(first published November 3, 2009) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article)

I am writing about the Integrated Church Movement and Vision Forum in one report, because they are so closely tied together. While the Integrated Church Movement is larger than Vision Forum, Vision Forum is probably the most influential part of it.

The Integrated Church Movement (ICM), also called the Family Integrated Church, is defined as follows:

“The family-integrated model jettisons all age-graded ministries. Those who adhere to this model view each family unit (single or married, with or without children) as one ‘block’ that comprises the local church. That is, they view the church as a family of families. They view the church’s purpose as equipping the parents, primarily the fathers, to evangelize and disciple their children” (Terry Delany, “Three Perspectives on Family Ministry,” March 18, 2009).

It is not an organization but a philosophy, and there are many varieties of Family Integrated churches.

THE GOOD

There are many biblically-sound things that are emphasized by the Integrated Church movement.

It emphasizes building godly families and it resists the cultural way of parents abdicating their responsibilities to government schools and church programs.

It urges fathers to take their rightful place as committed and involved leaders and instructors.

It emphasizes separation from the world’s philosophies and ways.

It exposes the danger of the typical segregated church ministry that follows the world’s pattern by putting young people together too much to be influenced by their peers and does not emphasize enough parental responsibility in training, perhaps even detracting from that responsibility.

The Integrated Church material has many helpful statements on these particular issues.

THE DANGERS

But there are also some serious dangers represented by the Integrated Church movement.

Volume 12, Issue 51

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

GREG LAURIE, CALVARY CHAPEL, JESUS ROCK, AND ROME (Friday Church News Notes, December 16, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Greg Laurie, senior pastor Harvest Christian Fellowship, a megachurch associated with Calvary Chapel, is also the founder of the Harvest evangelistic crusades, in which capacity he is holding hands with Rome. This spring Laurie invited Catholic Bishop David Ricken to share the platform with him at the Lifest crusade in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Ricken is a great devotee of Rome’s false Mary and her demonic apparitions. A year ago he approved an 150-year-old apparition of Mary known as “Our Lady of Good Help” in Champion, Wisconsin, having spent two years studying the “authenticity of the Marian visitation.” The shrine in Champion depicts Mary as Queen of Heaven holding a perpetual baby Jesus and being worshipped by angels. By inviting Ricken to participate in his evangelism crusade, it is frightfully apparent that Greg Laurie cannot discern between the true gospel and a false one, between a true church and a false, between a demon masquerading as an angel of light and the Spirit of God. We believe he has had one dose too many of Christian rock, which is the most powerful element of the mysticism that is creating the one-world church. Laurie is believed by many to be a strong contender for leadership of the Calvary Chapel denomination when Chuck Smith, Sr., retires or dies. In 2009, Smith and Laurie joined hands with Rick Warren at the 20th Annual SoCal Harvest Crusade in Los Angeles. When you get into Warren’s sphere, you are within reach of every sort of heresy and fable. These are treacherous spiritual waters, indeed. Chuck Smith claims to believe in the doctrine of end-time apostasy and the pre-tribulational Rapture, but if Rick Warren and his associates don’t represent apostasy, we wonder where in the world we would find it? Warren turns the church into a rock & roll entertainment center complete with pelvic thrusts, hula dancing, and “purple haze”; says God won’t ask about your doctrinal views; promotes Catholic contemplative mysticism and universalist heretics such as the Catholic-Buddhist monk Thomas Merton; yokes together in ministry with New Agers (e.g., Mehmet Oz, Daniel Amen, Mark Hyman, and Leonard Sweet); says that believers should work with unbelievers and pagan religionists to build the kingdom of God and create world peace; and presents Roman Catholic interfaith one-worlder

The following is excerpted from Biblical Separatism and Its Collapse among Fundamental Baptists, which is available as a free eBook from Way of Life Literature, www.wayoflife.org --

Southwide Baptist Fellowship, founded by Lee Roberson of Highland Park Baptist Church and formerly one of the largest independent Baptist networks, was rocking out by the mid-2000s and had begun to capitulate to the New Evangelical philosophy.

Many of the speakers who preached at Southwide in October 2003 were from churches with contemporary rock worship services. Bo Moore, the moderator of Southwide that year, is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church of Kentwood, Michigan, which advertised itself at that time as “a progressive independent Baptist church” with a “High Impact” Sunday evening service consisting of “praise and worship choruses led by our worship leader, praise team and band.” Another Southwide speaker that year, Johnny Hunt, is pastor of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia, a rocking Southern Baptist congregation that decidedly rejects “separatism.” A man wrote to me in 2003 and testified, “I visited there [Hunt’s church] and got up and left because of the wild, party-like atmosphere in their ‘worship’ service.”

By 2007, the number of Southern Baptist speakers at Southwide equaled the number of Independent Baptists, and two contemporary musicians provided music, including one who had appeared on the Crystal Cathedral television program with Robert Schuller (Don Boys, “Rise and Fall of Southwide,” CSTNews.com, May 16, 2007).

The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this does not imply an endorsement. For instructions on how to unsubscribe to this list or to change mailing addresses, please consult the information paragraph at the end.

MACARTHUR PROMOTES CULTURAL LIBERALISM (Friday Church News Notes, December 9, 2011, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The influential John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in southern California is facing two ways in regard to the heresy of “cultural liberalism.” On one hand he reproves the emerging “new Calvinists” for their worldliness, while engaging in that very thing on the other. In an interview with Alex Crain of Christianity.com, which was posted on YouTube, Aug. 18, 2011, MacArthur says, “The fear is that the power of the world’s attraction is going to suck these guys and every generation after them, more and more into the culture, and we’re going to see a reversal of the Reformed revival. ... My fear is that the further this thing goes in trying to accommodate the culture, the less it’s going to be able to hang on to that core doctrine” (“MacArthur Predicts Reversal of the Reformed Revival - Part 1,” http://youtu.be/xYhmo5gabQU). MacArthur, who rightly warns that the heresy of cultural liberalism puts the next generation at risk, is referring to the popular philosophy which was enunciated by Mark Driscoll as the combination of “theological conservatism with cultural liberalism,” which is not new but has always been a major element of New Evangelicalism. It entails such things as Christian rock, drinking, champagne dance parties, beer brewing lessons, gambling nights, hula “worship,” analyzing R-rated movies for “edification,” and performing secular rock in the context of “worship.” What MacArthur says about the danger of cultural liberalism is true, but his condemnation of it is grossly ineffective and hypocritical because he is guilty of it. Camp Regeneration, a youth camp hosted by MacArthur for “churches throughout the nation each July,” is rife with cultural liberalism. High school boys and girls dress immodestly, engage in questionable activities (such as girls getting covered with wet mud in the presence of boys), and rock out to rap music performed by ear-ringed, tattooed hip-hop artists in an atmosphere of darkened auditoriums, flashing lights, and smoke. The Master’s College, which is headed by MacArthur, hosted a hip-hop concert in December featuring Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tadashii, Sho Baraka, DJ Official, and THI’SL. The Master’s College students produce pop/rap/country rock videos with full blown dance routines and covers of secular rock songs. They host a Fall Thing event that is extremely worldly. This year the theme was “Unrestricted Reality,” and the students donned costumes imitating characters from Star Wars, sci-fi fantasy, super heroes, and the pop culture in general. This plays right into the hands of the culture’s fascination with fantasy and the devil’s use of it to corrupt men’s minds. The young people wouldn’t want to dress up this way unless their minds and hearts were already in love with Hollywood. The Master’s College’s annual Week of Welcome features beach activities and pool parties complete with girls in tight and very skimpy bathing suits. (All of this is evident from the photos placed at the Flickr pages owned by the camp and school and from YouTube clips. See http://www.pccmonroe.org/2011/10.htm.) Can someone tell me how MacArthur is leading the way against the adaptation of the sensual pop culture and why he is a safe “conservative” to follow? He is correct in observing that cultural liberalism will ruin the youth and eventually destroy sound doctrine, and his own flock will be the proof of it, as will the flocks of every foolish pastor that follows in his footsteps. Many fundamental Baptists are on the same destructive path, as we have documented in the free eBook “Biblical Separatism and Its Collapse Among Fundamental Baptists.” See http://wayoflife.org/free_ebooks.html.

The following written report is available in audio visual format as one of the titles in the video series MUSIC FOR GOOD OR EVIL. This was published in July 2011 as a replacement for previous presentations we have produced on this subject. The series is packed with graphics, video and audio clips. It has seven segments. I. Biblical Principles of Good Christian Music. We cover the following eight principles: Good Christian Music is for Christians and for the Lord. It is holy. It emphasizes melody. It is Christ-centered. It flows from a submissive attitude. It is separate from the world. It creates vigilance and sobriety. It is doctrinally pure and theologically precise. II. Why We Reject Contemporary Christian Music. In this section we give eight reasons for rejecting CCM: It is worldly, addictive, ecumenical, charismatic, shallow and man-centered, opposed to preaching, experience-oriented, and weakens the strong biblicist stance of a church. III. The Sound of Contemporary Christian Music. The goal of this section is to give the believer some simple tools that he can use to discern the difference between sensual and sacred music. We deal with the following four musical styles that are not fitting for good Christian music: 1. Syncopated dance styles, including the back beat, the off beat, the break beat, and the anticipated beat. 2. Sensual vocal styles (the whispery/breathy style and scooping/sliding). 3. Relativistic styles (deceptive chord cadence). 4. Overly soft styles that do not fit the message. IV. Transformational Power of CCM. This presentation answers the question why CCM is able to transform a “traditional” Bible-believing church to a New Evangelical one. It’s transformational power resides in its enticing philosophy of “liberty” and in its sensual, addictive music. V. Southern Gospel. Here we deal with the history of Southern Gospel, going back to the turn of the 20th century, to show how that Southern Gospel became an entertainment business. We also deal with the current status of Southern Gospel, the powerful influence of Bill Gaither, and the close association between Southern Gospel today and Contemporary Christian Music. VI. Marks of Good Song Leading. In this presentation we cover eight principles of good song leading: Leadership, preparation, edification, spirituality, truth and spiritual discernment, enthusiasm and a positive attitude, wisdom, and liberty and diversity. VII. Questions Answered on Contemporary Christian Music. Here we deal with 15 of the most common questions on this subject: 1. Do you mean that Christians should only use old music? 2. Is rhythm wrong? 3. Isn’t this issue just a matter of different taste? 4. Isn’t the sincerity of the musicians the important thing? 5. Isn’t some CCM acceptable? 6. Why does traditional church music seem dull? 7. Didn’t Luther use tavern music? 8. Didn’t the Wesleys use tavern music? 9. What is the difference between using CCW and using old interdenominational hymns? 10. Doesn’t the Bible encourage us to use cymbals and loud sounding instruments? 11. Why are you opposed to drums? 12. What is wrong with “soft rock”? 13. Didn’t God create all music? 14. Since God looks on the heart, why are you concerned about appearance? 15. Since kids today aren’t listening to traditional Christian music, shouldn’t we use rock to reach them? 4 DVDs or video downloads available from the Way of Life web site -- www.wayoflife.org

(first published March 3, 2009)
This is an eyewitness report on the February 2009 National Pastor’s Conference in San Diego, California, and a warning about the emerging church and its growing influence.

The conference was sponsored by Zondervan and InterVarsity Press, two of the largest and most influential Christian publishers. Their authors represent the mainstream of evangelicalism today as well as its cutting edge, from Bill Hybels and Rick Warren to Rob Bell and Brian McLaren.

Christianity Today magazine was prominently represented at the conference. Andy Crouch, a senior editor, was one of the main speakers and interviewers. He also led a praise and worship session. Other speakers included Bill Hybels, Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Leighton Ford, Gordon Fee, Shane Claiborne, J.P. Moreland, John Ortberg, David Kinnaman, Scot McKnight, Alex McManus, and Christopher Wright.

There were roughly 1,500 pastors and Christian workers in attendance.

The emerging church is the name that has been coined for a new approach to missions and church life among some “evangelicals” for these present times.

In reality, the emerging church is simply the latest heresy within the broad tent of evangelicalism. When the “new evangelicalism” swept onto the scene in the late 1940s with its bold repudiation of “separatism” and its emphasis on dialogue with heretics, the door was left open for every sort of heresy to infiltrate the “evangelical” fold, and that is precisely what has happened. The Bible does not warn in vain, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

Emerging church teaching tends to be complicated, convoluted, contradictory, and confusing.

Coming to grips with it is like trying to pin a glass marble to a table with an ice pick. It is movable and if forced to stand still and be consistent, it shatters!

In addition, it is evolving, and there is a “conservative” side to the emerging church issue that further complicates things.

Regardless, we must deal with the emerging church because its influence is growing.

“There are 52,000 people who have signed a little card that says, ‘Tonight, for the first time, I understand who Jesus is and how He does things, and I want Him to be my Lord’” (LeFevre, cited by John Styll, “Mylon LeFevre: The Solid Rocker,” CCM Magazine, March 1986).

This is an amazing statistic by any standard, especially in light of the fact that LeFevre admitted that he did not get right with God until 1980 and the aforementioned statement was made in 1986.

Many other CCM performers claim that people are being saved through their ministries. The 12th Rock of Ages Festival in Napa County, California, in October 2010, reported 250 saved.

The book Soul 2 Soul contains salvation testimonies from CCM groups such as 4 HIM and dc Talk. They say that people have even been rescued from committing suicide through their music.

I am thankful for every soul that is saved regardless of whether or not we agree in all matters with those involved in the conversion. I do believe that some CCM groups are genuinely concerned for the salvation of young people through their music and concerts, and I do believe that some young people are being saved in the context of Contemporary Christian Music.