Posted on Monday, May 9, 2022

Progressive Christianity: The Hoax of the Century

by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio

by MaryAnn

WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

An invitation for you:

To subscribe to this blog, click here.
To subscribe to this podcast, click here.

If this blog and podcast have blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you!

Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Week at the end of this post.

______________________________________

Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post on podcast.

___________________________________________________________________________

Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, novelist and life coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, May 9, 2022, and this is Episode #19 of Series 2022. This episode is titled “Progressive Christianity: The Hoax of the Century.”
___________________________________________

It has been said that the most dangerous place in the world is inside a church.

Why?

Because one would never expect to find Satan inside a church.

But, not only is he there; he is hidden and camouflaged to the point that we view him as a light when he is actually the same old, evil deceiver.

So, how has Satan infiltrated the Church today? What am I talking about specifically?

I’m talking about Progressive Christianity.

You may have heard the term. It sounds so innocuous, doesn’t it? So cool, even. After all, progress is a good thing, right?

Not always. In fact, Progressive Christianity is not progress at all but, rather, a falling away from the essential truths of Christianity. It is the most dangerous heresy–or conglomeration of heresies–to have infiltrated the Church in this century.

Progressive Christianity now has a strong but sinister presence in our seminaries and pulpits. It has even found its way into the media that is unashamedly propagating its tenets in order to undermine the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When the Apostle Paul was on earth, he warned of heresies that would enter the Church. He called these heresies “another Gospel”. He warned in Galatians 1: 9 that “if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Pretty strong words!

Progressive Christianity is “another Gospel” — not the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not the Gospel we received from the Word of God.

So, what is Progressive Christianity? In what ways is it a false Gospel?

Progressive Christianity grew out of the Emergent Church Movement of the late 1990s and early 2000s. As its name implies, Progressive Christianity considers it progress to re-examine, re-define, and, if necessary, reject the historic doctrines of the Christian faith.

Here are some of the problems with the teachings of Progressing Christianity:

1__It denies that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God and absolute Truth.

2__It denies the doctrine of original sin, the Biblical teaching that every human being is born into this world spiritually separated from God by sin.

3__It ignores the concept of sin altogether and does not teach about the need for repentance from sin and accepting Christ as Savior and Lord.

4__It denies the Blood of Christ, His substitutionary Atonement on the Cross, and the Resurrection.

5__It denies the existence of Hell, a very real place where those who reject Christ will spend eternity.

6__It aligns itself with anti-Biblical, cultural trends like abortion, same-sex marriage, and gender identity.

7__It preaches a gospel of social justice and universal salvation instead of the true Gospel of repentance from personal sin, personal salvation, and personal redemption.

8__It places undue emphasis on saving planet Earth, worshipping the earth more than the Creator of the earth.

So, what can we who are followers of the true Gospel do to stem the tide of Progressive Christianity:

1. Know the Truth. We must saturate ourselves with the Word of God so that we will instantly recognize any teaching contrary to the Word of God. Just as a bank teller-in-training never handles counterfeit money but gets to know real money so well in order instantly to be able to recognize counterfeit money, so must we study God’s Word, the real Truth, in order to be able to recognize a counterfeit.

2. Be bold. We must speak out against the lies of the enemy and replace those lies with the Truth as found in the Bible. We must resist the fear of man–worrying about what people think–and fear God instead. We will be persecuted for speaking the Truth, but we must speak it anyway. Jesus warned us that we would be hated by the world. He said this in John 15: 18: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” It is a great honor and privilege to be hated for the cause of Christ.

3. Stand up for life from its beginning to its end. Speak out against abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. The sacredness of human life is the core issue of our day. Unless we hold life sacred in all its stages, nothing else matters.

4. Uphold Absolute Truth and speak out against relativism. Progressive Christianity espouses the lie that truth cannot be known, so each person must create his own truth. Progressive Christianity teaches that your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth. This is called Relativism.

Truth is not what we decide it is. Truth is what God decides it is, and He has already decided what Truth is and has declared it in the Bible, His Holy Word.

If you have been attending a church that espouses Progressive Christianity, run away from it as fast as you can. Be sure that your pastor teaches the full counsel of God without compromise. That full counsel is found only in the Holy Bible. The Bible is the final authority and standard of living for the true Christ-Follower.

If you do not yet have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I urge you to establish one now. All you need to do is to repent of your sin, ask Jesus to forgive you, and invite him into your life. Please pray this simple prayer after me:

Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. I acknowledge my sin before You. I recognize that my sin put You on that Cross where You died for me. So, I repent of my sin, and I ask You to forgive me. I invite You into my life now. I receive You now as my Savior and my Lord. Thank You for saving me. Make me what You created me to be, O God. Amen.

If you sincerely prayed this prayer, welcome to God’s family! Please write down today’s date. It is your spiritual birthday. And please write to me at drmaryann@maryanndiorio.com. I would like to send you a free PDF booklet titled After You’re Born Again. This booklet will help you to get started in your walk with Jesus.

I also encourage you to get yourself a Bible and read it every single day. The Bible is God’s love letter to you, His manual for your life. In the Bible, God reveals Who He is, and He teaches you how to live.

Finally, ask the Lord to lead you to the church of His choice for you where you can learn about Him and have fellowship and encouragement with other Christ-Followers. It is critically important in these last days to fellowship with other believers who are mature in Christ and who can guide you as you grow in Him.

If you did not pray this prayer with me, please reconsider. Jesus Christ is coming back soon to remove from the world all those who follow Him. The rest of the world’s population will be left behind and will face the most horrific time in human history under the dictatorship of the AntiChrist. If you do not believe me, do your own research.

Thousands of years ago, the Bible predicted exactly what is happening in our world today. Everything is coming to pass exactly as the Bible predicted. The Bible has never been wrong. I have been following Jesus for 52 years, and He has never failed me. Nor will he ever fail you if you choose to follow Him.

I urge you: Follow Jesus Christ. Accept Him into your life. He is the only way to be saved.

If this podcast has helped you in any way, please consider supporting it by becoming one of my valued patrons. Just go to patreon.com/winningwiththeword to join my wonderful Team. Winning with the Word now reaches 70 countries throughout the world because of the help of patrons like you. Patrons receive numerous benefits in appreciation for their support.

Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are and just where you are, and that He will help you to keep on Winning with the Word!
_____________________________________________________________
Check out my Bookstore at https://maryanndiorio.com/book-table for books that will help you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

Join my wonderful Team of Readers by subscribing to my Author Newsletter at
https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/x5i2r2

__________________________________________________________________

Copyright 2000-2022 by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be published or printed in any form whatsoever without the written permission of Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. You may contact her at info@maryanndiorio.com to request permission.

Amazon.com Required Disclosure: MaryAnn Diorio is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Disclaimer: This site uses cookies. Your continued use of this site constitutes your consent to our use of cookies.

__________________________________________________________________

0 Shares

Posted on Monday, March 16, 2020

The Dangers of the Enneagram

by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio

by MaryAnn

WINNING WITH THE WORD

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life.

AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.

If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you!

______________________________________

Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post:

______________________________________________

Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, your Virtual Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, March 16, 2020. Today’s Podcast is Episode #11 in Series 2020 and is titled “The Dangers of the Enneagram.”

We live in an age of great delusion. Jesus prophesied that this would happen in the last days. When His disciples asked Him what would be the signs of the end times, His first words of response were, “Take heed that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24: 4). I find Christ’s initial response extremely telling.

The first sign Jesus gave of the endtimes was deception. He warned us that the last days would be characterized by great deception and great delusion. And He warned us to “take heed” against it. To take heed means “to guard ourselves against.”

Deception is the act of misleading in a wrong direction. Deception is the promulgation of a lie that will eventually lead to death, not only physically, but also morally, psychologically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

One of the signs of this great deception is the widespread infiltration into the Church of the Enneagram. Like yoga, the Enneagram has been “Christianized” to make it look innocuous. But it is far from innocuous!

Perhaps you have heard of the Enneagram, or perhaps you have used it yourself. But for those of you who have never heard of it, what is the Enneagram?

The Enneagram is a tool used to analyze one’s personality. It became popular in the corporate world in the 1990s, and from there spread rapidly to the mainstream world. Now, sad to say, it has even infiltrated the Church!

The Enneagram is comprised of a diagram listing the numbers one to nine. The diagram has lines that connect each number to two other numbers. According to the Enneagram Institute, the nine numbers represent the so-called “nine divine forms” found in Gnostic teachings. Gnosticism, you may recall, was the heresy that the Apostle Paul refuted in the Book of Colossians. These nine forms of the Enneagram supposedly represent man’s perfect essence in unity with Divinity.

Under the guise of analyzing the personality for the purpose of better understanding oneself and others, the Enneagram at its core has as its purpose a spiritual awakening. Listen to what Marcia Montenegro, a former New Age astrologer who converted to Christianity, has to say about the Enneagram: “The Enneagram purports to lead a person to not only self-understanding, but to an integration of all aspects of the self and, ultimately, to an awakening to the true Self. ‘Self’ is capitalized because the Self is considered by the original (and most contemporary) Enneagram teachers to be divine.”

As with other things in life, we must look at the root to determine the fruit. The Enneagram has its roots in the occult. In other words, it has its roots in the demonic kingdom of Satan. Some of those roots can be traced back to mystic George Gurdjieff (1866?-1949) who was born around 1866 and lived until 1949. It is purported, although not proven, that Gurdjieff learned the Enneagram from the Sufis, a mystical subgroup of Islam.

Gurdjieff had two well-known followers–P. D. Ouspensky (1878-1947) and Oscar Ichazo (b. 1931)–who helped Gurdjieff to promote the use of the Enneagram. Gurdjieff taught that man cannot know true reality unless his consciousness is awakened. The Enneagram is a tool for awakening the consciousness.

One of Gurdjieff’s protegés was psychiatrist Oscar Ichazo. Ichazo, a heavy user of psychedelic drugs, stated that he had a spirit guide named Metatron who guided him and his followers.

With this background, it is shocking that so many Christians are now embracing the Enneagram. Yet, many Christians continue to promote it as an okay tool as long as it is Christianized. But I ask you, “Can one sanitize evil?”

So, what’s wrong with the Enneagram, and why is it dangerous?

As Marcia Montenegro writes: “A simple investigation into the Enneagram reveals that its theories of personality are based on esoteric teachings and an occult worldview. The clear origin and purpose of the Enneagram is to initiate a Gnostic spiritual awakening to one’s alleged true divine Self, which is in itself an occult initiation. This is the claim and goal of virtually all occult and New Age teachings. The purpose of such initiation is a shift in consciousness, a change in the way one views reality — God, the world, others, and self.”

We cannot justify an occult practice simply by slapping the label of “Christian” onto it. Yet, that is what the Church has done with yoga and now with the Enneagram. Church, it is time to wake up! You are being deceived, and deception will always lead to destruction and, if there is no repentance, even damnation.

If you have been using the Enneagram, repent now and stop using it. I caution you to open your eyes to this doctrine of devils. And, as Jesus commanded, be not deceived!

The only way to keep from deception is to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not yet have such a relationship, I invite you now to accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

Pray this simple prayer with me:

Lord Jesus, I come to You just as I am. I need You to save me. I cannot save myself. I repent of my sins and ask You to forgive me. I invite You into my life to be my Savior and my Lord. I thank You for receiving me. In Your Name I pray, believe, and receive. Amen.

If you prayed this simple prayer, please write to me at drmaryann@maryanndiorio.com. I would like to send you a little booklet that will help you get started in your relationship with Jesus Christ. I also encourage you to get yourself a Bible and read it every day, starting in the Gospel of John, which is in the second half of the Bible. Finally, ask the Lord to lead you to the church of His choice for you where you can learn about Him and find fellowship and encouragement with other Christ-Followers.

For those of you who may not know, I write fiction about some of the issues I deal with in this blog and podcast. I invite you to visit my website at https://maryanndiorio.com/book-table. There you will find a complete list of the novels, novellas, and short stories I have written about characters with problems like yours.

On my website, you will also find additional resources, articles, non-fiction books, and podcasts to help you grow in your walk with Christ.

If you have been blessed by these messages, I also invite you to become a Winning with the Word patron on Patreon. As a patron you will enjoy special benefits only for my patrons. Just go to Patreon.com and search for Winning with the Word to join. This podcast is being sponsored by my wonderful patron, Karon Bekebrede. Thank you, Karon, for supporting the work of the Lord.

And to all of you wonderful listeners out there, thank you so much for listening. This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, your virtual life coach, reminding you that God loves you just as you are and just where you are, and that He will help you to keep on winning with the Word.

Listen to the podcast here:

________________________________________________
Source cited: “The Enneagram GPS: Gnostic Path to Self” by Marcia Montenegro http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Enneagram.aspx

Now it’s your turn: ? What do you know about the Enneagram? Please leave your comment in the Comment Box below. Thank you!

PLEASE TWEET: “The Dangers of the Enneagram” by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio (CLICK TO TWEET)

Please tell your family and friends about “Winning with the Word,” and please pass this post on to them. Thank you!

Check out these three popular Winning with the Word podcasts below. You may also search for a particular topic in the search box at the top of the sidebar on this page.

__Is the World Coming to an End?

__The Coming Global Cataclysm

__Is Your Tongue Ruining Your Life?

__A Parent’s Promise from God

Are you new to this blog? If so, what is the “Winning with the Word” blog and why will it bless you to read it?

“Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that helps you to deal with the daily problems of life by using the Bible as your guide to solving them. The Word of God will make you a success in life!

AN INVITATION TO YOU: To subscribe to Winning with the Word, click here.

_____________________________________________________________

Copyright 2000-2020 by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be published or printed in any form whatsoever without the written permission of Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. You may contact her at info@maryanndiorio.com to request permission.

Share29

Pin2

31 Shares