CHURCH LEADERSHIP DOING DIAPRAX
by
Dean Gotcher
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Mark 8:33
But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
James 4:1-17
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
I Samuel 2:3
Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
Nehemiah 9:16-17
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage:
Psalms 17:7-12
Show thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psalms 40:4
Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Psalms 119:50-53
This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law. I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself. Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
Proverbs 16:5-6
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Isaiah 3:4-5, 12
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.
As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Psalms 44:8-26
In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves. Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen. Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price. Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way; Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth. Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.
Ezekiel 34:1-22
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
Malachi 3:13-18
Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Mark 4:1-20
And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? The sower soweth the word. And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Assembly of God leadership doing Diaprax.
Some scriptures concerning the Church.
Assembly of God "Vision of Transformation."
Dr Randy Barton and the Assemblies of God.
Shifting leadership paradigms from patriarchal to heresiarch.
What is the agenda?
Assembly of God leadership doing Diaprax
LDR* Church Development Process Workbook
A review of the training manual currently being used by the AG leadership
*(©Leadership Development Resources, LLC)
Proverbs 16:5
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
It's like stepping into a National Training Laboratory (NTL) training session. The NTL's were the brainchild of Marxists (transformational style) such as Kurt Lewin, Ronald Lippitt, Kenneth Benne, etc. ( History of the National Training Laboratories) J. L. Moreno's role-playing procedures were the basic format along with the mix of John Dewey's Chicago laboratory for child development. Behind the scene was the ideologies of the Frankfurt School, Marxists who traveled to this country in the early 30. All incorporated the psychology of Freud into the religion of Marx, the reason traditional Marxists would have nothing to do with them. Social-psychology is simply Marx and Freud synthesized resulting in transformational Marxism. To read this material is troubling enough, considering its unchallenged use in this country, but to realize it is being used to prepare ministers of the Word for leadership in the Church Growth and Emerging Church agenda is simply chilling.
Dr. J. Melvyn Ming, Director of the Doctor of Ministry at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, is the author of this Marxist based material. Scriptures abound in the material, yet they are not in agreement to the process he is using. I mean they have no reference outside of human relationships. Mankind is the agent for peace with God. Everything is filtered and defined through social-relationship. Its a bait and switch methodology, typical for the process of change. It is all about process, the dialectical process. Mr. Ming writes "The LDR Church Development Process must include the Holy Spirit's guidance and intervention in the transformational process." Then he presents a NTL diagram similar to Warren Bennis and to Rick Warren's of Church Growth. Warren Bennis Team Network Model from The 21 Century Organization: Reinventing through Reengineering and Rick Warren's Diagram Models from http://www.saddleback.com/
continued below:
The following quotations are entered as an example of famous social-engineers and their thinking on the process of change that the LDG is using to "build" the mega-church of today. To think men like Ming are teaching at "Christian" schools is alarming. It is shear apostasy, although I am sure he would appear as a sweet caring wonderful person, with no evil intentions.
"Dr. Skinner says: 'We must accept the fact that some kind of control of human affairs is inevitable. We cannot use good sense in human affairs unless someone engages in the design and construction of environmental conditions which affect the behavior of men." "Environmental changes have always been the condition for the improvement of cultural patterns, and we can hardly use the more effective methods of science without making changes on a grander scale . . ." Carl Rogers On becoming a person
"Man consciously transforms his environment in response to his needs. Only within a social context individual man is able to realize his own potential as a rational being." "Every class lacks the breadth of soul which identifies it with the soul of the people, that revolutionary boldness which flings at its adversary the defiant phrase; I am nothing and I should be everything." Joseph O'Malley ed. of Karl Marx Critique of Hegel's 'Philosophy of Right'
". . . personality is a product of the social environment of the past . . . very resistant to fundamental change." "According to the present theory, the effects of environmental forces in molding the personality are, in general, the more profound the earlier in the life history of the individual they are brought." Theodor Adorno The Authoritarian Personality
"Working through the resistances to change is the key to the production of change" Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
"Techniques for overcoming resistance, developed mainly in the field of individual psychotherapy, can be improved and adapted for use with groups and even for use on a mass scale." Theodor Adorno The Authoritarian Personality
"A group becomes a group fully only as it forms a common purpose and decides on a course of action appropriate to that purpose. The purpose of discussion involves, therefore, the remolding of habits, attitudes, understandings and ways of working . . . in relation to the process of problem definition and solution as a whole." "'What is our purpose at this point?' is recognized as one of the most helpful questions that can be asked . . ." "Purpose: . . . the building of group-centered attitudes and . . . the perpetuation of such group-centered behavior." Kenneth Bennie Human Relations in Curriculum Change
"One of the most fascinating aspects of group therapy is that everyone is born again, born again in the group." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
"The individual accepts the new system of values and beliefs by accepting belongingness to the group." Kenneth Bennie Human Relations in Curriculum Change
"The real nature of man is the totality of social relations." Karl Marx Thesis on Feuerbach #6
"Only within a social context individual man is able to realize his own potential as a rational being." Joseph O'Malley ed. of Karl Marx Critique of Hegel's 'Philosophy of Right'
"It is not individualism that fulfills the individual, on the contrary it destroys him. Society is the necessary framework through which freedom and individuality are made realities . . . only in a socialist society." Karl Marx
"Protestantism was the strongest force in the extension of cold rational individualism." Max Horkheimer Vernunft and Selbsterhaltung
"The individual is emancipated in the social group." Normal O. Brown Life Against Death
"Democratic societies thrives best when its citizens are able to arrive at their own decisions rather than when someone in authority does the thinking for them." Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Book II: Affective Domain
"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. John 5:30
"For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matthew 12:50
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven." Matthew 7:21
"Capitulation enforced by parental authority under the threat of loss of parental love . . . can be accomplished only by repression." "Therefore the question confronting mankind is the abolition of repression - in traditional Christian language, the resurrection of the body." "What the child knows consciously and the adult unconsciously, is that we are nothing but body." "Infants have a richer sexual life than adults." "Freud takes with absolute seriousness the proposition of Jesus: 'Except ye become as little children, ye can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven." "Sexual instincts seeks union with objects in the world." "Eros is fundamentally a desire for union with objects in the world." "Infantile sexuality is the pursuit of pleasure obtained through the activity of any and all organs of the human body [touching, seeing, muscular activity, pain, etc.]. "In man, infantile sexuality is repressed and never outgrown;" "Normal adult sexuality, judged by the standard of infantile sexuality, is an unnatural restriction of the erotic potentialities of the human body." "The repression of normal adult sexuality is required only by cultures which are based on patriarchal domination." " Psychoanalysis declares the fundamental bisexual character of human nature;" "Adult sexuality, restricted by rules, to maintain family and society, . . . leads to neurosis." "Our repressed desires are the desires we had unrepressed, in childhood; and they are sexual desires." "Eros is the foundation of morality." Norman O. Brown Life Against Death
LDR* Church Development Process Workbook
Each chapter in the LDR training workbook covers a different aspect of globalizing process, from identifying "your focus or target" to the identification of "minimum health factors" via. the provided Church Health Survey. Don't be deceived by the skillful placement of scriptures in this material, you can cover diaprax with a multitude of scriptures but you will always end up with doublespeak. Loaded with quotations such as "Unless we listen attentively to the voices of secular society, unless we struggle to understand them, unless we feel with modern men and women their frustration, their alienation, their pain and even sometimes their despair, I think that we shall lack authenticity as the followers of Jesus of Nazareth." (emphasis in original) John R. W. Stott This is all sensual, Jesus of Nazareth never laid this foundation. Every Marxist training manual I have read builds its foundation of listen, understand, and feel.
". . . adopted Ralph W. Tyler's idea of an educational objective as a change in behavior; ways of acting, thinking, and feeling, [which included] covert as well as overt states and responses." Benjamin Bloom Forty Year Retrospect
Church growth is the re-interpretation of the Word of God through the collective experience: "How do you feel . . . ?" "What do you think . . . ?"
"The systems approach is a way of looking at the world and at ourselves. It owes much to Gestalt psychology." Peter Drucker, the intellectual pillar of the Church Growth agenda in his book Technology, Management & Society
Gestalt: "The whole is different than the sum of the parts."
Systems thinking is the buzzword of global capitalism, the transformational form of communism. Ming uses quotations such as this to build the AG fellowship of the 21st century upon. "A system is a collection of parts (or subsystems) integrated to accomplish an overall goal (a system of people is an organization). Systems have input, processes, outputs, and outcomes with ongoing feedback among these various parts. If one part of the system is removed, the nature of the system is changed." Carter McNamara Ming skillfully attaches the word of God to this systems thinking process, not to judge the system by the word but to judge the word of God by the system. This is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning. Be warned, you can, with the use of extrapolation (manipulation), use deductive reasoning to produce inductive outcomes (For a better understanding of this trickery link to Diaprax Articles : Deductive-Inductive Reasoning Part I, explaining the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning and how they are being improperly used by social engineers, Deductive-Inductive Reasoning Part II, explaining how Marx criticized the use of deductive reasoning and used inductive reasoning to materialize man and, Deductive-Inductive Reasoning Part III, explaining how inductive reasoning is improperly being used in the classroom to undermine the home.)
One section reads: "Growing churches replace hierarchy systems with empowerment philosophies." This is exactly what Satan did with Eve in the Garden, he helped her become empowered through her reasoning abilities (studies have revealed that women empowered take on masculinity.) Ming quotes R. Eaton, CEO, Chrysler Corporation "Empowerment .... to develop a sense of ownership over parts of the process that are uniquely their responsibility, while at the same time demanding that they accept a share of the broader responsibilities and ownership of the whole process." (emphasis in original) Source: from the Marxist (transformational) Warren G. Bennis The 21st Century Organization: Reinventing through Reengineering. You talk about mingling God's word with the beast, this is a classic example of apostasy.
Some scriptures concerning the Church (following emphasis added)
And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Acts 2: 44-47
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16: 15-18
And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily. Acts 16:4, 5For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:27-30
So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 1 Peter 5:1-3
But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God. 1 Corinthians 7:17-24
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way.... And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. 1 Corinthians 12: 18-31; 13:13
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. 1 Corinthians 14:33-35That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:17-23
Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. Ephesians 5:22-28
One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 1 Timothy 3:3, 4I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. Revelation 22:13-16
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Matthew 5:11
Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. Luke 6:26
Ming continues: "Natural Church Development is an example of a Systems Approach" ... "Everything can be connected to everything else," (wholism) "All actions have feedback," (feedback loops are sensuous based and are the key to mind control), "Good enough for each part is usually best for the whole system." Oh my! are we talking about a chaste bride here, "I think not."
One thing I discovered from my days in seminary, dialectical statements (sensual based rational―sensible) are worded so as to make any opposition (faith based statement―non-sensible i.e. spiritual) appear argumentative. As one teacher on Church Growth put it, "If the church is led by the Holy Spirit it is led by no one." In other words, it's not going to happen without our rational input. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Luke 19:39, 40
Team Worksheets abound in this workbook just as they do in the global corporate world. Somewhere along the line true ministry is washed from the environment. "Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." 2 Corinthians 6:3-10
In the end this process called "Church Growth" is all about moving belief over onto opinion and making group opinion, belief. Then we can all get along on the broad pathway to warmth and togetherness and achieve world peace.
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Proverbs 14:12
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:10-12
I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. 3 John 1:9-11
TO BE FINISHED (maybe)
(This is gut wrenching material to read, grievous to the soul. So bear with me. I approach this material only when I am able to stomach it for a while.)
Assembly of God "Vision of Transformation"
A review of the presentation by Dr. Randy Barton at the headquarters of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri, October 8th, 2002
(An article I wrote for Discernment Ministries, March of 2003, which I have revised.)
"We've got to examine our credentialing process. It must become a facilitation process. It's a matter of integrating a process where we draw and encourage people to come into ministry to do what God has called them to do. Now what does that mean? We don't know at this point. These are a lot of questions not a lot of answers. That's why we are embarking on this process. Our role is to facilitate a process where everyone in our fellowship will be able to give input to the process."
Dr. Randy Barton, Assembly of God meeting Oct. 2002
a paradigm shift
A New Vision Last October (10/8/02) at the headquarters of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri there was a meeting with the staff to discuss the new Assembly of God Vision of Transformation. Why are the Assemblies of God concerned about transforming their denomination? What is this process they are talking about? To understand what is happening in the Church today one must be familiar with the change that has taking place around the world. Some call this change a paradigm shift. A paradigm is the way we think. My ways are not your ways and your thoughts are not my thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). There are three general ways of thinking, each correlate with the way we evaluate and solve problems. The taxonomy of these different ways of thinking are identified in a process called the dialectic. They are
1) thesis, thinking on facts (traditional thinking),
2) antithesis, thinking to feelings (which is simply responding to your feelings without thinking—transitional thinking), and
3) synthesis, thinking through your feelings, in other words, justifying compromise for the sake of changing feelings (transformational thinking).
These three structures of thought or paradigms are identified in the Bible.
The Biblical paradigm is known as didactic and is built upon the view that black is black and white is white and that there are pre-set rights and wrongs. The humanistic paradigm is known as dialectic and is built upon the view that feelings of human relationship must determine what is right and wrong. Therefore, right and wrong are relative to the attitude, which promotes or detracts from human relationships. A rational person is one who will compromise for the common good. It is important to understand that a person cannot go straight from didactic to dialectic. There must be a middle zone of transition.
Genesis 3:1-6
The dialectic is explained in Genesis 3:1-6.
THESIS
The thesis is God's statement to Adam in an absolute didactic format, "Thou Shalt Not." The language of thesis is known in socio-psychology (humanistic thinking) as limiting if not outright blocking to human relationship, it holds us to the promises of the past and standards given by a higher authority. Statements with an "I Know" attitude or "can not," "must not," "Thou shalt not," or "it is the law," "it is a fact," "it is the truth," or as Jesus stated in the wilderness, "It is written" are considered negative, divisive, hateful, intolerant, or prejudice since they interfere with, if not block, social harmony. The didactic or patriarch paradigm is a way of thinking, which requires faith, obedience, accountability as well as responsibility under a higher authority. Those who think this way, according to the dialectic, global, humanistic paradigm, are maladjusted, lower order thinkers, inadaptable to change and are in need of counseling for the sake of world peace. If they are not converted they must be neutralized and marginalized and eventually removed from policy setting environments, such as the home, the work place, government or the church. Didactic thinking focuses upon truth, not on feelings, or one's ability to justify what "seems to be" another solution. God's Word is didactic, it is not written by private interpretation, with "I feel," or "I think." It is God breathed, and all God's prophets and apostles spoke with such language, as did the early church martyrs.
ANTITHESIS
The antithesis, or opposing position, is found in the Bible with Satan's statement to Eve that she would not die if she disobeys God's thesis statement, "Thou Shalt Not." Antithesis is a point of view which counters the original thesis. The antithesis paradigm is know as matriarch in the language of socio-psychology since two people with opposite or differing positions may have the common desire to relate with one another. Feelings, or the desire to relate, now interfere with the desire to maintain an opposing position.
The only way two opposing thesis can overcome this blocking action is to negate one or both original positions, either by persuading the other person that their thesis is wrong and yours is right or by one or both persons not bringing up or defending their position. In this way of thinking (or non-thinking) both people have the potential for the realization of human relationship. In most cases this will not happen, so either the stronger person wins by personal force, power of authority (position), majority support, or the power delegated by representation.
When both parties desire to relate or allow feelings to guide their behavior their language must move away from the "Is/Not" language of position, property, authority and sovereignty – "This is my land and you can not come on it." They must move into the language of relationship, what socio-psychologists call "Ought" language; "Ought to be," "Should be," "Could be," "Might be." Anytime you hear an "ought" a "not" is under attack. The child who challenges their parents authority, their "is" position and their "not" position with an "I ought to be able to" reveals their desire or feelings to do something different or opposite from the parents position. The parent is blocking them from their desired outcome. The response might be "you just don't understand," or "You hate me," or "Nobody understands." Now the parent is put in the position of choosing between holding on to their didactic "Is" and "Not" position and losing relationship with their child or following after their child's "ought to be" and compromise their original position, they can keep their "Is" as long as they give up the divisive "Not." I'm not saying we should not dialogue with our children but there are times you know what "is not right" and they are not mature enough to know what "is not right." Often the challenge to authority comes in the fashion of "Why?" Sometimes the only response can be "Because I said so." or "Because God says so." or "Nevertheless." These responses maintain a patriarch, didactic, thesis environment and limit, if not block, the effects of antithesis or rebellion or anarchy wrapped up in the language of "ought."
SYNTHESIS
The third stage of the dialectic, known as synthesis, negation-of-negation, is the process people use to justify the compromise necessary to realize or actualize their desire to relate with people of differing positions. This is the stage, which accomplishes the experience or praxis expressed in the phrase "diversity in unity." Self-actualization at this stage is not found in self-control and self-discipline as in the patriarch paradigm (to humble and deny your self under God's authority) but instead through self-esteem, where a person finds his identity, his significance, in his fellow man, which becomes his ultimate concern (his God.) This paradigm is a way of "thinking" that overcomes the problem the authority figure brings into life, with their barriers or standards that interfere with human relationships. This synthesis or heresiarch paradigm, is the communication skills noted by socio-psychologists which utilizes the "theory" language of "I think . . .,"and "It seems to me . . ." This paradigm is the "to become like God" attitude, where right and wrong is in man's control (situation ethics), sensual, and not some greater authority above man, non-sensual. In the political and educational realms of socialist and communist countries this is known as "Theory and Practice." The agenda of dialectic thinking is to move society away from "Truth-Obedience and Practice," where law defines proper human behavior and towards "Theory and Practice" where mankind becomes the law of the land, where any behavior or belief which interferes with human relationship, the greater common good, is considered harmful. You either know or you theorize. If you are still theorizing you do not know and if you know you can not be theorizing. The one is absolute and the other is relative to change. They can not be in agreement.
When Eve analyzed the tree and rationalized (theorized) the solution to her problem she fulfilled the third step of the dialectic. The "rational process" she used to justify her original desire to touch the tree (sensual) and here decision to eat of the forbidden fruit is known in the dialectic process as synthesis. It is at this point the Eve practiced (praxis-ed) the dialectic process. The socio-psychological title for a person who helps others to "think" using this paradigm is a facilitator (formerly called a "change agent") referred to today as a "heresiarch." Satan was the first facilitator, the first heresiarch, Eve shifted her paradigm from obedience to revolution as she followed Lucifer dialectical pattern of self-justification.
How we identify and solve problems reveals our paradigm
Whether the thesis is called traditional or didactic, the antithesis is called transitional, or the synthesis is called transformational or dialectic, the outcome is always the same. The person is using a particular way of thinking to identify and solve problems. How we identify and solve problems reveals our paradigm, our way of thinking. In humanistic terms Eve became the first problem solver. Her problem was how to "circumvent the limitations" which blocked her from realizing her full potential of "Being like God," becoming her own person, and identifying with all that is in the universe, which had to include the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She was the first humanist, the first New Ager, the first liberated. The definition of sin is shifting away from being "the estrangement of man from God," toward being "the estrangement of man from man" because of the very dialectic process Eve actualized in the garden. She did the dialectic process right there in the Garden. You know how new the New Age is? That is how "new" it is. There really is nothing new under the sun.
The leadership of the church is shifting its paradigm
What does all this have to do with the Church today? The leadership of the church is shifting its paradigm from didactic to dialectic in addressing the problems found in its own fellowship and in the world. Tools utilized by Satan in his deception of Eve are being utilized by the Church Growth agenda today. What makes this process so lethal is its utilization of scriptures to cover its agenda. It no longer focuses upon translation which is built upon the words "Is" and "Not." It has moved through interpretation which is built upon the phrase "I feel," to where it is now extrapolation (picking and choosing and then redefining) from the word of God those scriptures which justify its desired outcome, that being the rebuilding of the church on a human relationship paradigm.
Lucifer was the first FACILITATOR―manipulator
DRAWING THE "OUGHT" OUT OF YOU.
The role of the facilitator is to seduce, deceive, and manipulate. Lucifer was the first manipulator. He seduced Eve with her "ought" by drawing her out with a neurolinguistic sentence, the most effective sentence structure in the field of hypnosis, a sentence structure that embeds questions in statements, and statements in questions. For example the phrase "I wonder whether you know where your knee is?" is a neurolinguistic phase patterned to initiate an "ought" response. The conscious mind recognizes the sentence only being a question "I wonder if . . .?" But the subconscious picks up the statement "you know where your knee is." When this happens the subconscious begins to draw the person toward looking at the knee but the conscious mind responds with "he did not ask you to look at your knee, you can not look at your knee." The subconscious mind then responds with "I ought to be able to look at my knee." This "can not," "can too" internal tension, known as cognitive dissonance, has the effect of temporarily destabilizing the person. The language of the nervous system (neurolinguistics) then kicks in and says "will you two quite arguing, feel the knee." So the person is now staring at the other person feeling their knee. They have been sensitized to the material world through the activation of an ought to be. When Satan stated "Yea hath God said . . ." in the Hebrew it has never been known whether to end it with a question mark or a period. It is a pure neurolinguistic phrase. Eve's respond was not didactically, giving exactly what God had told Adam, but instead was "ought" based in that she gave her opinion of God's law. She revealed her ought to be, "I ought to be able to at least touch it." Where did she get her ought to be? She got it from her internal desire, her lust. Then she adds the didactic statement "lest you die." Lucifer the facilitator then lied, and deceived her with "you won't die. God knows . . ."
God is not open ended
With God it is a "Must"
The drawing out of one's "ought" requires what is called environment control or climate control. Rogerian Psychology (developed by Carl Rogers) used for counseling today uses the three same conditions Satan used to move Eve from an "Is/Not" condition. They are
(1) Open ended, a, we can talk about anything, condition, "What do you think . . .?" "How do you feel. . .?" God is not open ended, traditional parents are not open ended, traditional bosses are not open ended, the laws of nature are not open ended (jump out of a plane at 20,000 ft without a parachute and find out how open ended nature is), the Constitution is not open ended "Congress shall not . . .",
(2) Non-directive, which means I will not tell you what is right and wrong. Again God is not non-directive, He directs, parents direct, the boss directs, the constitution directs, the laws of nature direct, etc.
(3) The result of moving a person from an "Is-Not" paradigm is an aversion to any closed philosophical point of view (didactic paradigm), in other words, get the "can not's" or barrier language out of the room. Open ended, non-directive questions are used to get us past our limits and measures set by a higher authority. And the third condition effectively removes the authority figure from our conscious mind, in other words it gets us to mentally remove them from the room. Everyone in the room personally escorts God (the resistor to change) out of the room for the sake of social harmony, all in the quest of understanding his word. It must be in a way where all can maintain unity.
These are the three conditions Satan used to change Eve and they are the three conditions Rogerian Psychology requires for counseling today. Rogerian Psychology is the identical, unadulterated form of environment control Satan used to deceive Eve in the garden. They are the same three conditions used today in Church Growth.
BRAINWASHING―AN "OUGHT TO BE" CONSENSUS
God's law gets in the way of consensus.
When this environment is created, and a person shares his "ought to be's" they are in a brain washing program. Brainwashing is washing from the brain any information, which gets in the way of consensus (with sensations or feelings toward human relationship). God's law, "thou shalt not ...," gets in the way of consensus. It has the wrong language for world peace.
MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF "FELT" NEEDS
Genesis 3:6 vs. Matthew 4:1-11 & Luke 4:1-13
Eve's Response―Justifying one's opinion vs. Jesus Response―Word Justified action-"It is written..."
Eve then does what is known today as Maslow's hierarchy of "felt" (dopamine) needs. These are several stages of needs satisfaction; the seven steps can be simplified to the three basic needs:
(1) Physiological needs of water, food, sleep, exercise
(2) self-esteem, the need for other person's input in ones life, the approval of men,
(3) self-actualization or the realization of one's purpose in life.
In the dialectic the first is individual preservation needs, you do need water, the second is recognition by others, bad or good, you do buy clothes so you will feel good about yourself and others will to, and third is purpose needs, we all want to know why we are here. But, without God ordering our steps, these are all humanistic, carnal, temporal, sensual, needs. Eve first dialogues within herself that "it is good for food," "it is pleasing to the eyes," and "it is desirous to make one wise." The question is was it really good for food or JUST "seemed to be" good for food. The Bible warns us "there is a way (way of thinking or paradigm) that seems to be right unto man but the ends thereof are the ways of death." (Proverbs 14:12)
Eve was looking at her needs through dialectical eyes. What kind of wisdom is this? This is not the wisdom, which comes from the fear of God. Instead this is "so called" wisdom which depends upon the approval of men, wisdom which stands in defiance to God and His will. The Apostle Paul warns us to avoid the oppositions (Greek word antithesis) of so called science or knowledge (I. Tim. 6:20). He warns us to avoid the dialectic process. Eve did the dialectic process at the tree. She justified her rebellion against higher authority. She was deceived through her heart, her feelings. She then utilized her head to justify her heart, she leaned upon her own understanding after trusting in her own self, her own senses. Her perception of the world now became her way to knowing truth. God judged the world by the flood because the imagination of their heart was evil. They were thinking through their feelings, through their senses. They were praxising the dialectic process, the very same process Eve utilized in the Garden. God warns us that it will be in the last days as it was in the days of Noah. And so it is today. When we reject God and His paradigm the dialectic paradigm is the only one we have left. It is our human nature―actualized.
"The fear of man is as a snare"
You cannot serve God if you are controlled by how people feel about you or what people think about you. This is why we are to "trust in the lord with all our heart and lean not to our own understanding" The Bible warns us that "The fear of man is as a snare" God does not set standards by what we feel or how we think. Why is the church leadership taking polls and surveys (How do you feel, What do you think) and looking to man for direction. Why is it utilizing the very methods Satan utilized on Eve?
Jude 1:3-8
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
(emphasis added)''And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God." Luke 16: 15
Dr Randy Barton and the Assemblies of God
General Systems Theory vs. Specific Truth
Systemic Change vs. Established
"appeal to the grass roots"
Dr. Randy Barton's speech to the Assembly of God presbyters is troubling. He speaks of "barnacles" (traditional bible preaching ministers) slowing the Assemblies of God ship down, that we need "a recognition that to be relevant in a rapidly changing, diverse, globalizing culture, it is not enough to appoint another committee" a " "command and control" hierarchical structure" (didactic, patriarchal structure) which he calls "frustrating, antiquated, and irrelevant." He stated that the AG needs "deep change," "systemic changes" which will "appeal to the grass roots," to "hear from the grass roots . . . to start down the path of change." Where in the Word of God do we find God listening to the grass roots to make change? God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, He "Is." He is the sovereign, we are not, nor can we go into partnership with him. His first command being "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." He drove Adam and Eve out because they were "like" God. We can never approach God on a partnership, as an equal. Only Satan and those who follow him have that attitude, that way of thinking, that paradigm.
"the feelings and hopes and vision of the grass roots."
Every King or leader who defied God and His word always started with the phrase "it was what the people wanted."
Barton tells about "vision kits" being sent out to find out "what God was saying to them [the fellowship] for their Jerusalem." (Emphasis added) "Out of that process," of polls and surveys (How do you feel? What do you think?) he says a "national vision statement" was developed on "the feelings and hopes and vision of the grass roots." There was a "substantial change at the executive presbyter level" during this transition period when "5 of 8 presbyters" were replaced (were they barnacles?). Then a "blue ribbon committee" was appointed to oversee the change. They were renamed the "AG Vision for Transformation Committee." He said "We are to look at everything but our doctrine." My concern is doctrine affects everything. What he is stating here is that everything is on the table except doctrine. He is not saying that they will not not change the doctrine, but rather that it is irrelevant. That is what systemic change means. He then stated "everything is on the table. There should be no sacred cows." The process he is using is not going to change doctrine, it is going to expunge doctrine ("1 : to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion 2 : to efface completely : DESTROY 3 : to eliminate (as a memory) from one's consciousness." Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
"Are you really serious?"
"Our role is to facilitate a process..."
The response from regional presbyters was "Are they really serious?" Barton responds "the leaders are very serious about change." He states "Our role is to facilitate a process where everyone in our fellowship will be able to give input to the process." (emphasis added). That this is "not some top-down pronouncement . . . but rather a grass-roots transformation." Anyone who has read up on liberation theology should find this language familiar, a shift from a didactic paradigm to a dialectic paradigm. By the way there are many species of grass, blue grass, switch grass, crab-grass. You need to know what grass roots means before you invest in it.
"based on relationship ... we must develop networking strategies"
He then stated that, "First . . . it is critical that we embrace deep change . . . we need to change course, and its about deep change." This is a declared paradigm shift. He sees that "networking strategies" provide "diverse opportunities." That there is a need for "removing obstacles" which slow the process down. That there is a need for "leveraging . . . resources." "There is a real feeling that we examine the opportunity for churches to connect . . . in some non-traditional ways." "We live in a culture built on networks . . . we must recognize the reality of networking structures as the predominate method of connecting." "It's all based on relationship and networking and we must develop networking strategies, not just for the Assemblies to God, but for the Kingdom of God." (Read this as the sacrifice of doctrine for the sake of the whole―while you are being told it won't be so. This is systems language, the language of the globalists) "All that we need to do is join hands together and network those resources and leverage those resources." "It's up to us to partner those resources..."
The following are some quotations from my presentations on Diaprax. Read them to better understand the direction Church Growth and Emerging Church are taking Christians today.
"What truly is always true is that all is in flux, the truth-seeker ought properly to address himself to the study of this life process of truth seeking itself." G. F. W. Hegel
"In the eyes of dialectical philosophy, nothing is established for all times, nothing is absolute or sacred." Karl Marx
"Life, at its best, is a flowing, changing process in which nothing is fixed." "The good life is not any fixed state. The good life is a process. The direction which constitutes the good life is psychological freedom to move in any direction [where] the general qualities of this selected direction appears to have a certain universality." Carl Rogers On becoming a person
"We know how to disintegrate a man's personality structure, dissolving his self-confidence, destroying the concept he has of himself, and making him dependent on another . . . brainwashing." "We can choose to use our growing knowledge to enslave people in ways never dreamed of before, depersonalizing them, controlling them by means so carefully selected that they will perhaps never be aware of their loss of personhood." Ibid.
"How shall we use the power of this new science? What happens to the individual person in this brave new world? Who will hold the power to use this new knowledge? Toward what end or purpose or value will this new type of knowledge be used?" Ibid.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world in different ways; the point is to change it." Karl Marx Thesis on Feuerbach #11
"Hegel and Marx have laid the foundation for the understanding of the problem of alienation." Erick Fromm Escape from Freedom
"Laws must not fetter human life; but yield to it; they must change as the needs and capacities of the people change." Joseph O'Malley ed. of Karl Marx Critique of Hegel's 'Philosophy of Right'
"For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Romans 7:22-25
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul:" Psalms 19:7
"Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17
"Tillich suggests that it would be better to let the giver of arbitrary laws to destroy us physically than to accept the psychological destruction that would accompany submission to an alien will." Leonard F. Wheat Paul Tillich's Dialectical Humanism
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Romans 8:7
"In order to effect rapid change, . . . [one] must mount a vigorous attack on the family lest the traditions of present generations be preserved. It is necessary, in other words, artificially to create an experiential chasm between parents and children―One must teach them not to respect their tradition-bound elders, who are tied to the past and know only what is irrelevant." Warren Bennis The Temporary Society
". . . any intervention between parent and child tend to produce familial democracy regardless of its intent." "The consequence of family democratization take a long time to make themselves felt―but it would be difficult to reverse the process one begun." Ibid.
"To study something means to study it in the process of change; that is the dialectical method's basic demand." L. S. Vygotsky Mind in Society
"It is usually easier to change individuals formed into a group than to change any one of them separately." Kurt Lewin in Kenneth Bennie Human Relations in Curriculum Change
"Unfreezing. This term, also adopted from Lewinian change theory, refers to the process of disconfirming an individual's former belief system." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
"Using social environmental forces to change the parents behavior towards the child." Theodor Adorno The Authoritarian Personality
"He reenacts early family scripts in the group and, if therapy is successful, is able to experiment with new behavior, to break free from the locked family role he once occupied. . . . the patient changes the past by reconstituting it." " . . . a patient might, with further change, outgrow . . . his spouse . . . unless concomitant changes occur in the spouse." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
"Human consciousness can be liberated from the parental complex only by being liberated from its cultural derivatives, the paternalistic state and the patriarchal God." Norman O. Brown Life Against Death
". . . the only authority necessary is the authority to establish certain qualities of interpersonal relationship." ". . . in the direction of the 'open society,'. . . " "Individuals move not from a fixity through change to a new fixity, though such a process is indeed possible. But [through a] continuum from fixity to changingness, from rigid structure to flow, from status to process." "In this process the individual becomes more open to his experience. It is the opposite of defensiveness or rigidity. His beliefs are not rigid, he can tolerate ambiguity." Carl Rogers On becoming a person
"What truly is always true is that all is in flux, the truth-seeker ought properly to address himself to the study of this life process of truth seeking itself." G. W. F. Hegel
"The philosopher Hegel said that truth is not found in the thesis nor the antithesis but in an emerging synthesis which reconciles the two." Martin Luther King Jr. Strength to Love
"Synthesis Condition: Freedom to determine his own purposes." "His efforts need not conform to the views of authority." Bloom's Taxonomies: Cognitive, Affective
". . . the whole emphasis is upon process, not upon end states of being . . . to value certain qualitative elements of the process of becoming, that we can find a pathway toward the open society." "Prior to therapy the person is prone to ask himself 'What would my parents want me to do?' During the process of therapy the individual comes to ask himself 'What does it mean to me?'" Carl Rogers On becoming a person
"In the process of history man gives birth to himself. He becomes what he potentially is, and he attains what the serpent―the symbol of wisdom and rebellion―promised, and what the patriarchal, jealous God of Adam did not wish: that man would become like God himself." Erich Fromm You shall be as gods
"Every form of objectification results in alienation" Bronnor Critical Theorists and their Theory
"The life which he has given to the object sets itself against him as an alien and hostile force." Karl Marx MEGA I/3, pp. 83-84
"Alienation will continue so long as the subject engages in an externalization (Entausserung) of his or her subjectivity." Bronner Critical Theorists and their Theory
"Hegel and Marx have laid the foundations for the understanding of the problem of alienation." Erich Fromm Escape from Freedom
"Alienation has a long history. Its most radical sense already appears in the biblical expulsion from Eden." God is thus the anthropological source of alienation . . ." Bronner Critical Theorists and their Theory
"The immediate task is to unmask human alienation in its secular form, now that it has been unmasked in the sacred form." Karl Marx MEGA I/1/1
"The only practically possible emancipation is the unique theory which holds that man is the supreme being for man." Karl Marx Critique of Hegel's 'Philosophy of Right'
"[Children] have not acquired that sense of shame which, according to the Biblical story, expelled mankind from Paradise, and which, presumably, would be discarded if Paradise were regained." "The new guilt complex appears to be historically connected with the rise of patriarchal religion (from the Western development the Hebrews are decisive)." "The guilty conscience is formed in childhood by the incorporation of the parents and the wish to be the father of oneself." "We must return to Freud and say that incest guilt created the familial organization." Normal O. Brown Life Against Death
"Freud noted that ... patricide and incest ... are part of man's deepest nature." Irvin Yalom The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy
Shifting leadership paradigms from didactic/patriarchal to dialectic/heresiarch
"We've got to examine our credentialing process."
"It must become a facilitation process."
"The institution in socialist society which act as the facilitators between the public and private realms are the Soviets."
Norman Lavine, The Process of Democratization; giving the history of the Marxists George Lukacs
To understand the facilitated process one need only turn to Genesis 3:1-6 and see how Satan, the master facilitator did it.
"We need to develop strategies, to identify, train, equip, and mentor ministers. . . promoting dynamic ministries. We've got to examine our credentialing process. It must become a facilitation process." "It's a matter of integrating process where we draw and encourage people to come into ministry to do what God has called them to do. Now what does that mean? We don't know at this point. These are a lot of questions not a lot of answers. That's why we are embarking on this process." (Emphasis added) The role of a facilitator is to find one's needs through a poll or survey so he can find what to seduce with, to deceive with words that appear to the innocent to mean one thing while they can be used for another (ambiguity or double speak) and then to manipulate by the utilizing of the fear of social rejection, where one fears being the odd ball who ends up questioning the process. Discernment does not give you the answers it only tells you there is a problem. The process destroys true discernment. The process requires human input, human reasoning , human compromise, to produce a desirable human outcome, a feeling―group harmony. The prophets and the watchmen become the barriers to the process of human relationships and reasoning since their input is not built upon how man feels or thinks but upon what God says.
"We must realign ourselves"
"to produce measurable results"
Barton then adds "that it is critical that we take a hard look at our credentialing process so that it truly becomes a facilitation process." "Credentialing cannot be homogenous if we are to reach a diverse culture." "We must be open to different models of church organizational structures to respond to a diverse culture." He then questions Rich Hammer for his use of "appropriate legal structures and issues for churches" which "create boxes" which work "in a white Anglo-Saxon middle America model."
Does anyone read liberation theology here? I sure do. Church beware! Barton is concerned that rules "restrict us from doing what God wants us to do." He says "we've go to be open to different types of structures. We must acknowledge that bureaucratic denominationalism . . . loyalty is dead and must be replaced with relationships built around solutions, . . . with innovative strategies that empower and resource them to reach their potential." "We need to be in the business of doing what the church needs." "We must realign ourselves . . . be strategically led by teams that are fully empowered and accountable to produce measurable results." What is the standard if it is not God's? Did Noah produce measurable results? What is measurable is material. Karl Marx and all who thought and continue to think like him (dialectical materialists) would not consider things real unless they were measurable. What is rational is real and what is real is rational thinking. What Eve did was measurable, observable and repeatable, it was materialism (human perception as the basis of reality.)
What is the agenda when such structure is not found being used by God (obey) but instead is used by the Devil as recorded in the Word of God (Question). Barton emphasizes "focus groups" "to bring up from the grass roots" "so that we can look through your eyes" (a Marxist concept explained by J.L.Moreno in his book Who Shall Survive "As I tried the sociometric system first on the universe and on the concept of God, its first manifesto was a revolutionary religion, a change of the idea of the universe and the idea of God. The god of Jesus was further extended, the son 'withered away' until nothing was left except the universal creativity of the Godhead and only one commandment: To each according to what he is (an all-inclusive acceptance of the individual 'as he is).'" .) Marxism, both traditional but mostly transformational, Marxism, has traveled around the world in small group meetings. The Kurt Lewin process of "Unfreezing, Moving, Refreezing" the key steps to brainwashing is the method used in focus groups today. The "diverse group" (differing opinions of "I think, I feel") "dialoguing to consensus" (called "group think," the essence of communism, socialism, humanism, etc.), "over social issues" (temporal needs as Jesus encountered in the temptations but overcame by "It is written" three times to the three steps of the dialectic process, thereby undoing what Eve and Maslow did, Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life.) "in a facilitated meeting," is a soviet or council process, which has the sole purpose of removing didactic language from policy thereby changing the participants focus from didactic thought to dialectic humanist socialist thought. It is effective in producing a paradigm shift in all participants except those who refuse to compromise their position and become a witness to their position, the Greek word for witness being Martureo from which we get martyr. These men are false witness's (Pseudomarturia) and present false witness (Katamartureo) against true witness's, barnacles, men called of God.
It is very troubling to see how the church leadership has fallen victim to the seducing methods used by Satan in their quest for reaching souls for Christ. Jesus warned us of this when He said that there would be those who will say "Lord, Lord . . .."
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in they name have cast our devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:22, 23
© Institution for Authority Research, Dean Gotcher 2006