I wonder if the next time Billy or Franklin Graham or some other high profile Christian comes to town if the school district will be so quick to bus the kids on over to the event? What’s more, where is the likes of the A.C.L.U. when we need them? What about their ever-loving “separation of Church and State?” Perhaps we should all just email and call the Seattle school district offices congratulating them on finally seeing things our way and offer to volunteer when in the future the kids are bused to hear some famous Bible believing Christian speaker?

Second, in this supposedly “non-religious” event there was a lineup of speakers, panelists and participants that would surely rival the list whom the Antichrist will some day assemble to support his announcement of a full blown one-world religion (See Revelation 13).

Do any names on the list leap out at you? How about Emerging Church leader Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church of Grandville, MI?

Bell and fellow Emergent leader Doug Pagitt (Solomon’s Porch of Minneapolis), who was also a conference participant, seem to be a logical fit with the Dalai Lama. Pagitt was listed as an “Evangelical” in the conference materials and website yet he has proclaimed openly that “the gospel can be found in other world religions.” It is because of unbiblical nonsense like this that I am no longer referring to myself as an “evangelical.” Instead, please just call me a “Bible believer.”

About his philosophy, Bell told Christianity Today in 2004 "This is not just the same old message with new methods. We're rediscovering Christianity as an Eastern religion, as a way of life. Legal metaphors for faith don't deliver a way of life. We grew up in churches where people knew the nine verses why we don't speak in tongues, but had never experienced the overwhelming presence of God."

The Seeds of Compassion conference surely sums up much of what appeals to Emergents. They believe that the message of Christianity is outdated and needs a facelift. They seek to transform it into some sort of Eastern mystic idea that they believe will appeal to their target audience of postmoderns. They also long for a time when doctrine no longer stands in the way of full-blown spiritual experiences. For in Emergent thinking, experiences seem to rule over God inspired absolute truth. Since it would appear that most Emergent leaders are long on feelings, social change and abandoning the past, perhaps Bell and Pagitt got some ideas and pointers on how to achieve their goals for spirituality while in Seattle with the Dalai Lama.

I do wonder who contacted who about participating in the Seattle gathering? Did an organizer from Seattle realize that the apostate Emergent movement was a natural to join forces with Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, mystic Catholics, assorted liberals and UN representatives for lively panel discussions during the Seeds of Compassion get together? Since Emergents seek to reinvent every facet of Christianity from doctrine to practice, then the quest for cosmic “selfianity” and higher spirituality offered by Buddhism must surely hold special appeal. After all, to these allegedly Evangelical leaders, biblical and doctrinal Christianity is extremely boring and outdated. Folks, the predicted end-time apostasy is indeed in full swing (II Thess. 2:3).

In a session titled “InterSpiritual Panel Discussion with His Holiness the Dalai Lama – Inspiring Compassion in Our Youth: Youth and Spiritual Connection Dialogue” both Bell and Pagitt participated. My, that sounds great on the surface doesn’t it? But regardless of all of the sincerity they can muster, these folks are all playing directly into Satan’s hands.

Other “Seeds” sessions included:

“Evangelicals and InterSpiritual Friends: Recovering the Compassionate Tradition of Jesus” (with Rob Bell)

“The Group Experience as an Inroad towards Integrating the Mind, Body, Spirit and Soul” Which is described as follows: “Join together in a journey addressing the ways in which children and adolescents can use internal reflection to become mindful of their thoughts and feelings, the way the body influences the mind, and the causative factors in our motivation.” (In other words “use eastern meditation to become focused.”)

“Yoga for a Healthy Body and a Kind Heart” “For children ages 6-10 and their parents or care-givers: play games, listen to stories and practice yoga postures while learning how to benefit the body, mind, and heart.” (Pagitt promotes Yoga in his Minneapolis church.)

Conclusion

It is just this sort of religious, New Age and universalistic amalgamation that the powers of darkness thrive in. To the unsuspecting it all sounds so positive – “The Seeds of Compassion.” With the shape of our world today, one really can’t blame the world for trying to figure solutions to its problems. Buddhism and “Kingdom Now” or preterist theology (which alleged Evangelicals like Brian McLaren and Rick Warren seem to hold to) both perfectly fit this mold. This teaching tells us that we somehow are the saviors of the planet and that we had better figure it out. In Buddhism, we humans are the answer to all that ails us too. However, with his demonic ability to forge the world’s religions together as one, this is the exact tact that Antichrist will use to gain trust and control over the masses. It will be sold to the unregenerate mindset as what is “right for the common good.” Mark my words - in days ahead there will be many who claim to be Christians and many who will be recognizable, high profile leaders who will blissfully lead their followers down the proverbial garden path and into the arms of the Man of Sin. I believe that many of the same deceived, apostate teachers who will lobby for and do the bidding of the Antichrist will also be responsible for the ridicule, marginalizing and persecution of authentic Bible Believers in the days just before the Son of Perdition is revealed to the world.

Frankly, it doesn’t take a prophecy expert to see that many tentacles of the predicted last-days are at work around us. From the general rise of evil and the acceptance of occultism as “normal” to the great “falling away” of those who have previously professed to be Christians, the signs of the times are evident. When one couples the great state of unrest which our world is in with the mass proliferation of false religions and new age philosophies how can Bible believers help but deduce that the return of the Lord Jesus must surely be near?

The Dalai Lama and his one-world religion entourage may have come to Seattle but surely, the Holy One of Israel is indeed on his way as well. Amen.