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Deception in Our National Magazine Part IV
October 31, 2007

Greetings in the Name of Our LORD Jesus Christ,

II Timothy 4:3-4 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts, shall they heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears, And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

I take issue with an article printed in the September 9, 2007 issue of the Pentecostal Evangel, entitled “Conversation with Tri Robinson, Creation Stewardship.” Before this ball gets rolling, let me state that my issue with this article has nothing to do with being good stewards of God’s creation. The Bible clearly commands us to be good stewards of all that the Master has placed into our hands. And that includes His Creation. I was taught to be a good steward by my parents and have been careful to be so since I was a lad.

No, my issue is twofold: first, that TPE editors are quoting a pastor from a Vineyard church; and second, that nowhere in this issue does the author address the problem in our A/G higher education institutions, let alone public schools and universities, that the professors we hire are teaching our A/G college-aged kids that the Genesis One account of Creation is not an accurate account.

Regarding the first issue, my concern is deception by association. Why are TPE staff resorting to a conversation with a pastor from a very questionable denomination? Why aren’t they interviewing someone from the Assemblies of God? Of course, the immediate answer is simple: Pastor Tri has written a book. And nowadays, especially if a religious book has garnered any national attention at all, Christians go chasing after it. But, the article clearly states that Tri founded the Vineyard Boise Church. I’ve read the articles of faith of the Vineyard Church. They contain a lot of “kingdom” language. I believe this to be “kingdom now.” The Assemblies of God has historically taken the Biblical stand that Jesus’ Kingdom was not of this world (Jesus said exactly that) and that the only time Jesus would ever have a kingdom on this Earth is after He returned to rule and reign during the Millenium. In other words, the A/G was against “kingdom now” theology as unscriptural.

I grant that Vineyard national web site articles of faith never actually combine the words “kingdom” and “now.” However, all their emphasis allows an easily inferred connection. Even this article supports the connection. Vineyard folks are all hyped about the creation but are getting rather loosey-goosey about believing in the Word of the Creator (the loosey-goosey part is born out in the character of the denomination--not particularly in this article—see below). But, even worse, why are we associating ourselves with a denomination that is populated by churches such as the Vineyard Ann Arbor Church? Check out their web site. Google in “vineyard churches” and the Ann Arbor version is likely to pop up near the top. The Vineyard Ann Arbor church has a button for “Emerging Faith!” They also have a button for “Jesus Brand Spirituality.” These folks are being led by a way-out New Age pastor. They are smack-dab in the middle of the broad road that leads to destruction! And we’re quoting another pastor from this denomination! And Pastor Ken Wilson of the Ann Arbor Vineyard Church has a sermon (under sermon archives) where he basically dismisses the Genesis One account of Creation as a poetic story. And he proudly cites the New International Version (NIV) authors as agreeing that this is so. And that the NIV authors emphasize this fact by putting Genesis One in italics. They explain this is their visual cue that the reader doesn’t have to take this part of the Bible seriously. AUTHOR’S NOTE: in case some of my readers were wondering why I always quote the King James’ Version and never the NIV, this is a prime example. Vineyard Pastor Wilson goes on to say that theistic evolution is what “floats his boat.” Theistic evolution is an idea put forth by theologians who cannot believe that God didn’t create the world as Charles Darwin said but rather as He described it in Genesis One. So, these theologians compromise: they straddle the Bible/Darwin fence by stating that God certainly created everything; but, then He abandoned His creation to eons of progress. You know, if you straddle the fence too much, you eventually come down with a bad case of anal picketitus. Are the editors of TPE endorsing the New Age spawned emerging faith movement? Are they endorsing theistic evolution? Are they endorsing the idea that God’s Word is not infallible and inspired by the Holy Spirit? Then WHY are they quoting a pastor from this denomination?

My second concern is deception by omission. We have this article that emphasizes how important it is to be a good steward of God’s Creation. And I couldn’t agree more. However, in our own A/G colleges and universities, science professors are teaching either straight evolution or theistic evolution. I know first-hand that this is being taught at Evangel and by an adjunct professor at Central Bible College. Why aren’t our TPE editors warning the fellowship about this deception? Why aren’t they warning parents of A/G college kids to monitor what their students are learning in A/G colleges? Why aren’t they telling them that the hiring filter at our schools doesn’t ensure that all professors believe the Bible to be God’s inspired, infallible Word? And why don’t they walk readers through the logical conclusion that if we can say that God didn’t know what He was talking about in Genesis One, then He probably didn’t know what He was talking about in the rest of the Bible either. Any “authority” who can tell us where the inspired-not inspired line is puts himself in the place of God! And finally, are our TPE authors and editors merely following the lead of our headquarters leadership? Why isn’t our national higher education office visiting our colleges and sitting in on the science classrooms no-notice to ensure the biblical account is being taught? What about checking on the curriculum of science professors for suspicious-looking entries? Any professor not adhering to our articles of faith and the Bible should be fired! Yesterday!

Are you pastors out there going to stand for your national magazine being a purveyor of pop-culture instead of bedrock Truth? Do you want your national magazine to be a watcher of culture (like People magazine or the National Inquirer) or a Watchman for God? Our national leadership needs to repent of not being the watchman as God commands us to be (see Ezekiel). Of course, Tom Trask insisted on not being “controversial” in our national publications. Did he mean to imply that Jesus was never controversial? Is that why the Jewish church leaders wanted to kill Him so badly? Because He changed His methods to match their culture? The watered down gospel has delivered many a soul straight to Hell. And we, the fellowship (or should I say, “Followship”) need to repent of either lacking in discernment or looking the other way.

With Love for the God Who Said He is TRUTH,

Brother Mike

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