News From The Front – December 2006

Dear praying friends,

Paul wrote “ the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine” [2 Timothy 4:3] and you will read clear examples of that prophecy coming to pass in our day. Whether ‘they’ be ‘trendy-photographers’ at a ‘Christian’ youth event, or ‘church-growth experts’ and ‘innovative philosophers’ or ‘gospel-denying’ supposedly ‘Christian’ TV presenters or ‘ecumenical-evangelists’ or ‘religiously-misguided’ politicians, ‘they’ all share one thing in common, an ignorance of Biblical, Christian “doctrine”. During this past summer, Margaret and I received the gift of a signed Study Bible and in an article at the front entitled ‘How We Got The Bible’, the closing section, ‘The Bible’, reads as follows – ‘This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers. Its doctrine is holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveller’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here heaven is open and the gates of hell are disclosed. Christ is the grand subject, our good its design and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, health to the soul and a river of pleasure. It is given to you here in this life and will be opened at the judgment and is established forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labour and condemn all who trifle with its contents’. May we all truly treasure it in 2007 [DV].

Your servant for Christ

CECIL ANDREWS

  • ‘SUMMER MADNESS’ and BRIAN McLAREN

I mentioned very briefly on the front page of our September newsletter that I had been alerted to an invitation issued to Brian McLaren by ‘Summer Madness’ to be one of their guest speakers at their 20th anniversary gathering for young Christians, scheduled for June/July 2007 [DV]. Brian McLaren favourably endorsed Steve Chalke’s book ‘The Lost Message of Jesus’ with these words ‘The Jesus introduced by Steve in these pages sounds like someone who can truly save us from our trouble’. The biblical reality is of course exactly the opposite because, as you will read later on page 9, Steve Chalke wrenched the heart out of the Gospel of Christ, that is the power of God unto salvation, by rejecting the truth of ‘penal substitution’ and he described such a view of Christ’s death on the Cross as equating to ‘cosmic child abuse’ – an absolutely blasphemous statement! Brian McLaren has likewise rejected ‘penal substitution’ with the equally blasphemous description of it being akin to ‘divine child abuse’.

By way of sounding a ‘Take Heed’ warning I posted quite a lengthy article to our website that quoted from and directed people to a number of reports analysing the false and worrying teachings and views of Brian McLaren. The authors of these reports included a number of men who have been to Northern Ireland in recent years at the invitation of ‘Take Heed’ including Gary Gilley, Richard Bennett [former RC priest], Mike Gendron [former RC] and Roger Oakland.

Not long after the posting of the article to our website I was informed by a Christian friend of a website organised by someone going under the ‘name’ of TATCH [in reality a David Acheson I have been led to believe] that had been advertising the planned ‘Summer Madness’ 2007 20th anniversary event. The advert took the form of a birthday cake with lit candles and below the cake were the names of the invited guest speakers including Brian Mclaren and Bart Campolo [son of Tony]. However, with the posting of our warning article, this website had added after the names of the guest speakers – ‘All come highly recommended by Pharisee Cecil Andrews’.

My attention was also drawn to a ‘blog’ site that had invited comments/discussion about the warning article on our own website. There was a mixture of critical and favourable comments posted including one by TATCH himself on 27 July – part of his posting read –

‘Cecil does NOT have the right, even mentally, to publicly whitewash, even excommunicate a person who offers a Christian faith perspective different to his own. In a wider context Cecil should have the maturity to know Brian is his brother and NOT his enemy!’

Very briefly let me respond by saying that I have EVERY right according to scripture to comment publicly on the views of anyone who speaks/writes publicly on ‘things Christian’ – that right is clear in 1 John 4:1 “Believe not every spirit but test the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world”. As for Brian being my ‘brother’ – I say without any fear of contradiction that in the light of scriptures such as Galatians 1:6-9 he is preaching ‘another gospel’ and it is not I who ‘excommunicates’ him but rather Almighty God who places His excommunicating “anathema” upon him.

Although TATCH stated that his posting of 27 July would be his ‘final word’, someone responded to his posting and so he did add another posting later that day part of which read –

I’m yawing…still yawing…and still I’m yawing and it’s not even midday…and Cecil Andrews has been declared God…FunDaMental you’re absolutely right…and now I’m laughing…I’m still laughing…thanks for the humour

One of those who posted favourable comments about our article used the ‘name’ of FunDaMental and so TATCH subsequently changed the added words on the advert on his website from ‘All come highly recommended by Pharisee Cecil Andrews’ to ‘Brian McLaren comes highly recommended by Cecil Andrews, seconded by FunDaMental on his right hand and the Holy Bible on his left. Guys watch those flames’.

I want now to reproduce some emails that I personally sent to the ‘Summer Madness’ office but to which I have received absolutely no response.

  • Email sent by Cecil to ‘Summer Madness’ on 24 July 2006

Dear Sirs,

I recently posted an analysis of the disturbing ‘theological’ views of Brian McLaren and also of others holding equally disturbing theological positions and with whom he [Brian McLaren] is friendly – the analysis which can be viewed on…stemmed from the Internet advert announcing some of the invited speakers for Summer Madness 2007 on… I have now been alerted to a recent ‘addition’ to this Internet advert couched in these words –

  • ‘All come highly recommended by Pharisee Cecil Andrews’

The intended slur against me personally of ‘Pharisee’ does not bother me in the least apart from concern for the spiritual well-being of the one who coined it, but the statement ‘All come highly recommended by …Cecil Andrews’ is quite simply A LIE and in the circumstances I would ask you, for the sake of honesty and integrity all round, to remove this erroneous assertion.

I think it would serve whoever penned and placed this ‘addition’ to be like the Bereans of Acts 17:10-11 and take the time to carefully check out what is contained in this article with what is found in God’s Word – it would be to the betterment of their own spiritual understanding and perhaps hopefully to the protection of vulnerable young people who are going to be exposed to the rambling heresies of Brian McLaren.

I await hearing from you.

Your servant for Christ

Cecil Andrews

  • 1 Corinthians 12:10 ‘to another discerning of spirits’

The following comments are by Pastor John MacArthur in his Study Bible – ‘Satan is a great deceiver [John 8:44] and his demons counterfeit God’s message and work. Christians with the gift of discernment have the God-given ability to recognise lying spirits and to identify deceptive and erroneous doctrine…Though its operation has changed since Apostolic times because of the completion of Scripture it is still essential to have people in the church who are discerning. They are the guardians, the watchmen who protect the church from demonic lies, false doctrines, perverted cults and fleshly elements. As it requires diligent study of the Word to exercise gifts…so it does with discernment’.

I commend these thoughts to you.

  • Email sent by Cecil to ‘Summer Madness’ on 27 July 2006

Dear Sirs,

This is just a follow-on from my email to you of 24 July and in relation to which I hope to receive a reply from you. I mentioned the erroneous and misleading statement that had been posted to the advert for Summer Madness 2007 in the following words on…’All come highly recommended by Pharisee Cecil Andrews’. This ‘LIE’ has now been replaced by a further ‘LIE’ in these words – ‘Brian McLaren comes highly recommended by Cecil Andrews, seconded by FunDaMental on his right hand and the Holy Bible on his left. Guys watch those flames’.

I’m not quite sure what your relationship to or influence upon this website is but I suspect you would, if so moved, be able to exert some influence upon TATCH to consider afresh what he is posting to it in the name of Summer Madness. I also think that what I mentioned in my earlier email, namely about ‘concern for the spiritual well-being of the one who coined it [now them]’ is concern well justified.

Your servant for Christ

Cecil Andrews

  • Email sent by Cecil to ‘Summer Madness’ on 1 September 2006

Dear Sirs,

I refer to my 2 previous emails to you of 24 & 27 July 2006 and having now returned from holidays I am pleased to note that the inaccurate comments have been removed from the website in question. In the absence thus far of any response from you to my 2 emails I am not sure whether or not you exercised any influence in having these remarks removed – if you did then I would like to say to you a sincere ‘thank you’.

For the sake of factual accuracy I would appreciate a response from you on the following – is TATCH, on whose website the inaccurate comments were added to his advert for the planned 2007 ‘Summer Madness’ event, is he the/an official/accredited photographer for the annual ‘Summer Madness’ event or is he simply an enthusiastic, freelance photographer with a zeal for the event? I await hearing from you on this.

In closing I would, as a servant of Christ who is “the truth” and Whose Word “is truth”, ask you to rescind your invite to Brian McLaren, as he is clearly one who appears to elevate the inability on his part to understand God’s “truth” to the level of a pious virtue. Whilst Peter did say of some of Paul’s writings that they contained “some things hard to be understood” [2 Peter 3:16] he did not say that they were ‘impossible’ to be understood. True believers are indwelt by He who is “the Spirit of truth” [John 14:17] and Christ promised, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And YE SHALL KNOW the truth and the truth shall make you free” [John 8:31-32]. There is a precedent for a Christian event withdrawing its invite to Brian McLaren because of his heretical views and teaching as the following report shows –

  • McLaren Withdrawn From Evangelism Conference Lineup
  • Release Date: 18 February 2005

LOUISVILLE – The Kentucky Baptist Convention has withdrawn its invitation to pastor and author Brian McLaren to speak at its upcoming Kentucky Evangelism Conference. McLaren, pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, Md., was to have spoken at the Tuesday morning session of the conference to be held Feb. 28th-March 1st at Valley View Baptist Church in Louisville. Dr. Bill Mackey, KBC executive director, and Dan Garland, Church Development and Evangelism Team leader, said they made the decision after reviewing McLaren’s position on salvation…

Garland, who had invited McLaren to speak more than a year ago, agreed, saying that reading McLaren’s most recent book, ‘A Generous Orthodoxy’, led him to reconsider. In the book, McLaren says that while there is no assurance that there is salvation to be found outside of Jesus, Christians should not jump to the conclusion that Jesus is the only way to salvation.

“I must add, though, that I don’t believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the Christian religion. It may be advisable in many (not all!) circumstances to help people become followers of Jesus and remain within their Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish contexts,” McLaren says in the book.

Your servant for Christ

Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries

  • Email sent by Cecil to ‘Summer Madness’ on 9 September 2006

Dear Sirs,

I refer to my email to you of 1 September and whilst I do not automatically expect an early or indeed necessarily any response from you in relation to my request to you to rescind your invitation to Brian McLaren for Summer Madness 2007 I would respectfully request an early response to the following portion of my earlier email –

‘For the sake of factual accuracy I would appreciate a response from you on the following – is TATCH, on whose website the inaccurate comments were added to his advert for the planned 2007 ‘Summer Madness’ event, is he the/an official/accredited photographer for the annual ‘Summer Madness’ event or is he simply an enthusiastic, freelance photographer with a zeal for the event?’

I hope to hear from you. Your servant for Christ

Cecil Andrews = ‘Take Heed’ Ministries

On 15/9/06 I phoned the ‘Summer Madness’ office and asked to speak to John McKee, one of the main organisers of ‘Summer Madness’. He had gone into a meeting about 10 minutes earlier so my details were taken for him to phone me back later. He has not yet phoned back and no responses to my emails have been received.

In his latest book, ‘This little Church stayed home’ [a sequel to his earlier excellent book ‘This little Church went to market’] Pastor Gary Gilley gives further helpful understandings of and warnings against both Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven’ teachings and Brian McLaren’s ‘Emerging Church’ heresies.

In chapter 10, which is titled ‘The Purpose Driven Life: An Evaluation’ Pastor Gilley writes in his ‘Summary’ – ‘To purposely ignore [Cecil’s comment – As Rick Warren regularly does] the proper translation of a passage and insert one that has no basis in the original languages [Cecil’s comment – As Rick Warren does by using regularly Eugene Peterson’s unreliable paraphrase called “The Message”] in order to undergird a particular point of view is about the most dangerous thing that I can imagine. The only thing more concerning would be to discover large segments of the [professing] evangelical community being incapable of discerning this kind of problem and not caring’ [Cecil’s comment – This is the sad reality as evidenced by the many supposed evangelical churches pursuing ’40 days of purpose’ and treating harshly those with discernment who might raise any voice of concern or protest].

In chapter 14, which is titled ‘The Challenge of the Emergent Church: Part 1’ Pastor Gilley quotes Brian McLaren who in his book ‘A Generous Orthodoxy’ wrote ‘To be a Christian in a generously orthodox way is not to claim to have truth captured, stuffed and mounted on the wall’. [Cecil’s comment – The Lord Himself said to those who would believe on Him “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” John 8:31-32]. Pastor Gilley’s response to this statement by McLaren reads – ‘This is almost a complete capitulation to postmodernity’s concept of truth’. Earlier in his book Pastor Gilley defined ‘postmodernity’ as follows ‘at the hub of this philosophy…is the issue of truth…To the postmodernist truth is not found…it is created. Absolute truth is a fable’.

The planned 20th birthday of ‘Summer Madness’ in 2007 is an event that faithful Christians, parents and children, should avoid as the main speaker, Brian McLaren, by his own writings, fails ‘the test’ of 2 John 9-11 where we read “Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds”.

  • ‘This little Church stayed home’ by Pastor Gary Gilley
  • This book can be ordered from us by sending a payment of
  • £7.50 [this includes UK p&p] to
  • ‘Take Heed’ Publications, 29 Edengrove Park, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AZ, Northern Ireland
  • ‘Defending My Father’s Wrath’ – June 14, 2006 – John Piper

There are cultural forces at work inside and outside the church that make me eager to defend my Father’s wrath against me before I was adopted. He does not need my defence. But I believe He would be honoured by it. And He commanded us, “Honour thy father” (Exodus 20:12). I write this from Cambridge, England, and my indignation about the assault on my Father is British-born. The calumny I have in mind is the following paragraph from a popular British writer:

‘The fact is that the cross isn’t a form of cosmic child abuse—a vengeful Father, punishing his Son for an offence he has not even committed. Understandably, both people inside and outside of the Church have found this twisted version of events morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith. Deeper than that, however, is that such a concept stands in total contradiction to the statement: “God is love”. If the cross is a personal act of violence perpetrated by God towards humankind but borne by his Son, then it makes a mockery of Jesus’ own teaching to love your enemies and to refuse to repay evil with evil’  (Steve Chalke and Alan Mann, The Lost Message of Jesus, pp. 182-183).

This is breathtaking coming from a professing Christian. On behalf of my Father in heaven I would like to bear witness to the truth that before He adopted me His terrible wrath was upon me. Jesus said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; he that believeth not the Son . . . the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36). Wrath remains on us as long as there is no faith in Jesus. Paul puts it like this: We “were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:3). My very nature made me worthy of wrath. My destiny was to endure “flaming fire” and “vengeance on them . . . that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . [and who] shall be punished with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). I was not a son of God. God was not my Father. He was my judge and executioner. I was a “son of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). I was dead in trespasses and sins. And the sentence of my Judge was clear and terrifying: “Because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 5:6). There was only one hope for me—that the infinite wisdom of God might make a way for the love of God to satisfy the wrath of God so that I might become a son of God.

This is exactly what happened, and I will sing of it forever. After saying that I was by nature a child of wrath, Paul says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in sins hath made us alive together with Christ [by grace ye are saved]” (Ephesians 2:4-5). “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son . . . to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). God sent his Son to rescue me from His wrath and make me His child.

How did he do it? He did it in the way Steve Chalke slanderously calls “cosmic child abuse.” God’s Son bore God’s curse in my place. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). If people in the twenty-first century find this greatest act of love “morally dubious and a huge barrier to faith,” it was not different in Paul’s day. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Gentiles foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23).

But for those who are called by God and believe in Jesus, this is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). This is my life. This is the only way God could become my Father. Now that His wrath no longer rests on me (John 3:36), He has sent the Spirit of sonship flooding into my heart crying Abba Father (Romans 8:15). Therefore, I pray, “Please know, heavenly Father, that I thank you with all my heart, and that I measure your love for me by the magnitude of the wrath I deserved and the wonder of your mercy by putting Christ in my place”.

By including this article by John Piper it should not be construed that this is a blanket endorsement by ‘Take Heed’ of all that he writes or does by way of ministry – I believe there are areas that currently do give rise for some concern such as his recent willingness to afford a platform to Mark Driscoll [a great ‘fan’ of the Roman Catholic mystic Thomas Merton].

However, following ‘Take Heed’s’ own defence of ‘penal substitution’ due to the publicly expressed attack upon it and denial of it by Steve Chalke and Brian McLaren I felt this article by John Piper would be helpful in that context.

  • The intoxicating, ecumenical ‘spirit’ of the Alpha Course

Herewith is an article that appeared in the Sunday Mirror of 24 September 2006 in the Republic of Ireland. A rightly concerned brother in Christ sent it to me.

  • ‘Guinness Is God For You by Naomi McElroy

Fancy a pint with your prayers? Four denominations have joined forces to bring people back to Jesus by holding a gospel night – in a PUB. Now lucky locals can enjoy a swift one while learning about the Lord. Presbyterian Minister, William Hayes explains: “It’s called The Alpha Course, it’s a basic introduction to Christianity. We decided to hold it in the pub because we thought people might be less intimidated in a pub than in a church. After all some of them mightn’t have been inside a church in years. It’s a more relaxed atmosphere in the pub. We hope people wouldn’t be afraid to come in”. And it seems to be working. The Alpha Course started a week ago when Catholic, Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian churches in Tullamore, Co Offaly joined together to teach people about Jesus. The 12-week course hopes to examine the life of Christ and focus on his teachings. But instead of a church, they are preaching in Dempsey’s bar on Tullamore’s High Street. And it’s already a ROARING success. Thrilled William said: “There were 40 there on the first night, which was the introductory night. That’s really good numbers for a first night”. The course hopes to concentrate on what the four religions have in common instead of what divides them. William fears many people are scared away from a church setting but in the familiar surroundings of the pub they can relax. He said “Alpha Courses themselves are very common, they’ve been operating in Ireland for many years. Mainly though they are held in a church or someone’s house. The only way we’re a little bit different is we decided to hold it in the pub. We are holding this course in Dempsey’s because it is such a relaxed and welcoming place so that people who would not normally feel comfortable in church can join in”. But he admits he PINCHED the idea from another Alpha group. He said: “I heard about a group in Bray who were thinking of holding theirs in a pub. I don’t know if they went through with it. I never had an original thought in my life”.

Cecil’s comments: My problem is not that a pub is being used [although the heading and some parts of the report verge on the blasphemous]. My problems are firstly that ‘what the four religions have in common’ is the supposed focus – the reality is that, on the gospel, Catholicism and the other churches’ confessions have NOTHING in common (‘what divides them’ is ‘truth’). Secondly Rome’s ‘Jesus’ is not the Jesus of the Scriptures and thirdly any ‘introduction to Christianity’ should supremely focus on Christ’s redemptive work and not ‘his teachings’- see 1 Corinthians 9:16 & 15:1-4.

  • TONY BLAIR and THE KORAN

An article in the British Church Newspaper at the end of March reported that ‘The Prime Minister spent a considerable time praising Islam and the Koran during a significant speech on foreign policy he made to the Foreign Policy Centre on 21 March…He likened the work of Mohammed…to the work of men like Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Martin Luther and the English Reformers”. Quoting from a separate interview given by Mr Blair to Muslim News, he reportedly said ‘If you read the Koran it is so clear…there we find the concept of love and fellowship as the guiding spirits of humanity. I appreciate Islam as a deeply reflective, peaceful, very beautiful religious faith’.

I want to quote portions from a number of speeches that Mr Blair has delivered since 9/11, taking particular themes in each case and then by way of comparison I will quote from the Koran itself and from the writings of several Muslims, one now a Christian but the other not.

  • Quotes by Tony Blair – 21 March 2006:

‘The Koran strikes me as a reforming book, trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, rather as reformers attempted with the Christian Church centuries later…

Under its guidance, the spread of Islam and its dominance over previously Christian or pagan lands was breathtaking… The standard bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to be found in Muslim lands than in Christian’.

  • The Koran, ‘tolerance’ & ‘peace’ –

25 March 2005: ‘the true face of Islam is one that is peaceful, moderate’

7 October 2001: ‘Islam is a peaceful and tolerant religion, and the acts of these people [the 9/11 bombers] are contrary to the teachings of the Koran’.

5 October 2001: I want to make it clear that Islam is a peaceful religion… I read personally the message of the Koran…And the God of the Koran is merciful, peaceful and good’.

Now I will cite contradictory quotes from The Koran and explanations by former Muslims that expose/highlight the misguided views of Tony Blair.

  • The Koran

‘Bear patiently with what they [unbelievers] say and leave their company without recrimination’ (Surah 73:10)

‘Believers, retaliation is decreed for you in bloodshed…’ (Surah 2: 178).

‘Fight for the cause of Allah’ (Surah 2:244)

‘There shall be no compulsion in religion’ (Surah 2:256)

‘The true believers fight for the cause of Allah, but the infidels fight for idols. Fight then against the friends of Satan… ‘ (Surah 4: 76).

‘Therefore fight for the cause of Allah’ (Surah 4:84)

‘Allah has given those that fight with their goods and their persons a higher rank than those who stay at home. He has promised all a good reward; but far richer is the recompense of those who fight for Him’ (Surah 4: 96).

‘Be courteous when you argue with the People of the Book [Jews & Christians] except with those among them who do evil. Say, “We believe in that which is revealed to us and which was revealed to you. Our God and your God is one. To Him we surrender ourselves’ (Surah 29:46).

‘When the sacred months are over, slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them… (Surah 9: 5).

‘make war on the leaders of unbelief ‘ (Surah 9:12)

‘If you do not fight He will punish you sternly and replace you by other men… (Surah 9: 39).

‘Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you ‘ (Surah 9:122)

  • Abdullah Al-Araby [Former Muslim]

‘Islam is being presented to the world today packaged in a fancy wrapper…[my] purpose is to unwrap that attractive package and… to expose some of the teachings… withheld from seekers … there is a big difference between Mohammed’s personality in Mecca and…after his migration to Medina…This change… becomes apparent by comparing the Meccan and Medinan Surahs…To justify this sudden change…from peaceful to militant, conciliatory to confrontational Mohammed claimed that… God ordered it [and] God…abrogated the peaceful verses and replaced them by harsh ones…the truth is that Mohammed finally became strong enough to move from a stage of weakness to the stage of Jihad…Today, in the West we are witnessing the Islamic stage of weakness, but let’s not be fooled, the stage of Jihad is coming, sooner or later…In their attempt to polish Islam’s image, Muslim activists usually quote the Meccan passages of the Koran that call for love, peace and patience. They deliberately hide the Medinan passages that call for killing, decapitating and maiming…In resorting to violence, Muslims do not have a problem finding passages…that do not only condone violence, but even demand it…The differences between Christianity and Islam are very deep and irreconcilable…The current Muslim message to Christians “We have a lot in common”…is a ploy, don’t believe it as it is designed solely to spread their religion’.

Ibn Warraq [Former Muslim] ‘The Koran abounds in contradictions… Muslim theologians have a rather convenient doctrine…according to this doctrine, certain passages of the Koran are abrogated by verses with a different or contrary meaning revealed afterwards [see Surah 2:105]…we can see how useful…the doctrine of abrogation is in bailing scholars out of difficulties. Of course it does pose problems for apologists of Islam since all the passages preaching tolerance are found in Meccan early surahs and all the passages recommending killing, decapitating and maiming are Medinan …tolerance has been abrogated by intolerance…

The totalitarian nature of Islam is nowhere more apparent than in the concept of Jihad…whose ultimate aim is to conquer the entire world and submit it to the one true faith, to the law of Allah…Jihad is a divine institution, enjoined specially for the purpose of advancing Islam. Muslims must strive, fight and kill in the name of God’.

  • Quote by Tony Blair on – 21 March 2006:

‘It [The Koran] is practical and way ahead of its time in attitudes to marriage, women and governance’.

  • ‘marriage’ & ‘state control’

21 March 2006:

‘The standard bearers of tolerance in the early Middle Ages were far more likely to be found in Muslim lands than in Christian… Across the Arab and Muslim world such a struggle for democracy and liberty continues’

  • The Koran

You [Muslim men in general] may marry other women who seem good to you; two, three or four of them’ (Surah 4:3).

‘Prophet, [Mohammed] We [Allah] have made lawful to you the [unlimited] wives to whom you have granted dowries…This privilege is yours alone, being granted to no other believer. We well know the duties We have imposed on the faithful concerning their wives [a maximum of 4 wives]. We grant you this privilege so that none may blame you’.

‘Your wives are a tilth [a field to be ploughed] for you, so go into your tilth when you like’ (Surah 2:223).

‘they [women] have rights similar to those against them in a just manner, and the men are a degree above them’ (Surah 2:228).

‘call in to witness from among your men two witnesses; but if there are not two men, then one man and two women from among those whom you choose to be witnesses’ (Surah 2:282)

‘those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them’ (Surah 4:34)

‘Say to those who disbelieve, if they desist, that which is past shall be forgiven to them; and if they return, then what happened to the ancients has already passed. And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah’ (Surah 8:38-39)

  • Abdullah Al-Araby [Former Muslim]

‘Islam allows polygamy…Extra privileges were given to Mohammed… He was allowed unlimited wives…Islam considers the wife a sex object…Women are inferior to men…in court witness, the witness of two women equals the witness of one man…in inheritance a woman’s share is half that of a man [‘Allah enjoins you concerning your children: The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females’ Surah 4:11]…Islam teaches that a wife is subject to punishment by her husband. As a punishment, beating a wife or abstaining from sexual relations with her is allowed…After they gain the upper hand, Muslims’ message will be “We have nothing in common with you [Christians] , you are infidels who worship three gods and follow a corrupt Bible. You are ‘Dhimmis’ who must accept Islam or pay ‘jizya [penalty tax] for being Christians”.

Ibn Warraq [Former Muslim] ‘Mankind is divided into two groups, Muslims and non-Muslims. The Muslims are…the umma who possess territories in Dar al-Islam, the Land of Islam where the edicts of Islam [Sharia Law] are fully promulgated. The non-Muslims are the Harbi, people of the Dar al-Harb, the Land of Warfare, any country belonging to the infidels that has not been subdued by Islam but that, nonetheless, is destined to pass into Islamic jurisdiction, either by conversion or by war (Harb). All acts of war are permitted in the Dar al-Harb’.

Robert Spencer in his very challenging book ‘The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam’ wrote ‘In one key hadith [a collection of traditions about what Mohammed and his earliest followers said and did], Mohammed delineates three choices that Muslims are to offer non-Muslims…The choices for unbelievers are

  • 1. Accept Islam
  • 2. Pay the jizya, the poll-tax on non-Muslims, which is the cornerstone of an entire system of humiliating regulations that institutionalise inferior status for non-Muslims in Islamic law.
  • 3. War with Muslims’.

Robert Spencer then poignantly adds, ‘Always remember “peaceful co-existence as equals in a pluralistic society” isn’t one of the choices”. Would that Tony Blair would ‘Take Heed’ to Islamic reality!

  • ENCLOSURE WITH DECEMBER 2006 NEWS FROM THE FRONT
  • Just what or whose ‘purpose’ is Rick Warren pursuing and promoting?
  • Rick Warren Goes to Syria – Meets With Grand Mufti

Rick_Warren

 

According to a Syrian Arab news agency article, SANA, Rick Warren visited this week [Mid November 2006] with Syrian political and religious officials. The article stated:

American Protestant Pastor Rick Warren on Monday said there was no peace in the region without Syria, noting that 80 percent of the American people rejected what the US Administration is doing in Iraq and considered the US policy in the Mideast as wrong. Syria’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Badr al-Din Hassoun received the American Pastor in Damascus in which he referred to the importance of spreading culture of amity, peace and coexistence instead of the ‘clash of civilizations’.

The article said that the Grand Mufti asked Warren to convey to the American people Syria’s desire for peace. Warren, according to the article, told the Grand Mufti he admired Syria.

  • Warren’s early mentor, Robert Schuller and Syria
  • Robert Schuller, the Grand Mufti and Interspirituality

In light of the recent reports that Rick Warren is in Syria visiting with political and religious leaders, including Syria’s Grand Mufti, it is worth noting that Robert Schuller (of Crystal Cathedral) also visited with the Grand Mufti of Syria (in 1999), with the hope of being instrumental in bringing peace to the world. In Schuller’s biography, My Journey: From an Iowa Farm to a Cathedral of Dreams, Schuller says: “I was astounded to see how much my perspective had shifted. In my early years my world was Sioux County, Iowa, and the Dutch Reformed Church, but now I had a global awareness…. I was moving further and further into a mindset of religious inclusively.” Schuller refers to a letter (and an invitation) he received from the Grand Mufti of Syria, who stated to Schuller: “I am grateful to have this opportunity to meet with you under the banner of faith and peace for humanity. My desire is to begin the new millennium… with new bridges of love and fraternity between all Muslims and Christians for the benefit of all mankind.” In the book, Schuller says: “Standing before a crowd of devout Muslims with the Grand Mufti, I know that we’re all doing God’s work together. Standing on the edge of a new millennium, we’re laboring hand in hand to repair the breach” (p. 501). He adds:

I met once more with the Grand Mufti, truly one of the great Christ-honoring leaders of faith…. I’m dreaming a bold impossible dream: that positive-thinking believers in God will rise above the illusions that our sectarian religions have imposed on the world, and that leaders of the major faiths will rise above doctrinal idiosyncrasies, choosing not to focus on disagreements, but rather to transcend divisive dogmas to work together to bring peace and prosperity and hope to the world….” p. 502

Rick Warren shares Schuller’s spiritual proclivities and has stated that he believes peace can come to the world (in fact a “second reformation”) through a unification of the different faiths. Warren Smith discusses Schuller’s reformation in his book, Deceived on Purpose: “In his 1982 book Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, Schuller wrote: Our very survival “as a species depends on hope. And without hope we will lose the faith that we can cope” Smith connects some dots when he shows how New Ager Neale Donald Walsch (in his book Conversations with God) ties this “new reformation” to a world wide peace plan:

Prior to directly suggesting that Robert Schuller’s theology of self-esteem could be the kind of “bridge” that could help humanity transition into the New Spirituality, Walsch’s “God” formally presented his 5-Step PEACE Plan. The PEACE Plan is the proposed spiritual process that will help everyone move past “outmoded” beliefs and prepare the way for the New Spirituality. (from Deceived on Purpose)