How do I know If My Church is Purpose Driven?

To Note:  2 Timothy 3: ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.   (If you dont read your Bible, Its time to start reading God's Living Word)

You have read my arguments here on the blog about Seeker Friendly. You have also read my post to see I flat out called it WRONG and UnBiblical. That is all TRUE and Those who know and read  the bible, would also agree or would they? I would certainly hope so.. :)  Even some who know the word of God can fall to the deception that is out to get them. I have seen this happen. This is why it is important to not only know and stay in Gods Word, but diligently seek after him. Pray about everything. He has all the answers and will give you the answers. So, how do you know if your church is purpose driven?

Well, I hope this will help you. I wanted to share this pamphlet I got from Jack Van Impe Ministries along with one of the DVD's (Select Catalog to View) I ordered to help those around me better understand the new merge to SEEKER FRIENDLY and Chrislam. Both of which ARE NOT of God or BIBLICALLY Supported and DO take you away from Gods Word only to teach you to believe Mans Word as well as teach you that Jesus is a liar and came back to earth to worship ALLAH! SO WRONG! So please, be cautious when searching a church to attend. Know all you can about that church. Ask questions about the church, leadership, beliefs and directions of that church. Most of all PRAY about that church and wait for your answer. I will say, I do recommend both of JVI Ministry DVD's (Select Catalog To View) covering this topic. As I post the information, I will honestly tell you, I been through this and as I read this pamphlet, my jaw drops everytime. I didnt know what it was then, but I did learn more over the years about it and now I am more alert for this move...

This pamphlet I got, is loaded so I will only briefly post some of this pamphlet and also bring out a few points that Mr. Van Impe noted. ( Please read on first, If at the end of this post, You wish to view the pamphlet online and to its entirety, Click Here & Scroll Down To Purpose Driven & you can download the full pamphlet under number 24, there will be a link. )

Is Your Church Going Purpose Driven? How can you tell?
In the past 10 years a large % of churches in America, and in other countries, have changed from a traditional to a contemporary Purpose Driven model, many with sorroful results. Now, Millions are leaving the churches after the changes have occured. Every church member needs to know if their church is targeted for the Purpose Driven takeover.

How this works: The pastor or new pastor and a small clique of church staff have plans or plan to make the change without telling the rest of the church membership. (This sounds familiar..)

Church transitions: An associate of Saddleback Church in California trains the clique initiating the change in eight published steps. And... The church membership IS NOT to be informed until the fourth step!  (Say what...)  After the sixth step, if there are some in the church who voice concerns, the following is suggested:    ( O Lord, I sooo remember these, Yup! I voiced!)

• Identify those who are resisting the changes
• Assess the effectiveness of their opposition
• Befriend those who are undecided about the changes
• Marginalize more persistent resisters
• Vilify those who stay and fight
• Establish new rules that will silence all resistance           (Yup... and He did)

What does all of this mean? YOU ARE NOT TOLD UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE! Accept it or leave the church. ( I could add what I was told, But I wont!)  Rick Warren is the Author of Purpose Driven. I encourage you to learn all about him, his ministry and what the Purpose Driven Church (Seeker Friendly Church is all about. You can find more out by reading the full pamplet in its entirety here, Scrolling Down To Purpose Driven & you can download the full pamphlet under number 24, there will be a link. (Please Keep Reading On First)

While some PDC initiators do not initiate all at once the full PDC format, Generally these are the signs to indicate your church is heading that way.

What is the PDC format?   ( I will list the top 13, but you will need to view the full PDC format by click the linked sections above.)

• Change of Music to Contemporary Rock Style  (I will say, Some contemporary music more worshipful is excluded as, worship contemporary has been in the church for a long time.)
• Removal of Hymn Books, Eliminating the Choir  ( I so loved choir, Singing some of the Hymns, who would want to eliminate all of the hymns?)
• Replacement of Organ and Piano with Heavy Metal Instruments (Again this falls in line with Contemporary Music. I do not believe all Contemporary Music falls in this category - Thats my personal belief and I belief the Lord would convict me if I was wrong and I have not been led otherwise I think we all need to be careful of latching on to a religious spirit. While I do agree with much of these, I do believe some might be a bit to religous. I will explain more below this section.)
• Repetitive singing of praise lyrics
• Dressing Down to Casual Attire (While I believe dress attire is not as big of a concerns as this is made, I do believe that dressing conservatively is a must. Showing of bodily parts or tight clothing really is unnecessary and wrong. However, I will say that whether we dress up or dress conservative casual does not matter. We are accepted as we are, The Father is not concerned about your outfit as much as He is your soul! )
• Eliminating of business meetings, church committees, council of elders, board of deacons, etc.
• The pastor, or new leader with a few assistants, usually four, takes charge of all church business.
• A repetitive 40    Day Purpose Driven Church Study program stressing psychological relationships with each other, the community, or the world begins.   
• Funded budgeted programs are abandoned, or ignored, with ambiguous financial reports made.
• Sunday morning, evening, and or Wednesday prayer meetings are changed to other times; some may even be eliminated.
• Sunday school teachers are moved to different classes, or replaced by new teachers more sympathetic with the changes being implemented.
•  The name "Sunday School" is dropped and classes are given new names
• Crosses and other traditional Christian Symbols may be moved from both the inside and outside of the church building. The pulpit may also be moved.

When you go to the website noted above, scroll down to Purpose Driven. Under #24, you can download the full pamphlet I am posting about!

I can honestly say, I have seen one or more of the above and others noted on the format done. If I wanted to go really deep in to this, I could tell you all I was told for resisting this new change, But... I will not! :) You can ask me sometime if you like.

Now one thing I did want to specify is the religous spirit. Boy that can be dangerous if we allow ourself to get consumed by religous spirits. (been here to) Just because you go to church that does not make you religious.

So lets look at how Religious Spirits are defined briefly: a.) It acutally can be defined several ways; a group of evil spirits which inspire loyalty to religious concepts and practices in such a way as to oppose and possibly to counterfeit the true work of the Holy Spirit. b.) (mindset) seeks to substitute religious activity for the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God in the believer’s life. Cultivated, Intimidating.     ... ( could probably go on) ...

 James 1:26-27 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

So just to clarify, though I do believe the above format to be 99% true, I do believe that it is not specified clearly and in some cases may be more strict then to what I believe Gods Word says. To clarify, I do not believe ALL Contemporary worship should be included in with the change of music at these churches. Much of the Contemporary is Worship and some with added Rock Worship. I do believe we should be careful what types of music we do listen to as it can be displeasing to the Lord. That is where you need to seek the Lord for direction over that area. I also believe the restricting of instruments may be going a bit too far. It is not about the instrument itself, but HOW the instrument is played with in the church and out. Take a look at Psalm 150:1-6.

Psalm 150: 1-6  Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heaven! 2 Praise him for his mighty works; praise his unequaled greatness! Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn; praise him with the lyre and harp! Praise him with the tambourine and dancing; praise him with strings and flutes! Praise him with a clash of cymbals; praise him with loud clanging cymbals. Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!  Praise the Lord!

Again, I do not believe its right to oust every instrument just because the secular world uses it. It is not the instrument, It is how the instrument is played!

Right quickly, somethings I wanted to point out from Mr. Van Impe to also help you as you get educated about this new trend. First of all, notice the scripture at the top of this post. 2 Timothy 3:16. ALL scripture IS God Breathed! Not man spoken, but God breathed! So it is extremely important you know what Gods Living Word says by reading your bible daily, even if it is just for 10 minutes a day! Dont forget, Pray and seek a relationship with the Lord.

Mr Van Impe notes: Along with the push to Purpose Driven, we should error on caution. When you are selecting a bible, Stick with the VERSION bibles. Why? There are version bibles which are bibles that come from a group of believers that Agreed the Hebrew/Greek Word is indeed Gods Word. Then there are Paraphrase Bibles, Which is a bible made up from ONE mans beliefs, views of the text, Inner thoughts about what scriptures says to him. (In other words, Man Made, Man Spoken Bibles!

Few example of a paraphrase bible: The Message Bible, The Living Bible. Some scriptures may be put better then other translations but keep in mind, these bibles are Man Spoken, Man Wrote.

Malachi 3:⁷ Ever since the days of your ancestors, you have scorned my decrees and failed to obey them. Now return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

(Sorry if this post is long)

Another thing He notes and I want to note this here also. While we are seeing this push to merge the church, Purpose Driven. There is another push everyone needs to be aware of. That is to merge Christianity with Islam. Hense - Chrislam. The rise of Chrislam is moving across the world. Mr. Van Impe urges believers and non believers to understand what in fact Chrislam really is. (Which is what both of his DVD's (Select Catalog To View) discuss.)

How Mr. Van Impe explained Chrislam is this: Muslims love Jesus because they believe Jesus came back to earth and admitted that He lied to all believers. That He did not die on the cross, but, someone died in his place. They believe Jesus admits, He was sent to earth to serve ALLAH! They speak peace and happieness living in harmony. Pushing this merge of Christianity to Islam calling it Chrislam serving ONLY Allah.

THIS IS NOT TRUE! Read Gods Living Word! Please, Get in the word and seek TRUTH!

If Islam truly is a religion of PEACE, Why are there so many Islamic Radicals murdering innocent people, causing wars, promoting suicide bombers all IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, Because ALLAH told them to do it?!  

Does this sound like PEACE, HAPPIENESS, LIVING IN HARMONY? Lets truly think about this a moment!  Gods Word is The Only Living Word, proclaims TRUTH. GOD is LOVE. NOT Allah!   Allah IS Hate, Hurt, Destruction... Remember 9/11.


Jesus IS God's Son, Jesus DID die on the Cross, Jesus WAS resurrected, Jesus IS seated on the Throne, at the right hand of God. Jesus IS coming back to recieve a spotless church. Jesus DID NOT LIE, HE was NOT SENT to serve ALLAH..   

Exodus 20: ³ “You shall have no other gods before Me

Lastly, to make clear this final part: The message of Christ IS "LOVE."

Matthew 5:⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

Gods Message is LOVE: 1 Corinthians 13:⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

We as a nation of Gods People have turned from Him. We must repent and change our ways back to Gods ways. In closing I ask that you join me the continual prayer for our country, the leaders and the direction we are heading in as a nation. May God have mercy on this country and the people with in, May He bless this country and draw all who are willing back to the very foundation of His truths we find in the Word Of God.

2 Chronicles 7:¹⁴ Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

 Blessings!