Yale Confirms High-Profile Names

I hope everyone in my neck of the woods is staying warm! And now that my face has finally thawed out, I can begin my post. As I mentioned in my last post, I emailed both Yale and Willow Creek to try to confirm whether, indeed, Bill Hybels and Rick Warren indefinitely signed this letter. I am pleased to let you know that I have received confirmation from Yale. While I appreciate their response, I am somewhat disturbed to find out that, without a doubt, Bill Hybels and Rick Warren, along with all the other high-profile names DID sign this letter.

I know I shouldn't be surprised at this, but I have a hard time believing everything seems to be moving so fast. Believing Jesus Christ is God is "essential" (to steal a term from the emerging church "unity push") to our faith. To say we can love God together with Muslims is absolutely offensive, when the Islam religion rejects Jesus Christ as God.

Here is an excerpt from the email Yale's Associate Director of the Reconciliation Program sent me, addressing my questions of how they monitored the names on the letter, particularly Bill Hybels and Rick Warren, which was published as an advertisement in the New York Times on November 18. Here is part of their personal email response to my email:

"In answer to your inquiry, all of the high-profile signatories listed in the Nov. 18 New York Times advertisement, including Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, were added in response to a direct invitation from someone here at Yale Divinity School, or through invitation by a direct Yale Divinity School contact. This was verified through written and/or telephone confirmation in all cases. With few exceptions, all of the approximately 300 signatures presently listed on the Yale Divinity School website were similarly obtained...."We very much appreciate your concern for accuracy and integrity in these matters of such significance, and are working hard to ensure that nobody is publicly misrepresented in any way."

So, according to Yale, Bill Hybels and Rick Warren were directly contacted by Yale and they definitely signed this letter. I am going to pass this information on to some people in leadership in, which very recently became my "former home", church. We no longer attend there after meeting with the pastor to discuss these emerging church issues and his confirmation that they would not be withdrawing from Willow Creek Association and saw no reason to do so.

When the world's major religions (Christianity and Islam) start believing and agreeing that we all worship the same God, there will no longer be a need to evangelize. And, eventually, it is likely that those who do try to "convert" people to Christianity will be shunned and intensely persecuted even in the western world. It's already started to happen. And then, when the antichrist does come (and he will), he will be widely welcomed by a world who already believes we all worship the same God.

"Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down theirAsherim
--for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God--otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice," Exodus 34:12-15

I wouldn't dare even think of signing this letter that dances with this idea that the God of the Bible and the God of the Koran are the same, so we can share "a common love for God".

I fear God, not men.

Our God is a jealous God.

Are those who signed this letter trying to arouse the Lord's anger?