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The Tangible Kingdom" is book written by Matt Smay and Hugh Halter and published by Jossey-Bass Leadership Network, and it's creation, like so many other books published by the Jossey-Bass Leadership Network, is intended to move the church into the 21st century via the emerging church movement. Sadly, however, its methods are anything but biblical (I will say more about that later in this post). The emerging church has received the backing of the Leadership Network managerially and the Eli Lilly Corporation (drug manufacturer of Prozac) financially, and it appears to be a success due to their help, rather than a true move of God. 1.
To discover the answer to the question, "What is The Tangible Kingdom movement?" please click
HERE.
What most people are not told about The Leadership Network and its baby, the Emerging/Emergent church movement* (see notes at the bottom of this post) is that it is based on both human and occult philosophy, not on Scripture. It is what is
not being said about it that is so dangerous to the spiritual health of the churches which are looking to these church growth/missions methods as part of their program for spiritual development. That being said, however, the emerging church
is showing its true colors, for those who are truly willing to see them; and although the rumor last year was that the emerging church movement is dead, it is anything but. It may have morphed or matured or changed its name, but the underlying philosophy is alive and well and continues to penetrate churches around the globe.
The authors of "The Tangible Kingdom" use the method of deconstructionism** in order to introduce their version of the kingdom of God (which according to Scripture is spiritual, not physical, as in the sense that it is a material kingdom in the
present age). Although Christ and His church will one day rule this earth in a both a physical and spiritual sense in the Millennial Age, that is not presently happening. In this sense, the emerging church movement of the tangible kingdom fits more closely with
Kingdom Now/Dominion/Theonomy/Reconstruction theology, which is
preterist in nature.
"The Tangible Kingdom" also uses terminology typical to the emerging church , words such as tranformational, missional, and incarnational community. Which brings me to my next thought - the communitarianism*** inherent within the movement. The emerging church promotes communitarianism as a replacement for biblical unity (which is always based on the truth), as compared to the man-made false unity created by a common goal to use the church as a humanitarian organization which will eventually, and finally, compromise the truth of God's Word to achieve it. The purpose of this goal is to make the church fit in with the globalist/socialist agenda, a "three-legged stool" comprised of government, the business sector, and the social sector (which includes the church). It is blatant social engineering. The plan for socialism to infiltrate the church has been known for quite some time now, and has been purposely hidden from the church in order to deceive it. Please read the evidence
HERE. It is time for the church to get its head out of the sand now!
"...we have seen how Dr. Walter Rauschenbusch... and the leaders of the social-action movements in the churches decided to do away with Christian individualism and turn to outright collectivism, using the church as their instrument.... Religion was only a means toward achieving socialism. And, like all other false prophets who have infiltrated religion through he centuries, [Rauschenbusch] used a 'front' or disguise. This disguise, as we have seen, was 'The Kingdom of God.' The Kingdom was not pictured as a spiritual society into which men and women had to be born as individuals through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Savior, but as a collectivist society which would be brought about by... eradication of poverty, redistribution of wealth... and 'economic justice.'" 2. (Edgar Bundy, Collectivism in the Churches.)
The words of Jesus:
"My Kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36)
Notes:
"We know that the current Emergent Church is a marketing phenomenon, set up as an official movement by Bob Buford’s Leadership Network, a historical fact which we documented in a series of Herescope posts in 2005 and 2006.[2] From its very inception in the 1980s Leadership Network imported a number of leading New Age business “gurus” as “experts” – holding nebulous (if any!) Christian credentials. They trained an entire generation of evangelical “leaders” on the latest tactics of psycho-social change theory, substituting it for genuine Holy Spirit revival. These business “gurus,” some of whom had open New Age beliefs, included such notables as Margaret Wheatley, Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, and Ken Blanchard. Many spoke at a 2000 Leadership Network conference “Exploring Off the Map” which launched the Emergent Church movement.[3] From our research we also know that the Emergent Church was set up to be a vanguard, a forerunner, to propel the postmodern evangelical church towards a paradigm shift in theology, structure, methodology, and purpose. As such, it has been rushing headlong towards an open convergence with the New Age movement. Emergent leader Phyllis Tickle has termed this “The Great Emergence,” which is the title of her 2008 book announcing the “birthing” of a “brand-new expression of… faith and praxis” (p. 17) which will ultimately “rewrite Christian theology” (p. 162). Important details about both the history and theology of the modern Emergent movement can be found in Pastor Bob DeWaay’s recently published book The Emergent Church: Undefining Christianity (2009). This book summarizes the basic doctrines and practices of the movement, and gives an account of a few key leaders."
** (from "Envisioning Emergence"" by Sarah Leslie at
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/009/discernment/7-emerging-6.htm)
"Pastor DeWaay does an excellent job of scouring the Emergent chronicles for evidences of “deconstruction.” “Deconstruction” is a philosophy that de-emphasizes the Word of God, and claims that no one can really know the Truth. It fits hand-in-glove with mysticism. An excellent analysis of “deconstruction” was written by Samuel Blumenfeld in 1995, as part of his scholarly refutation of the “whole language” style of teaching reading that resulted in illiteracy. Blumenfeld explained how “deconstruction” obliterates the fact that words have meaning, de-emphasizes written language by claiming that there is no “truth” in it, and declares “the impossibility of determining absolute meaning”[15] in a text. He wrote: "But not only do the whole-language deconstructionists reject the concept of the absolute word—the logos—but they reject the very system of logical thinking that made Western civilization possible. They not only reject the Bible, they reject Aristotle’s A is A. Their new formula is A can be anything you want it to be, which can only be the basis of a pre-literate or non-literate culture in which subjectivism, emotion and superstition prevail as the means of knowing. That, of course, is simply a form of insanity—the inability not only to deal with objective reality but to recognize and admit that it exists. A mind so inclined is a mind that will lead its owner to destruction."[16]
The Emergent Church is at the vanguard of this type of deconstructionism. It discounts the Word of God, mocks exegetical preaching and teaching, and emphasizes dialogue (“conversation”), mysticism, symbology, community (“relationships”), and various “spiritual disciplines.” A recent, related fad in the evangelical mission world is “orality,” which is telling stories about the Bible instead of teaching Scripture itself. This cheats the listener out of the precious ability to hear or read God’s Word."
"Communitarians refer to the creation of a world government as the effort to create a “healthy society.” The goal of the church growth movement (CGM) is to manipulate Christians and churches into this healthy society. “Health-based” language is sometimes used in the CGM. Some church growth leaders desire “healthy churches” and “healthy congregations” made up of “healthy Christians.” A healthy church would be one in which all members are willing to compromise the Word of God for the common good. Communitarians believe that attaining a healthy society involves the successful merger of the 3 sectors of society. It requires a merger of the government sector, the private sector (business) and the social sector (which includes the churches). This merger is also known as “Drucker’s 3-legged stool,” named after its main proponent, Peter Drucker, who is considered to be the “father of modern management.” Peter Drucker, like Amitai Etzioni, was a Communitarian and was also a student of the Kabbalah. According to Roger Oakland’s “Bob Buford, Peter Drucker, and the Emerging Church,” Peter Drucker, like Amitai Etzioni, shared a bond with the Kabbalist, Martin Buber. Roger Oakland stated, “Drucker felt a strong bond…with a panentheist/ mystic named Martin Buber (1878-1965), who embraced the teachings of Hasidism (Jewish mysticism).” In his book, “Between Man and Man” (New York, NY: Routledge Classics, 2002, first published in 1947), p. 219, Buber states, ‘Since 1900 I had first been under the influence of German mysticism from Meister Eckhart [a mystic] ... then I had been under the influence of the later Kabalah [Jewish mysticism] and of Hasidism.’” 32.
Peter Drucker was very interested in getting churches involved in the implementation of the world government. Drucker, who once lamented that there were “still many unhealthy churches,” 35. was not only an occultist, but an organizational guru. It was his involvement in the Jewish Kabbalah that inspired him to create an organizational model that would transform churches into agents of Satan. This organizational model today is called Total Quality Management (TQM). “Total” stands for “totalitarian.” It was Drucker’s vision that all organizations, including church organizations, within the 3-legged stool (Communitarian system) be run on TQM. He considered churches not conformed to this TQM model to be “still unhealthy.”
For further reading: 1. " 'Undefining' God's Mission - The Emerging Church on a 'Mission from God' " by Bob DeWaay 2. "What's Wrong With the 21st Century Church? by Dr. Robert Klenck
3. "Treason in the Church: Trading Truth for a 'Social Gospel'" by Berit Kjos 4. "Transforming the World by Subverting the Church" by Berit Kjos
End Notes: 1. http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=1585 2. Edgar C Bundy, Collectivism in the Churches: A documented account of the political activities of the Federal, National, and World Councils of Churches (Wheaton, Illinois: Church League of America, 1957), page 101
