Rick Warren's Latest "P" - Reconciliation By Discernment Group http://herescope.blogspot.com October 31, 2007

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"Now, Warren is building a PEACE Coalition of partners that includes the government and NGOs and businesses in addition to churches. The 'P' in PEACE now stands for 'Promote reconciliation' while churches will continue to focus on planting churches."
         --Lillian Kwon, "Rick Warren Launches New Plan to Multiply Impact Worldwide," Christian Post, 10/17/07 [emphasis added]

"The church must show the world the true path to peace. The planet's power elite will never find it on their own. How do open church people find peace? Through reconciliation to the triune God of peace and to each other."
        --James Rutz, Megashift: Igniting Spiritual Power (Empowerment Press, 2005), p. 163 [emphasis added]

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The "P" in Rick Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan has changed once again. [At first, it was "Plant churches]. It now means "Promote reconciliation," according to the latest press puff piece updating his ambitious plans to mobilize tens of thousands of churches and people.

"Reconciliation" is an interesting choice of words. We refer the reader to the Herescope post of August 10, 2007 entitled "Identificational Repentance" that describes what this term means in the new "transformation speak." We noted that C. Peter Wagner has cited this new doctrine as one of the key "New Spiritual Weapons" for advancing the Kingdom of God on earth. In short, "reconciliation" has to do with apologizing for the sins of your ancestors. But it also has a great deal to do with "peace."

James Rutz described "reconciliation" as a key ingredient in the new way to do church in his book Megashift, which we have been reviewing:

"In fact, reconciliation is now happening on a large scale between historic factions in the church. At reconciliation gatherings cross the U.S., repentance and confession of past wrongs has occurred between whites and blacks, anglos and native Americans, men and women, etc. These events are major building blocks in the coming U.S. revival." (p. 163)

Put this quotation on a global scale and apply it to tribes and warring factions, people groups and nations, and you can see how grandiose this thinking becomes. It is tantamount to a revolutionary new gospel. In fact, Brian McLaren includes a quotation in his 2006 book The Secret Message of Jesus (W Publishing Group) which seems to tie all of this together:

"The radical revolutionary empire of God is here, advancing by reconciliation and peace, expanding by faith, hope, and love--beginning with the poorest, the weakest, the meekest, and the least. It's time to change your thinking. Everything is about to change. It's time for a new way of life. Believe me. Follow me. Believe this good news to you so you can learn to live by it and be part of the revolution." (pp. 32-33) [emphasis added]

In fact, McLaren devotes an entire chapter to this "reconciliation" concept (Chapter 12: "Hiding the Message in New Places"). He describes the shed blood of Christ as achieving "lasting reconciliation between humanity and God," but then goes a step further to apply it to "all the at-odds individuals and groups that comprise humanity." The focus shifts from Christ to reconciling relationships between "at-odds" groups of people.

"Today, he [Jesus] might speak of reconciliation of the war veteran with the pacifist protester. The tattooed and pierced granddaughter with her prim and proper grandmother. The Orthodox with the Catholics, and Pentecostals with Baptists. Christians with Jews and Muslims and Hindus. Tutsi with Hutu and both with Twa. Right-wing Republicans with left-wing Democrats. Believers with doubters." (pp. 99-100)

Then he shifts into a mystical Bible passage interpretation:

"What is this set of reconciled relationships other than the kingdom of God? Paul strikes the same theme in Ephesians 1:9-10: 'God made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.' That unity--that bringing together under one head -- is yet another translation of the kingdom of God...

"Like Jesus, then, Paul has a secret message -- a message that is both concealed and revealed. It is a message of reconciliation and unification, just as a kingdom brings people together under one king." (p. 100) [emphasis added]

Did you catch a whiff of dominionism in that statement? Sure enough! This call for unity, peace and reconciliation is not new. It is the same old "brotherhood of man" universalism that the Federal Council of Churches trumpeted early in the last century. Previously on Herescope we have pulled extensive quotes from Dr. Martin Erdmann's book Building the Kingdom of God on Earth (Wipf & Stock, 2005), an important history of how these doctrines were contrived and promulgated. The facts in his book detail a strikingly similar blueprint for the global "peace" and "reconciliation" and "unity" plan of the evangelical leaders. Just substitute "brotherhood of man" for "reconciliation" and see how easily things cross-reference. The only things missing in the early plan for kingdom-building were 1) computer databanking and technology, 2) sophisticated psycho-social group manipulation techniques, and 3) the psychic stew of eclectic spirituality spawned by the New Age movement that permits cross-over terminologies and ideologies.

Rutz's quotation at the top says that the planet's power elite will never find the true path to peace on their own. Probably not, if that true path is based on the way of the Cross. But the planet's power elite has always been financially and politically behind the transformation of the church, and "building the kingdom of God on earth."

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© 2007 by Discernment Group

http://herescope.blogspot.com

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