WCGIP
Report & Analysis 
Kiruna & Davao 
by Sandy Simpson, Apologetics Coordination Team,

October 2006

INTRODUCTION

I urge anyone reading this chapter to also read the other articles in the WCGIP section of the DITC web site.  It will help you understand the width and breadth of false teaching in this movement. 

This chapter contains quotes from the last two WCGIP events. What is amazing to me is that the word “Gospel” and “evangelism” (or “evangelization” ... two different terms) are being used freely by the leadership and participants of this movement when it is clear they have little or no understanding of those terms from a Biblical standpoint. You cannot claim you are reaching people with the Gospel while, at the same time, teaching that God has been redeeming the Gentile pagan nations (such as we all were) through the stars, their cultures, their customs and their religions long before the Gospel ever was preached. That is a clear denial of the Biblical statements that Gentiles did not know God. Gentiles did not have salvation, they were not worshipping God, nor did they have hope before they heard the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter what Terry LeBlanc, Richard Twiss, Daniel Kikawa and his friends claim. 

Eph. 2:11-13  Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

There is no way to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to know the mystery of the reconciliation available through the cross, without it being preached. 

Rom. 10:14-15  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

The Bible states over and over that the Gentiles did not know God. 

1Co 1:21  For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Ga 4:8  But then, indeed, when you (speaking to the Galatian Gentiles) did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.
1Th 4:5  not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
1Jo 3:1  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2 Thes. 1:8-9  He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

The very premise of the WCGIP is fatally flawed on this count alone.  But there are many other teachings that prove that those who lead this movement are false teachers and that this movement needs to be avoided by true believers, whether Jew or Gentile. Christian organizations that have endorsed and cooperated with this movement need to reassess their involvement. 

QUOTES

The next two quotes are from the 2005 WCGIP in Kiruna.

Terry LeBlanc, who’s native American himself, stressed that if we don’t create indigenous theology, indigenous people have to make an impossible choice, they have to choose between Christianity and their own cultural identity.1

First of all Christians are not to create theology. We follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostles and prophets (Tit. 1:9, 2 Pet. 3:2, Eph. 2:20) as they have been taught. There is no difference between theology for any people group, Jew or Gentile. It is all the same. We are to remain in the unity of the Faith (Eph. 4:13) and theology comes from the same source, the Bible. It’s called sound doctrine (Tit. 1:9; 2:1). That is our guide. Those who make up new doctrines are soundly rebuked in Scripture (1 Tim. 1:3, 6:3-4) and we are to stay away from those who make up myths (2 Tim. 4:3). If you study the quotes in this book about the new mythologies from this movement you will know what I am talking about. 

Gavriel Gefen in his teaching added that if you ask a person to deny his culture when becoming a Christian, you're asking him to deny the people and to give up the weapons God has given him in his culture to testify to God and express His glory through all that is good in the culture. Thus the person becomes marginalized in his own culture instead of becoming a “missionary” in his culture. This way he might even prevent his own people from coming to know Christ, whom they ultimately long to see expressed in ways that they can identify with.2

I can only assume Gavriel has not read the New Testament lately. Paul, a Jewish Pharisee, gave up everything for the cause of Christ (Phil 3:4-11). Perhaps Gavriel and his “Messianic” Jews who are back in the synagogues should take this into consideration. How can a Jewish Christian be a witness to unconverted Jews when they are practicing Judaism which does not accept Jesus Christ as the Messiah? Jewish Christians are not to go back to the “weak and miserable principles” that “enslaved” them (Gal. 4:9). That is what the Bible calls being a Judaizer (Gal. 2:4-5). 

God IS asking us to “deny” ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23). If we follow Jesus Christ we will be rejected of men as He was (1 Pet. 2:4), and hated by the world (John 15:18). The world consists of every people group and culture. Christians are not here to win a popularity contest or gain followers by shmoozing people. We are here to be light and salt (Matt. 5:13-16) and tell the truth (1 Cor. 2:13, 1 John 4:6). The “weapons” we have been given are (1) the Gospel (Rom. 1:16) and then, after we become believers, our weapons against the enemy are (2) the armor of God which we are to put on (Eph. 6:10-18). There is nothing in the Bible about weapons we use as believers having anything to do with culture. 

Christians DID become “marginalized” in their cultures! How much more marginalized could the Christians be under the Roman Empire who gave their lives so that the Gospel message would not die but live on into our generation? Would that more Christians would risk marginalization to reach, for instance, the Muslims. They need to hear that their false god Allah, their false Scriptures, and their false prophet are leading them to hell. But then that message can get you marginalized right into an early grave! I have never seen anything in Scripture or in church history where the Gospel has been presented and it “prevented” people from knowing Christ. People either accept the fact that they are sinners in need of a Savior, or they do not. No amount of complimenting their cultures, allowing them to continue to perform pagan rituals, or standing up for past injustices will do anything to bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

If the Gospel has been reduced to only presenting it in ways “that they can identify with” then no one would have ever been saved. The Gospel is a message NOBODY can identify with. It is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (1 Cor. 1:23), those who do not believe and accept it.

In the Press Release for the 2006 WCGIP in Davao, Philippines it stated the following:

The purpose of the 2006 WCGIP is (1) to present the unique role of the Indigenous People in the Body of Christ in fulfilling God’s revival and destiny for the nations. (2) to discover together how redeemed indigenous culture can be utilized as an expression of worship and vehicle for evangelism. (3) to identify the hindrances affecting the active participation of Indigenous Peoples in the Body of Christ. (4) to provide a forum to discuss the appropriate Christian response to the issues concerning the Indigenous People. ... Organized by Tribal Mission Foundation International ... the 2006 WCGIP is in partnership with the Intercessors for the Philippines, Wycliffe Asia, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, and Alliance of Christian Development Agencies.3

First of all, God is not causing there to be a great end times revival. This is Latter Rain false theology, as the Bible clearly teaches that the end times will see a time of apostasy, a falling away from the faith (2 Thes. 2:3). 

God hoped to use Israel to redeem people from all nations, yet they were often disobedient and did not invite the Gentiles to know and accept God. In the New Testament there is no mention of cultures redeeming people or cultures. He has always used individuals, part of the body of Christ, to preach the Gospel and disciple converts from all nations (Mark 16:15, Matt. 28:19). 

There have never been “hindrances” to ANYONE becoming part of the body of Christ from the true body of Christ, only from the world. There are examples of hindrances from outside of orthodoxy, inside and outside of the Church, but the Gospel has always been a message of freedom that frees the prisoners (Ps. 146:7).  This tactic of vilifying God's people and missionaries is all part of the diaprax, the brainwashing, of indigenous people into this unbiblical movement. 

Notice the organizations that now sponsor the WCGIP. It is sad to see heretofore Biblical agencies fall into this apostasy. They have been sent material exposing the false doctrines of this movement from other and me, but they have chosen to be in league with these false teachers. As I have detailed in the chapter Blasphemizeing the Bible, Wycliffe and other Bible translators are now aiding this movement by seeking out the names of the local “supreme being” deities and using those names in place of YHWH or God in new translations of the Bible.

The same WCGIP Press Release goes on to say:

The Role of Indigenous Peoples ...We believe that Indigenous people have a key role to the revival of a nation. As the original inhabitants of the land, they have a spiritual authority over the land that is uniquely different from other peoples. Yet, most of them have been reduced to “minorities” often neglected and found in the most desolate areas of the world where the poorest of the poor now live. ... One of the hopes for these gatherings is for the whole Body of Christ to recognize that culture plays a significant role in the church movement.4

God has not given any special “spiritual authority” to the people who live in a particular area, and there is no Biblical justification for this teaching. In fact, they brought with them worship of false gods all the way back to Babel and they did not know God (1 Cor. 1:2, Gal. 4:8, 1 Thes. 4:5, 1 John 3:1, 2 Thes. 1:8-9). Though some mission fields have been neglected for lack of resources, manpower, or lack of will, there has been no plot to neglect “minorities”. These people apparently know very little of recent church history or the great missionary movements and the spread of evangelism around the world in the 18th through 20th centuries. 

Culture does not play a “significant role” in church development, unless you are talking about mission work among many cultures. Cultural issues often play a hindering role. The Bible calls us to become citizens of another place (Phil. 3:20). It brings us into another culture, that of how Jesus Christ wants us to live. It causes us to bring ourselves into line with His Will and His Word, not the ways of our cultures. Where cultural, religious practices and teachings in a people group conflict with the Word of God, we discard those things (Mark 7:8-9). That is how it has been up until these new false teachers arrived on the scene with new revelation that goes beyond what is written. 

Pio Gabad-Arce goes on in the WCGIP Press release:

WCGIP 2006 Philippine Objectives: 2. To discover together how redeemed indigenous culture can be utilized as an expression of worship and a vehicle for evangelism.  ... A transformation with a national scaleis not possible without the love for God, country and its people.  ... To set aside our indigenous roots will befall us to become a people of loss identity thus losing our destiny as a nation. ... The World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People will make us look back to our indigenous roots and reclaim our identity and true virtues as Filipinos.5

This idea of “transformation” is a New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) agenda. This movement is endorsed by and composed of the ideas of people like C. Peter Wagner, Chuck Kraft, John Dawson, Don Richardson, Cindy Jacobs, Ed Silvoso, Dutch Sheets, Richard Twiss, YWAM and a whole host of other NAR adherents. 

Christians are not telling indigenous people to “set aside (their) indigenous roots”. They are preaching the Gospel to them, then the Gospel, the Holy Spirit, and God's Word will dictate what God wants. Missionaries, by in large, did not come to make the indigenous peoples lose their roots or national identity. What they did was preach the Gospel and assist them in finding ways to serve the Lord. But many of these WCGIP leaders have not listened to what the indigenous people were saying about old religious traditions that are not in line with the Word of God. One example is coming up. 

The Filipinos have never lost their “identity”. Their identity is fluid as in all other cultures of the world. Things change. Change is almost always by the will of the people, unless you are talking about repressive societies. We live in the modern world, for better and, many times, for worse. No use crying over spilt milk. It is time to get past the beauty we have traded away in certain practices of necessity in the past. We can still teach our children how to be self-sufficient and learn about their area of the world as we used to do, but our first and highest focus needs to be on serving the Lord. We are to look forward, not back. Looking back is a waste of precious time. Looking forward causes us to view the world in transitory terms and await the coming of Jesus Christ in His Millennial Kingdom and the final new heaven and new earth. Let us not lay up our treasure here, but in heaven (1 Tim. 6:19). 

Ray Minniecon said this on the 2006 WCGIP Day 1:

In January 2000, Rev. Ray Minniecon, chairman for the 3rd World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People in Sydney, Australia spoke of his dream for all indigenous people. ... I have a dream: that our apostles will run throughout this whole world and build strong leaders in all of our communities, based on God's Word. ... I have a dream: that our prophets and our prophetesses will challenge the world around us so that its systems and structures will bless us, without oppression. ... God created us and gave us our own identity. God put within us His own identity for us in our own country and our own place. And God has given us the chance to get it back to the way God created life to be. It was no mistake when He took people and put them in their own places with their own understandings. But we've got some new understandings through the Gospel, which we also need to include.6

Again we see the NAR ties to this WCGIP. They do indeed have “apostles” running all over the world, but they are false apostles. True apostles would be preaching the Gospel and discipling the nations according to God’s Word. Instead we find them teaching cultures to write new theologies, to assume that they have always been serving God and have been children of God worshiping God by other names. These are traditions of men.

Systems and structures of this world may sometimes bless us, but they more often curse us (Rom. 5:12, Eph. 6:12, 1 Cor. 3:19). Any “prophet” who says otherwise is not being honest. The goal of salvation is not for whole cultures to be redeemed. It is for individuals to be saved from sin and, subsequently, be light and salt in their cultures. They are to be in the world but not of the world (Col. 2:20, John 15:19). The cultures of this world are not here to bless us but are rather the traditions of men that are often in opposition to the Word of God (Mark 7:8-9). We are to shine as lights among men. The cultures of this world are destined for oblivion. When God talks about those around His throne He is talking about individuals from every nation, tribe and tongue (Rev. 5:9). He is not talking about redeemed cultures around the throne. This is one of the false teachings of this movement that seemingly no one in it has bothered to check against what the Bible actually teaches. 

God did not give people cultural “identities”. He confused their tongues at Babel and sent them away to populate the earth in judgment for their disobedience, whereupon people of each separate language group began to develop their culture. Read about this in the article on Babel. They did not leave Babel worshipping God, they left worshipping Nimrod and the stars, and from there developed further false religions. 

God did, in a sense, lead people away from Babel so that they would not stay together and do everything they imagined in their evil hearts to do. He confused their languages so they would go out to various places on the earth so that, in the fullness of time, they might be in proximity to where God was sending Israel when He scattered them. Later the whole world would have the Gentile church to share the Good News with them. The WCGIP leaders often use Acts 17:27 to try to prove the true God was worshipped by pagan cultures. I have already shown this is not true.

God was setting the boundaries for the nations according to the children of Israel so that the Gentile nations would end up close to Jews and thus possibly come to know the God of Israel. God did send the Jews in among the Gentile nations in the Promised Land and later dispersed the Jews all over the world. It was not that God was creating nations and giving them “promised lands”. He was going to spread Israel out among the nations as a witness from the establishment of Israel till the incarnation of Jesus Christ. After Jesus Christ the message of the Gospel would be spread through Jews and Gentiles who had come to understand and believe in the mystery of the Gospel. 

But the facts from Romans 1 are that men did not seek God. They, instead, traded the general revelation they had of God for worship of created things (Rom. 1:25). God is never far from anyone as He is omnipresent, and He is never far from those who cry out to Him in faith. But how are they to know how to be saved without the Gospel and one to preach it (Rom. 10:14)? 

Pio Gabad-Arce addressed the WCGIP on Day 1 with the following statement:

He added the gathering would also discover the redemption of their culture as a tool to worship God.7

There is no call to redeem whole cultures in the Bible with the exception of God redeeming Israel as a nation at the end of the Tribulation, so it also could not be “a tool to worship God”. We need no “tools” to worship God. What we need to do is worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23), acceptably with reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28), but most importantly as born again children of God (Rom. 12:1). 

Terry LaBlanc was also in attendance at the 2006 WCGIP.

Terry Le Blanc, another WCGIP vision keeper added that Christianity is not only a “whiteman’s belief ”. He said IPs could become Christians without any conflict in their identity.8 

That someone this ignorant of the facts of history should be representing, what used to be (before they became a prime mover for the NAR) a respected mission agency like World Vision is astounding to me. Christianity has NEVER been primarily or exclusively a “whiteman's belief”. It started with the Jews (who are not Caucasians), then spread to what is now Turkey, Macedonia, Greece, Africa and Rome—not exactly populated by “white men”.  It took a long time to get to where “white men” lived in upper Europe. This kind of statement doesn’t heal, it hurts. It is a statement made out of ignorance based on some injustices of the past. LeBlanc and his friends in the WCGIP are trying to blame everything that has gone wrong in the Two-Thirds World on CHRISTIANS! Though some “Christians” in the past have participated in racially motivated oppression, that was NEVER the case as a whole. Christian missionaries are those with beautiful Gospel feet (Rom. 10:15) who brought the Good News to those who had NEVER heard it before, and in many cases gave their lives to do so. Shame on LeBlanc, Twiss and others for their continued attack on “white men”. No First Nations person would be a Christian today if it were not for many “white men” (along with other variously colored people from the human race—there is only ONE race!) who brought the Gospel message to the “First Nations”. But far more damaging is the fact that LeBlanc is spreading this racial bigotry all over the world. 

Terry LeBlanc: And you know just picking up on the notion of that myth I mean one of the things that has been sort of an irritant in the hearts of many indigenous people around that world is that the Western cultures seem to acceptable as they are, as cultures within which we express our faith commitment to Christ, whereas indigenous cultures are almost uniquely denigrated and set aside as culture unacceptable in any way, shape or form within which we can express our faith in Christ and so indigenous peoples have not seen themselves in Christ many times because they have to see themselves in white skin in Christ and white culture in Christ and rejecting, in essence the very identity that God created them in and so it's kind of like how would feel to be told that you were discovered by someone who was lost, that kind of thing.9

From the quote above it appears IPM leaders like LeBlanc feel a need to put Westerners down in order to lift themselves up. (1) I don't know any Western Christians or First World people who consider Western culture “acceptable as they are”.  This is a ridiculous straw man argument.  (2) I don't know any missionaries, at least Bible-believing ones, who “denigrate” other cultures in our day and age and who only speak highly of their own culture. Most missionaries I know are quick to point out the sinfulness of the West. Denigration of other cultures may have been done in the past in some cases, but it has not been done for decades, and certainly not by true believers in Christ. (3) I don't know any First Nation’s people who can't “see themselves in Christ” because they don't have white skin. What is LeBlanc talking about? Ironically, LeBlanc's name means “white”. Does this make him any less Native American? On the same radio program Richard Twiss stated:

Richard Twiss:  Well people always ask you, you know, what do you like to be called?  American Indian or, so I always say well you know it's sort of a problem for people of color, cause we don't know what to call white people, are they white people, Caucasians or haoulies or Pale Faces or and you know I always say and if we get it right this week I'm sure it'll change next month and then we'll have to learn a whole new on so it isn't just what do we call whatever.10

What kind of an attitude is this? Is this some kind of pay back for past perceived and/or real injustices? Why would a “Christian” be using these terms? Two of those terms, “haoulies” and “pale faces” are derogatory. Are the terms “American Indian” or “Native American” derogatory? This use of epithets proves these people are not following Christ because they are holding a grudge. We are to forgive past wrongs done to us, particularly if those who wronged our cultures are now dead and gone! As Christians we forgive and move on (Luke 6:37, Matt. 18:35). World Vision needs to have a talk with LeBlanc on these issues.

Monte Ohia, Co-Founder of the WCGIP, stated at the 2006 Gathering: 

God created all people in his own image (Genesis 1:27) and so he did not make a mistake when he created each of the ethnic peoples of the world as a unique part of his image. Each of the ethnic groups has a particular part of God's character and the WCGIP encourages all of the indigenous groups to present their unique identity to those present. Please come and partake of God's indigenous spectrum.11

God created man in the image of Himself, namely His Triune nature (Father/Son/Holy Spirit ... body/mind/spirit). This refers to all people because we are all one race. But to state that ethnic groups have “a particular part of God’s character” is not true because, just as we reflect the image of God as His creatures, we also reflect the sin of Adam and Eve. When God created Adam and Eve he did not create ethnic groups. Therefore we are not a true reflection of God in our unsaved state. We are a reflection of the evil one because we followed him into sin. We are not all part of God, but in fact we are separated from God by sin (Eph. 4:18). We are unholy and on our way to hell without a Savior because the wages of sin is death. We have no part in God the Father without being saved by God the Son. 

Ohia continued:

Monte Ohia, WCGIP co-founder, said that before the Gathering in Davao he prayed Joshua 1:3. He said that the Gathering is to glorify Jesus Christ. He also claimed that this is not to glorify ourselves, our songs, or instruments.12

This is a real misrepresentation of what actually goes on at these events. Lip service is given to God but the regalia and show is actually what it is all about, and this brings glory to culture and human beings. Just go look at the pictures on the WCGIP site to see what they are glorifying. Putting on cultural shows does not bring glory to God. Preaching the Gospel does! I see little or no evidence of the real Gospel message in these events.  When you tell people to worship the “Jesus” who is the son of their past “supreme being”, you are presenting another Jesus. God does not want to be worshipped by methods, songs, customs, chants and other activities formerly tied to false religion and human traditions of men. God doesn't want the dirty offscourings of culture. He wants worship that is pure and unadorned, free of worldly attachments, and in line with His Word. 

At the 2006 WCGIP Parade of Nations the following took place with Richard Twiss also in attendance:

Prayers of blessings followed immediately as one by one, the Keepers of the Vision took their turns. First, it was Alex Gater, an Aborigine from Australia, followed by Arild Miso, a Sami from Sweden. Gavrel Geffen from Israel spoke the Abrahamic blessing while Richard Twiss of Lakota/Sioux tribe sung a prayer song.13

Apparently now the WCGIP leadership considers itself to be the “Keepers of the Vision”. Sounds like Gnosticism to me—secret revelation stuff. Richard Twiss sang a prayer song but no mention was made who he sang this to or what the words were. It is important to know what they are actually saying because Twiss was present at another ceremony where this was the invocation given: 

“May the Father, Adadoda, who is the Creator, Adanehilahusgi, and His Son, Tsisa, bless you with perfect peace and favor by the power of the Holy Spirit, Yohewa (Great Spirit).”14

The above message is no longer on that site, but this new one on the same site under the heading “First Nations Monday” uses a similar invocation. “First Nations Day” is a day instituted by the NAR apostolic leadership to try to diaprax all the churches with false WCGIP teachings): 

First Nations Monday is a First Nations/ Native American prayer mobilization effort of All Nations Fellowship and Running Brook Ministries International. This weekly digest is a prayer alert with relevant Scriptures sending a call to pray for First Nations people and those serving in Native Ministry. May our Father, Asgidoda, His Son, Tsisa, and the Holy Spirit, Galvquodiyu Adanvdo, bless you with perfect peace and favor in the days ahead.15

Apparently the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have decided to go by names of false gods as opposed to what the Scripture teaches. This is why I am never sure what is being said or sung or what “god” is actually being addressed at these conferences. The names in the above invocation are not YHWH, the “I AM” which is what God called Himself (Ex. 3:14). 

Richard Twiss taught these precepts at the 2006 WCGIP:

5. It rescues mission from the church and puts it back into the hands of God, repositioning the Church as an invited participant with God in His plans and activities for redeeming creation back into right relationship with Himself.  ... 6. The role of women is reexamined in scripture in light of non-western worldview perspectives that provide a biblical critique of the Anglo male dominated world of theology and mission, seeing them as co-equals in fulfilling the Father's heart for redemption. ... 7. The place of narrative theology or “story” finds equal footing with the western notion of systematic theology as “the correct” way of viewing scripture.16

“Rescues mission from the Church”? The main purpose and mission of the Church is to evangelize the world! The Church is the body of Christ, so it is ALWAYS in God’s hands (John 10:29). To people like Twiss, the Church has apparently been doing a terrible job of preaching the Gospel, so Twiss wants to give it back to God. But Jesus already gave us the Great Commission when He left and it is our job to preach and disciple all nations. This is another example of using the diaprax. 

There are no plans for redeeming culture in the Bible, again with the exception of many in Israel finally believing in Jesus Christ as the Messiah during the Tribulation. God is redeeming people (Gal. 3:13-14). We are redeemed by Christ from the empty way of life of our forefathers (1 Pet. 1:18)!  The way to redeem a person is not through culture, but by hearing and believing in the Gospel message. PERIOD. There is no other way. Cultures will not be redeemed, in fact they are sinful and reject Christ. Some people, the few who find the narrow gate (Matt. 7:13), will believe and be saved out of their sinful cultures and traditions handed down from their forefathers. God will “redeem creation”, but it will not be by the Church. It will be “redeemed” when Jesus Christ returns to reign in the Millennial Kingdom, and then the old things will pass away by fire and God will create a new heaven and earth. 

The “world of theology” is not “Anglo male dominated”. Christian theology is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostles and prophets. Therefore it transcends culture or ethnos. The Holy Spirit can teach anyone anywhere from the written Word of God. The commands of Scripture for the Church, for instance, are to be based on the same principles of marriage—that the man should be the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church (Eph. 5:23). This goes all the way back to what God instituted in the Garden of Eden. That Gentiles would not understand this is not surprising since cultures of the world are worldly, not godly. Twiss also has no clue about missions, that is clear. Missions have been made up of people from every tribe and tongue in the world, and continue till today. The fact that Anglo-Americans sent out a whole slue of missionaries during the 19th century should be a challenge to the Two-Thirds World instead of causing jealousy and racism. 

The last statement is the worst. The concept of “narrative theology” is a staple of the Emerging Church. It is a way around understanding the Bible in context. Instead almost any interpretation and analogy can be drawn from any part of the Bible. Stories are told based tightly or loosely on the Bible with additions of cultural “redemptive analogies” thrown in. It makes the Bible into some kind of New Age ouija board, convenient for those who want to write new theologies to supplant the old biblical ones. Here is a definition of “narrative theology”: 

Narrative theology was a 20th-century theological development which supported the idea that the Church's use of the Bible should focus on a narrative presentation of the faith, rather than on the exclusive development of a systematic theology. Also referred to as postliberal theology, narrative theology was inspired by a group of theologians at Yale Divinity School, many influenced theologically by Karl Barth and to some extent, the nouvelle theologie of French Catholics such as Henri de Lubac. The clear philosophical influence, however, was Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, the moral philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre, and the sociological insights of Clifford Geertz and Peter Berger on the nature of communities. Beginning as a reaction to individualist and romantic theological liberalism, important narrative thinkers included George Lindbeck, Hans Wilhelm Frei, Stanley Hauerwas, and William Willimon. This movement has provided much of the foundation for other movements, such as Radical orthodoxy, Scriptural Reasoning, paleo-orthodoxy, the emerging church movement, and postliberal versions of evangelicalism and Roman Catholicism. In contrast to liberal individualism, postliberalism tends to be communitarian and committed to tradition-constituted reasoning. The postliberals argue that the Christian faith be equated with neither religious feelings nor propositions, but refers to the whole shape of the Christian life as it is lived in communal worship over time. Thus, in addition to an emphasis upon the narratives of scripture, there is also a performative emphasis, which often orients postliberal theologies around liturgies and descriptions of Christian practice as resources for critical inquiry.17

This is a popular teaching that comes from the Catholics. If the Bible is not studied in a systematic way, anyone can assign any value to any sentence in the Bible and turn it into a postmodern subjectivist tutorial. The classic example is that if you wanted to start a suicide cult you could combine two verses (out of context) where Judas “went and hanged himself” (Matt. 27:5) with “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37) and create a suicide cult. You may laugh at this example, but this is exactly what the leadership of this movement is doing. They continually quote Rom. 1:20 and Acts 17:27 out of context, for instance, and have formed a worldwide cult out of the mishandling of these verses and others. To see what the Bible says about those two passages, in context, read the chapter called “An Endrun …”.

Norquiza S. Alih Lumad stated on Day 4 of the 2006 WCGIP:

In his journey on restoring the culture of his people there are those who oppose him. These people believe that embracing a Christian faith means turning back on their culture. Even up to the point where they don't like to use their own tribal musical instruments anymore. They said it is bad and to make a sound out of it is like offering music to evil spirits. They're convinced never to come back to using those instruments. With it, Joshua Mayyam becomes all the more prompted to work hard in sharing the love of God to the Ifugaos. Believing it is the only way to make them love and preserve their culture as much as God is delighted of their own unique music.  Joshua saw a deep sense of worship in the mountain of Cordillera. “Only if this tribe would realize how beautiful is their culture and music, they would not have a complicated lifestyle—never conforming but having a sense of security on their identity,” he said. Joshua believes that WCGIP will expand his knowledge of his own culture and culture of other tribes. He expects to be loving the IP's all the more after the conference.18

This is an example of where these new ideas are leading. It is clear to me from this account that missionaries to this tribe talked to the tribal leadership about what the Bible requires. The tribal converts there came to understand that their old religion was demonic, and anything tied to that religion had to go. This is the same understanding the early Church Christians came to. Then this Johnny-come-lately comes along and ruins the understanding the missionaries and tribal leadership had come to in obedience to the Bible by saying that the instruments and music that were dedicated to false gods are now okay. What cultural background or understanding did this Joshua have that superceded the missionaries who were likely there long-term, had learned the language, and understood the customs of the people? The false assumption is that there was no other way to preserve the culture than to go back to doing things dedicated to demons. What about food preparation, clan dynamics, hunting, fishing, craft making, cooking and any other host of cultural practices? Are they not just as important and probably do not violate living in obedience to God's Word? What this Joshua did, in one fell swoop, was to destroy the good things the Lord was doing to deliver them from their cultural religion. Now they are free to go back to their old ways, where they were summoning and invoking demonic spirits in the name of “God”. 

Ian V. Calo stated the following at the 2006 WCGIP:

I believe every ethnos is formed by God, with a particular combination of traits and characteristics and placed in a particular location (Ac 17:26). The purpose is that each ethnos should seek and find God (Acts 17:27) and glorify Him through this unique combination of cultural traits and characteristics (Ps 86:9). The redemption of these cultural traits and characteristics can only happen through Jesus Christ (Rev. 5:9) and will find its best expression in the New Heaven and New Earth (Rev. 21:24, 26; 22:2) ... After reading books like Don Richardson's Eternity in Their Hearts, John Sanford's Healing of the Nations and those of Richard Twiss, and having gone through three 'Native Spirituality' Workshops led by TMFI staff, my desire to see cultural redemption in Christian life has increased even more. ... In ending, I hope that what I have shared here will encourage every person and especially 'First Nations People' to search for and embrace their cultural roots, no matter how vague or distant these roots may seem. You may not find all the information you want, but I believe God will help you find the necessary information needed to help bring cultural redemption for God's glory. I still dream of redeeming specific ancient Butuanon material culture and customs no longer used today. ... May you grow in the journey of embracing and living out your ethnicity today in service and submission to our Lord and for His glory. Madyaw na pagpanaw kaniyo hurot diyan Sawg hong Magbabaya! (May you all have a good journey in the River of God!).19

Again, every culture was not “formed by God”. The main books of this movement are the books by Don Richardson, Richard Twiss, John Sanford and Daniel Kikawa. They are all fundamentally misguided and Biblically incorrect. Read more about these books in our articles in the WCGIP section on the DITC web site.20

“Find the necessary information” is talking about writing up a new mythology for your culture to fool people into thinking they have always been worshipping God in their own way.  Or you can even go further, like Daniel Kikawa, and try to claim that your people are directly descended from the Jews. This is one of the main reasons for this push around the world. While everyone is dancing the night away, there are sessions by people like Richard Twiss and Terry LeBlanc on how to write a new theology for your particular culture. We now have people all over the world busily researching their libraries, like Daniel Kikawa did, talking to old people in the culture, and constructing a hodge-podge of ideas to try to prove that the true God has always been worshipped in their cultures. They are trying to give some stamp of approval from God for their cultural/religious activities.

Lastly, we can also see another tie to the NAR in the statement about the “river of God”.  This refers to the “River” movement, the “Third Wave” of the Toronto Blessing, Brownsville Revival, Benny Hinn, and slain in the spirit stuff that is passed off as true revival around the world. Unfortunately, the Philippines has been deluged with this Latter Rain heresy to the point where there are few solid churches left there. 

(Gavriel) Gefen further explained that in their (Jewish) tradition they don't think that salvation is only a one time experience. “We are honoring the many salvation of the Lord in our lives,” he said.21

Salvation IS a “one time experience” according to the Bible, according to the foreknowledge of God (Acts 16:31). They were told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation would be given. Of course the word for “believe” is “commit” to the Lord Jesus Christ, to enter into a covenant relationship with Him. The Bible does teach that those who hold on to faith till the end will be saved (Matt. 24:13, Heb. 3:14). But to state that salvation is an ongoing experience sounds like what Judiazers teach. Judaizers expect the whole Law to be observed, or part of it, in order to be saved. They confused sanctification with justification. When a person is saved the Holy Spirit immediately makes a new self in that person. They are sealed. They are freed from the Law and the Law of Christ is written on their hearts. That sounds like a one-time deal to me, especially from God's perspective, because those He foreknew He also predestined, called, justified and glorified (Rom. 8:28-30). 

Quing Alih quoted Ray Minniecon in making this startling statement about the Aborigines:

“We will fight for God's justice in our land, people and for all the indigenous people in the world!” —Ray Minniecon ... “Ginoo, tabangi ang akong mga igsoon magmalampuson sa ilahang paglakaw dinha kanimo.” These is a declaration of VICTORY for the aborigines as they continue to walk in the light with the Father who made them beautiful, valuable, unique and are being loved with an everlasting love and there's nothing that can separate them from the love of the Father. These is the prayer of declaration been given by a lumad who prayed for the aborigines after the presentations. “the only reason that keeps us going is the understanding that we have been made according to the image of God.—Ray Minniecon”22

This statement would be fine if it were being applied to Aborigines who have been saved. It is not correct if it is applied to all Aborigines because they (1) do not have “victory”, (2) cannot call God “Father”, only Creator, (3) do not have the “everlasting love” of God if they are dead in their sins because they will have the everlasting judgment of God, and (4) they are already separate from the love of the Father because they are sinners who have not believed. It is very disingenuous to use verses like Rom. 8:35 & 39 this way. These Scripture verses are promises to Christians, not unregenerate Gentiles. But this is a good example of what these WCGIP people are teaching in reality. Yes, the Aborigines were made in the image of God, but they, like anyone else, will go to hell if they don't come to know His Son. 

Gavriel Gefen described his brand of “Messianic Judaism”.

Our family is a bit unusual since we go to an Orthodox synagogue. As followers of Yeshua, we live out our faith within Jewish tradition and community. Two years ago, we started weekly meetings for other Messianic Jews who are also going to traditional synagogues. On Saturday, we each go to our respective synagogues.... I have both listened and spoken at a Many Nations One Voice (MN1V) celebration. Most recently, I had the privilege of participating in a theological forum hosted by the North American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studies (NAIITS) at Asbury Seminary. Through a relationship started at WCGIP 2002 in Hawaii, Mark Charles of the Dine (Navajo Nation) ... In 2008, we are scheduled to host the 7th WCGIP in Jerusalem. Co-hosting the gathering together with us will be congregational leaders from all over Israel, both Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians.23

Gefen and his group go back to the synagogues, not to witness and get thrown out like Paul, but to worship in the same way and keep the same Law as the Jews. This does not sound like the witness of a New Testament believer. In fact it is exactly the opposite of what a true believer would be doing. 

Notice that Asbury Seminary gives their green light to all these things, and the next 2008 WCGIP will be in Israel. What a mess! 

In the end, Monte Ohia made this declaration:

I feel that in God's heart we did everything right.We opened with protocol - a traditional indigenous welcome, a march down the city, and a civil reception. God is a God of protocol because it is all about honouring the authorities and people of the land - the host nation - and bringing people closer together. It also gave the different nations opportunities to bring their gifts, to speak their languages of greeting, and to display the array of regalia the Lord has blessed the nations with. This indeed is the right way to begin the WCGIP, and we have done this since the first time in 1996.24

I “felt” like this was a good quote to end with, especially since this was from the “thank you messages”. So many Christians today “feel” that in their heart they are doing “everything right”. They can justify almost anything they are doing as long as it “felt” right and they got good vibes. You cannot feel truth, Truth is found in God’s Word and we have no examples of any of this. The sad part of this is that the WCGIP is full of false teaching that is ruining indigenous churches all over the world. If the WCGIP agenda takes hold of the world I think we can safely kiss Biblical Christianity good-bye in our generation. If this is their approach to the “right” way to do things, then I don't want to be right.

Endnotes

1—Terry LeBlanc, "Indigenous Theology", Source: WCGIP Gathering in Kiruna, Faith Arise! Blog, August 09, 2005, http://faitharise.typepad.com/faith_arise/2005/08/indigenous_theo.html

2—Gavriel Gefen, "Indigenous Theology", Source: WCGIP Gathering in Kiruna, Faith Arise! Blog, August 09, 2005, http://faitharise.typepad.com/faith_arise/2005/08/indigenous_theo.html)

3—Press Releases, The Philippines hosts the 6th WCGIP, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=1

4—Ibid., http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=3

5—PIO GABAD ARCE, Rhair of the 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People in the Philippines as part of the leadership team of Tribal Mission Foundation International Inc., Press Releases, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=3

6—Rev. Ray Minniecon, Life in its fullest in Australia, Day 1, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=12)

7—Pio Gabad-Arce, chair of the WCGIP, Day 1, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=11

8—Terry LeBlanc, World Vision Canada, Day 1, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=11

9—Terry LeBlanc, Word to the World with Danny Lehmann, KLHT, #541

10—Richard Twiss, Ibid.

11—Monte Ohia, WCGIP Co-Founder, Day 1, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=9

12—Monte Ohia, Tapestry: The Parade of Nations, Day 2, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=13

13—Tapestry: The Parade of Nations, Day 2, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=13

14—Source: http://www.injesus.com/Groups/ViewMessage.cfm?MessageId=YA006JT4&GroupID=SA006ILX&UCD=hjn

15—Source: (http://www.injesus.com/index.php?module=group&task=details&GroupID=SA006ILX)

16—Richard Twiss, IP's in Mission, Day 4, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=18

17—Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_theology

18—Norquiza S. Alih, Lumad on duty, Day 4, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=17

19—Ian V. Calo, Indigenous Cultural Redemption in a Different Dimension: An Example From an "Eclectic" People, Day 4, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=16

20—Apologetics Coordination Team, Deception In The Church web site, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/wcgip.html

21—Rizalene P. Acac, WCGIP observes Shabat, Day 5, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=21

22—Quing Alih, Called To Be Victorious, Day 6, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=26

23—Gavriel Gefen, Israel invites: Come Grow With Us, Day 7, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=30

24—Monte Ohia, Thank You Message From Monte Ohia, The 6th World Christian Gathering on Indigenous People, http://iquadrant.biz/wcgip/resources/index.cfm?Handler=View&ID=32