Endtime Prophets

Ecumenicalism's Scriptural Flaws

Lately a new concern is coming to the attention of many in the Body of Chirst that makes the analysis of false prophets look like child's play, and that is the ecumenical movement being fostered by certain Evangelical groups around the world. The hidden goal of portions of this movement is to bring the whole world under one religious governing body and control not only your spiritual life but your social live and your government as well. This article will attempt to show how ecumenicalism is unscriptural and is destroying the body of Christ through a false unity, false revival, false theology and a false Gospel. Also see A list of Evangelical Leaders involved in Ecumenicalism

I had been studying ecumenicalism and specifically some new movements called City Church, CitiReach International, and Discipling a Whole Nation (DAWN). I was trying to figure out their connection to any of the following Evangelical groups:

  • Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization
  • AD2000 & Beyond movement
  • World Evangelism Fellowship (WEF)
  • The AD 2000 Ecumenical Evangelism program
  • AD 2000 International Coalition of Christian Leaders (ICCL)
  • Global Consultation on World Evangelization (GCOWE)
  • World Christian Movement (WCM)
  • University of the Nations (UofN)
  • European Evangelical Alliance (EEA)
  • National Association of Evangelicals (NAE)
  • National Council of Churches (NCC)
  • The World Council of Churches (WCC)
  • The World Prayer Center (WPC)
  • US Center for World Mission
  • United Religions Initiative (URI)
  • Billy Graham Evangelical Association

We would hope that all of the above groups, claiming to be Evangelical, would have a heartfelt desire to bring unbelievers to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. However, some of the groups above flat out deny Christ and the Word of God as being infallible altogether. Other groups have watered down their Gospel to the point where it is no Gospel at all.

What is the true Gospel that Christ instructed his disciples to carry to all nations? Most of the above groups quote the following verse to support the ecumenical stand:

"Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (Mark 16:15).

However, they often ignore the rest of that passage-- the most important part of that verse says:

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does NOT believe will be CONDEMNED." (Mark 16:16)

In other words, all those who do not believe in the true Gospel are going to Hell.

Also if you look at the parallel passage to this one in Matt 28:20 we see more information that is crucial to the "Good message" because they are also instructed to preach:

"Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matt 28:20)

This means allllll doctrinal truth.

Luke gives us even more details of Christ's last instructions in Luke 24:47:

"And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem."

So here we see they we're to also preach repentance, not just forgiveness. If you look at all 3 of those different versions of Christ's last instructions they involved preaching ALL of scriptural doctrine, including repentance from SIN and that anyone who did not believe in Christ as their Savior was on their way to hell.

You will not find that statement or anything like it in any ecumenical movement today. It is just not there. They are forsaking Bible Doctrine for the sake of Unity. That is why it is so evil.

Following is a GREAT article that explains why so many people are getting "saved" in these evangelistic crusades, ecumenical churches, etc., yet there is no one in the churches to show for it--it's because they are teaching an incomplete gospel and all those who they have "saved" will be those that Christ rejects at the door of heaven saying "I never knew you." Deception in the Church's Newsletter, Vol. 4, Issue 4: The Old Cross And The New.

There are other groups such as Coalition on Revival (COR) (see below) that have another agenda--to bring the world under the control of the Church under the guise of Evangelicalism, with the intent to rule the political, social as well as the religious systems of the world. Similar groups believe they must evangelize the world and bring it to its knees or Christ won't/can't return, i.e., Dominion Theology, Kingdom Now and Manifest Sons of God, etc. One other interesting aspect of some of these movements is that they are turning from PreTrib/Premillennialism to Amillennialism (they no longer look for Christ to come judge the world, and bring it to it's knees, they will do it themselves).

Catholic Church and Ecumenicalism

Other groups are not only joining up with such non-Christian organizations as the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) but members of the RCC are in key positions of leadership in some of these organizations, such as the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. Kenneth Copeland has recently aligned with Pope Francis at the Pope's attempt to draw in Evangelicals. Rick Warren is trying to bring Christians and Muslisms together claiming that the Muslim God is the God of the Christian Bible (i.e., Chrislam).

Before I get accused of Catholic bashing let me state that I believe there are many born-again believers in the RCC but the official Catholic dogma is totally against the orthodox Christian belief in "saved by Grace through faith, not by works" and, in fact, it is the "official" position of the RCC to consider anyone anathema who believes such as shown below:

"If anyone says that after the reception of the grace of Justification the guilt is so remitted and the debt of eternal punishment so blotted out to every repentant sinner, that no debt of temporal punishment remains to be discharged either in this world or in purgatory before the gates of heaven can be opened, let him be anathema" (The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Session 6, Canon 30. Shroeder, H.J., Tan Books, 1978, p. 46. The Council of Trent was reaffirmed by Vatican I & II --1960)

The RCC also holds that it is the only means of salvation:

"There is one holy Catholic and apostolic church, outside of which there is no salvation . . . . it is altogether necessary for salvation for every creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff."(Unam Sanctam AD 1302)

"This holy Council teaches . . . that the Church . . . is necessary for salvation. . . . Hence, they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it, or to remain in it"(Austin Flannery, Vatican Council II, 1988, vol. 1, pg 365, 366).

Vatican II was never rescinded and is still in effect today, and the Pope has not changed his stand on one iota of it, no matter what he says to the press when trying to supposedly promote ecumenicalism.

The declaration, approved by the Pope, effectively condemns all post-Reformation Churches. It says: "Ecclesial communities that have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the eucharistic mystery are not Churches in the proper sense."

The Vatican document, Declaration Dominus Iesus, also states that the followers of non-Christian religions are "gravely deficient" and their rituals "an obstacle to salvation."

There you have it folks. Everyone who has been buying into the supposed welcoming of all religions into the RCC under the false guise of ecumenical unity, have just stepped into the RCC false gospel spider web.

The Pope has been reaching out to both Evangelicals (Kenneth Copeland and Tony Palmer, et al) and drawing them into the Catholic church under the mistaken notion that we all worship the same God in spite of what their official dogma states. See Pope Francis and the Emerging One World Religion. It's all a ruse and ignorant false teachers are falling for it.

Some of the organizations in the list at the top of this page also encourage assimilation with Hindus, Buddhists, Athiests, etc., without converting them to Christ first, i.e., their agenda is to bring ALL religions under one "evangelical" head, which gives a clear indication of their theological bent.

Many of the above groups have a watered down Gospel and have fallen for the Kingdom Now, Dominion Theology, Manifest Sons of God, etc., a heresy has permeated through the groups.

Also, a thorough study of "revival" and the "Church" in the New Testament will produce not one verse that indicates there will be a world-wide revival in the Church in the endtimes (unless you take verses meant for Israel and apply them to the Church).

So right here we can see there is no scriptural basis for a world-wide revival in the endtimes. Instead scripture indicates the Antichrist will gather up all churches under one head in the endtimes which is usually known as the One World Religion (OWR). THIS is what is coming to pass with this current evangelical movement when it condones forsaking doctrine for the sake of unity.

Another sad thing about this move toward bringing the whole world under one religious head is that it is so wide spread, and so innocuous (looks so good), that almost every evangelical denomination and religious group is involved in it in one way or another, or will be soon (see City Church below). It's almost to the point that the true Bible believing Christian will soon have no where to fellowship.

Ecumenical Leaders and Organizations

A list is currently being compiled of all leaders and organizations involved in the ecumenical movement, their beliefs, their associations and who they support. For more information check out Evangelical Leaders and Organizations Promoting Ecumenicalism on this site.

How all These Groups are Interconnected

Following are several articles showing the interconnectedness of the groups listed above. If you will read the list of membership of each group and understand what the leaders of some of these groups believe then you will begin to see a picture evolve as to the general consensus of all of these groups just by their members or those who approve or support them, i.e., those who are forsaking Doctrine for the sake of Unity.

World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF)

The World Evangelical Fellowship (WEF) was formed in 1997. It's international director is Jun Vencer, a Filipino attorney and management consultant (please notice no theological degrees). According to the articles that follow you will see that the leadership of WEF is considering joining with the Lausanne Committee to provide fellowship for those opposed to the fundamentalist position of biblical separation from those teaching another Gospel. The WEF secretly met with the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, and the World Council of Churches in Feb of 1989 in Stuttgart Germany for the purpose of discussing world evangelism.

A statement by World Evangelism Fellowship (WEF) Church & Society Dept. (no longer online)
What it "doesn't" say is a real eye opener as to their theological purpose. A portion of which follows: "Jesus identified himself with the recipient of every act of human compassion...the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the imprisoned, the sick, the naked. And he pronounced judgment on those who do not care." That sounds good but what else did Christ pronounce judgement on? That unless one repents from sin AND acknowledges Christ as their Savior they will incur condemnation from God. You won't find such a statement in this document. The statement above is all about caring for others. And what is the judgment on? Not caring. Why, anyone can turn from not caring to caring and now consider themselves a Christian with that message. Is that what the Word says? No. They also claim their Gospel is "all embracing." What does that mean? If they don't teach the True Gospel, and they embrace the RCC and other religions not teaching the True Gospel, this means they are beginning to accept alllllll religions. And this is not of God. This movement is not formed on a biblical foundation. It is not of God.

Making War in the Heavenlies by Bill Randles shows why Spiritual Warfare, the way CitiReach, Dawn, George Otis, C. Peter Wagner, Bill Hamon, et. al., present it, is unscriptural.

City Church/Lighthouse Movement

The Lighthouse movement/City Church's goal is to have multitudes of small cell churches in every city, with people in every church praying together. This sounds good. Doesn't it? These groups are also known as Cell Churh, Meta-Church, Open Church, etc. The only problem is, they aren't just praying, they are writing journals on who they are praying for, including everyone's addresses and phone numbers and their prayer needs, and also the neighborhood gossip, AND THEN sending them to headquarters--and guess where all this information is going??? to C. Peter Wagner and The World Prayer Center--that organization that intends to spiritually map every Christian in the world. AND WE THOUGHT BIG BROTHER WAS A PROBLEM???

And to top this off in order to be an "official" City church/Lighthouse the leader has to believe in the signs and wonders movement and have had a personal experience in the same, and to sign a series of covenants, fork over $100 for membership, plus buy the kit and videos the (unscriptural) Jesus film and books, etc. C. Peter Wagner not only has these folks sending in all this confidential information for his mapping strategy these people are also paying him to record it!!!! The stage is being set for the Antichrist to step in and take over folks, and the City Church/lighthouse movement is a very good contender for his throne.

AD 2000

The goal of this movement is, "All Christians should forget their differences and join forces to evangelize the World by the Year 2000." This sounds good, but the dangers of this movement only become apparent when you understand what they mean by the term "Christian," i.e., anyone who they believe to be Christian, including all members of the RCC whom they call their partners in evangelism. The list of those who support this movement is even more telling as to its real agenda--forsaking doctrine for the sake of Unity.

AD 2000 Unreached Peoples News. This is a document from the AD 2000 organization. It lists those who support the movement, including John Robb who is well known for casting out territorial demons as promoted in Peter Wagner's book Thy Kingdom Come.

Perspectives Study Program

The Perspectives Course is a compilation of messages from missions around the world. Some of them portray the true gospel message, however, like many other ecumenical movements this one mixes truth with doctrinal error and it comes out the other end with a Dominionist agenda. Some of the supporters of this program are as follows: Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), Loren Cunningham (Presient of Youth With a Mission), Luis Bush (Director AD 2000 & Beyond), Leighton Ford (Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization), Billy Graham (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association), C. Peter Wagner (Executive Director Global Harvest Ministries), Ralph Winter (founder US Center for World Mission), DAWN ministries, Foursquare Missions International, Jews for Jesus, The Navigators, United World Mission, WEC International, etc.

World Christian Movement

The World Christian Movement: Evangelism vs. Evangelization by Albert James Dager not only exposes the flaws in this movement but most of the others involved in ecumenicalism as well. A must read--it comes in 4 parts so be sure and get them all.

AD 2000 United Prayer Track

AD 2000 United Prayer Track exposes the ecumenical movement's agenda to join with the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and groups pushing the New Age agenda as well as flaws in such seemingly wonderful groups such as Youth With a Mission (YWAM), March for Jesus, and their connection to Mystery Babylon.

Exposing Ecumenicalism's False Gospel

Kingdom Theology, Dominion Theology and Manifest Sons of God, Five-fold Ministry, etc.

Ten Reasons to reject Kingdom-Dominion Teachings by Tricia Tillin.

A very good book (available online for downloading) that exposes the scriptural distortions of the so-called Manifested Sons of God is Strange Fire by Travers and Jewel van der Merwe.

William Branham is known as the "founding father" of the Manifest Sons of God movement, which is an insidious cancer in the Church. He was heavily involved in the occult, as are many of today's so-called "prophets," such as Paul Cain, that's where their power comes from. To study the background thoroughly, a good book is Vengeance if Ours: The Church in Dominion by Al Dager.

Pastor Bill Randles wrote an excellent book called: Beware the Prophets.

An article by Greg DesVoignes, from Christian Research Ministries, showing how The Revival of John G. Lake's Ministry has ties to the Spokane Outpouring (no longer available online). It looks into the early healings of Lake, his Kingdom Theology, Manifested Sons Theology (i.e., we can all become a god), and the "Revival's" deceptive associations with Toronto, Brownsville and occult doctrines. Also see Reviving the Revival of John Lake and John Lake's "Healing Rooms" today.

Articles exposing the unscriptural claim of a world wide revival for the Church:

The New Thing: Global Revival as the Key Element in Deception in 20th Century by Tricia Tillin. (very long article, be sure and get parts 2 & 3 also)

The web site Deception in the Church has a plethora of articles on false teachers, false revival and false ecumenicalism.

Also see our other page exposing the scriptural flaws in an endtime Revival on this site.

Lori Eldridge
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