Roll Over Menno

The fact page on the Goshen College website says the following:

Established in 1894 and owned by the Mennonite Church. Around 55 percent of the total student body report Mennonite or Mennonite-related backgrounds, but more than 30 different Christian denominations and several world religions are represented on our campus.

How far Goshen has come from their roots. Not only are different Christian denominations and world religions now represented at Goshen, so is the green Mother Earth religion.

Read about what went on in the Goshen church chapel May 9-10 at the Everything Must Change event with Brian McLaren, here:

How “Everything Must Change”
A Pastor Reports on Brian McLaren’s “Everything Must Change” Tour
Part 1
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-everything-must-change.html

Here is an excerpt from this excellent eye opening report:

The conclusion of the Friday evening “session” was an amazing demonstration of this philosophy. The audience was directed to many different “sacred spaces” set up to aid them in getting in touch with themselves and “the divine”. One station was a table covered with votive candles which could be lit and meditated upon. Another held a large bowl of water where one could get in touch with the “flow” of nature and spirit, and yet another featured a bowl of dirt where one could literally touch “Mother Earth” and contemplate all the evils done to her.

How very very sad to see that Goshen has gone to Gaia, rather than to God.

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:20-25

ROM Index: GREEN

For further thought…

Now that McLaren’s “secret” agenda is not so secret anymore, it would be interesting to know if the The Canadian Conference of the Brethren in Christ, Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada are regretting their unwise decision to allow Brian McLaren to teach 180 pastors back in 2005, as reported here.

Or if the MBBS regrets their lack of discernment in recommending Brian McLaren books in so many of their theology courses which were secretly paving the way to the green Gaia road.

Or if the Mennonite Weekly Review would still stand behind their weak-kneed miquetoast report on the compromising inclusive gospel of Brian McLaren, which can be read here.

Related:

Mennonites and Gaia (Roll Over Menno post)

Earth: The Old Story, The New Story
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/05/earth-old-story-new-story.html
(How Emergent church leaders are re-packaging and marketing the Creation Spirituality myth to the evangelical church.)

UPDATE: Read Part 2 of the How Everything Must Change report here:

How “Everything Must Change”
Part 2: DO WE HAVE BLESSED HOPE?
OR ARE WE BLUNDERING DOPES?
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-everything-must-change_04.html

A Mennonite poet who is featured quite regularly in Mennonite circles has two poems on the last page of the March issue of the Mennonite Brethren Herald. One of them is called for Lent, and goes like this:

For Lent
Jean Janzen

Press your palm against the Tree.
Feel its pull toward the center of the earth,
how roots drag through flesh like nails
as earth claims the crown.

Now let the Tree hold you in your
full weight of wrong and right,
your selfishness absorbed by flaming roots.
You have never been so light.

The picture below this poem is of a sliver barked tree trunk with entangled exposed roots (click here).

Could it be that this poem is a subtle indicator of how the current New Age phenomena of meditation and centering prayer has been infiltrating Mennonite denominations in the form of contemplative spiritual formation?

Compare this poem to the following:

Spiritual Chakra Meditations

How To Do A Spectroscopic Healing Meditation

Align all of your chakras by sitting with your back straight. Slow down your vibration by taking a few deep breaths, then bring white light down through your crown chakra, let it flow like a mountain waterfall into your heart chakra, then anchor yourself into the Earth.

This meditation carries the white light into your heart chakra at this point, at this point white light enters your heart chakra a major signal, is released which will circulate around the body. This creates a stabilising energy from the heart centre, if there are any problems in any of the lower chakra centres, the energy from the heart centre the full vibrational sequence of your body can be raised.

Drawing the black restorative energy up from the feminine essence of the mother Earth and into your roots, the roots of a large tree spreading deep underground, anchoring the tree into the earth, use your creative visualisation to imagine the roots, going down from your body plunging into the depths of the planet and spreading out, just like the roots of that tree. Envision the prominent bulky roots extending downwards below the surface, broadening from the base of your spine.

(http://healing.about.com/od/meditationadvice/a/chakra_meditate_4.htm)

OR the method from Medicine Garden called Finding your safe place, which describes visualizing silver tree roots winding gently around your ankles down through your foot and several hundred meters into Mother Earth that takes you toward a light.

OR the meditation from Healing of the World Soul that talks about focusing on a light flowing through your body like sap in a tree and down through the trunk of your body and rooting you in the earth. The light is the energy pouring down into your roots, giving you a sense of grounding and safety, flowing out through your hands…”as your arms are out-stretched through the top of your head…opening its light to combine with the light of all Creation.”

Are the parallels not obvious? The ‘crown’ is the first chakra (the head), the ‘roots’ are the grounding of centering prayer or meditation. The Seven Chakras are linked to the energy of the serpent power of Kundalini, the root chakra being the center of your existence, the seventh, or crown chakra, being your point of enlightenment.

Of course, some will say that Roll Over Menno is jumping to conclusions over such a benign poem that is simply about the cross and the crown of thorns. Perhaps they need to take a look at what else was written by the same author of this Lent poem (since when is Lent a Mennonite tradition?). Here is a song (based on the writings of Juliana of Norwich, an English Roman Catholic mystic who wrote about Jesus in terms of a mother) written by Jean Janzen, and is called Mothering God:

1.Mothering God, you gave me birth in the bright morning of this world.
Creator, source of every breath, you are my rain, my wind, my sun.
2. Mothering Christ, you took my form, offering me your food of light,
grain of life, and grape of love, your very body for my peace.
3. Mothering Spirit, nurturing one, in arms of patience hold me close,
so that in faith I root and grow until I flow’r, until I know.

It can be purchased (here) from Wild Goose Publications (of the Iona Abbey Community). One article about this song, called Her Hymns - The Faith We Sing, states:

“Jean Janzen, author of the song “Mothering God” and a poetry professor at Fresno Pacific University, says the hymn, based on the writings of Julian of Norwich, a 14th-century Christian mystic, is an attempt to balance the warrior image of God with a more nurturing one.”

The Bible always refers to all persons of the Godhead as ‘He’. What does this tell us about the beliefs of this author?

Do the editors of the Mennonite Brethren Herald show a lack of discernment by choosing this author’s poem for their magazine? Perhaps it is merely a case of being blissfully ignorant and they have no idea about the roots of centering prayer. If so, they may need to begin educating themselves with what is happening all around (and within) them in the movement towards contemplative spiritual formation. Or perhaps this poem actually is all about Jesus. I suppose we will never know. One can only hope the Mennonite Brethren are not following in the steps of the Mennonite Central Committee, who until very recently had Litanies of praise to Mother Earth on their website in the Creation Worship Resource section.

ROM Index: somewhere in the center of the earth

An article has come to the attention of Roll Over Menno which is sad but not surprising. The following is an excerpt from Multi-faith Mennonites by Ted Byfield, posted June 02, 2007.

“The report shows the MCC deeply involved in “earth-first principles, eastern mysticism, and the assertion that all religions are equally valid.” To people with such an attitude, it observes, “Christianity becomes the main enemy.”

It quotes in their entirety two litanies used by the MCC to express pseudo-feminist nature worship, both of which were withdrawn from the MCC catalogue not long after the report was made available.”

The entire article may be found here:

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55981

ROM: High

Last month a one day conference called Going Barefoot was held at Canadian Mennonite University. It was sponsored by the Canadian MB Conference. (See here.) If you read the fine print, this conference was also sponsored by:
Council on Church and Media; Mennonite Church Canada; Mennonite Central Committee Canada; Mennonite Church Manitoba; Canadian Mennonite University; The Salvation Army, Manitoba and Northwest Ontario Division, the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches; and InterChurch Communication, comprised of communicators from the Anglican, United, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches.

The theme was about the new possibilities of communication using new marketing strategies, blogs, web, email and other new media.

This is what one of the workshops was about:

Controlling the Uncontrollable: What to do about blogs, Facebook and websites that talk about your organization? (And maybe not always positively.) Led by Keith Knight of the Presbyterian Church of Canada.

To begin with, it is very interesting to note that this Mennonite sponsored workshop was led by a representative of the Presbyterian church, since the Presbyterian Church USA are the ones who are reclaiming the doctrine of the Trinity, and recently decided to call God MOTHER (see HERE). There is no doubt that there is a wealth of information on the internet exposing the truth about some Christian organizations. However, one would think that if a ‘Christian organization’ teaches the Word of God, represents His truth, and holds to His standards, this would not be an issue. Sometimes, however, things can turn around and get nasty. Take for example Daniel…

3 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. 4 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” Daniel 6

A modern day example of this might be Roger Oakland of Understand the Times, who speaks the truth from the Word of God. Not only were his personal belongings recently removed from his church office while he was away, more recently his program was removed from a Christian radio station after being on the air for 15 years. This is because certain people within ‘Christian organizations’ don’t like it when the truth is exposed.

Getting back to the Going Barefoot conference workshop, sometimes comments about an organization may be perceived as negative when in fact this ‘negativity’ is simply the truth exposing error. Take for example the plan organized by Haman who was exposed by what he surely perceived to be negative comments. As we know, Haman’s plan was revealed by someone who was placed in the right place and “for such a time as this” by God.

Some of the things going on within some Mennonite organizations are being exposed by blogs like Roll Over Menno. These organizations many not like it and see it as a negative problem, but as long as these Mennonites continue to promote contemplative spirituality, labyrinths, Spiritual Direction International, and the green gospel, while chumming with our modern day Haman on the bridge to Rome, there will continue to be blogs and websites like this that tell the truth. Maybe it’s time for these organizations to truly go barefoot and remove the steel toed boots that are covering up the bare facts.

ROM Index: barely changing

The Interfaith Justice and Peace Center of Northwest Ohio (http://ijpcnwohio.org/Mission.html) is an interfaith organization
in Northwest Ohio that fosters the awareness and sacredness of all human beings. They consist of workers of different faiths…Baha’i, Episcopalian, Hindu, Jewish, Lutheran, Methodist, Muslim, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Toledo Friends, Unitarian, United Church of Christ…and yes, Mennonites.

Another interesting thing about the IJPC is that they have adopted the Earth Charter and the emerging global society to help build a sustainable world. Together they are all planning various interfaith events such as lectures, prayer vigils, fairs, etc.

Prayer vigils? To which God?

Speaking of interfaith organizations and Mennonites, there are three representatives of the Mennonite Central Committee (US) who have joined with something called the World Interfaith Congress, and are on the members list here:

http://interfaithcongress.org/memberlist.cfm

(Members must voluntarily fill out a form in order to join the World Interfaith Congress.)

By the way, the Mission Statement for WIC is ‘unfolding through dialogue and continuing conversation’. They are generally working towards common ground between faiths. The World Interfaith Congress (WIC) has emerged after years of involvement with the Interfaith movement and is associated with the Interspirit network, which consists of those interested in working with together to ‘build a better world’.

Note the symbols at the top of the WIC page. If you click on the freemasonry symbol (6th from the right) you will get something called the Arcane School established by Alice Bailey. This is from Lucis Trust. Note the name (yes, it comes from Lucifer). There you will see the great Invocation, the world prayer of the New Age Luciferians who are waiting for their “Christ” to return. And who is this Christ? He is called the Christ by Christians, the World Teacher, and by others, the Lord Maitreya, the Imam Mahdi, and the Messiah.

Now click on the pretty star, second from the right on the same WIC page. What do you see?

This is what representatives of the US Mennonite Central Committee have joined with.

1 Corinthians 10: 21 says this:

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

ROM Index: still rising