It was with some foreboding I attended the last in a series of “special meetings” in the church we used to attend. Interestingly the speaker broached a topic I had challenged the pastor about a few days before. The speaker warned us about the dangers of allowing new age spirituality (Christ in all of us) to enter the church and almost immediately the pastor beckoned me forward. The pastor asked me if I was willing to meet with the “oversight” at the end of the meeting to share my concerns. I naively imagined he had come under conviction of sin, and I would receive a fair hearing, so I agreed.
The meeting was a total travesty and it was obvious from the start that the members had been primed beforehand and consequently were hostile in their approach to me. They were not interested in hearing my concerns but only interested in defending the pastor. I shared my concerns about the influence of the Emerging church literature (Wild at Heart) and Purpose Driven Church theology (Purpose Driven Life) on the church and the pastors comments (to me) about “recognizing Christ in all at ‘London Citizens’” (a multi-faith and non-faith forum for tackling social issues)
- The pastor denied any influence from the Emerging church (EC) even though John Eldredge (the author of Wild at Heart) is part of the EC and Ray Simpson (on the churches “council of reference”) runs courses on the emerging church and his blog includes links to Brian McLaren
- The pastor denied we had ever read the Purpose Driven Life, even though I sent him a critique in mid Jan 2009, until his wife came to my defence and informed the gathering that we had read it three times!
- The pastor had to explain what “London Citizens” was for the benefit of the Oversight! – it was clear that he had not sought their blessing first, before committing the church to it.
- The speaker contrasted the total number of years the members of the oversight had been “in ministry” (as pastors) with mine. It was clear, from his perspective, that in view of their experience I had no right, place or mandate to raise concerns or to exercise my calling as a “mouthpiece” (on internal matters).
- Two of the members attacked my concerns about Virkler’s book – How to Hear God’s Voice (although I had not mentioned it) but when I referred them to the graph (See below) in Chapter 3 (page 85) (showing someone in a self induced altered state of alpha consciousness – and open to the world of spirits) it was clear that they had not “done their homework” and they appeared to be confused. Neither of them were able to provide a Biblical basis for the mystic meditation methods or the biofeedback techniques advocated by Virkler
I was told that (if I remained in the church) I could no longer bring words to the pastor and if we did leave the church we should leave quietly. I was warned by one of the members that I might die if I did not leave quietly!
I realised that I could not remain true to myself or my calling and remain and we resigned from the church on 28th October 2009
Source: Wirkler M & P 2005, How to Hear Gods Voice, Destiny Images Page 85