WisteriaDrapedWishingwells

Nicky Gumbel is a London barrister who converted to Christianity and became an ordained Anglican Minister at the Church of Holy Trinity, Brompton, London. He uses an approach to everything Christian called Alpha. If one were to gauge my ride into Alpha by traffic lights, at the moment the light is still green.

What exactly IS Alpha?

"Alpha is appealing to millions of people across the board, from the Roman Catholic church to the Salvation Army." Rachael Kohn

3.8 million had done the course by 2001, and it was said that 4 million all around the world had completed the course also. The Alpha couse is available in 130 countries around the world and Alpha is run in 80% of the prisons in the UK. More recent statistics say the course has been translated into over 50 different languages and over 6 million people have joined the course. (statistic from Christian Today)

Again, what is Alpha?

According to Christian Order’s editor, Rod Pead, Alpha is merely "the latest in the long line of New Age/Protestant Trojan horses to be wheeled into Catholic parishes with episcopal blessing."

It is a 15 session course with 10 weeks and one weekend."The weekend we look at really the work of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Day of Pentecost was not a one-off event. Of course in one sense it was a non-repeatable event but in another sense the miracle of Pentecost continues in history. God is still pouring out his spirit on people. And that’s what we’re seeing." Nicky Gumbel... "there’s no charge for coming on Alpha. We believe it’s important that people should have an opportunity to explore these issues free of charge."

So far I am not really too concerned with Alpha, but I think I need to pause at the orange light and think things through for a bit, so let us dig a little deeper and see what other people have to say.

"I got a chance to interview Mr. Gumbel.He is resolute that the Catholic religion is just another denomination of the Christian faith, and is happy with anything that calls itself Trinitarian. He has read Vatican 2 and can find nothing wrong with it.All his Catholic friends are very happy with Alpha too. We must reject the ethos and teaching of Nicky Gumbel and Holy Trinity Brompton" A TAle of Two Cities-Rome Pt 1- Fred Nile MLC.

So what were Fred Nile's grounds for the aforementioned statement?
1 - They accept Catholic heresy and encourage others to.
2 - They endorse Vatican 2, the Catechism and the Counsels which enthrone Mary as co-redeemer with Christ, which declare justification by faith alone to be accursed, and which have never retracted the atrocities of the centuries committed against the true Christian church.
3 - They preach ecumenical churchianity, and not Christ and Him crucified alone; they desire the complete fusion of all professing Christians (false and true) into one millennial superfaith - with the Bible and the uniqueness of our Saviour discarded (see Jan. 1996 HTB In Focus newspaper for plans for the ecumenical millennium village).

Let us also with love and supplication beseech the Lord to have mercy on those bent upon the perversion of His truth and those affected by them.

Okay, so one must now ask the question, what is ecumenical churchianity? I guess, first, for those who don't know what ecumenical means.

First, how in the world do you say it and where did it come from? "ecumenism" (ek-yoo-muh-niz-uhm) is derived from the Greek oikoumene, which means "the inhabited world". There are many spins on the word but the outcome is the same, as you will see by the following definitions.
1. ("worldwide") referring to an action or structure broader than the local church or denomination, ordinarily referring to Christian groups
2. ecumenic: concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions; "ecumenical thinking"; "ecumenical activities"; "the ecumenical movement"
3. cosmopolitan: of worldwide scope or applicability; "an issue of cosmopolitan import"; "the shrewdest political and ecumenical comment of our time"- Christopher Morley; "universal experience"
4. The term is usually used with regard to movements toward religious unity. In its most broad meaning therefore, ecumenism is the religious initiative towards world-wide unity. At a minimum, ecumenism is the promotion of unity, co-operation, or improved understanding between distinct religious groups or denominations within the same religion more or less broadly defined.

Sounds fairly harmless so far doesn't it? So who else subscribes to this ideal and where is it taking us? Is it taking us toward unity (the desired goal) or is this ideal taking a lot of people to hell in a handbasket? Let's read other people's points of view:

"Ecumenism calls us to accept all baptized persons, lay and clergy, as full members of "our" church. We can rejoice that much has happened in the past fifty years: de facto open communion exists among almost all Protestant churches; though not sanctioned officially, it is also happening between Protestants and Roman Catholics; many Christians act "as if" barriers no longer exist, and this trend is increasing. However, though all Christians should be able to share one Eucharistic table, it is a scandal today that this is not yet possible. Transcending remaining barriers between Protestants, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Pentecostals is an ecumenical priority." Bill Perkins
(Served for 21 years in Geneva, Switzerland, with the World Council of Churches.)

Um, okay so this is the scene playing out in my mind, the Pope, Benny Hinn, Rodney Howard -Brown, Brian Tamaki, Tak Bhana, Nicky Gumbel and the Arch Bishop of Canterbury sitting around a table breaking bread because they all share each other's beliefs and philosophy? Um, somehow not only can I not imagine this ever happening, but what a sad day for us all would it be if it did? You see the differences between what these people individually believe are not only profound, but at a fundamental level most do not even line up with each other. RED LIGHT!

Why would you WANT unity between these sectors? Can you even begin to imagine the further compromises that would be needed to be made on the part of all of them and then the resulting version of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Hmm, methinks me smells a rat! I have well and truly enough info to stop me proceeding down this road any further, but just so that you know, we will discuss the rest, BUT just keep your vehicle in park!

BUT WAIT! There's more, you see this is exactly the ideal being espoused by some of these people.

Benny Hinn: was invited as guest speaker to the Australian Assemblies of God Conference in May 1997, where once more he spoke favourably of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. At that Conference he told how he had met with Cardinal Sin of the Philippines(died July 4th, 2005), with whom he formed an agreement to encourage people who attended his crusade not to leave the Roman Catholic Church. The Cardinal in turn promised to encourage Roman Catholics to attend the Hinn Crusade.

AGAIN- According to Christian Order’s editor, Rod Pead, Alpha is merely "the latest in the long line of New Age/Protestant Trojan horses to be wheeled into Catholic parishes with episcopal blessing."

I am showing the slow bluring of the lines between even theology amongst denominations that were once very distinct, different and in almost opposition to each other. Also showing that my idea that it could never happen is completely wrong, completely erroneous, so that leaves us with only the last part of my assertion, the contemplation of: methinks me smells a rat, methinks I just saw one in the flesh!

Now ecumenical has evolved from merely just a word into something bigger and more sinister. Yet more info and opinions on the ecumenical movement and that is what it actually is, it is a movement, no longer just and idea or an ideal espoused by people with fluffy ideaology:

1) The NCC is not primarily a spiritual organization. It is the primary business of the church to attend to spiritual matters, to present Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour that men and women will be converted and equipped by the Holy Spirit for every good work. We believe the primary concern of the Church should be the care of souls, not the winning of elections and the implementation of social legislation.
2) The NCC is an organization preparing the way for a super-church. The NCC (and the WCC) deny aspirations to become a world church, but certainly they are preparing the way for this. We are not saying the WCC is a superchurch, but it will eventually lead to one. Many of its leaders believe that when its work is done, it must disappear as a fellowship of churches, in the creation of the one great world church. Update on the Ecumenical Movement by Craig Alan Myers

So, as you can see, it is really important to understand what is being said to you because initially Nicky Gumbel and his Alpha course seemed fairly harmless, until we began to investigate some of the words and names associated with the philosophy behind Alpha.
Anyway, so back to Nicky Gumbel, seeing as how he was the original topic of discussion. What does Nicky Gumbel have to say about Alpha, from his own mouth, in his own words?
"I believe it is no coincidence," he stated in May 1995, ‘that the present movement of the Holy Spirit [Toronto Blessing] has come at the same time as the explosion of the Alpha course. I think the two go together’." Nicky Gumbel

Ask yourself some serious questions here,
WHO IS THE FATHER OF THE TORONTO BLESSING? WHO SUBSCRIBES TO THE TORONTO BLESSING?
WHAT DOES THE TORONTO BLESSING INVOLVE? WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE TOUCHED BY ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE TORONTO BLESSING?
WHERE DID IT COME FROM? WHERE ARE THE BIBLICAL SCRIPTURES TO SUPPORT THIS?
WHEN DID IT START?
WHY THE TORONOTO BLESSING? WHY DO THEY FOLLOW IT?
HOW DOES IT IMPACT ON CHRISTIANITY TODAY? HOW DOES IT IMPACT ON ME AND MY LIFE WITH CHRIST?

From my Rodney Howard-Browne page..."At HTB (Holy Trinity, Brompton) I saw individuals with a "pill rolling" action of their hands and others with serious psychological problems. These people were not being helped...They had come with real needs, but were just being manipulated." (pp.13-15) Dr Gaius Davies King's College Hospital, London. (Um, who is the minister there again?) That's right, Nicky Gumbel.

Now we get into the dirty stuff, commonly called moolah, dosh, money. Read the following statement by Pead: in regard to the Alpha course: remember the earlier statement by Nicky Gumbel? "there’s no charge for coming on Alpha. We believe it’s important that people should have an opportunity to explore these issues free of charge."

Pead says that not only is it a big business, involving an estimated million participants worldwide, "built on copyrights, target figures, line charts, and multimillion pound advertising campaigns," it is a direct descendant of the Toronto Blessing. The latter is "a so-called Baptism of the Holy Spirit which induces hysterical, animal-like behavior (uncontrolled laughter, shaking, gibberish, grunting, howling, etc.) among congregations"

Um, okay, so where have we read THIS before?

(Remember, the Toronto Blessing was inspired by the preaching of Rodney Howard-Browne, which culminates in Alpha [devised by Nicky Gumbel] being tied in with Benny Hinn and Rodney Howard-Browne, and the ecumenical movement, a scary contemplation on its own.)

There is much more that I could say, but I am going to leave it here because I think a clear enough picture has been presented.

I am a proponent of the idea that you should check out everything carefully when it comes to suscribing to someone else's ideas and ideals about religion, beliefs espoused etc. It is important to check out those catchy words as we did here. Some words are seemingly innocent, neato, eye catching, interest sparking things, but upon further examination it is apparent that they are actually critical to understanding what it is that you are getting involved in. One should always apply these six important words to new ideas and ideals, who, what, when, where, why and how .

Admiral John Jackie Fisher once said, "Never explain and never apologise."

Oddly enough I do not agree with the entire philosophy of his little catch phrase because I think it reeks and smacks of arrogance. I think we should always explain, however I am also of the belief that we are not always required to apologise, so I do not apologise for my stance on Nicky Gumbel & Alpha, but it is my hope that I have explained it in a reasonably coherent manner.

Piczo