PER:Christian Information Bureau January 1988  by Dave Hunt

   Dear Praying Friends;

   Once again it is difficult to believe that so quickly another year
has come and gone and we have already launched into 1988. Will this be
the year in which Christ will catch His bride away to meet Him in the
air and take us to heaven for that great marriage celebration? Only the
Lord knows. Nevertheless, that should be our longing and eager
anticipation. Are you excited at the prospect? Every Christian ought to
be! "The Spirit and the bride say, `Come!' Even so, come Lord Jesus!"
(Rev. 22:17,20)

   The world, however, has another hope. And with the Reagan/Gorbachev
summit, prospects for global peace seem to have brightened. Confidence
is also growing that the recent stock market "crash" will have little
effect on the economy as a whole, and continued economic growth without
renewed inflation seems likely. If we are indeed as near our Lord's
return as it appears, then this trend will continue until "Peace and
safety" is the happy phrase on everyone's lips, the confident outlook
of the world.

   Then "the day of the Lord will come like a thief" (I Thess. 5:2,3).
That fearful day of God's wrath, which comes when the world least
expects it (see also Isaiah 2:12, 13:6,9,13; Joel 1:15, Amos 5, 2 Pet.
3:10 etc.) could not begin with the return of Christ to reign over the
nations from Jerusalem (i.e. at the end of the Great Tribulation), for
God's judgment has already been pouring out upon earth and no one will
be saying "Peace and safety" in the middle of Armageddon. The Day of
the Lord must therefore start at the beginning of the Tribulation.

   And surely if Christ had not raptured His bride and we were still
upon earth when Israel is under siege by all the nations of the world
and about to be destroyed (Zech. 12:9, 14:1-9; Rev. 19:19), we would be
expecting His return then. Yet Christ warned that He (like Day of the
Lord) would come "as a thief," when (just as in Noah's time) the last
thing anyone would expect would be judgment. Even His own would not be
expecting Him (expect those who watch any pray), for even the "wise"
would "slumber" as the Bridegroom tarries (Matt. 24:37-44, 25:5 etc.).
It would therefore seem that Christ must come to catch away His bride
with the same surprise and at the same time of "peace and prosperity"
as the sudden dawning of the Day of the Lord.

   That secret and surprise "catching away" is known as the Rapture.
There is another reason why it cannot happen at the end of the
Tribulation. Praise God that we will already be in heaven before He
comes visibly in power and glory to rescue Israel. This is quite clear
from the fact that the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place in glory
earlier in Rev. 19 before Christ comes riding on that white horse with
the armies of heaven to rescue Israel and establish His millennial
kingdom. We will return to earth with our conquering Lord, then reign
with Him in our resurrection bodies for 1,000 years while Satan is
locked up.

   In the days ahead, I expect the Rapture to be increasingly denied as
well as any place in prophecy for national Israel.
Kingdom/Dominion/Restoration/Reconstruction is now the fastest-growing
movement in the church. Please pray for the book on this subject which
I will be working on as soon as T.A. McMahon and I finish AMERICA: THE
SORCERER'S NEW APPRENTICE for the secular world.

   I think we will also see increasing compromise of the truth, much of
it on the part of sincere but deceived Christians who think it is
helpful to make the gospel sound as much like worldly wisdom as
possible in order to "win the lost." Of course that is not winning them
at all, but wreaking havoc with another gospel and another Jesus. It is
most confusing when both the truth and the lie presented by the same
persons, depending upon what audience they address.

   Robert Schuller is a classic example of this, as was his interview
by Paul and Jan Crouch on TBN December 8, 1987. Paul indicated that he
had gotten many letters (perhaps some of them from some of you)
protesting his support of Schuller and claiming that Schuller preaches
a false gospel. So Paul proceeded to ask Schuller what he believed in
order to remove any doubts of his evangelical orthodoxy. Robert
Schuller presented himself as a firm believer in evangelical
Christianity. Taking what he said at face value (with the few
exceptions commented upon below) anyone listening to him (including
myself) would have been convinced of his true evangelical faith. I hope
and pray that he was sincere in his clear declaration of the essentials
of the gospel.

   On the other hand, it was very troubling for me, being aware of
facts which were unknown to the average viewer, to watch the program
knowing that Robert Schuller was being less than forthright in his
responses to some questions. And Paul was either ignorant of the facts,
or unwilling to pursue his questioning to the point of exposing another
side of Robert Schuller (if there is one), which was in fact the stated
purpose of the program.

   Schuller admitted that he often speaks to groups which would be
classified as "New Age." His rationale was that he will go anywhere to
spread the truth. Sounded good. Unfortunately, the "truth" he proclaims
to New Age audiences is not the same truth which he so convincingly
presented on TBN. To the ministers and ministers-in-training he
addressed at Unity headquarters near Kansas City, for example, Schuller
said nothing they didn't agree with, nothing to let them know that he
had any concern for or disagreement with their beliefs (Unity rejects
the gospel, advocates yoga, reincarnation, the whole New Age trip). In
fact, he commended them and offered his success techniques to help
Unity grow larger! Such action ought to be known and denounced by every
Bible- believing Christian! The impression Schuller gave to the TBN
viewing audience was not consistent with the facts.

   In response to Paul's questions, Schuller stated that his "number
one job is to lead people into a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ." Again it sounds commendable and the viewers must have been
duly impressed. However, at Unity headquarters no attempt was made to
correct their false impression of Jesus (who to Unity is not "the way,
the truth, the life..only savior of sinners" but one of many
"wayshowers" like Buddha or Krishna) and to present to them the true
Jesus Christ. In fact, on another occasion, when a Baptist minister in
Warren, MI learned that Schuller was going to dedicate the
newly-expanded Unity church and reproved him, Schuller responded that
he intended to present the truth and asked for prayer to that end. What
Jesus did he present on that occasion? Not the Jesus who died for our
sins and rose the third day for our justification. Schuller's
motivational talk, that could have been addressed to any secular group
and which the Unity congregation loved, presented Jesus as "the
greatest Possibility Thinker of all time!" That "gospel," consistent
with Unity beliefs, brought cheers from the congregation. Of course it
won't offend anyone, but neither will it save them.

   Schuller also declared that while he would go the New Age groups to
preach the truth, he would not invite them to speak from his pulpit.
Again the actual facts bear little relationship to the impression given
to the TBN audience, to whom Paul Crouch had promised the truth. The
list of New Agers, of cultists and occultists who have been guests on
the Hour of Power, passed off as purveyors of truth and encouraged to
spread their false beliefs to that vast audience is far too long to
recite here. It goes from Schuller's friend and colleague (they do
seminars together) Gerald Jampolsky (who uses A Course In Miracles,
dictated by a demon posing as Jesus - the Course has also been taught
at the Crystal Cathedral, according to spokespersons there) to leading
Mormon Jack Anderson (encouraged by Schuller to spread his Mormon false
doctrine of God on Hour of Power) and includes numerous shades and
varieties in between.

   His statement that he never sits "in judgment" or make "critical
negative remarks about others" even if they "attack" him sounded so
"positive." Here again, however, those few who may have known the facts
realized that Schuller was once more giving the viewers a false
impression.

   Even in the midst of the sound doctrine which he presented so
convincingly, Schuller's basic error came through in his insistence
that we must phrase the gospel so that it never offends anyone (Christ
Himself is called "a rock of offense," and Paul has harsh words for
those who would take the offense out of the cross in order to be
popular with the world - Isaiah 8:14, Rom. 9:33, 1 Pet. 2:8; Gal.
5:11,12, 6:12-14 etc.); and in his heretical declaration that positive
thinking and possibility thinking are "nothing more than Biblical
faith" (of course even atheists subscribe to positive/possibility
thinking). Neither Paul nor Jan saw anything wrong with any of this,
and even nodded their approval when Schuller said: "I preach repentance
so positively that most people don't recognize it."

   One need not be a theologian, however, to conclude that either there
is something basically and seriously wrong with this "positive"
approach - or that Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Paul et al and
Jesus Himself had the wrong approach and would have been far more
effective if they had not been so "negative."

   Convinced of Schuller's evangelical orthodoxy, Paul finally threw up
his hands and said, "What can you say!" Then turning to the camera he
chided his viewers: "Why do you keep sending me those letters [asking
about Robert Schuller]?" The interview had been carried off smoothly.
TBN had reaffirmed its imprimatur of Robert Schuller, and apparently
everyone went home well satisfied that those "negative" maligners out
there had been silenced once again.

   The danger is that we become weary of pointing out error and retire
from the battle for truth. I confess that my natural tendency would be
to back off in face of the accusations that I am contentious and
splitting hairs. The issues, however, are too important to ignore; and
with the eternal destiny of souls hanging in the balance, we must
continue to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to
the saints as we are urged to do. May the Lord help you to stand true
to Him and to His Word. Your prayers that I and all at CIB may do the
same are very much appreciated.

   In Christ's love, Dave Hunt

   This has been put up on the board by the kind permission of the
staff of CIB, and I would encourage you to write to the address that
was at the beginning of this message to order their monthly newsletter
for $12.00 U.S. per year, (subject to change without notice.) Make sure
that chegues are made out on a U.S. money order and payable to:

   Christian Information Bureau

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   Camarillo Ca 93011
