Islamizing the Public Schools

The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is pressuring public schools in this country to make special accommodations for Muslim students and to deny comparable accommodations for students of other faiths.

For example, CAIR’s instructional material for teachers entitled “An Educator’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices” advises schools to permit Muslim students who wish to attend Friday congregational worship (known as Jum’ah) to “request a temporary release from school.”

More here:

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/joseph-klein/islamizing-the-public-schools/

THE PALESTINIAN JESUS
by Jim Fletcher

Did you know Jesus was a Palestinian? Neither did he. That hasn’t stopped the enemies of the Christians’ Prince of Peace from attempting to use him for diabolical political purposes.

What began as a clever propaganda ploy by Yasser Arafat—as part of his lifelong attempt to erase Jewish history—has been picked up by American evangelicals. That Jesus of Nazareth was born and lived as a Jew is an obvious historical fact, just as, for example, Robert E. Lee commanding the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. The background of Jesus Christ, however, inarguably the most famous person in history, is of great importance. His life as a Jew is increasingly being called into question by Muslims, who are working overtime to open “interfaith dialogue” channels with American Christian leaders.

Read more here:

http://balfourpost.com/the-palestinian-jesus/

Texas Mega-Church Leader Partners with Muslim Brotherhood Front

On June 9, the Clarion Project reported that the U.S. envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation will be speaking at an Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) regional conference, sharing the stage with at least three Islamists. But there are some other featured guests: ISNA’s interfaith allies, including Pastor Bob Roberts of NorthWood Church in Texas.

ISNA is identified in a 1991 U.S. Muslim Brotherhood memorandum as one of its fronts. The U.S. government also listed ISNA as a U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity when it designated the group an unindicted co-conspirator in the Hamas-financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation. The so-called “charity” was another U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entity that, in the words of Judge Jorge Solis, “operated from within ISNA.” ISNA denies it has “ever been subject to the control of…the Muslim Brotherhood.”

More here:

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/ryan-mauro/texas-mega-church-leader-partners-with-muslim-brotherhood-front/

Related:

Texas Mega-Church Welcomes Islamists To ‘Global Faith Forum’
http://moriel.org/MorielArchive/index.php/discernment/islam/texas-mega-church-welcomes-islamists-to-global-faith-forum

Muslims Are Not Happy
http://www.girdedwithtruth.org/2011/07/30/muslims-are-not-happy/

Contemplative Spirituality Concerns
Pt.1 – Introduction
by Chris Lawson

Many people today – Christians and non-Christians – are engaging in Contemplative Spirituality practices. What many do not realize is that the Spiritual Formation “centering prayer” movement, with its mystical and occult methods and techniques, is part of a global Interfaith system of spirituality, a spirituality that is rooted in Eastern mysticism and philosophies such as pantheism (All is God, God is all), monism (All is one) and panentheistic (All in God, God in all) evolutionary occultism (the “hidden” things, “universal cosmic energies,” quantum spirituality, etc).
This short introductory video speaks to fact that the “centering prayer” and “meditation” movements within the the New Spirituality/New Gospel/New Age movement are hostile to the Person, nature and work of Jesus Christ and the biblical Gospel.

Please watch:

http://vimeopro.com/chrislawsonvimeoarchive/contemplative-spirituality-concerns

One reason we know that the emerging church is twitching is that last week one of its gurus, Brian McLaren, began pitching for large money donations towards his newest and latest ‘mystery’ project.

“He explains that his calling as a “movement person” has been supporting broad-based movements that embody a “Christ-like ethos and leads to Christ-like action for the good of the world.” But he leaves out the part where he denies the substitutionary atonement of the cross and what Christ did to fully pardon our sins.”
-BRIAN MCLAREN ASKS FOR SIGNIFICANT CASH FOR MYSTERY PROJECT
standupforthetruth.com/2013/05/brian-mclaren-asks-for-significant-cash-for-mystery-project/

Are these pleas for assistance merely the unsightly death throes of the new kind of Christianity? Or is this the birth of something with more muscle beneath its slithery scales? McLaren and friends have clearly denied that Christ’s ‘action for the good of the world’ was that He gave His life as a substitutionary atonement for our sin, so that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Any money sown into this new project will only be watering the seeds of death.

More here:

DONATION PLEA: BRIAN MCLAREN RESPONDS
http://standupforthetruth.com/2013/05/donation-plea-brian-mclaren-responds/

FOLLOW UP on Brian McLaren’s Plea for Money – Wants to Re-Organize the Emerging Church Movement
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=11772

LETTER: ELDER FORCED TO LEAVE FOR STANDING AGAINST SPIRITUAL FORMATION

Would you take a stand against a dangerous practice in your church?
John from Ohio wrote to us a few days ago to share that he had to resign his longtime position as elder of his mainline Evangelical church because of the Spiritual Formation/Transformation movement that had not just crept into his church, but had infiltrated every aspect of ministries there, including the youth ministries. His story is heartbreaking and will cut to the quick of anyone who has ever tried to help his or her church understand why this movement is so unbiblical and dangerous. John has given us permission to share his story:

Read his story here:

http://standupforthetruth.com/2013/05/letter-elder-forced-to-leave-for-standing-against-spiritual-formation/

Shalem-Trained Contemplative Fil Anderson Member of Samaritan’s Purse “Spiritual Care Team”

Fil Anderson is a name Lighthouse Trails has been acquainted with for several years because of his book Running on Empty: Contemplative Spirituality for Overachievers and his involvement with organizations such as Youth Specialties and Young Life (Anderson had been in Young Life leadership for many years and is still involved with the organization). Anderson also speaks with Richard Foster’s organization, Renovare.

To say Anderson’s book is contemplative would be an understatement. The book is filled with contemplative names such as Brennan Manning, Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Evelyn Underhill, and John Cassian. Also favorably named in the book are: Thomas Merton, Soren Kierkegaard, Sue Monk Kidd, Tilden Edwards, Gerald May, and several others who fall into the panentheistic mystical camp. Contemplative prayer is clearly the theme of the book…

Read more here:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=11677

MUSLIM STUDENTS CLASH WITH SPEAKER WHO FORSOOK ISLAM
CAIR intervening in complaint against former terrorist Walid Shoebat

When two Muslim foreign-exchange students in rural Minnesota heard that a well-known critic of Islam was coming to town to speak, they armed themselves with information and showed up at the Assembly of God church venue, apparently prepared for a confrontation.

The speaker, Walid Shoebat, is a Palestinian former Muslim who converted to Christianity and now devotes himself to exposing the infiltration of supremacist Islam in the U.S.

Read what happened next here:

http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/muslim-students-clash-with-speaker-who-forsook-islam/#PTRAHrue3eJFObyb.99

What ensued in the Q&A time in the Assembly of God church was a disruptive shouting match of long statements and insults from the students, who were then asked to leave. They now claim they were unjustly kicked out and are getting help from CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations, front group of the Muslim Brotherhood), which has charged that the two students were “kicked out” because they were “questioning the anti-Islam bigotry of the speaker.”

Gently being asked to leave is not even remotely comparable to the violence last year when we watched …

“…a small number of Christians who gathered holding Christian signs at the 2012 Dearbor, Michigan Arab festival being assaulted by Muslims with bottles, stones, and other objects. The police do not protect the Christians or take action against the perpetrators; in the end, they reprimand the Christians and instruct them to leave. Ever since, there has been no coverage of this outrageous event in our media. Nor has CAIR or any other Muslim organization denounced the Muslims who abused the Christians.

American Muslims Stone Christians in Dearborn, Michigan
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/jamie-glazov/american-muslims-stone-christians-in-dearborn-michigan-1/

So then, which one is the religion of peace?

Learn more by reading the following:

Calvary Chapel Breached

Further Implications of Calvary Chapel North Coast Event – Lynne Hybels Presence Shows Serious Move Toward Apostasy

Calvary Chapel Rebukes Palestinian Event

My Post on Calvary Chapel North Coast FB Deleted – Surprise, Surprise

This has caused a stir because Calvary Chapel has always been pro-Israel due to their verse by verse faithful Bible teaching. Some say they should remove their Calvary Chapel label. How could this be? Where did North Coast Calvary Chapel of Carlsbad, California go astray?

Jumping back a few years to 2007, it was already apparent that North Coast Calvary Chapel openly identified themselves with Bill Hybels’ Willow Creek seeker-friendly church growth movement, even though the Calvary Chapel model is the farthest thing from seeker friendly church growth movement tactics. Pastor Mark Foreman also seemed to be identifying with emerging church/contemplative prayer advocates.[1] To add to the muddy mixture, NCCC has also been hosting Celebrate Recovery, a program that began in Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church and influenced by AA.[2] This is also not a method used by other Calvary Chapels.

In November of 2009, North Coast Calvary Chapel’s Women’s Conference Soul at Rest featured as their speaker author Tricia McCary Rhodes, a contemplative advocate.[3]

Even before this, in November of 2008, pastor Mark Foreman of NCCC published a book called Wholly Jesus. His sons, of the popular Christian band Switchfoot, wrote the forewords. The book contained quotes by contemplatives and mystics such as Dallas Willard, Morton Kelsey, and St. Teresa of Avila. Surprisingly, Foreman mentioned in the book how he thought it was okay to use the Hindu greeting Namaste (“I honor the god in you”) to others in recognition that they are made in the image of God.

While disturbing enough, there’s more. The issue at hand is far bigger than NCCC simply identifying with church growth methods or advocating contemplative spirituality. Surprisingly, the introduction in pastor Foreman’s book was written by Gabe Lyons, founder of The Fermi Project, an ‘experiment’ in shifting the consciousness of the church by finding the good in our culture and reshaping it through global awareness and environmentally sustainable practices. This is definitely not Calvary Chapel terminology, but here is where the water gets real muddy.

Last month at North Coast Calvary Chapel, Mark Foreman’s wife Jan hosted “Freefall to Fly” – An Evening with Rebekah Lyons. Rebekah happens to be the wife of Gabe Lyons, who was just mentioned above. They are the cofounders of QIdeas, an organization that “helps leaders winsomely engage culture.”

In 2003 Gabe and Rebekah Lyons founded The Fermi Project …

Fermi’s main influence is exerted in “Q” conferences, which invite world leaders from a variety of areas to share “ideas that create a better world.” Conference presenters have included people like authors Donald Miller, Rob Bell, Scot McKnight and Rick Warren,..
… Fermi and its projects have made national headlines when they asked Eboo Patel, a Muslim leader and thinker, to present to their ambitious Christian audience

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_Project

Who is Eboo Patel? He is the founder and executive director of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core. He is also listed as one of 15 “Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow” on the website for the American Society for Muslim Advancement, which is led by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of the Cordoba Initiative.[4]

Has Fermi founder Gabe Lyon’s mis-perceptions of Islam influenced pastor Mark Foreman? Has this got anything to do with why the recent misguided pro-Palestinian speakers were invited in to NCCC this May 10th?

Here is a quote from Gabe Lyons:

Can you imagine a future where Muslims and Christians would work alongside one another in our communities to fight for justice, care for the poor, and offer hope to those in need? What if this controversy provoked each of us to consider having more thoughtful and engaging conversations with Muslims who might be interested in the same end? Could Christians be part of the solution to a moderate, peaceful Islam emerging in the West?
- The Muslim-Christian Debate: What We’re Missing
http://www.qideas.org/blog/the-muslimchristian-debate-what-were-missing.aspx

That all sounds nice, but are we as Christians to work alongside unbelievers to bring peace to this fallen world, or are we to tell them the good news about the Prince of Peace who will save their eternal souls?

Gabe Lyon’s dreamy considerations led him to invite Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of the Cordoba Initiative to a discussion on the future for faith relations in the West.[5]

For those who don’t know, the Cordoba Initiative claims they are a Muslim group trying to build an interfaith bridge between Islam and non-Muslim faiths, but the very name “Cordoba” is a picture of Islam supremacy.[6] The only common ground under that bridge is Islam.

Brigitte Gabriel (ACT for America) and the author of They Must Be Stopped and Because They Hate, recently mentioned Lyon’s friend Rauf on the Sean Hannity show:

“Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has said publicly that the September 11th attack was not perpetrated by Muslims. He said publicly on CNN that the United States was an accessory to the crime and that Osama bin Laden was made in the United States.”
-Exclusive: The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far…
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/pub_detail.asp?id=6239

Here is Dr. Jim Garlow on the Cordoba Initiative:

So what’s the connection?

Awad, whose family is well-known in certain circles, has been partnering with American evangelical friends Lynne Hybels, Todd Deatherage, and now Gabe Lyons to promote what he describes as a “non-violent” approach to peacemaking. In brief, Awad and his friends portray Israel as a lamentable occupier of Palestinian land and the usual narrative also includes discussion of the big “open-air prison” forced on the downtrodden Palestinians by Israel’s “apartheid wall” (security fence to realists).

-Jim Fletcher, Calvary Chapel Breached, May 6, 2013

Fletcher also says these activists all appear sincere but “they have their talking points, passed from folks like Naim Ateek and Alex Awad, down to Sami Awad, to Lynne Hybels, Gabe Lyons, etc.”[7]

Perhaps Gabe Lyons and his friend pastor Mark Foreman of West Coast Calvary Chapel should reconsider tickling ears with tales and ask the perscecuted Christians in Muslim countries to explain how they feel about this so called moderate peaceful Islam they preach. Or Raymond Ibrahim.

Please pray that instead of in the name of tolerance, common ground, peace, and learning from eachother, the leaders of North Coast Calvary Chapel, and all evangelical churches who are falling into the same error[8], will call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and repent for any damage they may have done by not having loved the truth.

And God bless Jim Fletcher for revealing the truth.

Endnotes:

[1] Source: Scroll down to read FISHY CALVARY CHAPEL here:
http://www.apostasyalert.org/REFLECTIONS/fish.htm
[2] See: “A Way Which Seemeth Right…” http://www.thebereancall.org/node/2568
[3] See: Contemplative Connects to Calvary Chapel
http://mkayla.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/contemplative-connects-to-calvary-chapel/
[4] See: http://www.wnd.com/2010/07/181865/
[5] See: Imam Feisal: The Future of Muslim and Christian Relations in the West @ http://vimeo.com/28716668
[6] See: Why I am against the GZM @ http://www.israpundit.com/archives/28744
[7] Jim Fletcher, In Arabic Please, Mar 18, 2013
[8] Texas Mega-Church Welcomes Islamists to ‘Global Faith Forum’
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/ryan-mauro/texas-mega-church-welcomes-islamists-to-global-faith-forum/

Note: Incidentally, this year pastor Mark Foreman of North Coast Calvary Chapel and his wife Jan will both be speakers at “Catalyst West” along with Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, Matt Chandler, John Eldredge, Nancy Ortberg, while Gabe Lyons and Lynne Hybels both spoke at “Catalyst East” in Atlanta in October (see: ‘New evangelicals’ abandoning Israel @ http://onenewsnow.com/perspectives/miscellaneous/2013/01/29/‘new-evangelicals’-abandoning-israel).

Related:

Evangelical Left Voices and Israel
http://www.thejerusalemconnection.us/blog/2013/02/28/evangelical-left-voices-and-israel.html

*Read some good news on Jim Fletcher’s update page here:
http://www.raptureready.com/rap15.html