..?

3. 'Going to church', in the experience of many, appears often to be no more than a 'bait 'n switch' operation--offering faux caring, saccharine compasion, (brochure only) promises of a 'touching experience', non-intimate rapport, wax apple empathy, platonic understanding, touted spiritual empowerment, giving-based relational friendship, and (conditional) help in times of need--in exchange for a suck-up-to-the-government-tax-deductible contribution in the plate--or, especially, large pledges during fund drives.

4. 'Going to church', apparently in the experience of many, places the naive 'seeker' in the presence and manipulative control of social charmers, religious salesmen, ecclesiastical politicians, the Apostate Church, pop-cultural religiosity, mega or emergent church group-think, the manipulation of lighting, music, 'give-more-do-more' pressure, the intrusive indignity of steeple-box pulpit-pontification and (albeit often subtle) crowd-control.

5. Simply 'going to church' may, like a God ISP, offer biblical teaching of Christian ideals (but more like a fast-food McMinistry)--while omitting authentically empathetic rapport and support-system fellowship. Could the lonely-in-a-crowd individual be kept offline without the essential 'Kingdom passWord'--to real life fellowship in Christ? Are most steeple boxes simply filled with e deer-caught-in-the-headlights pew-sitters..?

6. Is there a "life coaching" solution..? I believe part of the KDS solution lies in training each 'new creature in Christ' to begin building his/her own effective fellowship milieu (psycho-support system). Each new (or older) Christian believer must be helped to build his/her own (at least 10 to 12) koinonia group of (wise-elder-to-younger) stable, sane, Bible-studious, serioulsy-devoted-to-Christ friends--and meet regularly for fellowship, prayer, and sharing--and not be seduced into Teflon Churchianity a its used-car-salesmen subsidiaries, and (not the Father's) 'business of religion'.

(excerrpt: unpublished work-in-progress)
American Teflon Churchianity & Koinonia Deprivation Syndrome Copyright 2008 by Philip C. Brewer All Rights Reserved

The Song of the Soul Set Free / Church Music

Christian Life Coaching
BLOG DISCUSSION: 'SINGING IN THE SPIRIT'
The solution to the 'Church Music' problem' will be found in sound Pneumatology
(sound doctrine, experiential knowledge & orthopraxy in the Holy Spirit).
by P.C. Brewer


{Note: I often wonder if any Reform Theology cessationist--who believes 'that which is perfect is come' means the Ending of the Apostolic Age--or the Closing of the New Testament Canon (90-95 a.d.)--instead of the correct interpretation--the Second Coming of Christ--and who thinks that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 12-13; Romans 12) got locked up in the catacombs in the First Century--can really ever worship God--in Spirit and in Truth (?). For example, if 'tongues has ceased' for the past two thousand years--so also has knowledge--and thus we haven't needed preaching and teaching either for the past two millennia--ha..! Is this one of the reasons I've had so many Reform theologians as Life Coaching clients...?}


1. "Let him who has (spiritual) ears--hear..."---Jesus (the 'spiritual senses' must be anointed by the Holy Spirit--in order to engage in the music of the transformed (new creature in Christ Jesus) heart.)


2. Worship, Praise, and Testimonial Songs (to the Lord God (knowing Him) and about the Lord God's (knowing His works) are a part of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit--a gift of God (study the Psalms of David, and study Ephesians 5: 18-19). (Study Joshua and Judges: "knowing God and knowing His works.)


3. Only the redeemed believer in Christ who has been given 'a spiritual song in the heart' ( the Song of the Lord) from the Holy Spirit--can 'worship God' or testify of God in Christ'. (Otherwise music and singing is merely a psychological, cultural, tribal exercise.)


4. Spiritual Songs and Hymns transcend above personality, tribal, cultural, popular, and subjective (emotional catharsis)human expression. And there are important understandings with regards to praying with the Spirit and praying with the understanding.


5. The worshipping, praising, testifying Christian vocalist and/or instrumentalist yields to the Holy Spirit's unction (inspiration, motivation, wisdom, love, empowerment, and instruction) and then God, the Holy Spirit, literally 'sings through that individual's soul (his-her human personality)--back to God and about God' (cf. the Psalms: e.g. Psalm 34: "My soul boasts in the Lord."; Ephesians 5:18-19. "...with songs and hymns and spiritual songs."


6. The 'earthen vessel' (clay jar) may superficially 'shape' the 'surface' of the song of the Lord--e.g.: resulting in a certain'style'--but the critical issue is whether s/he is 'singing the song of the Lord' in the anointing and unction of the Paraclete,the Holy Spirit Who comes alongside (vs. simply a carnal, humanistic, albeit entertaining soulish expression).


7. Only the 'song of the Lord--in the Holy Spirit' will bless God and will bless others: (Psalm 34: '...the Lord heard me...and the afflicted will hear and be glad--be ministered to." ("I will send a Comforter..." ---Jesus)


8. Study the reverse (opposite) of the above in the world's music--only the pagan songs written in the passion of occult mysticism--the reveries of Bacchanalia, Eros, Voodoo, Santeria, satanic (e.g.:Black Sabbath, The Doors) Rock--really make an impact (albeit ungodly and spiritually toxic) because they engage with the 'spirit world' (they are 'pneumatic' demonically like Jannes & Jambres who faced Moses). But only Christian worship is spiritually nourishing andPneumatic--wrought by the Holy Spirit. Pentecostals who fall, who go bad, who become apostate--go into occult mysticismof some form or another--because they will never be satisfied with simple secularism--or non-pneumatic religiosity.


9. Thus Christian Music must be grounded in the context of sound Pneumatology (the Christian believer's proper understanding of (and life in) the Holy Spirit)--and thus must be 'Pneumatological' to enter the Holy of Holies (not subjectively soulish) in nature--entering via our great High Priest, Jesus Christ and the veil of His shed blood. A song sung in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit will lead from spiritual darkness to God's Light, and will always exalt Jesus Christ--always leading the seeking heart from that which is Trivial--to that which is Profound...from that which is Vulgar--to that which is Beautiful...and from that which is Profane--to that which is Sacred.


10. There is literal 'singing in the Spirit of God' in glossolalia (heteras glossae--other tongues, angelas glossae--languages of angels, or other cultural languages (cf Romans 8)--not known by the singer-in-the-Spirit); but all Christian singing (whether in known or unknown languages) must also be in the Holy Spirit--or it is merely a soulish, human-centered (vs. Theocentric), earth-bound, tribal, or cultural exercise--and merely psychological phenomena.


(Excerpt: Unpublished work-in-progress)
The Song of the Blood-Washed Soul
Christian Music: How We Sing the Song of the Lord in a Strange Land
Copyright 2009 by Philip C. Brewer
All Rights Reserved


-------------------------
(Discussions of Christian music are becoming quite common--for example, this one:)
From: "REVIVAL List"
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2005 13:26:02 -0600
ANDREW STROM: Some people simply CANNOT understand my
stance on modern music - and its use in worshipping God. They
say, "But you are a Holiness and Revival-type guy - so how can you
condone this awful modern music?" Some people are completely
baffled by my stance on this. Hopefully the below piece on the
History of music in the church (from the Middle Ages onward) will
bring a little more understanding:

CONTROVERSY! - HISTORY of CHRISTIAN MUSIC
by "pastorbob"

Many see this as a new problem to the church and blame it on
the worldliness of the 'young' people or the fact that the 'old'
people are totally out of touch with reality. The debate on just how
contemporary music should be in the church is an age old one
which keeps reccurring. The problem is that we have not learned
from our past. Santayana once said, "Those who cannot remember
the past are condemned to repeat it" (Miller, 119). This, I believe,
is the foundation of our current contemporary Christian music
debate in our churches.

It is the intent of this paper to show that this is not a new problem.
I will do this by surveying the history of church music and by
examining the beliefs and practices of the key figures in each period.

The Medieval Period

Gregory I laid the foundation for the enlargement of the use of
music in the church. He developed the Gregorian Chant which
modified the scales and all voices sang in unison. All musical
instruments were banned during this time and only men were
allowed to sing in worship.

During the end of the 14th and 15th centuries the professionalism
of church music developed to a much greater extent. Only
professional choirs sang in the churches' worship services and the
common folk were extremely limited in what musical participation
they had. This contributed to their desire to sing religious music
outside the church. During this period the development of the
secular Folk Song was prominent among the commoners both
Christian and pagan. So, taking their example from the 12th
century troubadours men like Francis of Assisi wrote simple songs
of devotion and praise and these sprang up as important parts of
the religious life of the common Italian people. (McElrath, 147).
Even back in the Middle Ages, there was the need for the people
to sing religious songs in ways that were familiar to them. Again,
this is not unlike the situation today.

The Reformation

In some senses the Reformation was not only one of theological
reform but also of musical freedom. This musical reformation
began with John Huss (1373-1415). He opposed all polyphonic
and instrumental music and only would support the singing of
devotional and simple songs in unison. He stated that unison
makes all men equal in worship. (McElrath, 151) I believe Huss
took a step forward in the use of popular songs for the common
people, but by rejecting the use of polyphony and instrumental
music he took a step backward in music's overall influence on the
church. The Bohemians, Moravians and followers of Huss put such
an emphasis on popular praise in music that in 1504 a hymnbook
was published for use by the common people.

Luther, however, took a position of adapting the use of popular,
secular tunes with the truth of Scripture. He also believed that
there was room in the church service for the use of instruments,
especially the organ, polyphonic choir singing as well as
congregational singing in the venacular. (Norman,) Luther said,
'To win popularity a song must be in the most simple and common
language.' (Miller, 113) Luther got his inspiration for his music
from the popular German ballads of his day. The tunes were
borrowed from German folk songs. (Leupold,196) Luther was not
so concerned with the associations or origins of the tunes as he
was with their ability to communicate Biblical truth. (Miller, 113)
Luther went as far as to say ' The devil has no need of all the good
tunes for himself.' He further stated that 'For the youth's sake we
must read, sing, preach, write and compose verse, and whenever
it was helpful and beneficial I would let all the bells peal, all the
organs thunder and everything sound that could sound'. (Miller, 114)
Luther cared only to communicate biblical truth and to set hearts
on fire for the Lord. Is this not the cry of those who support the
use of a variety of instruments as well as musical styles in church today?

Others did not agree with Luther. Zwingli reacted against the use
of any instruments that had association with the Catholic church.
Calvin went even farther in his opposition to Luther's 'liberal' use of
music in worship. Calvin felt that instruments were only tolerated
in the Old Testament because the people of God were only infants
then. He opposed the use of instruments and the singing in parts.
He also eliminated any lyric not found in Scripture. He allowed only
the singing of the Psalms in worship

Two strands of church music, that which is 'sacred' resulted from
the reformation: Germany followed Luther in the singing of hymns
and the use of instruments while England and Scotland followed
Calvin's psalm only singing with out instruments. John Bunyan's
attempt to introduce hymn singing into his church resulted in a
split and at his death in 1691 the church finally agreed to
compromise. Those who opposed to hymn singing could either sit
in the vestibule or sit quietly through it until that part of the service
was done. (kind of like what happens today during the choruses singing.)

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) returned from church and complained to
his father that the Psalm singing was boring. His father challenged
him to compose something better. And did he ever! He wrote over
750 hymns and psalms and had such an impact and influence on
hymnology that he is called the 'Father of English Hymnody'.
(Miller, 120-121) Watts advocated the use of hymns of human
composure as opposed to Calvin's strict 'Scripture only' position.

Watts was not so readily accepted. There were those who thought
he was placing his own human words above the Word of God.
There were also those who felt poetry used in any sense was evil
as it aroused the sensual pleasures of man and was too worldly to
be used in church. Churches split, pastors were thrown out of their
churches and many people were enraged over Watts hymns and
their use in the church.

The funny part of all this was that even though the acceptance of
Watts hymns was slow, it did happen. When hymn singing was
fully embraced by the church in Europe as well as in the US,
tradition set in and no other type of song should be sung in the
churches but Watts hymns. It seems Santayana was correct once again.

The Wesleyan Revival

John Wesley was the spiritual father of Methodism. He preached
about having a vibrant and exciting relationship with Jesus Christ.
He was evangelistic and highly energetic in his preaching. His
brother Charles was the musician in the family. His hymns were
influenced theologically by John's arminianism and the Anglican's
churches freedom of accepting new musical and worship styles.

In relation to the Psalm singing of the old Puritan tunes, the music
of Charles Wesley was considered 'pop' . Wesley's music is
tuneful, with dance like melodies which were often taken from
improvisatory instrumental music. (McElrath, 157) Much of his
music had secular origins and influences. He adopted new
melodies from the popular opera and English folk melodies. (Miller,
125) Wesley had no problems mixing the secular and sacred when
it came to writing songs to communicate a biblical message.

Gospel Songs of the 19th Century

The gospel songs of the 19th century had it's beginnings in the
revivalist camp meetings in rural America. The camp meeting
songs were characterized by phrase repetition and choruses.
(Eskew, 171) The term gospel hymn or song was popularized by
the Moody-Sankey revivals in 1875 in England. D.L. Moody had
been called the greatest evangelist in the 19th century and he
believed that singing played a vital role in evangelism. He said: "If
you have singing that reaches the heart, it will fill the church every
time...Music and song have not only accompanied all scriptural
revivals, but are essential in deepening the spiritual life. Singing
does at least as much as preaching to impress the Word of God
upon people's minds. Ever since God first called me, the
importance of praise expressed in song has grown upon me."

Moody realized that he needed something new as the rural camp
songs would not reach the urban people he was targeting. So he
found Sankey. Moody and Sankey clothed sacred songs in a style
that was indistinguishable from popular tunes. They found that this
enhanced the power of their ministry.

Again, not all were impressed with Moody and Sankey. The Scots
were deeply entrenched in the Psalm singing of Calvin and had
even rejected the wonderful hymn writing of their own Horatius
Bonar. The Scots considered organ music to be of the devil.
Someone once said that if Moody kept singing songs like he was
doing, pretty soon he would have the people dancing. (Miller, 133)
In the end, the music of Moody and Sankey was to have a
incredible influence on the revival in Scotland and England.

The Salvation Army and William Booth

William Booth (1829-1912) had a burden to reach the common
people of England who were not churched. He resigned his
position as a Methodist minister and began to work among the
poor in London. His work eventually became known as the
Salvation Army. Unique to Booth's music was his use of a wide
variety of instruments: violins, viola, concertives, brass instruments,
drums and anything that would make a pleasant sound before the Lord.

Salvationists brought their instruments together and formed
Hallelujah Bands' Not unlike the 'Praise Bands' today. Most of the
people he wanted to reached, the unchurched, didn't know the
church tunes popular at his day. So he took tunes from the local
music halls. He used secular tunes and added Christian words.
Booth wanted songs that were simple and in the language of the
people. Songs that would stick in the minds of the people when
they left his meetings. He saw thousands saved who never had
never stepped foot in a traditional church.

Again, however, not all saw these innovations as positive. Many
Victorian clergymen, the press and local officials saw this type of
music as offensive and distasteful. Others felt that the secular
tunes would remind the people of the secular words and lead them
to sin. This didn't happen and the songs caught on like wildfire.
Booth made this charge to his soldiers in the band: 'Music has a
divine effect upon divinely influenced and directed souls. Music is
to the soul what wind is to the ship, blowing her onwards in the
direction in which she is steered...Not allowed to sing that tune or
this tune? Indeed! Secular music, do you say? Belongs to the devil
does it? Well, if it did, I would plunder him of it, for he has no right
to a single note of the whole gamut. He's a thief!...Every note and
every strain and every harmony is divine, and belongs to us...So
now and for all time consecrate your voices and your instruments.
Bring out your harps and organs and flutes and violins and pianos
and drums and everything else than can make melody! Offer them
to God and use them to make all hearts about you merry before
the Lord.' (Miller, 136-137)

Contemporary Society

The late 1960's saw the beginning of the Jesus Movement in the
US. This movement saw the antiestablishment of the culture
seeping into the church. With this came the need for a new music
style was free from the tradition of the established church. Music
that was more experiential and subjective and that was concerned
with expressing how the individual felt in his relationship with God
was what was being sung during this time. Most in the tradition
church thought it a fad but they were mistaken.

It has not only lasted but that grown and matured to the
contemporary Christian music we have today. And the traditional
church is still fighting against it. Some see it as a fresh moving of
the Holy Spirit while others see contemporary Christian music as
a blatant compromise with the world. Not unlike what we have
experienced throughout the history of the church.

Those in favor and support of this movement see churches utilizing
this musical format as the fastest growing segment of the church
today. They see innovative pastors utilize contemporary Christian
music in their worship services, youth services and evangelistic
outreaches all with great success. In fact, even Billy Graham has
utilized Christian pop singers in his crusades.

Opponents say that what appears good on the surface is a thinly
veiled disguise of Satan trying to weaken the structure of the
church. It shows the total lack of discernment and an embrace of
all that's worldly by the church at large. They want a return to the
traditional pattern of church hymnody. Personally, I would like to
ask them which traditional pattern of hymnody are they talking
about, but that is another matter.

Conclusions

It has not been the intent of this paper to come up with an answer
to the contemporary Christian music problem. It has been my
intent, however, to make people aware that this debate has gone
on for centuries. I hope to have shown both sides of the issue,
that there seems to be a pattern that develops:
1. Separation: One form of music gets firmly entrenched in the
church.
2. Integration: Bold, creative innovators who are convinced that
the old forms are outdated and not meeting the peoples needs
come up with new forms of music that are culturally relevant to the
common people.
3. Conflict: At this point, there is a charge from the traditionalists
that this new form of music is contaminated by the world and is a
compromise to it.
4. Renewal: Although music is not the only force in the change,
it is a strong and powerful one. This part sees the acceptance of
the new music and the church music is finally once again in the
language and style of the common people.
5. Traditionalized: The music which was once new and fresh
becomes standard and traditional and put in the hymnbook and is
now considered sacred.

During this time the popular style of the people is rapidly changing
and the pattern reverts back to step #1. The cycle begins again.

We need to learn from history so that we will not continue to repeat
it. The church is in the world and therefore it's message must be
culturally relevant. We removed the old English from the King
James, we removed Latin from the service, yet we are tied down by
the weight of traditional hymnody.

We need to be like William Booth and reclaim music for the
Church! We need to be like Luther and say that the devil should
not have all the good tunes!

SOURCE: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/pastorbob/theologicalpapers/
musicinthechurch.htm

CAVEATS: DEFECTIVE PNEUMATOLOGY, KDS, SECULARIZATION, ARTISTIC PHILISTINISM & SHALLOWNESS

The Problem With Perfect Pitch, Artistic Sensitivity, A Substantive Personality, & Love of Christian Fellowship in the Holy Spirit

In The Republic, Plato wrote the allegory of The Cave, in which a trapped man escapes the ingrown, culturally-deprived, oppressive dankness of a subterranean cave and discovers a wonderful world of light and beauty outside and beyond.

This seeker-of-liberty, with great effort, frees himself from the ignorance, solipsism--and even persecution of his fellow prisoners--who will punish anyone attempting to leave the underground hole.

To share his excitement about the beauty of the outside world, he crawls back into the dark place only to be chained up again--and is permanently and irrevocably restrained.

The prophet will invariably be without honor in his home town--and will usually be stoned--in the rock-throwing sense.

A continually painful lesson from God's Word that I seem to have to re-learn several times a month--is that "There is no fellowship (in Christ's love) between (spiritual) light and (spiritual) darkness." There must be no unequal yoking--no marriage--or other intimate entanglements--if i understand scripture correctly--between a Christian and a Christ-rejector.

But I've often had to learn that same lesson over-and-over--even in the context of the Fresno area local churches(Sadly, the mega-churches are the worst!).

I've counseled with folks year-after-year who suffer from (my term) Koinonia Deprivation Syndrome (KDS)--and have no group of sincere and caring Christian friends to meet with, share concerns and needs with, pray for and pray with. (Of course, this is not church attendance, bell choir membership, or even going to Sunday school.)

Many a Christian couple and Christian family suffers from KDS--but, because of their secularization, are too embarrassed, aloof, or self-conscious to practice regular Bible study, and prayer-and-share together.

They will even turn (when KDS is the real issue) occasionally to pastoral or professional counselors--to salve wounds, heal relationships, or find inner peace--when regular fellowship together, sharing and participation in the Holy Spirit, and sincere couple and family prayer times together in Christ--would do all the restoration, reconciliation, and healing necessary. But their secularized mind-set keeps them out in the cold--spiritually, relationally, and emotionally.

With non-Christian ( Christ-rejecting--Cross-rejecting) unsaved friends, I want to show them Christ's love and the Holy Spirit's truth--but not expect fellowship in the Spirit. To aggressive American secular media, the Hollywood Star System, Christless politicians, unsaved psychologists, unregenerate businessmen, or worldling teachers--I can just say, "Hey--don't want any..'deja moo'...heard your bull before...ha!"

But it's more difficult, I believe, to confront professing Christians about their secularized thought-patterns, attitudes, and behaviors--or admit them to myself--or to suggest something as old-fashioned and quaint as Family Prayer Night--and then, in addition, a prayer-with-Christian-friends night.

With secularized believers this is regarded as idiotic and irrelevant.

Years ago, it was my privilege to visit L'Bri in Huemoz, Suisse, and enjoy meeting with the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer and many of the residents and staff. I discovered, in discussions, that there was apparently a friendly difference in philosophy between two scholars, Dr. Schaeffer and Dr. Os Guinness. I only talked with Dr. Schaeffer, but it seemed to me that while Dr. Schaeffer was concerned about Secularism (and its iconic windmills he was jousting against such as abortion, pornography, drugs, or crime--all important concerns, of course) Os Guinness was more concerned about the secularization of Christian minds.

I lean more toward the latter concerns which I inferred Guinness held. When professed (only christianized?) Christians allow themselves to regress into secularized thinking, paganized problem-solving, listening to the counsel of the ungodly (cf. Psalm 1), turning their backs on sincere Christian fellowship-- and become ineffective--they will suffer KDS.

When backsliders scoff at 'the mind of Christ' and resist 'the mind of the Spirit'--and consequently develop the sickness of KDS--it is no wonder The Church can seem to be a ninety-story orange juice machine that gives one cup a month--regardless of Mega-Church Row attendance, barns-full-of-strangers, and mega-tron power-point displays.

When a pastor, teacher, seminary professor, or a denomination which has a defective Pneumatology--preaches and teaches against the Gifts of the Holy Spirit being for Today--(perhaps fearful of emotionalism, excess, and wild fire)--they bite the hand that feeds them--and consequently lead their people into works-righteousness-by-default.

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Captives are set free, and sight is restored to the blind (cf.: Isaiah 61:1-3). Sinners fall to their knees in confession and repentance. Carnal Christians forgive and make amends. There is blessing and freedom in the Holy Spirit--and protection from secularization of mind and heart. And victory over Pharaoh, Jannes and Jambres, Nadab and Abihu, Cora, the Prophets of Baal, Simon the Sorcerer, Demas, Alexander the Coppersmith, and Diotrephes.

Cessationist preachers, teachers, churches, and religious denominations--hand out spiritual bootstraps via digitalized-Christian-living homilies--so their constituents can fake-it-till-they-make-it--and try bravely to do-God's-work-without-God's-power. Like an atheist at his own funeral, the graduate of this cessationist, Spirit-grieving propaganda is all-dressed-up-with-no-place-to-go...!

Somehow these poor sheeple are supposed to achieve self-help sanctification, do The Great Commission, and fight devils (cf. the seven sons of Sceva in Acts). People are given Schulerisms, Sheenisms, and Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) sermons, "Keep a stiff upper lip, old chap...be positive..!" (I love the quote,"I find Paul appealing...but I find Peale appalling..!")

Yet, in reality, the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (remember the movie?) recruits will only be going off to war to fight on the wrong side.

Wannabe ministerial voices will be singing castrata in the religious choir of Evangelicalism.

The Book of Acts illustrates an important truth: as the leaders go--so go the people.

Sadly, many Christian leaders (pastors, para-church leaders, missionaries) I've met around the United States--are not nice people--really not friendly, seem not to have the Holy Spirit's anointing, appear deficient in rapport-building skills, do not bond, are spiritually teflon, and even hostile--up close and personal. (Dr. Fritz Perls believed there are only two kinds of people in the world--nourishing and toxic. True..?) So it is to be expected that some ineffective leaders, in their aloofness, emotional coldness, and lack of empathy (despite their rhetorical platform performance) don't have a shepherd's heart, and thus can't model and teach their folks authentic fellowship-in Christ (not an ice cream social--ha!) with real concerned prayer and sharing together in the Holy Spirit.

A college friend of mine, gifted as a pianist and vocalist, won a scholarship to a major music conservatory on the East Coast. He had perfect pitch. I could ask him to sing an "A" and as he vocalized the "A" I would sound a tuning fork. He would always be on perfect pitch. Sometimes when we attended a concert or heard church music, he would have to get up and leave the room--because the instruments (or human voices) were not tuned to A-440, and the off-key dissonance was intolerable to his auditory gift. His gift of having perfect pitch held challenges for him.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit (which the Heavenly Father God promises to bestow authentically upon the seeker) opens the door to life's harmonies, melodies, and the privilege of being in tune and tuned-up with God's glory, and His nurturing, edifying presence--but also reveals the darkness of sin, the clash of healthy vs. unhealthy cultures (throwing babies to crocodiles, historically--ripping beating hearts out of virgins--or many, less-extreme, examples), dangerous world-views, devious political manipulation, and satanic ideological paradigms.

The moving of the Holy Spirit in drawing a responder to God, bringing a transforming-of-mind, power, deliverance, wisdom and love (2 Timothy 1:7; Zechariah 4:6; Acts 1:8, 2:4), however, may break a glass--or a crystal cathedral--ha!--and will separate the profane from the sacred, the trivial from the profound, the deep from the shallow, and the vulgar from that which is beautiful.

Cacophony (or any kind of 'phony' insincerity--ha!) will be revealed by the Bringer-of-God's-Truth (John 16). Any (not some one predestined-with-a-heaven-chip-to be-saved) responding person (not a card-signer!) transformed in Christ (Romans 12:1-2), will have an allergic (spiritual) reaction to false teaching, untruth, and evil: (occult mysticism, paganism, witchcraft, sin, lies, sinners, perversion, terrorism, criminality, and the spirit of anti-Christ) in the secular world system.

The baptismal fullness of the Holy Spirit in a Christian's life will guide, instruct, and bring God's fullness of joy in Christ. However, there may be (because of the Holy Spirit's alertness) sometimes a painful awareness of discord, a root of bitterness, knowledge of a spirit of disunity in the local fellowship. perhaps the cymbal-clashing violation of I Corinthians 13 agape and filial love in Christ. I believe that God, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead--is the healing and therapeutic Minister in the Trinity.

Can the Holy Spiirit heal Personality Disorders (AXIS II on the DSM IV-R)..? social Work, Counseling, Psychiatry--have all given up trying to treat Personality Disorders and Psychopathy.) Yes, I believe so--even disorders like Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Narcissistic Personality Disorder. (The Anti-Social Personality Disorder is just good a old-fashioned criminal version of Sinner-in-need-of Salvation-in-Christ.) But what about the Borderline Personality Disorder..? (I've learned that the disordered Borderline Personality does not miss people...interesting.

The Borderline is a truely teflon personality which does not bond. (cf.: the book, 'I Hate You--Don't Leave Me" about the Borderline Personality--seems to overlook this point.

A nourishing person can't really hang out with toxic people--unless perhaps he is on a mission and preaching the Gospel of Christ Jesus--but then that's not fellowship. That is Jonah going--even hesitantly--to Nineveh.

The Apostle Paul, even while in prison himself, was concerned and sensitive to the fellowship-threatening conflict between two women in the Church of Philippi.

I believe that once the sincere seeker-of-Christ has experienced authentic fellowship with the community of the redeemed and intimacy with the Heavenly Father in the Holy Spirit, he will never be satisfied with the plain vanilla relationally-teflon programs of churchianity.

Two years ago I realized how impoverished (and spiritually dry) I'd become regarding nourishing (home atmosphere) koinonia. I couldn't find anyone to have regular times of prayer-and-share with. I struck out across the USA looking for it--but really also trying to re-capture what I'd experienced in Fresno twenty years ago. So, perhaps this was a quixotic quest.

My early years in Fresno had been filled with rich fellowship in the Spirit, interesting conversation, a busy counseling practice, beautiful musical concerts, fruitfulness in the production of fine art, and ministry trips across America, to Colombia, South America, the U.K. and Europe--but somehow I lost my way...ran out of songs to play...and Oh Lord...stuck in Lodi again...I was suffering severe KDS.

The person who enjoys the opportunity to reflect profoundly and resonate with others who relish good conversation--or who has the good eye and taste to be an aficionado of fine art, good writing, good music, or poetry--will grow sick of continual idle banter, pop--cultural banality on radio or TV, or the rough crowd--non-substantive personalities. (Think of the proverb, "Shallow brooks are noisy.")

Likewise, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit (perfect pitch)--and sound Pneumatology--has its blessings--but also its challenges.

In pastors' support groups (one for ten years and another for four years) I tried to get the message of this Blog across and it wasn't understood. So don't feel bad if you don't get it either...ha!

(excerpt; unpublished work-in-progress):
'Perfect Pitch: Benefits & Challenges'
Copyright 2009 by Philip C. Brewer
All Rights Reserved

Thou Shalt not Think: If You Meet Buddha On the Road

"Thou Shalt Not Think..Is Emergent Revivalism Turning Eastward...?"

The 3 'Waves' of "Revival' each make 'leader statements' and 'culture statements'--Toronto--Pensacola--Lakeland.

While we pray for conversions to Christ, for the afflicted to be healed by our Great Physician, we are also (not 'paranoid' but) sober and vigilant regarding any 'revivalistc' form of new religious movement--in light of the warnings (Hebrews) against apostasy and falling away from the Gospel (Galatians 1) of Jesus Christ.

I think, initially observing and listening to the 'leader statements' of each religious movement is probably the most important thing to do--with Bible in hand.

For example, in the Book of Acts, we learn the principle: "As the leaders go--so go the people." Study the leader fairly but carefully.

But it is also important to study the cultural, tribal, sociological, and psychological presentation. We can observe, for example in Lakeland, a 'cultural manifestation'--and within culture--various 'tribal statements'...being made

Why shouldn't the thoughful, prayerful evaluator be alert to demagoguery when it is present--to crowd-manipulation, to group think, and any form of brainwashing--when it presents itself..?

Musically...Reflective Worship Music which is melodious, harmonious, beautiful (e.g. like the 'urban gospel' stylings of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir or Christ Church, Nashville Choir) are absent--in Toronto, in Pensacola, in Lakeland. Latter Rain revivalism features the tribal frenzy of indoctrination, keep-em movin' (not very skilled) Rock--and a pitifully-obese man-in-black kid--playing a tiny Wal-Mart-special-from gramma guitar. Aggravating, embarrassing--even boring.

Refledtion... isn't welcomed in mass indoctrination atmospheres. Because 'reflection' deflects 'thought reform' techniques--and heightens discernment, logic, evaluation, and consideration of what is going on.

Reflective "weighing" of what is going on is necessary (according to Paul in 1 Corinthians) but cannot easlily be done in a manicky, pressured-speech, frenetic 'brainwashing' atmosphere of chanting, jumping, adrenaline-pumping, glandular-galloping repetition. (Is this 'vain repetion as the heathen do'..?) Watch the Lakeland phenomenon on GOD TV. The manicky millenial warm-up jumping homonally back and forth across the stage--agitated--with Food Fight pressured speech--perseverating breathlesly--chanting a pseudo-song off-key--is a disturbed person--not a 'worship leader', I'm afraid.

Are televangelists, Emergent Church leaders, and Third Wave Revivalists all swerving into advocacy of some form of Eastern Mysrtical Irrationality..?

'The main 'commandment' of Buddhism is: Thou Shalt Not Think.

Buddhism, Buddhist ideation, and Eastern Mysticism has significantly influenced the Emergent Church Movement, in my opinion.

Anti-evaluative 'koens', the banning of logical thinking, striving toward a 'non-judgmental', quasi-'right-brained' listening-for-the-sound-of-one-hand-clapping constitutes a buddhistic thought-reform approach.

In essence, the musical chanting, breathing, jumping styles of some aspects of Buddhism have been incorporated--via New Age Seattle Grunge--and masqueraded as Emergent Church paradigm-shifting.

Are other Eastern Mysticism influences also seen in some of Todd Bentley's kundalini' resonances and implications..?

(excerpt: unpublished work-in-progress):
Thou Shalt Not Think: Is Emergent Church Revivalism Turning Eastward...?
Copyrigh 2008 by Philip C. Brewer All Rights Reserved

(Satire) Are Baptists Saved..?

Are Baptists Saved..?
by Phil Brewer
"Tip-toe through the tulips..." --as sung byTiny Tim

Three Years in a Row--Then I was Persona Non Grata... For three years straight I was invited to Carson City, Nevada to be the speaker for the Southern Baptist (SB) State Conference. But I was given the left foot of fellowship when they found out I was a classical pentecostal.

Free at Last..! They didn't find out until after the third year that my third-generation Southern Baptist preacher Dad had, as a teen in Appalachian Eastern Kentucky--after experiencing the Holy Spirit's (John 16) drawing, conviction, and conversion to Christ, and later, as a young SB minister, having had a transformational mind-renewing (Romans 12:1-2; Acts 1:8, 2:4; Ephesians 5:18-19) Holy-Spirit-Baptismal epiphany (receiving God's gift of a devotional speaking-in-tongues prayer language, and finding his first authentic and meaningful koinonia-fellowship in Christ with MacArthur Jollay, an Assemblies of God pastor in London, KY) jumped the SB ship and joined the AG--later becoming the AG District Superintendent for the State of Kentucky.

Healthy Dissilusionment..! Prior to his being baptized in the Holy Spirit, Dad had already left the SB rejecting (intelligently and accurately) the erroneous cessationist Baptist teaching that "...that which is perfect is come" meant the (1) closing of the New Testament Canon, and/or (2) the ending of the Apostolic Age (90-95 A.D.). Dad had been a good Bible student already, as a young man, and correctly realized that "tongues shall cease...when that which is perfect is come" refers to the Second Advent of Christ--not the above-mentioned (1, 2).

(The Humor of Christ. When Dad was driving me from Pennsylvania to Florida for my matriculation into college at 17 years old, he laughingly told me, "The Bible states in that passage that 'when that which is perfect is come' knowledge shall also cease...so according to the Reformation Theology T.U.L.I.P. types, we haven't needed Preaching or Teaching either for almost 2000 years...!" We shared a good laugh over that silliness.)

Joyless Crutch-ianity. For three years the Nevada pastors had set up private counseling sessions with me-to complain about their joylessness, spiritual powerlessness, purposeless de-motivation--wondering if they were actually on the positive (implanted heaven chip) side of Louis Berkhoff's robotized Calvinistic, Double-Decree Predestination foolishness and scripture-twisting--versus the condemned to H-E-double-hockey-sticks (the bad place) hinderparts of tulipville.
After my (documented theological alien) disclosure, I enjoyed the Nevada Baptists' facial expressions (picture the constricted affect of someone who'd inadvertently popped a whole jalapeno--or a vegetarian being told the soy burger he'd just gobbled amidst belches was Black Angus steak). One angry Baptist yelled at me, "I don't CARE what the Bible says--tongues are of the devil..!"

Find the Already Found. One year I was invited (once and only once!) to hold an elective seminar at the California State Youth Conference at the Saroyan Theater in Fresno, California. There were about 3000 Lutheran college and high school students in attendance. The huge banner stretched across the front of the stage read, "Finding the Found."

{Tip-Toe Through the TULIPS. In Reformation T.U.L.I.P. Theology, the Elect--who were elected billions of years ago in the mind of God--only need to be Found. If you're not sure the ones you've located belong to the Found--that's okay--they can join the choir, play in the praise band (regardless of character), and help you, the pastor, pay the light bill. Inform your congregation that they hopefully have already been unconditionally elected (yes, implanted in the predestination sense with what I like to call in computer lingo a heaven chip) via God's limited atonement--Jesus, you know, didn't die for everybody, sorry--then that's okay--and even regarding these folks you're really not sure if they'll make the short list--i.e. be, in fishing lingo, big enough to keep.}

Pre-programmed Anyway. Missionary work and evangelism are only going-through-the-motions anyway. The grace--that God sics on The Elect (yes, this is theological elitism!) cannot be resisted by them--yes--they are programmed to persevere. (Yes, Harold Camping Rick Warren, John MacArthur, Dallas Seminary, and all the faithful Reform Theology folks shuffle to this party line.)
Tony Campolo was the main speaker and did his famous "It's Friday--But Sunday's Comin" sermon--based on a something he'd heard a pastor-friend preach in Philadelphia.

LRP, WF, etc. In my elective, I spoke on the problems with dispensationalism, cessationism, and double-decree predestination--in light of scripture and the Classical Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. I also touched on the aberrant distortions and excesses of Latter Rain Pentecostalism (LRP) and Word Faith (WF) teaching (Beall-to-Branham-to-Copeland) which the classical pentecostals (e.g.: AG) had rejected from the late-Forties to the present day.

Showing the Mess in the Backyard. I also admitted that I had been disappointed (as had my ex-reform theology Dad) with the apparent spiritual impoverishment, dissipation, and deteriorating pneumatology of the classical pentecostals--including the AG--and my disillusionment with the tribal customs, impaired rapport, anemic fellowship, shallowness and superfciality of San Joaquin Valley Pentecostal Holiness, Pentecostal Church of God, and Assemblies of God churches--wondering if Ichabod (The Glory Has Departed) was truly inscribed over their front doors by God.

(One pastor of an older AG church bragged to me that he had kicked out several men who'd come to him and told him they thought God's glory had departed from his ministry and from the church. I was in a Christian Leaders' Support Group with this pastor for fourteen years and I believe those kicked-out men were no doubt correct.)

(Peoples Church had already become doctrinally and Pneumatologically compromised with a please-everybody-ecumenical-message and staff--and I'd already become jaundiced about the Episcopal churches I'd held seminars in--and Wesleyan (free will, responsiblity, sanctification-obsessed) Methodist and Nazarene groups I'd visited.)

Why All the Fuss..? In the seminar I focused on the obvious scriptually-based importance of devotional glossalalia and the intercessory comfort, divine communication, empowerment, and even my firm conviction regarding the cognitive and affective edification provided in the mind of Christ and the mind of the Spirit via the gift of devotional prayer in the Holy Spirit. I spoke of the Spirit of God as the non-modalistic Third Person of the Godhead--warning about the error of Jesus Only teaching.

Sound Pneumatology. The Holy Spirit is the Paraclete Who comes alongside to comfort, to instruct, to re-direct and correct with God's truth. The Holy Spirit's gifts describe the Giver and not the Recipient (contrary to Rick Yohn (nowadays Rick Warren et al) and all the evangelcal types who keep trying to help people discover their spiritual gift--as if they're administrating some sort of Personality Inventory). We looked at (Ephesians 4; Romans 12; and I Corinthians 12, 13), and the Apostle Paul's cautionary instruction (I Corinthians 14) regarding public-tongues excesses--while proclaiming that he spoke "...with tongues more than you all" in his private devotions before God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit--One God--in three distinct Persons. Some present seemed to have a light turn on in their minds--realizing that the limited and not that common public Gift of Tongues ("Not all speak with tongues") had been a red herring to the cessationist T.U.L.I.P.S.

The Big Question. At the Lutheran Conference I asked the group, "Why do so many evangelicals and ecumenicals fight against devotional tongues--and really bite-the-hand-that-feeds-them by fighting against God the Father's authentic gift of the Holy Spirit (not a scorpion, not a stone) and baptism by Christ into the power and work of God, the Holy Spirit..?"

Then I answered my own question, "Because Satan wants a powerless churchianity-...and he is deathly afraid of Christ-exalting, Holy Spirit-empowered believers who are supernaturally transformed and anointed to be witnesses for Jesus Christ--in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. Keep the little do-gooder steeple boxes 'down in the vale' full of spiritual-dwarf gutless wonders playin' bingo..."

Will modern-day Uzzah's and Ananias and Sapphira's who malign the the Holy Spirit and, as profane persons, touch the presence of God--suffer the same tragic fate...?


(excerpt: Part One: Unpublished Work in Progress) Are Baptists Saved..? Copyright 2008 by Philip C. Brewer All Rights Reserved



B.I.B.L.E.
1. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)
2. "Mental Floss to Prevent Truth Decay"

DISCUSSION: Commentary & Good Article by J. Lee Grady...

REASONABLE VOICES

Good article below (after my introductory comments) by J. Lee Grady, Editor of Charisma.

Thank God there are some reasonable voices out there like his--whether or not they've recently just come to their senses--or from the beginning knew Bentlley was a bent pin.

Or perhaps reasonable voices emerge just because of healthy disillusionment and disgust with the crazy excesses of sick 'Latter Rain Syndrome' revivalism.

Over the years I've worked as a clinician in two acute psychiatric units. I'd often rush out to meet my friends after my shift--not just to grab a sandwich--but mainly to talk with somebody who was sane, nothearing voices, (and, because he'd had a vision that he was Napoleon--had his hand in my blouse--Ha!). Like--when you've had the unfortunate experience of witnessing a bar fight--or some bitchy soccer mom beating up the coach--you relish going to a scenic park and reading a good book.

I've felt the same way after leaving a Latter-Rain type church or meeting (with its hyper-deliverance, holy laughter, pre-frontal-lobe-disturbance-visions, writhing on the floor like snakes, animal sounds, slaying, PMS-prophetesses, hopping-to-bad-music-like-jumping-jack idiots, pre-occupation with angels, obsession with ridding the place of jezebel-spirits, and making maudlin money-grubbing pleas for some damn--mythical usually--orphange in Haiti) ...looking for conversation with anyone--anyone sort of in their right mind--ha!..go to an art show..or, hey...a good cigar shop--talk with sombody--the bigger sinner the better--but hopefully an intelligent reader (a real rarity in Fresno!)--but somebody not religiously-pre-occupied in the goofy charis-manic sense--somebody not taking lists of demon names on a steno pad--with a copy of Frank and Ida May Hammond's Pigs In the Parlor tucked under her arm.

Sane voices (which are also biblically-sound Christian voices) can help us fend off the emotionally unstable, the apostates, the confused sheeple, and, sadly, the so-called 'Christian leaders' who endorsed, 'anointed', praised, followed (and will still follow) Bentley et al--and his 'Strange Fire' (a la Nadab & Abihu) Menace-try.

I have been personlly amazed at finding people that I'd known for years (and thought had half a brain) who still seem to want to remain in the 'Strange Fire' nest--like little birds with their mouths open--waiting for more worms. And, of course, worms they will get..!

For years, i've been warning people (not only about buying food from roach-motel fast food Mc-restaurants) but about the dead cessationist NAE and their ecumenical impotence on the one hand--and about Latter Rain Schizotypal ( charismagical) Personalities on the other.

Throughout my many years of ministerially-unhappy captivity in the 'egypt' of California's San Joaquin Valley--I've seen, for the most part, the one extreme or the other.

You may ask, "Have you found a haven in your cartooning and writing? And have you enjoyed the Psalm 23 respite you find in Satire..? And, while not being cyncial--do you continue to relish a healthy and robust skepticism and sales resistance to any prophetess..? And a godly aversion to all things evangelical, ecumenical, pop-religious, and 'prophetic'. And a healthy allergy to words like 'Elijah' and 'Jezebel'..? And mentally stable avoidance of any tattooed, splenetically-revivalistic, rock-n-roll-praise-band-atmospheres full of kundalini-gyrating emergent-church millennials..?

...Is the Pope Catholic...? ----P.C. Brewer

---------------------------------------------------------------

Life After Lakeland: Sorting Out the Confusion by J. Lee Grady, Charisma

Todd Bentley's announcement that his marriage is ending has thrown our movement into a tailspin—and questions need to be answered.


It was not supposed to end like this. (Ed. Note: Really? How could it have ended in any other way..when it was off-center 'Latter-Rainism' from the start..? --PB)

Evangelist Todd Bentley had heralded the Lakeland revival as the greatest Pentecostal outpouring since Azusa Street. From his stage in a gigantic tent in Florida, Bentley preached to thousands, bringing many of them to the stage for prayer. Many claimed to be healed of deafness, blindness, heart problems, depression and dozens of other conditions in the Lakeland services, which ran for more than 100 consecutive nights. Bentley announced confidently that dozens of people had been raised from the dead during the revival.

But this week, a few days after the Canadian preacher announced the end of his visits to Lakeland, he told his staff that his marriage is ending. Without blaming the pace of the revival for Bentley's personal problems, his board released a public statement saying that he and his wife, Shonnah, are separating. The news shocked Bentley's adoring fans and saddened those who have questioned his credibility since the Lakeland movement erupted in early April.

"Among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: 'This is God. Don't question.' "

I'm sad. I'm disappointed. And I'm angry. Here are few of my many, many questions about this fiasco:

Why did so many people flock to Lakeland from around the world to rally behind an evangelist who had serious credibility issues from the beginning?

To put it bluntly, we're just plain gullible. (Ed. note: "Duh..." --PB)

From the first week of the Lakeland revival, many discerning Christians raised questions about Bentley's beliefs and practices. They felt uneasy when he said he talked to an angel in his hotel room. They sensed something amiss when he wore a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. They wondered why a man of God would cover himself with tattoos. They were horrified when they heard him describe how he tackled a man and knocked his tooth out during prayer. (Ed. Note; What's that Appalachian saying about "...didn't you know what it was when you picked it up..?" --PB)

But among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: "This is God. Don't question." So before we could all say, "Sheeka Boomba" (as Bentley often prayed from his pulpit), many people went home, prayed for people and shoved them to the floor with reckless abandon, Bentley-style. (Ed. Note: Of course--"Monkey see--monkey do..." --PB)

I blame this lack of discernment, partly, on raw zeal for God. We're spiritual hungry—which can be a good thing. But sometimes, hungry people will eat anything. (Ed. Note: 'Sheeple' contestants on Fear Factor type TV shows eat all kinds of rodents and vermin...because they want the money..! --PB)

Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It's way past time for us to grow up. (Ed. Note: Trouble is--that's asking the impossible of I.Q.of 5 'Millennials'--ha! --PB)

Why didn't anyone in Lakeland denounce the favorable comments Bentley made about William Branham? (Ed. Note: Ignorance of modern Church History also comes back to haunt us! --PB)

This one baffles me. Branham embraced horrible deception near the end of his ministry, before he died in 1965. He claimed that he was the reincarnation of Elijah—and his strange doctrines are still embraced by a cultlike following today. When Bentley announced to the world that the same angel that ushered in the 1950s healing revival had come to Lakeland, the entire audience should have run for the exits. (Ed. Note: Ah...but the 'sheeple' didn't recognize the fact that Bentley is 'Latter Rain'...and, of course, there wasn't a scholarly Bible student in the bunch. And, sadly, these folks 'pre-screen' themselves--like attendees at professional wrestling--or Benny Hinn meetings...--PB)

Why didn't anyone correct this error from the pulpit? Godly leaders are supposed to protect the sheep from heresy, not spoon feed deception to them. Only God knows how far this poison traveled from Lakeland to take root elsewhere. May God forgive us for allowing His Word to be so flippantly contaminated.

A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley's news hit the fan. He said to me: "I'm now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment." Ouch. Hopefully we'll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up. (Ed. Note: Don't hold your breath..! --PB)

Why did God TV tell people that "any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic"? (Ed. Note; Because GOD TV administrators present themselves as pushers ofNew Order of the Latter Rain--due to their endorsement of Bentley's propagandizing:"This fire of revival started in 1948 and is coming back to go around the world today!" --PB)

This ridiculous statement was actually made on one of God TV's pre-shows. In fact, the network's hosts also warned listeners that if they listened to criticism of Bentley, they could lose their healings.

This is cultic manipulation at its worst. The Bible tells us that the Bereans were noble believers because they studied the Scriptures daily "to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11, NASB). Yet in the case of Lakeland, honest intellectual inquiry was viewed as a sign of weakness. People were expected to jump first and then open their eyes.

Just because we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit does not mean we check our brains at the church door. We are commanded to test the spirits. Jesus wants us to love Him with our hearts and our minds. (Ed. Note: Amen and amen...!!! --PB)

Because of the Lakeland scandal, there may be large numbers of people who feel they've been burned by Bentley. (Ed. Note: Hey--we can only hope. --PB) Some may give up on church and join the growing ranks of bitter, disenfranchised Christians. (Ed. Note: Like many of the intelligent folk I enjoy chatting with in coffee shops.) Others may suffer total spiritual shipwreck. This could have been avoided if leaders had been more vocal about their objections and urged people to evaluate spiritual experiences through the filter of God's Word.

Why did a group of respected ministers lay hands on Bentley on June 23 and publicly ordain him? Did they know of his personal problems?

This controversial ceremony was organized by Peter Wagner, who felt that one of Bentley's greatest needs was proper spiritual covering. He asked California pastors Che Ahn and Bill Johnson, along with Canadian pastor John Arnott, to lay hands on Bentley and bring him under their care. (Ed. Note: Wouldn't this cause a sensible, sane, wise Christian to question the spiritual wisdom of the above-mentioned 'respected ministers'..? --PB)

Bentley certainly needs such covering. No one in ministry today should be out on their own, living in isolation without checks, balances and wise counsel. It was commendable that Wagner reached out to Bentley and that Bentley acknowledged his need for spiritual fathers by agreeing to submit to the process. The question remains, however, whether it was wise to commend Bentley during a televised commissioning service that at times seemed more like a king's coronation.

In hindsight, we can all see that it would have been better to take Bentley into a back room and talk about his personal issues. (Ed. Note: And then take him out to the wood shed!....ha! --PB)

The Bible tells us that ordination of a minister is a sober responsibility. Paul wrote: "Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others" (1 Tim. 5:22). We might be tempted to rush the process, but the apostle warned against fast-tracking ordination—and he said that those who commission a minister who is not ready for the job will bear some of the blame for his failures.

I trust that Wagner, Ahn, Johnson and Arnott didn't know of Bentley's problems before they ordained him. I am sure they are saddened by the events of this week and are reaching out to Bentley and his wife to promote healing and restoration. But I believe that they, along with Bentley and the owners of God TV, owe the body of Christ a forthright, public apology for thrusting Bentley's ministry into the spotlight prematurely. (Perhaps such an apology should be aired on God TV.) (Ed. Note: Again...don't hold your breath..! --PB)

Can anything good come out of this?

That depends on how people respond. If the men assigned to oversee Bentley offer loving but firm correction, and if Bentley responds humbly to the process by stepping out of ministry for a season of rehabilitation, we could witness a healthy case of church discipline play out the way it is supposed to. If all those who were so eager to promote Bentley now rush just as fast to repent for their errors in judgment, then the rest of us could breathe a huge sigh of relief—and the credibility of our movement could be restored. (Ed. Note: Please explain further in detail about 'the credibility of our movement'...sounds intriguing..! --PB)

I still believe that God desires to visit our nation in supernatural power. I know He wants to heal multitudes, and I will continue praying for a healing revival to sweep across the United States. But we must contend for the genuine, not an imitation. True revival will be accompanied by brokenness, humility, reverence and repentance—not the arrogance, showmanship and empty hype that often was on display in Lakeland.

We are weathering an unprecedented season of moral failure and spiritual compromise in our nation today. I urge everyone in the charismatic world to pray for Bentley; his wife, Shonnah; his three young children; Bentley's ministry staff; and the men and women who serve as his counselors and advisers. Let's pray that God will turn this embarrassing debacle into an opportunity for miraculous restoration. (Ed. Note: Trouble is--all the cronies, toadies, and groupies chose to dance with the devil out of their own naivete, narcissism, self-conscious attention-seeking, and shallowness . These folks are a mile-wide-and-an-inch-deep--because of their very glomming onto Bentley in the first place. Look at the YouTube videos of these associates in their trance-like stage performances. They're all one taco short of a Happy Meal---ha! --PB)
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

'Branding': From Dictators to 'Emergent' Postmoderns

{Interesting..Read this book review below and then read the next (older) article about "Church Branding" ...Later, I'd like to have a discussion about another aspect of 'branding'--the postmodern 'cult of body-tattooing'--PB}

DESIGNING DICTATORS

By CHRISTOPHER BENFEY
Published: August 3, 2008
New York Times Book Review

How did a practice as vile as branding become so valued, indeed, the very mark of value? Officials in the past have branded slaves and criminals — remember Milady's fleur-de-lis in "The Three Musketeers"? Samuel Maverick didn't brand his cattle, but dictionaries are vague about whether he was the first maverick or his cows were.

Today, cities and colleges have joined toothpastes and soft drinks in the battle for "brand loyalty."

Steven Heller's "Iron Fists" makes a sophisticated and visually arresting comparison between modern corporate-branding strategies — slogans, mascots, jingles and the rest — and those adopted by "four of the most destructive 20th-century totalitarian regimes": Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin, and Mao's China.

As he pursues his four "case studies," Heller, by means of unsettling images and shrewd analysis, amply restores the vileness to branding.

From "Iron Fists"
"Give me four years' time"; a photomontage from 1937.
IRON FISTS
Branding the 20th-Century Totalitarian State.
By Steven Heller.
Illustrated. 223 pp. Phaidon Press. $90.

From "Iron Fists"

"Let's build a fleet of airships in Lenin's name"; a poster from 1931.

"Iron Fists" has the dimensions and dazzling illustrations of a coffee-table book, but its subject will fit uneasily among Monet's waterlilies or Fabergé eggs. Heller, who was a senior art director at The New York Times for many years and now writes the Visuals column for the Book Review, brings a graphic designer's perspective to these disturbing proceedings.

He is aware that comparing supposedly "benign" corporate brands with government-disseminated propaganda may seem a stretch: "A popular brand of frozen food or laundry detergent is not forced down the consumer's throat with an iron fist."

Still, as he notes, "the design and marketing methods used to inculcate doctrine and guarantee consumption are fundamentally similar." His aim is not to diminish the insidiousness of the regimes under scrutiny, but rather to reveal why they were so effective.

Three of Heller's dictators considered themselves artists and eagerly participated in marketing their brands. Mao fancied himself a poet and master calligrapher; Mussolini wrote a pulp novel and portrayed himself as a hypermasculine sex symbol.

Hitler was an aspiring architect and avid watercolorist before adopting what Heller calls his "sociopolitical art project." The Führer sought to control all aspects of the Nazi brand, from the swastika "logo" to his own image, with mustache but without glasses.

Heller argues that Mao with his "Mona Lisa smile" and Lenin with his proletarian cap functioned in much the same way as "trade characters" like Joe Camel or the Geico gecko, putting "a friendly face on an otherwise inanimate (or sometimes inhumane) product."

Like modern corporate competitors, these leaders borrowed freely from one another, with Hitler taking the straight-armed Roman salute from Mussolini and Mao adopting Socialist Realism from the Soviets.

Some of the most interesting pages in "Iron Fists" explore the ambiguous place of avant-garde art in rigidly designed societies. Mussolini and Lenin were more accommodating of modernist impulses than Hitler, who declared war on "degenerate art" while making an exception for the filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's "paradigms of heroic branding."

The temporary "fusion" of Fascism and the technology-embracing art movement known as Futurism led to some terrific pro-Mussolini visual design before Il Duce settled for neo-Classical "Roman" kitsch instead.

The early years of the Soviet Union provide some of the best examples of art flourishing amid utopian hopes for a new society — in Rodchenko's posters (including his famous promo for "Books" in 1924), El Lissitzky's remarkable children's books and Eisenstein's films.

All four regimes ended up suppressing individual creativity as a threat to the total control they sought. When the regimes fell in turn, their brands were retired. The swastika, an ancient symbol whose meaning, Heller says, "was forever changed when the Nazis co-opted it," is now banned in Germany except for "artistic, scientific, research or educational purposes."

Mussolini's body, so central to his national image, was hung from an Esso gas station, an inadvertent premonition, perhaps, that oil companies would henceforth rule the world.

For the most part, Heller's prose is as clear and uncluttered as the graphic design he admires. He takes no ideological position and does not distinguish between repressive regimes of the right (sometimes called "authoritarian") or the left. Nor does he advance any overarching theory about the destiny of art in totalitarian regimes, though he leaves no doubt about the grim fate of ordinary citizens.

Given his dark subject, he can be forgiven for abusing adjectives like "infamous," "horrific," "diabolical" and "heinous," though such words lose some of their power with the third or fourth repetition. They also obscure the continuity between branding campaigns of the past and our own battles over flag pins and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Heller makes no claims to a comprehensive survey, but one wonders why Imperial Japan, at least as "infamous" as Fascist Italy and with an interesting record of artists roped into the cause, was spared. One might also cavil about the material's organization, which places the Nazis first, according them a third of the book, even though Lenin's revolution and Mussolini's Fascism predate Hitler's rise.

Still, as Heller makes clear, the Nazis were the supreme masters of branding, both at the figurative level, in the vicious propaganda campaign he calls the "branding demonization" of the German Jews, and in a literal sense, as the Nazis "resorted to the most degrading branding technique imaginable."

My German grandparents, with a big "J" stamped across their exit passports, were among the lucky ones. Those less fortunate, as Primo Levi wrote of the inmates of Auschwitz, were branded with an indelible tattoo: "This is the mark with which slaves are branded and cattle sent to the slaughter, and that is what you have become. You no longer have a name; this is your new name."

Christopher Benfey is the Mellon professor of English at Mount Holyoke College. His most recent book, "A Summer of Hummingbirds," is about American artists and writers during the Gilded Age.


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Burned by Branding

What churches can learn from the anti-Starbucks movement.

Believe it or not, not everyone loves Starbucks. The Wall Street Journal's Janet Adamy has written about the growing resistance the Seattle-based coffee cartel is facing in many communities. The issue—Starbucks ignores local culture in favor of maintaining its brand-identity.

The already omnipresent Starbucks has plans to triple its locations worldwide to 40,000, but Adamy says the plan has alarmed some communities. "The proliferation of [Starbucks] stores has prompted a small number of cities to block it from opening out of concern the chain will erode the local character."

I've attended a number of conferences and read many reports in recent years about the popular multi-site church model. Invariably these sources will reference Starbucks as an example for churches who wish to establish themselves in multiple communities. But what should the church be learning from the rising anti-Starbucks sentiment?

During my first year of church ministry the two more experienced pastors on staff took me to "the Oracle." The old man lived in a bungalow not far from our church. I entered the house rather nervously. The 60's era furniture was covered in plastic, and every horizontal surface I could see was stacked with books. The Oracle looked to be in his 70's, he was unshaven, his trousers held to his belly by suspenders. He wore only a tight-fitting undershirt (popularly called a "wife-beater" thanks to the TV show "COPS").

The Oracle (aka, church consultant) sat in his recliner studying our numbers. He had requested detailed records of our church attendance, service schedule, and giving trends. He wanted nothing else. We sat in nervous silence waiting for the wise man to speak. After a few minutes of the old man saying "Hmmm," "Ahhh," and clearing his phlegm, he finally spoke. Without taking his eyes off the papers he started to tell a story.

"A few weeks ago I had a leaky pipe in the kitchen. Nasty things, leaky pipes. We used to have a very nice little hardware store up the street. It was small, but it was all we had. It's gone now." I looked at the two older pastors that had brought me here. Is this guy nuts? I asked with my eyes. Why have we come to an old man with dementia for advice about our church? The Oracle kept talking.

"So, I got in my car and went to the new place. They built a new Home Depot not far from here. You know the one. It's orange. You can't miss it. Sure enough, Home Depot had the part I needed. They have every part anyone could ever need." He paused for a moment, then started up again. "I like to drive," he said. Oh no, I thought, he's lost it.

"I drive all over the place. And you know what? There are Home Depots everywhere. And they always look the same. Orange. I say to my wife, 'Look another Home Depot' and she laughs at me. And when you go inside they are the same too. The plumbing aisle is always the plumbing aisle."

The Oracle finally put the papers down and looked at us. "You need to become Home Depot," he said very seriously. I felt like Luke Skywalker in Yoda's hut. I wanted to check behind the old man's chair to see if Frank Oz was controlling him.

The consultant went on to say the era of small churches was ending. The future was in mega franchised churches. The most important element, the Oracle said, was "brand identity." No matter where your church locations are, they must all be the same. Like Home Depot, or McDonalds, or Starbucks, people must know exactly what they are going to get from your church in any location.

That was my introduction to multi-site ministry.

But the Oracle didn't have the clairvoyance to see what Starbucks is now facing. Its strategy of vigorous brand management is no longer working. In fact, the coffee giant is now learning from the little guys' play book. New Starbucks stores are opening that do not reflect its well-established corporate identity. They are trying to personalize their stores to resemble local cafés that fit in with the community. One Starbucks in Denver has even abandoned the green mermaid logo of the brand.

The lesson—people don't necessarily want to be connected to a massive corporate identity. An increasing number want to identify with local, accessible, and human-scaled institutions. My own experience affirms this. I am writing this post in a local coffee shop. At 8am there is not an empty table in the house. This is where community happens in my town. Directly across the street is a Starbucks. That store sees a steady stream of people pass through to get their morning fix. But the tables are empty. It isn't a place people gather, converse, or write blog posts
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What is the church to learn?

That's what the comment section is for, but I'll start with this thought. If the church is to be merely a dispenser of spiritual goods and advice, a place people pass through to get their religion fix, then we should follow the example of brand-driven corporate giants.

But, if we hope to form meaningful communities of Christ-followers we shouldn't neglect the power of being local.

Rather than reading the latest branding book, why not gather mature leaders and listen for the Holy Spirit? How is he advising us to be the community of Christ in this unique place at this unique time?

Posted by Skye Jethani on November 20, 2006