Discerning the Drift Ministry Podcast

Addie
  • 3.5 (8)
  • Arts

Contextually biblical perspective, encouraging the biblically born again faithful, exposing the counterfeit, pointing the lost to the one true Savior, Jesus Christ of Scripture!

  1. Sep 5

    EP. 98 - INTERSPIRITUALITY & ONENESS - The New Age Language Entering the Church

    In this Episode of Discerning the Drift, Addie Miller continues her series on the redefining of Christian language, working through terms and definitions from the Lighthouse Trails resource D Is for Deception: The Language of the New or Neo-Christianity. Addie argues that emergent, postmodern, purpose-driven, and related movements are redefining historically familiar Christian terminology while introducing new spiritual language into the church.  This episode begins with interspirituality — the idea of a spiritual common ground connecting the world's religions. Addie examines its relationship to mysticism, meditation, ecumenism, universalism, and the concept that divinity can be found within humanity. She warns that contemplative spirituality may become a bridge through which otherwise incompatible religious systems are brought together.  A wide range of increasingly common terms and practices are found in the church today, including the Jesus Prayer, Kingdom Now theology, Kundalini, labyrinths, Lectio Divina, mantras, mindfulness, the missional church, mysticism, Namaste, the New Age movement, the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), New Thought, non-dualism, spirit guides, Oneness, contemplative prayer, pantheism, postmodernism, practicing the presence of God, progressive Christianity, quantum spirituality, Red Letter Christians, Reiki, replacement theology, and the language of “re-imagining” Christianity. Terms that sound Christian, or even use biblical language, should not automatically be assumed to represent biblical teaching! Discern the terminology. Examine the practice. Compare everything with Scripture. Dive deep into scripture with Addie as current events, teachings in the modern church, testimonies, trends, important biblical teachings, and the sweeping drift away from the basic truths in the Bible across the modern-day Church are all brought to light to be tested only against the infallible, un-changing, Word of God on Discerning the Drift.  #DiscerningTheDrift #BiblicalDiscernment #NeoChristianity #EmergentChurch #ProgressiveChristianity #Interspirituality #ContemplativePrayer #NewAge #NewApostolicReformation #NAR #KingdomNow #Dominionism #Kundalini #LectioDivina #Mindfulness #Mysticism #Oneness #Pantheism #Postmodernism #Reiki #SoundDoctrine #BiblicalTruth #ChristianPodcast

  2. Sep 5

    EP. 99 - CHURCH LANGUAGE EXPOSED: "Seeker-Friendly" & the "Social Gospel"

    In this episode of Discerning the Drift, Addie Miller concludes her examination of D Is for Deception: The Language of the “New” or Neo-Christianity, exploring how seemingly innocent Christian words and phrases can carry radically different meanings within emergent, postmodern, contemplative, and New Age spirituality.  We will dive head-first into the rise of the seeker-friendly and seeker-sensitive church movement. Addie traces its influence through Robert Schuller and Rick Warren and examines what she sees as the danger of redesigning church around the preferences of the “unchurched.” She distinguishes between changing traditions—such as pews, pulpits, choirs, or styles of worship—and changing the actual message of Scripture. Her warning is that when making people comfortable becomes more important than preaching the full gospel, the church begins drifting from its biblical purpose.   The episode then tackles an extensive list of controversial concepts, including self-realization, the higher self, servant leadership, “the silence,” soaking prayer, the social gospel, social justice, soul care, spiritual disciplines, spiritual directors, spiritual formation, super-consciousness, synergy, Taizé worship, tantric yoga, thin places, transformational spirituality, the true self, and universalism. Spiritual formation has become a vehicle for introducing contemplative prayer and mystical spirituality into churches, Christian colleges, retreats, and other ministries. She connects these practices with Richard Foster, the Desert Fathers, contemplative silence, and the idea of discovering an inner divinity rather than relying upon the biblical gospel.   Also examined are challenges to substitutionary atonement, including the provocative characterization of traditional Christian teaching about the cross as “slaughterhouse religion,” and contrasts that with the historic Christian understanding of Christ’s sacrificial death. Addie similarly argues that the social gospel can shift Christianity's emphasis away from repentance and faith toward primarily earthly and political objectives.   Finally, universalism, “true self,” transformation, and Oneness, warning that these concepts can present salvation and humanity’s relationship with God very differently from biblical Christianity. The episode closes the vocabulary series with a central challenge for listeners: Know what the words mean. Know where the practices came from. And test what enters the Church against Scripture.  #DiscerningTheDrift #SeekerFriendlyChurch #RickWarren #PurposeDriven #EmergentChurch #SpiritualFormation #ContemplativePrayer #SocialGospel #BiblicalDiscernment #NewAgeInTheChurch #ChristianMysticism #LectioDivina #Universalism #SubstitutionaryAtonement #SpiritualDeception #SoundDoctrine #BiblicalTruth #AuthorityOfScripture #TestEverything #ChristianPodcast #ReturnToScripture

  3. Aug 8

    EP. 97 - “God’s dream”, “Dark Night of the Soul”, and the Seven Mountain Mandate

    In Episode 97 of Discerning the Drift, Addie continues her examination of the changing language associated with the emergent postmodern movement as the rise of a “new” or “neo-Christianity.” Building on the previous episode, Addie works through terminology from the Lighthouse Trails resource D Is for Deception, arguing that familiar-sounding words can carry very different theological meanings.  This episode examines common ground, contemplative prayer, contextual theology, convergence, conversation, the Cosmic Christ, creative visualization, critical mass, deconstruction, dominionism, ecumenism, the emerging church, higher self, holy laughter, immanence, incarnational evangelism, and individualism. A central theme is the danger in compromising foundational Christian doctrines in pursuit of "unity", "cultural relevance", or "interfaith agreement". Addie also revisits the dialectic process, contemplative meditation, the “Dark Night of the Soul,” the Desert Fathers, the Seven Mountain Mandate, the Eucharist, the Daniel Plan, and the concept of “God’s dream.” She connects these ideas to figures and movements previously discussed on the program, including Brian McLaren, Rick Warren, Brennan Manning, John of the Cross, New Age spirituality, the Word of Faith movement, and the emergent church. At the heart of the episode is a warning about theological compromise. Addie argues that Christians can compromise on peripheral matters, but not on the essential doctrines of the faith: the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, the atoning work of Jesus Christ, and Christ as the exclusive way of salvation. The message is simple: words matter. When their definitions change, theology can change with them—and discernment requires looking beyond familiar Christian terminology to understand what is actually being taught. Dive deep into scripture with Addie as current events, teachings in the modern church, testimonies, trends, important biblical teachings, and the sweeping drift away from the basic truths in the Bible across the modern-day Church are all brought to light to be tested only against the infallible, un-changing, Word of God on Discerning the Drift. #DiscerningTheDrift #EmergentChurch #NewChristianity #BiblicalDiscernment #TheologicalCompromise #ContemplativePrayer #Deconstruction #NewAgeSpirituality #ChristianMysticism #Dominionism #Ecumenism #CosmicChrist #PurposeDriven #RickWarren #BrianMcLaren #SoundDoctrine #BiblicalTruth #AuthorityOfScripture #ChristianPodcast #TestEverything

  4. Jul 25

    EP. 94 - EXPOSED: Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality & the Rise of the One-World Church

    In Episode 94 of Discerning the Drift, Addie K. Miller concludes the series examining Leonard Sweet's teachings and the influence of New Age philosophy within the emergent church movement. Drawing extensively from research by former New Age author Warren B. Smith, this episode explores Sweet's connections with influential New Age thinkers, his promotion of "Quantum Spirituality," and his collaboration with Rick Warren in advancing what Addie describes as a new spiritual paradigm. The discussion examines Leonard Sweet's endorsement of figures including David Spangler, Matthew Fox, M. Scott Peck, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, along with concerns over their teachings regarding the "Cosmic Christ," divine immanence, global consciousness, and humanity's supposed divine nature. Addie also discusses the use of quantum physics terminology as a spiritual metaphor, arguing that scientific concepts have been reinterpreted to support New Age theology rather than biblical doctrine. The episode also explores Rick Warren's partnership with Leonard Sweet, the idea of a "new Reformation," the rise of social gospel themes, and concerns that modern spiritual movements are redefining the gospel while moving toward a universal, inclusive religion. Addie contrasts these ideas with the historic Christian doctrines of the atonement, the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, and the distinction between the Creator and His creation. Closing the series, the program encourages believers to carefully test every teaching against Scripture, remain grounded in biblical truth, and exercise discernment as contemporary spiritual movements continue to reshape traditional Christian language and doctrine. The episode concludes by introducing the next series, which will compare biblical Christianity, the emergent movement, and the New Spirituality through a detailed doctrinal comparison chart compiled by researcher Tamara Hartzell.  Dive deep into scripture with Addie as current events, teachings in the modern church, testimonies, trends, important biblical teachings, and the sweeping drift away from the basic truths in the Bible across the modern-day Church are all brought to light to be tested only against the infallible, un-changing, Word of God on Discerning the Drift.  #DiscerningTheDrift  #RickWarren  #LeonardSweet  #QuantumSpirituality  #NewAgeInTheChurch  #EmergentChurch  #OneWorldReligion  #CosmicChrist  #BiblicalDiscernment  #FalseTeaching  #AuthorityOfScripture  #ChristianPodcast  #SpiritualDeception  #SocialGospel  #MysticismExposed  #TestEverything  #TruthMatters  #SoundDoctrine  #BibleStudy  #ReturnToScripture

  5. Jul 25

    EP. 95 - "That Sounds Christian" - But... Is It Really? How Christian Words Are Subtly Redefined

    In Episode 95 of Discerning the Drift, Addie K. Miller begins a detailed comparison between historic biblical Christianity, the modern emergent movement, and what she describes as the growing "New Spirituality." Using a doctrinal comparison chart compiled by researcher Tamara Hartzell, the episode examines how familiar Christian beliefs and terminology have, in Addie's view, been gradually redefined through the influence of the emergent church, the Peace Plan, the New Apostolic Reformation, and related movements. The discussion contrasts biblical teachings on truth, the person of Jesus Christ, salvation, faith, sin, fellowship, service, and the Kingdom of God with quotations from figures including Alice Bailey, Leonard Sweet, Helena Blavatsky, Eckhart Tolle, and Neal Donald Walsch. Addie argues that concepts such as universal truth, the uniqueness of Christ, salvation by grace through faith, and the authority of Scripture are increasingly being replaced by ideas centered on personal experience, universalism, mystical spirituality, and humanity's supposed divine nature. Familiar words; wildly different beliefs! The episode also explores concerns surrounding contemplative spirituality, facilitated dialogue, consensus-building, small-group methodologies, social activism replacing evangelism, and the reinterpretation of biblical language. Throughout the program, listeners are encouraged to carefully compare every teaching with Scripture and recognize how familiar Christian words can take on entirely different meanings when used within newer theological frameworks. The episode concludes by introducing the next series of episodes based on Lighthouse Trails' booklet D Is for Deception: The Language of the "New" Christianity, which examines how common Christian terms have been redefined in contemporary church culture and why discernment remains essential for understanding modern theological trends. Dive deep into scripture with Addie as current events, teachings in the modern church, testimonies, trends, important biblical teachings, and the sweeping drift away from the basic truths in the Bible across the modern-day Church are all brought to light to be tested only against the infallible, un-changing, Word of God on Discerning the Drift.  #DiscerningTheDrift  #BiblicalDiscernment  #EmergentChurch  #NewSpirituality  #FalseTeaching  #BiblicalTruth  #AuthorityOfScripture  #AliceBailey  #LeonardSweet  #RickWarren  #KingdomNow  #NewApostolicReformation  #Universalism  #ChristianPodcast  #TestEverything  #SoundDoctrine  #TruthMatters  #BibleStudy  #DiscernmentMinistry  #ReturnToScripture

  6. Jul 25

    EP. 96 - EXPOSED - "Breath Prayer", "Centering", "Alignment": The Secret Language of Deception

    In Episode 96 of Discerning the Drift, Addie K. Miller begins examining D Is for Deception: The Language of the "New" Christianity from Lighthouse Trails Research. This episode explores how common Christian words and phrases have been redefined within the emergent church movement, contemplative spirituality, and the broader "New Spirituality". The discussion explains how familiar terms such as meditation, missions, awakening, alignment, Christ follower, breath prayer, centering prayer, and be still are interpreted differently in modern spiritual movements than in historic biblical Christianity. Addie argues that many of these expressions have been borrowed from Eastern mysticism, occult philosophy, and New Age spirituality while continuing to use Christian terminology, making the changes difficult for many believers to recognize. It "sounds Christian", but is far from it... The episode also examines concepts including altered states of consciousness, contemplative prayer, automatic writing, Christ consciousness, Christian yoga, chakras, co-creation, the Aquarian Age, "as above, so below," and the idea that humanity possesses an inner divinity. Throughout the program, Addie contrasts these concepts with the historic Christian understanding of Scripture, salvation, prayer, and the unchanging power of Jesus Christ. Listeners are encouraged to carefully evaluate modern Christian language, recognize when biblical terms have been redefined, and compare every teaching with Scripture before accepting new theological trends. The episode serves as the opening installment in a series focused on identifying the vocabulary and concepts that are reshaping Christianity from within.  Dive deep into scripture with Addie as current events, teachings in the modern church, testimonies, trends, important biblical teachings, and the sweeping drift away from the basic truths in the Bible across the modern-day Church are all brought to light to be tested only against the infallible, un-changing, Word of God on Discerning the Drift.  #DiscerningTheDrift  #EmergentChurch  #NewSpirituality  #BiblicalDiscernment  #ContemplativePrayer  #CenteringPrayer  #ChristianYoga  #ChristConsciousness  #RichardFoster  #LeonardSweet  #BrianMcLaren  #RickWarren  #FalseTeaching  #MysticismExposed  #AuthorityOfScripture  #ChristianPodcast  #TestEverything  #TruthMatters  #SoundDoctrine  #ReturnToScripture

  7. Jul 3

    EP. 93 - The Cosmic Christ Deception: Leonard Sweet, New Age Mysticism, and the Future One-World Religion

    In this episode of Discerning the Drift, Addie K. Miller continues the investigation into Leonard Sweet's teachings by examining the theological influences behind his concept of "Quantum Spirituality." Using research from former New Age author Warren B. Smith, this episode explores the writings of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and the growing influence of New Age philosophy within contemporary Christianity. Satan continues using his best weapon against the church. Merging scripture with worldly beliefs. Teilhard de Chardin's efforts to merge Christianity with evolution, pantheism, and the concept of a universal "Cosmic Christ." have profoundly influenced many leaders within the emergent church movement and represent a departure from historic biblical doctrine concerning the atonement, the person of Jesus Christ, and the authority of Scripture. Continuing this trend; Leonard Sweet's endorsement of concepts such as divine immanence, ongoing revelation, and "quantum spirituality," along with his praise for New Age authors including Willis Harman, Matthew Fox, and M. Scott Peck. These teachings redefine the gospel, elevate personal spiritual experience above Scripture, and blur the distinction between biblical Christianity and New Age mysticism.  Brian McLaren is another author who follows these beliefs. He has strayed radically on views on biblical authority, the dangers of redefining foundational Christian doctrines, the meaning of John 16, the doctrine of the closed canon of Scripture, and warnings against accepting extra-biblical revelation as divine truth.  The call to action for believers: Listeners are encouraged to carefully examine every teaching in light of Scripture and remain grounded to the truth found in God's Word rather than modern spiritual trends an influential spiritual leaders. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15 ====================================================== Dive deep into scripture with Addie as current events, teachings in the modern church, testimonies, trends, important biblical teachings, and the sweeping drift away from the basic truths in the Bible across the modern-day Church are all brought to light to be tested only against the infallible, un-changing, Word of God on Discerning the Drift. #DiscerningTheDrift  #LeonardSweet  #CosmicChrist  #QuantumSpirituality  #PierreTeilhardDeChardin  #BrianMcLaren  #EmergentChurch  #NewAgeInTheChurch  #BiblicalDiscernment  #FalseTeaching  #ContemplativePrayer  #MysticismExposed  #AuthorityOfScripture  #ClosedCanon  #ChristianPodcast  #SpiritualDeception  #SoundDoctrine  #TruthMatters  #TestEverything  #ReturnToScripture

  8. Jun 27

    EP. 92 - EXPOSED: Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, and the New Age Gospel Invading the Church

    In this eye-opening episode of Discerning the Drift, Addie K. Miller begins an in-depth investigation into the teachings of Leonard Sweet, one of the most influential voices in the emergent church movement. Drawing from Warren B. Smith's Lighthouse Trails booklet Leonard Sweet: A More Magnificent Way of Seeing Christ?, Addie examines Sweet's promotion of postmodern theology, "quantum spirituality," and contemplative mysticism, asking whether these teachings are compatible with biblical Christianity. The episode explores Sweet's own statements about speaking "out of both sides of the mouth" in a postmodern culture, his embrace of "quantum spirituality," and his reliance on mystical concepts that blur the line between Christianity and New Age philosophy. Addie also traces Sweet's connections to influential leaders, including Rick Warren, and examines how contemplative spirituality has spread through seminaries, conferences, denominational leadership, and bestselling Christian books. A major focus of this program is the biblical distinction between God's transcendence and the New Age doctrine of divine immanence—the belief that God exists within all people and all creation. Through quotations from Leonard Sweet, Alice Bailey, Benjamin Creme, and other influential writers, Addie argues that these teachings mirror pantheism and form the theological foundation for a coming interfaith spirituality that replaces the gospel with mystical experience. This episode also examines how New Age ideas are often repackaged under new terminology, making them appear biblical while preserving the same underlying worldview. Addie challenges listeners to carefully examine the books they read, the teachers they follow, and the doctrines they embrace, measuring every claim against the unchanging authority of Scripture. Dive deep into scripture with Addie as current events, teachings in the modern church, testimonies, trends, important biblical teachings, and the sweeping drift away from the basic truths in the Bible across the modern-day Church are all brought to light to be tested only against the infallible, un-changing, Word of God on Discerning the Drift.  #DiscerningTheDrift  #LeonardSweet  #QuantumSpirituality  #NewAgeInTheChurch  #EmergentChurch  #ProgressiveChristianity  #ContemplativePrayer  #WarrenBSmith  #RickWarren  #Pantheism  #SpiritualDeception  #BiblicalDiscernment  #FalseTeachers  #MysticismExposed  #OneWorldReligion  #ReturnToScripture  #SoundDoctrine  #ChristianPodcast  #TestEverything  #TruthMatters

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Contextually biblical perspective, encouraging the biblically born again faithful, exposing the counterfeit, pointing the lost to the one true Savior, Jesus Christ of Scripture!

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