Roll Over Menno

If you are a member of the Mennonite Brethren denomination and have no idea what is being taught to your new pastors in training, I suggest you read the new post over at December 1859. Menno is definitely rolling in his grave…

HOW MUCH OF OUR HERITAGE ARE YOU WILLING TO LOSE? The blood of all our martyrs was not spilled so that we would allow a small group of people to train us to reject The Lord for whom we have stood.

Mark Baker is assistant professor of mission and theology at Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary in Fresno, California. He is also the coauthor of a book called Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts.

Mark Baker recently spoke at the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches’ annual new pastors’ credentialing and orientation event April 30 – May 2, at MBBS ACTS Seminaries in Langley, B.C., Canada.

One of Mark Baker’s many essays has been published in a controversial but not highly popular book called Stricken by God? which was endorsed by Brian McLaren, as well as a few prominent Mennonites. Mark Baker’s essay appeared in Chapter 13 of this book. In the essay (which has been reviewed and found wanting, as you can read here), Mark Baker refers to his book Recovering the Scandal of the Cross which has also been reviewed and found to be severely lacking in truth. Click on the following links to read these biblical reviews:
http://www.grebeweb.com/linden/recovering_scandal_1.html
http://www.grebeweb.com/linden/recovering_scandal_2.html
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/04/scandal-cross.htm

A blog called Words of Grace (gracewords.blogspot.com) also mentions Mark Baker’s book:

Today the attacks on the cross are widely embraced. So statements like the following (from the worst book — Proclaiming the Scandal of the Cross — I’ve read so far) are considered acceptable:

“It will not do, therefore, to characterize the atonement as God’s punishment falling on Christ…or as Christ’s appeasement or persuasion of God.”

“…ethically, this model [penal substitution] has little to offer.…In the end, a penal satisfaction presentation of the atonement can too easily lead to a situation in which we might conclude that Jesus came to save us from God.”

“…[the] penal satisfaction theory…has significant problems and does not cohere well with biblical teaching on salvation.”

The misunderstanding of the meaning of penal substitution — that through His death, Christ bore our sin, pain and death, enduring and satisfying the wrath of God in our place — is evidenced throughout the various contributors to Proclaiming the Scandal.

-Book Review: Pierced for Our transgressions
http://gracewords.blogspot.com/2008/02/book-review-pierced-for-our.html

(In contrast to Mark Baker’s worst book ever read, the blog author of Words of Grace recommends instead a biblical book on the atonement called Pierced for our Transgressions which can be found here: http://www.piercedforourtransgressions.com/)

Here is another item of concern. Mark Baker has also participated on an emergent website called Emergent Village with emerging church leader Tony Jones which can be found here:

The Friday We Call “Good” — Atonement Contest Results

http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/the-friday-we-call-good-atonement-contest-results
Posted Mar 21, 08:45 PM
By Mark Baker and Tony Jones

This was a “Lent contest” in which…

“we asked people send in alternate metaphors for the atonement, different from the ones we often grew up with”

Mark Baker was one of the judges of the contest which was called Atonement Metaphors.

You can listen to Mark Baker talk to Tony Jones about the atonement here:

Thinking about the Atonement
http://www.emergentvillage.com/podcast/thinking-about-atonement

This is quite a shocking to see an MB Seminary professor in the same equation with Tony Jones and the emerging church, redefining the meaning of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Mark Baker + Tony Jones x emergent village = bad news

Read about what Tony Jones believes and teaches here:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/tonyjones.htm

Read about the emerging church here:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/emergingchurch.htm

As shocking as all this might sound if you are a first time reader here, this is nothing new. Here is an older Roll Over Menno article about Mark Baker:

Mennonite Seminary Professor Debunks the Gospel

So here we have a SEMINARY PROFESSOR who is not only RE-EXAMINING the foundation of the gospel, but teaching ANOTHER GOSPEL to future pastors. As you can see, the fruit falling from the MBBS tree is looking very bad.

How long will poor Menno need to keep rolling over in his grave? Where are the Mennonites men with spines?

ROM Index: High

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Peter 2:1

Attention Mennonite pastors, Mennonite church members, Mennonite parents who send their students to MBBS, and all those who love the Lord Jesus Christ.

What would you say if you read the following:

“sometimes Jesus’ remarkable life–as prophet, miracle worker, healer, teacher, etc.–is thought to be result of some pre-incarnate status in the heavens. Yet the NT writers do not argue in this way. Instead, they are quite clear that:
The earthly Jesus does not come “trailing clouds of glory” from any preincarnate status;
nor is there a single one of his dignities which he is said to hold in virtue of a heavenly
origin. Through testing he became superior to the angels and inherited the loftier name
(Heb 1:4). And if we find this disturbing, the fault may lie in ourselves, not in our sources. (Caird 1994:295)

Another example: sometimes Jesus’ remarkable life is thought to be the result of being born to a virgin. Yet, only the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke mention the virginal conception and no NT writer bases their conviction of Jesus’ divinity on the circumstances of his birth. In fact, Paul is clear that Jesus entered the world in the normal way (Gal 4:4; Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 2:7) and that the new creation begins at Jesus’ resurrection (1 Cor 15:45-49; 2 Cor14 5:17). What then are the infancy narratives about?

[…]

While the NT writers did not use ontological categories of “essence” or “substance” to talk about Jesus, they did make statements about Jesus’ identity. Based on their experience both of Jesus’ life and resurrection, they were convinced that they saw “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6).

Furthermore, they were persuaded “that the man Jesus already possessed, during his earthly career, a life over which death had no power, an indestructible, eternal life, because he lived in such a close union with God that, without loss of identity, his human personality was taken up into the divine” (Caird 1994:298)”

Would you say this is the work of a Bible seminary scholar or teacher? Does this sound like it was written by someone who believes in the deity of Jesus Christ?

According to eighteen anonymous and extremely concerned men who have just started a brand new blog, this quote is JUST A LITTLE SOMETHING FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF A SOON TO BE PUBLISHED MB BOOK written by someone who teaches at MBBS!

If this is a concern to you, you can find an excerpt of Chapter 8 of this soon to be published book at december1859.wordpress.com, here:

THE REASON WHY I CAN NO LONGER SEND MY YOUNG PEOPLE AND MY MONEY TO MBBS
The complete chapter 8.
http://december1859.wordpress.com/the-reason-why-i-can-no-longer-send-my-young-people-and-my-money-to-mbbs/

This is chapter 8 from a soon to be published book. The author has been teaching this for the last several years. He says that the book is the fruit of what he has been teaching our pastors in training. Basically it is his teaching notes written in the format of a book. I guess he has enough pastors taught to believe this falsehood that he feels confident in publishing it at this point. Who will stand up to his defense? A decade worth of graduates will.

Also note that in the Chapter 8 excerpt, the author quotes (twice) from Green & Baker, who together have written some very disturbing things regarding the sacrifical atonement of Jesus Christ.

See here for Mark Baker’s work on the atonement and the cross:

http://www.mbseminary.edu/baker/atonement
[See: Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament and Contemporary Contexts by Joel B. Green and Mark D. Baker]

*For a biblical review on the work of Green and Baker, see here:

Recovering the Scandal of Liberalism:
Disdaining the Cross (Review)
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/04/scandal-cross.htm

And here:

A review of Recovering the Scandal of the Cross
Atonement in New Testament & Contemporary Contexts
Reviewed by David H. Linden
Part 1:
http://www.grebeweb.com/linden/recovering_scandal_1.html
Part 2:
http://www.grebeweb.com/linden/recovering_scandal_2.html

This is only one chapter excerpt, but it should make one wonder what else will be taught in such a book, and what else has already been taught to students by this seminary teacher. This departure from the foundation of the pure gospel should definitely be a grave concern for those who know their Bibles, love the Lord Jesus, and desire that students in a Christian seminary be trained up in the truth.

Those who want more information are encouraged to go to the blog and leave a comment and wait for one of the mysterious Eighteen Men to contact you.

ROM Index: RED ALERT!!!

If you go to the Mennonite Brethren Conference (Canada) website (here) and click on ‘Ministry Quest’ or ‘Canadian Youth Workers Conference’ you will find yourself on the website of the Canadian Youth Workers Conference which is going to be held in Toronto Dec. 4-7, 2008. This conference is put on by Youth Specialties and Canadafire.

While it’s important to equip those in the body of Christ who work with youth, is this a good event for youth workers to be attending? It appears that this conference may be another means by which Youth Specialties is teaching contemplative spirituality to youth.

For example, if you browse the Canada Fire on-line store you will a book called Contemplative Youth Ministry (by Youth Specialties). This is not surprising as Youth Specialities is an extremely contemplative youth ministry. (See here.)

Another concern is who the Youth Workers Conference is associating itself with. Can you see what is tucked away in their interdenominational (ecumenical) association list?

• The Presbyterian Church in Canada
• Apostolic Youth Ministries International
• CBM Youth
• Sonlife
• Canadian Youth Network
• Christian and Missionary Alliance
• Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
• Nazarene Youth Ministry International
• YFC Canada
• Evangelical Missionary Church
• Brethren in Christ
• MB Conference
• Salvation Army of Canada
• North American Baptist
• Fellowship of Evangelical Churches of BC/Yukon
• Christian Reformed Church of N. America
• United Church of BC
• Canadian Youth Worker
• Southern Baptist Convention of Canada
• Canadian Catholic Youth Ministry Network (http://www.ccymn.ca/en/index.php)
• Muskoka Woods Sports Resort
• The Wesleyan Church
• Independent Christian Churches
• Mennonite Church of Canada

Among the speakers listed at the Youth Workers Conference are Bruxy Cavey, Shane Clairborne, Tony Campolo and Mark Oestreicher. To find out about what kinds of things these speakers believe and may be teaching at the conference, click on the following links:

Read a review of Bruxy Cavey’s book The End of Religion here:
http://www.svchapel.org/resources/BookReviews/book_reviews.asp?ID=374

Shane Claiborne/New Monasticism Archive here:
http://www.apprising.org/archives/shane_claibornenew_monasticism/index.html

Tony Campolo:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/tonycampolo.htm

Youth Specialties President Mark Oestreicher:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/youthspecialties.htm

Read about the spirituality of Youth Specialties from their own articles here:

Spirituality and Youth Ministry: What Are We Doing?
http://www.youthspecialties.com/freeresources/articles/spirituality/ym.php

Desert Youth Worker: Disciplines, Mystics, and the Contemplative Life
By Mike Perschon
http://www.youthspecialties.com/freeresources/articles/spirituality/desert.php

Contemplative Prayer Practices
By Mike Perschon
http://www.youthspecialties.com/freeresources/articles/spirituality/contemplative.php

(Mike Perschon is a part-time associate pastor of Holyrood Mennonite Church.)

In conclusion, if your church is sending its youth leaders and workers to this convention, perhaps they need to be warned that instead of being grounded in biblical truths, they may be getting a large does of ecumenical, monastic, emerging, contemplative spirituality and bringing it back to the teenagers in their care.

ROM Index: High

Related:

Gathering 2008 Alert

Promoted in the back pages of this month’s MB Herald (the magazine that is representative of the Canadian Mennonite Brethren churches) are several books that Mennonites are encouraged to read. Nestled in a small corner on the last page of the June/08 MB Herald (Volume 47, No. 6), one of these books is promoted with a positive little quote from an endorsement that says…”I hope this book will be widely read and used.”

The name of this book is Stricken by God?, a collection of essays from various opinions of man, all re-examining and redefining the theory of the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ. There are many authors in the book that are promoting much error, but today Roll Over Menno will focus on only one. Chapter four of the book is written by interspiritualist Marcus Borg, who thinks everything in the Bible is a metaphor, like the darkness during the crucifixion and the miracle at the wedding in Cana, for example. Among many other heretical statements, Borg has said that Jesus was probably not born in Bethlehem and that Jesus is NOT the only way.

Here’s what Marcus Borg says in ‘Stricken by God?‘, the book positively promoted in this month’s MB Herald:

Regarding the darkness that covered the land during the crucifixion:

“Nor does it help to suggest that this was a special darkness created by God…
…Rather, the darkness is metaphor…
…the darkness from noon to three o’clock is best understood as symbolism.” -Borg, p 154, Stricken by God?

About the trial of Jesus:

“there is great historical uncertainty about this scene before the high priest’s council at night on the day of the most important Jewish festival of the year…if it did happen…
(…)…The symmetry is almost too good to be factual” Borg, p 152-153, Stricken by God?

Other quotes from chapter four:

“I see the notion of substitutionary atonement as bad theology and bad history…I am inviting people who believe or think they are supposed to believe in substituionary atonement to think again, to reconsider, to see again. I think it’s bad theology because it elevates one understanding of Jesus’ death above all others and makes it normative. ..It limits God by saying God can forgive sins only if adequate payment is made.” -Borg, p 158, Stricken by God?

“The way of the cross is about discipleship, not believing in the blood of Jesus as a substitute for our own. I think it’s bad history because it presumes that Jesus’s death was part of the plan of God.”
-Borg, p 159, Stricken by God?

“Jesus’ passion got him killed…As divine necessity? No…
What killed Jesus was nothing unusual. There is no reason to think that the temple authorities were particularly wicked people. We might have enjoyed their company.” (…) “According to the gospel, Jesus did not die for the sins of the world.” (…) “…he was killed because of the sins of the world.” (…) “The domination system killed him.”
–Borg, p 161, Stricken by God?

The rest of this book is filled with many more subtle ideas that twist and contradict the Word of God and deny the blood atonement - the very gospel by which we are saved!!! Yet the editor of Stricken by God? writes that “these authors bring a variety of approaches…three common themes serve as an umbrella under which we might all gather” (page 19, SBG). Is this not from the pit of hell? A variety of approaches to the atonement? This is the kind of book being promoted in the MB Herald with a positive endorsement!?!

Lord have mercy on us all!

Menno Simons is surely rolling in his grave over this one!

ROM Index: HIGH

***This book has been endorsed on the back cover by Brian McLaren. Read about Marcus Borg and his connection with Brian McLaren HERE.