2 Thessalonians 2:3a (New King James Version)
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first
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Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2010 07:23:26 -0400
Subject: District Superintendent Speaks Out
From: standfortruthministries@gmail.com
To: mannyrsilva@hotmail.com
[Stand For Truth is dedicated to warn the body of Christ of the apostasy creeping into the evangelical church today. If you wish to unsubscribe to this list, type UNSUBSCRIBE in your email response . Many of these posts will reference Nazarene issues, but let me warn you, these things are happening in all denominations, and we must be vigilant]
I received a copy of the following letter which was sent to Nazarene District Superintendents. It was written by Dr. Orville Jenkins, Jr., Superintendent of the North Florida District, Church of the Nazarene. Dr. Jenkins is not affiliated with Concerned Nazarenes or Stand For Truth Ministries, and I have never met him or spoken with him. But I an thankful for his courage in speaking out on some really serious issues we are facing. In my last post, I referenced Ezekiel 33:1-9, and I believe that what he is doing is an example of being a true watchman for the Lord.
This is a follow-up to the letter written three months ago, sent originally to 30 of my district superintendent colleagues and friends, in which I shared some personal concerns due to recent trends and events in the Church of the Nazarene, and specifically, the continued and expanding influence of the liberal Emergent Church (or Emerging) movement upon our church and its schools. This influence has been primarily in the U.S., and specific examples were cited.
The letter was also prompted by the increasing discussion and concerns echoed by some of the pastors I oversee, as well as others. They have asked, "Is this what we're all about now?" "Is this where we're heading? If it is, I'm not sure I still belong as a Nazarene." And, "Where is our leadership in all of this?"
In writing to fellow district superintendents, it was my intent to gauge their response in determining if sufficient similar sentiment might warrant a collective approach to the board of general superintendents about what is taking place in our church. And though I knew my thoughts were shared by others, I was not prepared for the response which the letter seemingly provoked, resulting in its circulation beyond those to whom it was intended.
I certainly do not claim an exclusive reading on the pulse of the church, or that my perspective is the most accurate measurement. I am but one voice. But what I shared from my heart seems to have resonated within the hearts of numerous Nazarenes, including laypersons, pastors, evangelists, district superintendents, and several serving in key positions at our Global Ministry Center. From their responses, the following seems evident:
One, questions abound as to why our leadership has been so deftly silent for so long on matters so crucial to our church's existence and its future. And, yes, leadership starts at the top, but the responsibility is at every level, including district leadership and that of our institutions of higher education.
Two, there is an acute awareness of the tolerance we've allowed to invade us, and that we've seemingly been willing to accept, perhaps not intentionally, but by our mere silence. Our failure to speak out, take a stand, and condemn what we once would not allow conveys the message that we are now tolerant of such things.
And three, there is also a pronounced desire to "take back our church" from those who no longer want to conform to the truth of Scripture and our holiness traditions, and would rather wrest control and take the church in a different direction altogether. It has produced a deep, growing angst among Nazarenes.
The influence of the Emergent Church movement has reached a point where we are not only being adversely affected within, but now those from the outside are questioning why the Church of the Nazarene has allowed itself to be infiltrated by such an extreme, liberal, and unorthodox mindset. While in California last month for a family wedding, I visited with three pastor friends who are not Nazarenes but know us well and share similar theological and doctrinal positions. Two of them had attended the recent Catalyst Conference on the West Coast (the largest gathering of young evangelical leadership in the country), and made an interesting observation. At the conference no one with ties to the Emergent Church was invited to speak in any of the sessions or workshops because they are considered so extremely liberal and out of the mainstream of strongly biblical evangelicalism that they are deemed irrelevant. Yet, as these pastor friends added, everyone seems to know the Emergent issue has become very divisive within the Church of the Nazarene, and no one can understand why, of all churches, the Nazarenes have allowed this.
If mainline evangelical Christianity recognizes the inherent dangers in this thinking, why has it so easily found an acceptance within the leading holiness denomination that used to be at the forefront of teaching and preaching sound doctrine and countering the opposite? Why our silence? And why have we been not only slow to address it, but remain reluctant to unequivocally distance and remove ourselves from it completely? If this is indeed our posture of weakness, then we are fair game for any and every heresy, and the efforts of the Charismatics to make inroads among the Nazarenes in the late 1960's should have been postponed to the present. Again, time and space do not allow me to elaborate on this, but the Emergent Church is far more dangerous to us than what is understood at the surface level. For if you explore and dig deep enough, its tentacles and leadership all have far reaching links and ties for which there is no foundation or accommodation in Scripture, with radical and extremely liberal social and political implications.
I say this in kindness, but those within our church who continue to sympathize with, advocate for, or clearly identify themselves as "Emergents" reveal either their own naivete and ignorance of what this movement is all about, or the fact they have sold out their spiritual birthright as Nazarenes for something far less.
Developments Since the Initial Letter
In my original letter I referenced the conference, "Nurturing the Prophetic Imagination," conducted on one of our college campuses that featured speakers who identified themselves as far left activists, globalists, and anti-capitalists, as well as a Muslim and one who was sympathetic to Buddhism and universalism. As a result of drawing attention to that event and those kinds of guest speakers, a lengthy phone conference call took place between the conference organizer and five district superintendents, including myself, during which the university spokesman graciously fielded our questions and concerns and admitted some mistakes were made with the invitation to certain speakers. In the end he promised they would consult with a group of superintendents and/or pastors from that region to avoid similar mistakes in advance of another planned conference. In addition, a two-page list of suggestions was submitted for the university to consider as protective safe guards for such conferences in the future.
But let me digress here for a moment. To set the record straight, I am FOR Nazarene higher education. I am a product of one of our schools and our seminary, as are all four of my children who have gone to Nazarene universities. But I am NOT FOR our schools being commandeered by liberals in positions of authority. As a church we have an increasing number of people who would identify themselves today as "liberal"...some in a superior, elitist manner, and because they've become progressively liberal in their thinking...some wearing it almost as a badge of honor that they have come out of conservatism (which some would define as "repressive legalism")...and some due to an exaggerated fear of being labeled a fundamentalist. Liberals and liberalism pervade every sector of our society, but its inroads into the Church of the Nazarene, including what appears now to be a growing occupancy at our schools, is a more recent development. And it coincides with challenges we are facing today as a church.
But what may not be fully understood is that the modern liberal worldview is steeped in godlessness. Its comprehensive core values are based on the inherent goodness of the nature of man, not his fallen nature due to sin. It claims man's fall is from the corruption of the world, but dismisses the Bible's formulation of a corrupt world resulting from fallen man.
This liberal worldview sees redemption not through God but in the belief that individual citizens should not necessarily be held accountable for their own actions; rather, government is responsible for the happiness, well being, justice, security, and equality of every citizen. In addition, it is the "general will" of a government that will unerringly purge society of its cultural and social poisons and remold human nature. Therefore, we can trust a democratically-elected government to do the correct things regarding social engineering projects. And, it is the role of government to not only provide a good economic environment, but to insure the economic equality of every one of its citizens...regardless of poor choices or lack of ambition, commitment to excellence, degree of talent, etc.
Since, according to this thinking, no Supreme Creator or Author of Law has established what is good or bad, there is no clear standard of right and wrong or good and evil, except that which is established by human government. Perhaps this is why so many liberal, secular humanists are caught up in environmental causes, almost in a pagan admiration of Mother Earth, mystified and overawed by her power. It is also why more and more liberals disassociate themselves from anything having to do with nationalism or patriotism. They deny the biblical idea of dominion and progress, the most ringing affirmation of which is the United States of America.
In short, liberalism, at its core, is pure and simple casuistry...the deciding of moral issues by subtle but false reasoning.
When we invite guest speakers to our campuses who openly describe themselves as an "activist," it almost always conceals far more than what it conveys. For an activist is invariably a militant reformer, someone who crusades for change, often associated with leading demonstrations and strikes in opposition to or in support of a cause, and who is more often than not considered to be a radical militant. (Ever wonder how all of those militant demonstrators just happen to "show up" whenever there is a G-8 or G-20 Economic Summit somewhere? Their demonstrations, destruction, and violence are carefully planned and financed in advance, and then carried out by the anarchists of the far left). A "globalist" favors a one-world governing system that no longer allows for the sovereignty, freedoms, rights, privileges, and independence that has made America unique and great from its inception. And an "anti-capitalist" is one who sees free enterprise as "the enemy," and is either a socialist, Marxist, fascist, or communist, which have always been flawed and failed economies based on the subjection and captivity of people, and unable to sustain themselves.
Why should these kinds of guests, or anyone with a liberal worldview, be welcomed, entertained, celebrated, and honored on a Nazarene campus, not to mention being paid an honorarium? Why conduct events comprised of the same kinds of guest speakers easily found at an event on a secular campus? Who are we trying to placate or impress? How close to the edge are we wanting to appear in terms of maintaining one foot with ties to a conservative, evangelical, holiness denomination, and yet have the other foot "in the world?" Are we taking our cues and seeking academic validation from those with a radically different agenda...be it spiritual, philosophical, political, or social? Shouldn't it be important that speakers we invite to appear on our campuses have a message--and embody a message--that would be edifying, even pivotal, for our students, as well as congruent to our mission? Until more recently we were willing to maintain some isolation, if need be, in order to maintain our spiritual heritage, values, and identity.
I mentioned I have been surprised, to say the least, by the responses and feedback I've received, all of which, with the exception of two, have been extremely supportive and encouraging. And the two exceptions were not necessarily negative, but simply questioned whether or not I should have been as direct and open as I was in a public letter. If I erred in this manner, I stand corrected. But the letter was produced only because I believe we are in a battle for the very survival of our church. And every effort was made to state and report things accurately, to write in a spirit of loving concern for our church, and with no intent to chastise or embarrass anyone.
Perhaps most revealing is what people have communicated back to me. The following are exact quotes and a sampling of those comments:
I have been extremely concerned and fairly active attempting to stand for truth in the midst of the Post Modern, emergent church, open and process theology movement that seems to be significantly impacting our church and overwhelming some departments of our Nazarene schools, and specifically the Theology and Christian Ministries Department at NNU. While that is another discussion it has been difficult finding anyone to openly speak against such things for reasons completely unknown to me. There seems to be a feeling or perception that any disagreement of thought or opposition to the previously mentioned movement, and some of the more prominent proponents within our denomintion who are promoting it, is seen as divisive and dangerous. I am way past concern for our denomination. I believe she is in full blown crisis and fear the ship is adrift with no one at the helm. ---Nazarene layman and commercial airline pilot
I'm not sure I even recognize our church anymore. And because of that it could be that my wife and I won't even attend a Nazarene church when I retire. ---Noted Nazarene pastor
I am thankful that you are being bold for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and are taking a stand against all the evil that is happening in our church. I am sure you realize that among much of the leadership it is certainly not the thing to do. We were told by our district leadership that it would not be discussed anymore, and if we did not like it we could leave. My prayer is that more leaders like yourself would not only count the cost, but also be willing to pay the price. I will be praying for you and your family, for there is a price to pay. ---Nazarene layperson
I am alarmed. The emergent church has penetrated our colleges and seminary and our very own publishing house. It is coming at us from all sides. And no one in the general leadership of the church appears to be stopping it. I had a conversation two weeks ago with a graduate of NTS who recently completed his D.Min. He gently corrected me for referring to God in masculine terms as I had prayed. I had used the term "in Jesus Christ Your Son." This NTS graduate informed me that it was wrong to use masculine terms to identify God. Perhaps God was feminine. To refer to God or His Son Jesus in masculine terms was wrong. He then proceeded to go on and advise me that great pastors challenge everything, question most things, and doubt some things. In the end his conversation concluded that he didn't believe most of the great stories of the Old Testament like Daniel in the lion's den. This young pastor has graduated from one of our universities and now from our seminary, and one day he will even probably be a DS on some district. He comes from a Nazarene heritage, has all the right endorsements, and knows the right people. That is what is scaring me to death...that these emergent church followers will one day be leading our denomination. They are in our schools and in our publishing house, so where does it all end? ---Nazarene elder connected with the GMC
Is it too late? Have we moved down the path so far we can never return? Probably. I do not see the church turning back to loving God with all her heart, mind, soul, and strength. I do not see the church repenting of her arrogant assumptions and throwing herself upon the mercies of a Holy, Holy, Holy God. I fear far too many of our preachers do not pray and do not engage in the Word and certainly do not preach expositional sermons. Many do not believe people are lost and desperately need to repent of their sin that leads to death. Nor do they believe that God is inviting them to be sanctified through and through, to die to self that Christ might live His mighty life through them. ---Well-known, highly profiled Nazarene church leader
I'm responding to you personally and not in a group reply due to the fact that I've not yet "come out of the closet," so to speak. To actually say that you hold traditional, conservative, Nazarene values is becoming less acceptable as the days go by. I think I was the only one at my table (at the DS Leadership Conference) that believed God specifically created life, major species, and Adam and Eve. Another DS openly questioned the validity of a specific moment of sanctification in favor of a gradual growth in grace that just evolved until it was noticed one day. At that point I wondered if I was accidentally attending a meeting of Freewill Baptists.
I'm greatly troubled by the theological drift to the left. This 180 book truly is a 180. Instead of stories of lives that have been traditionally turned around by the grace of Christ, we're given stories of Christians turned from traditionally held Nazarene positions to those that would be more acceptable in secular universities. ---Both statements from one of our younger district superintendents
Thank God for your courage. For nearly a decade the deafening silence has brought me near to despair. ---Highly respected Nazarene evangelist
Over the past year or so I have had an increasing number of Nazarene pastors and lay leaders bring their kids to __________ (a non-Nazarene Christian university) and explicitly tell us that they don't trust their Nazarene schools anymore and that they are thrilled to find a college of the Wesleyan-holiness family that is unapologetic in its defense of inerrancy and the historical orthodoxy of the Church. ---The president of a non-Nazarene Christian university
Frankly, I am both saddened and troubled that these comments are the reflections of any Nazarene, but they represent comments I have received. And if the prominent names of these and others who have responded were known, it might be both disturbing and shocking.
And then there has been a rather new development. My initial letter also alluded to a full-page tribute to Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of Africa that appeared in the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries magazine a couple of years ago. Why would a conservative, evangelical, Wesleyan denomination give any kind of tribute to a man recognized as the most liberal Anglican bishop in the world, and whom many consider to be an avowed Marxist? I found it indefensible then, and still do. But now comes along another inexplicable and embarrassing indictment of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries in the form of a 62-page document entitled, "Creation Care--Environmental Stewardship for the Church of the Nazarene," that appeared on our Nazarene website until it was mysteriously removed over a month ago due to "numerous calls and complaints."
When I first learned of it, I managed to download the document before it disappeared. It began not with Scripture, but with an American Indian proverb, and much of the document reads as if it were put together by far left environmentalists, with discussion topics on global warming, who's to blame for the environmental crisis, the Green Belt Movement, the responsibility of the rich, etc. But perhaps the real insult to our mission and to who we are as a church was found on page 59 when it says, "In this most critical moment in Earth's history, we are convinced that the central moral imperative of our time is the care for Earth as God's creation."
When did our moral imperative change from reaching the lost for Christ to caring for the earth? Who is responsible for writing or speaking this for the Church of the Nazarene, and guiding us down these paths? Why does a 62-page liberal environmental document appear on our official church website? Who approved it, and by what authority? Why, and by whose authority, was it removed when people began asking questions? And has the infection of liberalism, that does not represent the mainstream of our church, reached certain positions at the general church level as it has at some of our schools? If so, the disconnect within our church will not only widen, it will become irreparable.
I contend that these and other questions raised must be answered clearly and succinctly before our "house is in order." It is imperative that they be addressed and answered sooner rather than later in order to diffuse the growing sense of fear, frustration, and angst within our church as to who we are, or who we've become, or where we're going. They must be addressed and answered in some format made public and available to the entire church, for they are questions Nazarenes want and have a right to have answered because too much is at stake for the present and the future of our church.
Perhaps equally troubling is why there is even the need for anyone to bring attention to and question these matters...the silence of leadership...the tolerance of a heresy that challenges the truth and certainty of God's Word and has become so divisive...the encroachment of a liberal worldview almost without reaction...the publication of questionable material by our own presses...or liberal, left-of-center documents that keep on "slipping by," all within the Church of the Nazarene. Has our sight and vision as a church become so blurred or opaque that we no longer know, immediately and automatically, what is right and best and correct for us to do...or what is necessary...or what is prudent...or what is holy? And if not, who is giving guidance, governance, and correction? Who is demanding excellence? Who is requiring accountability and following through? Tough questions, I know, that may sound harsh. But as a Nazarene I simply want us to be the best at who we are and what we do without the need of having to explain or defend or justify or rationalize...period!
In so doing and going forward from here, the following appears to be essential:
1. Our leadership at the highest level must take bold, decisive, transparent action at this crucial hour...and lead. I am grateful for the response from the board of general superintendents to my initial letter. They, too, identify with many of the concerns I and others share, have asked a number of people to partner with them in discussion about the needs, and even have some initiatives presently underway. In a reply to them I have submitted some suggestions for their consideration, one of which is the calling of a "summit meeting" of all US/Canada district superintendents and college/university/seminary presidents, as soon as possible, to intentionally address a number of issues point blank, face to face. Just as we need to hear from our general leadership, they also need to hear from the rest of us, for we all share in the responsibility for our church. The importance of such a meeting cannot be overstated, for we are beyond the stage of mere discussion and more dialogue.
2. District and pastoral leadership must also sense their own responsibility. As a district superintendent, I am part of the leadership of our church, and thus accountable for the kinds of pastors and churches I oversee. Our Church Manual (208.9) states that all pastors selected for local churches must be approved by the district superintendent. Recently a fellow DS provided new meaning and substance to this provision. He notified the religion department of one of our schools, known for their emergent tolerance, that no one graduating from that institution with emergent thinking would be given consideration or allowed to interview for a pastoral position at any church on that district. Which is why pastors must recognize their own responsibility. No ministry activity is more important than rightly understanding and clearly proclaiming sound doctrine, and our church is only as strong as what is taking place at the local grass roots level.
3. From the beginning of their establishment, each of our schools of higher learning has been afforded a level of autonomy. But that autonomy must be balanced with accountability, not only from the school administrations, but also from their respective governing boards. Too often these boards have viewed their role as more of a "rubber stamp" of approval for what the institution is already doing or proposes to do rather than taking time to study, probe, and ask some direct, hard, and sometimes delicate, questions. But no question should be too sensitive or too simple when, as an elected trustee, you are also a spiritual gatekeeper of that institution. Trustees have not only a right, but an obligation to know exactly where the institution stands when it comes to open theism, relativism, post-colonial readings of Scripture, process theology, or anything that promotes homosexuality or Marxism or socialism or big government. For a school is beholden to its governing board of elected trustees, not vice versa.
4. The conscience of the church must speak out. It's one thing for one voice, or a few, to articulate concerns. But it's quite another when the conscience as a body is stirred to action and begins to be heard. The hour is at hand...the time is now...for the conscience of the Church of the Nazarene to no longer be dormant or silent, among both clergy and laity.
5. And then there is the matter of prayer...and the need of our own hearts. The truth is, far too many in the Church of the Nazarene today have never experienced what this church was built upon, why it came into existence 102 years ago, and the source of its dauntless strength and success. It was the sanctifying, infilling power of the Holy Spirit. Even the words, "sanctification," or "the baptism of the Holy Ghost," often seem but a distant echo of something spoken from the past. Yet it was that experience that made us different (set apart), helped us overcome great odds during our formative, early years, and produced uncharted growth, anointed preachers and preaching, and a spirit of revival...even in the midst of a great economic depression sandwiched in between two world wars.
In Acts 15:8-9 we read these words, God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them for he purified their hearts by faith. It is the report of the Apostle Peter to the mother church in Jerusalem, telling of the Gentile Pentecost at Caesarea, tying the Gentile Pentecost to the Jerusalem Pentecost that had occurred some 20 years earlier. Maybe it's time for us as a church to clearly admit that, more than anything else, we are in need of a modern day Nazarene Pentecost, tying it back to the Gentile Pentecost, which was linked back to the Jerusalem Pentecost that changed the whole complexion of the early church. It begins by getting alone with God in earnest prayer to initiate or renew the death to self process by which we become dead instruments in the hands of a holy God...the only way to truly, effectively serve the Lord and have spiritual victory.
When such a movement of God's Spirit comes, it will consume, purge, and cleanse every concern, every issue, every challenge, and every sin presently facing our church. It is for this reason that district superintendents are meeting this coming September 14-16 for a prayer gathering in Tennessee to specifically seek the Lord on behalf of our church.
On the authority of God's Word we have ample evidence that God desires to utilize and bless our church here in the U.S. and Canada in the same manner and full extent He has done elsewhere. But if He finds those channels here no longer operative, tragically He will look elsewhere. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Orville Jenkins, Jr, Superintendent
North Florida District
Church of the Nazarene
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Manny Silva,
Stand For Truth Ministries
"The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever." Psalm 119:160
A soma da tua palavra é a verdade, e cada uma das tuas justas ordenanças dura para sempre.
"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Em tudo somos atribulados, mas não angustiados; perplexos, mas não desesperados;perseguidos, mas não desamparados; abatidos, mas não destruÃdos;
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