Some Blends Are Bogus!

Posted by: Rod on: October 1, 2010

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A really robust and smooth coffee comes from the islands of Hawaii.  No doubt you have tried “Kona” coffee.  It is really something special, but it is very expensive.  Most of the time when I find it in the store it is a blend.  It is still pretty good though and costs a lot less.  It is acceptable, after all it is only coffee.  Smoothies are great because they are blended.  Frappuchino’s are good for the same reason.  But is everything better….blended? Awhile back my wife received some perfume that was bought on the cheap.  It was marketed as her favorite brand.  It was probably a blend of several perfumes that came together horribly.  She threw it out.

What is happening in the evangelical world is a rapid blending of  opposing streams of doctrine.   Many are calling for tolerance and acceptance and a unity around “Fathers” and not around doctrine.  So, the every day Christian is led to believe that really knowing what the Bible says is of secondary importance.  He would probably also infer that thinking about our faith and really getting down to a deep understanding of the Bible is divisive even.

This blending hit me in the face this week as I saw that Bill Johnson of Bethel Church here in Redding is going to share the platform with Dallas Willard at Jack Hayford’s conference in November.  Jack has a respectable reputation in the pentecostal realm even though he has some serious deficiencies in his doctrine as well.  But look at who he has reached out to…the man who is a real intellectual “bridge” to the Emergent Church – Dallas Willard.

This is a guy who promotes contemplative prayer and buddies up to Richard Foster and at the same time is deemed a deep thinker and is a professor at USC. In fact he makes statements that make you think he is a universalist (in other words everyone gets to go to heaven.)  You can read about Dallas here. But Dallas’ claim to fame is his deep thinking and philosophical reasoning that has made him a favorite of the intelligentsia. Those in the emergent camp love him. He has a deep educational background…he is a thinker!

Then you have Bill Johnson.  If Bill has not experienced a very recent visitation of an angel (or at least seen some “plumage”) he breaks out in hives!  He has never seen a faith-healer he didn’t like.  He is one! (or at least he claims to be)  Bill is near the top of the Apostolic throne room.  Bill loves guys like Benny Hinn and erratic  head bangers like  Stacy Campbell and wife-leaving, child neglecting Todd Bentley and Bob Jones and countless others.  The bizarre and strange are called “wonders” and “signs”  and “anointed” and “awesome.” Bill would never agree to God’s invitation….”come let us reason together.” (Especially because God called our sin “sin!”)

For Jack Hayford to blend together Bill Johnson and Dallas Willard seems so strange until you start to think of the fact that in the last days there will be a new type of “spiritual formation.”  A church will be formed that will be a universal religion – all religions will blend into a great monstrosity of unspeakable horror.  Eventually, having no taste for an apostate church, God will spit it out for good. His judgment…”bad blend.”

Bill Johnson and Dallas Willard may blend fine with each other – maybe they can each get into the other’s trances.  But, their errors will only confuse more issues and more people will fall into a Christ-less eternity as a result of this bogus blend.

God help us to get back to a genuine faith in the real God revealed so wonderfully in the Scriptures….before it is too late!

thanks for reading…

Rod