The Need to Address Alternative and New Religious Movements

There is a paradigm shift that is occurring within that of the Church today: that of its transitioning of traditional worship into contemporary worship service. What is meant by contemporary worship is the attempt to usurp the true worship of God as to the worship of Self: that of its brazen form of New Age Spirituality (Col. 2:23; 2 Tim. 3:5). The philosophical presupposition of the New Age movement is that of monism: "All is God; God is all." The manifesto of the doctrine of monism: that of created beings or individuals who are created in the image and likeness of God can create a "god" of their own cravings: that of the worshipping the creature more than the Creator (Rom. 1:23, 25). For example: It is evident of the prosperity-faith movement that create the "god" of its appetite for the sole purpose of "decreeing and commanding" at the beck and call of the Faith believer (Mk. 11:23-24; Heb. 11:2). Also along with the Faith teaching on the ...

During the early 80's when the prosperity-faith movement came into existence, "God Wills the Prosperity of His People" have a mixture of biblical truth and pop-psychology. The above statement mentioned is that of its cultural bias, innuendos, and preconceived notions that is buried beneath the message of many prosperity teachers who for over three decades promote such false gospel (Gal. 1:8-9) Even though historically the legacy of the prosperity gospel is hedonistic and utilitarian in nature: that of a pleasure seeking religion to avoid the pain and suffering in pursuit of happiness (2 Tim. 3:2 ESV). The main emphasis of the legacy of the prosperity gospel is what is monetary; not what is ethical. People today will go to great length regardless of the cost involved to accumulate financial wealth and prosperity. Whatever the cost may be that many are paying a dear price for whether it is through fraud and deception (2 Tim. 3:13). Hard work produce good wages, but fo...

There are controversial movements among the African American church and its community of believers (Acts 29:29, 30). The main thrust of alternative and new religious movements is its antithesis in creating something "new" that is antithetical to the whole of the Christian faith and that of the historic Christian church: that of innovative "ways" of doing church. By alternative and new religious movements in any religious group, cult, or heretical Christian movement that of its deviations from the "norm" of the Church's teachings through such self-proclaimed messianic leadership who claim some discovery of some "new found" truth that is outside the pale of biblical orthodoxy or that which was taught by the early apostles of the New Testament (Eph. 2:20; 2 Pet. 2:19-21). Such alternative and new religious movements ranging from that of the Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), self-appointed gur...