EMERGING CHURCH LEADER SAMIR SELMANOVIC WORSHIPS WITH WITCHES

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Oct 14, 2010

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. (Jeremiah 10:1-6)

If It Was Ever In It, The Emerging Church Has Now Left The Building Of Christianity

Apprising Ministries has been making you aware of the now upgraded Emerging Church 2.0 with its newer, more clearly delineated, postmodern Progressive Christian theology—a Liberalism 2.0—that this sinfully ecumenical neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church often refers to as “big tent” Emergence Christianity. You’re likely aware of leaders within this EC—seeker driven for the “counter-culture”—movement like the Emerging Church trinity of apostates, Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren, universalist Emerging Church pastor Doug Pagitt, and his friend Tony Jones, the progressive “theologian in residence” at Solomon’s Porch.

The fact is, this is all kind of a reimagined bohemian hippie counter-culture deal I would see as I was growing up in the late 60′s; where we were careful not to “sell out” and become part of “the establishment.” Well, now we have it in a spiritual form within the rhetoric of the Emergent Church and many of its faithless followers. It was phony then, and it’s just as phony now; you see, one by one I watched the pop philosophers of my youth who “spoke my language”—my then cherished rock stars—gladly take the money and run to blend right in to what we once said were so against. Have you ever noticed that these EC leaders never miss an opportunity to promote their books.

In pieces like God Is Father Of All Religion and Faith House Manhattan: Project Of Apostasy I have introduced you to one of the lesser known EC luminaries, and one of their up-and-coming ear-ticklers, Samir Selmanovic. Selmanovic is an interspiritual advocate and “an ordained pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist church” whose website tells us that he’s “been integral to the birth of the emerging church movement, serving as a member of the Coordinating Group of Emergent Village and representing emergents at the Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of Churches.”[1]

Selanovic’s main shtick is something called Faith House Manhattan (FHM), whose motto is Experience Your Neighbor’s Faith:

(Online source)

This is completely reflected in the book Selmanovic wrote in 2009 called It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian. Wow, and interestingly enough this man who’s here with other Emerging Church leaders in order to rescue us from the imperialistic capitalist system oppressing the downtrodden because we need to redistribute the wealth, somehow; even manages to find a way to plug his book below. Such sacrifice, eh. We also note that this FHM is personally blessed by Tony Campolo as well as Living Spiritual Teacher and EC guru Brian McLaren , his fellow Red Letter Christian:

(Online source)

Well, accolades from apostates aside, you should be able to see that with FHM Samir Selmanovic is in violation of God’s Word with this interspiritual worship; it’s well beyond simply befriending people of other faith, which is desirable for the Christian. No, with Selmanovic and others in the Emergent Church we cross the line into participating in pagan religions, which has always been something God forbids. O, but just because Jesus wants us to know — what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons (1 Corinthians 10:20), heretics like Selmanovic aren’t going to let a little thing like what the Lords says stop them because they are — lovers of self (2 Timothy 3:2).

Come Now, Let Us Bow Down As One Before Pagan Idols And Religious Superstitions

You think I overstate; think again, and consider the following tweet from Samir Selmanovic earlier today:



(Online source)

Briefly, “the other” is Liberalism 2.0-speak for their belief that God is at work within all other religions; these neo-Gnostics believe they need to discover what God is supposedly doing in these other religions. Selmanovic told us his views in an earlier book, which was edited by the dubious duo of Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt; when he mused this mythology:


Can it be that the teachings of the gospel are embedded and can be found in reality itself rather than being exclusively isolated in sacred texts and our interpretations of those texts? If the answer is yes, can it be that they are embedded in other stories, other peoples’ histories, and even other religions?…


God’s table is welcoming all who seek, and if any religion is to win, may it be the one that produces people who are the most loving, the most humble, the most Christlike. Whatever the meaning of “salvation” and “judgement,” we Christians are going to be saved by grace,like everyone else, and judged by our works, like everyone else…


For most critics of such open Christianity, the problem with inclusiveness is that it allows for truth to be found in other religions. To emerging Christians, that problem is sweet… Moreover, ifnon-Christians can know our God, then we want to benefit from their contribution to our faith.[2]

This is not Christianity; it’s at best universalism, and at worst, it’s pagan universalism as we see when we follow Selmanovic’s link above to LIVING ROOM Samhain: A Season of Harvest, a Circle of Remembrance:

(Online source) 

Um, yeah; that is a pentagram you’re looking at, and:

(Online source)

Yet Selmanovic gushes:



(Online source)

Uh-huh; that’s an allegedy Christian Emerging Church leader “celebrating,” with a coven of witches, the superstition of Samhain:

(Online source)

Apparently while he’s been busy with his study of pagan practices Samir seems to have forgotten that Jesus told us in Luke 16:19-31 that once one departs this life they either end up in hades or in paradise; there is no time of any thin veil, and they are not free to walk about anywhere. Sadly, Selmanovic apparently forgot that practices of craft are an abomination to the Lord:


There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

Yeah, that really doesn’t look to me like God thinks His children ought to be learning from Wiccans; but this is exactly what Selmanovic was doing:

(Online source)

Remind me again; why are these Emerging Church apostates even remotely considered to be evangelical?



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Endnotes

[1] http://www.samirselmanovic.com/about/, 10/14/10.

[2] Samir Selmanovic, “The Sweet Problem of Inclusiveness – Finding Our God in the Other,” in An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones editors [Grand Rapids: Baker,
2007], 192, 195, 196, emphasis mine.

See also:

SAMIR SELMANOVIC AND BEING UNABLE TO FOLLOW JESUS WITHOUT ISLAM

CHRISTIAN AGNOSTIC ADELE SAKLER AND SAMIR SELMANOVIC DISCUSS CHRISTIAN ATHEISM

SAMIR SELMANOVIC HAS LEFT THE BUILDING

FULLER SEMINARY SPONSORS EMERGING CHURCH HERETIC DOUG PAGITT

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON OTHER RELIGIONS

THE EMERGING CHURCH AND THE NEW PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY ON CHRIST

IS SHANE CLAIBORNE A CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM?

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Keynote address -- Samir Selmanovic, Faith House Manhattan

Harvard University

Uploaded on Sep 22, 2011


Interfaith Conversations on the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11
Where were you? Where are we going?
Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Harvard University Interfaith Collaborative

The Harvard Interfaith Collaborative is comprised of the Harvard Chaplains, the student-driven Harvard College Interfaith Council, The Center for the Study of World Religions, The Pluralism Project, Harvard Divinity School, and other interested members of the Harvard community.
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Wild Goose Festival 2011 Bowie & Samir Curate Interfaith Events!

Jun 16, 2011
Wild Goose Festival 2011
Bowie & Samir Curate Interfaith Events!

June 23-26, 2011


Shakori Hills, North Carolina

Wild Goose Festival

Bowie, Samir, our families, and friends from around the country will be gathering next week in North Carolina for the first annual Wild Goose festival. As of yesterday, over 1200 people had made plans to join us for this collaborative extended weekend of art, music, justice, and spirituality.

If you have not bought your ticket yet, TODAY ONLY buy one and "share one free"! You don't need a special discount code to take advantage of this offer. Go to http://wildgoose.eventbrite.com and you will see this special at checkout.

If you are going, please email with your cell phone so we can meet up and mark the following events on your calendar!

2011 Interfaith Guests

Imam Abdullah Antepli
Muslim Chaplain at Duke University and Adjunct Faculty of Islamic Studies

Rabbi Or N. Rose
Associate Dean and Director of Interfaith and Social Justice programs at Hebrew College

Paul Knitter
Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary

Thurs, June 23 @ 4 pm
Opening Ceremony
Niggun lead by Rabbi Or N. Rose

Thurs, June 23 @ 7 pm
"What Does God Whisper to Christians: Models of Living Passionately in a Pluralist World"
With Paul Knitter & Samir Selmanovic

How do you balance your Christian identity, practice, and experience with inclusion and openness to other faiths? You don't. Forget the balance and radicalize instead. Prof. Paul Knitter, the greatest living theologian of Christian pluralism (and one of the kindest and most amusing Roman Catholic teachers) will lay out our options of living as passionate Christians in a world where conflict, triumphalism, isolation, and indifference have failed us. Samir Selmanovic of Faith House Manhattan will comment with questions, insights, and stories from his experience with Faith House Manhattan and other inter-religious co-laboratories.

Fri, June 24 @ 4 pm
"A Conversation with Islam"
With Abudullah Antepli

Sat, June 25 @ 2 pm
"Walking More Than One Path: Is Religious Multiple Belonging Possible?"
With Paul Knitter

Sat, June 25 @ 3 pm
"Going Deeper Through Inclusion: Perspectives on Religious Pluralism"
Be prepared to move beyond the superficial and be surprised by the conversation between three leaders in the modern interfaith movement: Imam Abdullah Antepli, Rabbi Or Rose, and Paul Knitter, Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary. This panel will explore Pluralism, the idea of more than one path to the divine, in the context of the modern quest to be deeply committed to one's own faith in a world of many religious paths. Moderated by Bowie Snodgrass, Executive Director of Faith House Manhattan.

Sat, June 25 @ 5 pm
"Kabbalah Beyond the Headlines"
Rabbi Or N. Rose


Posted on Jun 16, 2011

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Interfaith movement gains new strength

Breaking barriers, creating bonds with other religions

By Julia Duin

This is the first in a series of reports that will look at new efforts — driven largely by American faith leaders — to bridge old divisions among the nation's and the world's believers.

NEW YORK When FaithHouse Manhattan has its twice-monthly interfaith gatherings, the guest list is a carnival of religious belief and creed.

An Islamic Sufi dervish greets you at the door, but the program director, an Episcopalian, makes the announcements. A rabbi, a female Muslim and a Seventh-day Adventist share leadership of the meeting.

The night's program at FaithHouse, in a posh office just off Fifth Avenue, was the Jewish holiday of Purim. Oranges, nuts, apricots and hamentaschen, a Jewish holiday pastry, were offered as snacks. Participants put on costumes to act out the biblical story of Esther.

"People who have a hunger for religious experience can have a taste of it here," said Samir Selmanovic, the Adventist co-leader. Born in Croatia to a Muslim father and a Catholic mother, he helped found FaithHouse 18 months ago. Then he wrote a book, "It's All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian," on the plethora of religions that Americans are increasingly sampling.

FaithHouse is probably the only multireligious church in the country, but its jumble of faiths and practices is becoming less unusual in today's religious marketplace.

In a world in which sectarian divisions fuel some of the most violent and dangerous confrontations, the interfaith movement — once thought as irrelevant — has emerged as a force in American religion like never before.

The movement has made for some unlikely bedfellows, such as an emerging think tank for Jews and Mormons in Salt Lake City.

It involves unlikely alliances, such as when one of the most conservative Christian pro-life groups staged a news conference on Capitol Hill in September applauding a Muslim prayer service on the Mall.

It involves unlikely allies, such as leading Christian "emergent" leader Brian McLaren, who was roundly criticized during Ramadan last year when he fasted the entire month out of solidarity with Muslims.

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Read More @ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/05/interfaith-movement-gains-new-strength/
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