Salem ‘Pastor’ Expelled for Wiccan Connections Targets Street Evangelists in ‘W

[Mark]

Salem ‘Pastor’ Expelled for Wiccan Connections Targets Street Evangelists in ‘Witch City’

 A pastor who was expelled from his denomination for forming close friendships with witches took issue on Thursday with a number of evangelists who were preaching repentance on the streets of the Halloween capital of the world.

Phil Wyman and his group “The Gathering” have been attending Halloween celebrations in Salem for nearly a decade, providing live music, hot chocolate and various readings on the popular Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, known as “Witch City,” was the location of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and has a long history of witchcraft and paganism that continues to this day.

Because of Salem’s roots, the city hosts a month-long celebration of Halloween each year called “Haunted Happenings.” The events include a costume parade, witch-centered dramas, psychic readings and public fairs and carnivals. On Halloween, the streets of Salem become especially congested with trick-or-treaters and other costumed revelers—numbering upwards in the tens of thousands. A number of occult shops are especially visible during the month of October as well.

Several years ago, Wyman, who refers to himself as a “spiritual adventurer” and “modern mystic,” applied for a grant from his former denomination–the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a Pentecostal denomination founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1927. In a recent fundraising video, Wyman states that he asked for the grant to found a church that would “make friends with witches and atheists.”

“We did something few other Christians in the world were doing,” he states in the video. “We loved the witches and they loved us back.”

He said that he wanted to make peace with the witches and to converse about matters of spirituality. But according to an article from the Salem Patch, Wyman does not necessarily seek to convert pagans.

“Theology doesn’t work like that. I don’t think I have the capability of converting anyone,” he told the publication. “I don’t look at the Christian salvation thing as a sales pitch. That’s God’s job. I talk about practical things. Why can’t I just have a regular relationship and talk about the Red Sox?”

During an interview earlier this year on “Live From the Bay With Joey,” Wyman explained that during one Halloween celebration, he ran a confessional booth that was frequented by 35-40 area witches and pagans.

“We didn’t have them confess to us, but rather, we confessed the sins of the Church and apologized for hideous things that had happened, not only down through history but in recent times,” he stated. “That was evidence that we cared.”

In 2005, area pastors became concerned that Wyman was getting too close to the witches in the city. Wyman’s district supervisor sent him a letter, outlining that his actions went too far.

“I feel you are not seeing the vulnerability you are opening up to regarding demonic activity,” he wrote. “It is my judgment … that you are crossing the line into the aberrant.”

Wyman was summoned to appear at a denominational hearing that year, and was expelled the following March.

That was seven years ago. To this day, Wyman continues formulate friendships with witches and pagans in Salem, and makes it a point to be at Haunted Happenings each year to put a charismatic twist on the celebration.

On Thursday, Wyman and other volunteers with “The Gathering” were on the streets of Salem offering destiny and tattoo readings, dream interpretations, father or mother blessings and healing prayers to Halloween revelers. Wyman also was responsible for “Fountain Stage,” which featured a variety of Halloween entertainment, including American Idol contestant Angie Miller, the daughter of Pastor Guy and Tana Miller of Remix Church in Salem. Other bands included the Tokyo Tramps, Mamadou Diop and One Hot Mess.

But Wyman also took issue with a number of evangelists who were on the street calling men to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. During his interview on “Live From the Bay,” he explained that it is his custom to send men dressed in monk costumes to chastise street preachers and put distance between them and the area witches.

“When street preachers were harassing them, and somebody would call and say, ‘Help Pastor Phil, there’s all these wild street preachers out here and they’re [verbally] attacking our psychic fair,’ we’d send people dressed up as monks to stand between the situation,” he said.

On Thursday, Wyman again sent a monk to chastise evangelists preaching on the street. Christians who witnessed the exchange noted that the man became extremely angry—to the point that he was shaking–and the crowd eventually turned against him.

“It breaks my heart. It’s sad, really sad,” Sean Bishop, an evangelist with True Gospel Baptist Church in Salem, told Christian News Network. “There is so much that is wrong with their attacks against us street preachers, but they do it every year.”

Bishop, who has been preaching at Haunted Happenings for the past six years, said that he observed the monk, who was visibly “full of hate in his heart,” spewing profanity at a 14-year-old last year. He stated that Wyman’s congregants often support the crowds for their rejection of the preaching.

“They join hands with these hecklers that are God-hating. They laugh with them,” he explained. “[Wyman] listens to the witches’ beck and call and he turns his sheep after us. It’s horrific.”

Bishop, who attended the event as a participant for many years before becoming a Christian, says that his only motive in preaching on the streets is his love for the people.

“I preach a compassion for souls. I really do want them to go to Heaven,” he said. “If you see a burning building with people in it, how loud would your voice of warning be? You would do whatever you can to get them out.”

Bishop remarked that Wyman is presenting a “false love” in defending the witches. He says that he prays for Wyman and the costumed monk on a regular basis, and hopes that they will come to understand Biblical evangelism.

“He doesn’t understand how much we pray for these people. We weep for these souls,” he stated. “It’s sad to see that he claims he’s a believer and is attacking what we’re doing out here. … It reminds me of Jesus’ words, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”

http://christiannews.net/2013/11/01/salem-pastor-expelled-for-wiccan-connections-targets-street-evangelists-in-witch-city/

[Kilika]

Why can’t I just have a regular relationship and talk about the Red Sox?”

Because a Christian is to walk in the spirit so as to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

[Mark]

Well i posted the story than got busy on something else. I read this and wanted to comment on it, i think this story really shows how a witch infiltrated a church and was well on his way of converting it into a coven of witches. The ex pastor Phil Wyman called himself a “spiritual adventurer” and “modern mystic,” years before he was fiired. I mean i think that would have been a red flag to begin with. But as soon as he looses his job he starts a group called “The Gathering” . Which is used in a lot of oddult themed movies and tv shows about whitches.

But lets not put too much blame on Phil, he did probably get his dream job at the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, which we today would call a witches church. Aimee McPherson wasnt a christian. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson

But im pretty sure if it wasnt for the area pastors this guy would still be in charge and Aimee's church of witches would have been fully established. Phil gets out and and gets even bigger than before, still has some kind of TV show, and sends demonic acolytes to stop street preachers from talking to people. This guy really is the head of a coven of witches. And lets face it, the charismatic's have way more in common with witch craft than they do Christianity.

here is something i saw in one of Bryan's Videos about speaking in toungues.

In modern Christian worship, the Pentecostal movement
has revived interest in speaking in tongues and
ecstatic communion with God. The movement began on
January 1, 1901 (the first day of the 20th century), when
a group of Bethel College, Topeka, Kansas, reportedly
received the Spirit. Various sects have sought communication
with the Lord in this manner, with the so-called
Holy Rollers being perhaps the most famous in the first
part of this century. Worshipers rolled and writhed on the
floor, putting themselves in a state of self-induced hypnosis,
and prayed that the Spirit would come to them. The
congregation considered those who received the Spirit as
blessed, much like the worshipers during a Vodun rite
praise those who have been mounted by a god. Earlier
critics of such worship would have found the participants
possessed. The largest group of Pentecostals in the United
States is the Assemblies of God, with thousands of members
worldwide.

In Spiritualism, some trance mediums allow themselves
to be possessed by spirits who speak through
them. In some Spiritualist churches, spirit-possessed
mediums deliver sermons in trance, as well as messages
from the dead to members of the congregation. Channeling
involves the invoking of highly evolved entries, who
“possess” the channeler in order to speak to a human
audience.

That is from The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, written by a Witch. So i really dont think the Church was all there to begin with, and it sure wasnt the members that seem to be raising a fuss over this guy. But he really has grown in power there since he was outed.

On Thursday, Wyman and other volunteers with “The Gathering” were on the streets of Salem offering destiny and tattoo readings, dream interpretations, father or mother blessings and healing prayers to Halloween revelers. Wyman also was responsible for “Fountain Stage,” which featured a variety of Halloween entertainment, including American Idol contestant Angie Miller, the daughter of Pastor Guy and Tana Miller of Remix Church in Salem. Other bands included the Tokyo Tramps, Mamadou Diop and One Hot Mess.

“They join hands with these hecklers that are God-hating. They laugh with them,” he explained. “[Wyman] listens to the witches’ beck and call and he turns his sheep after us. It’s horrific.”

That is stuff witches do... Im fully convinced that Phil Wyman was always a witch and infiltrated this church, and was going to use it to bring in other churches.

Salem, Massachusetts. Salem, known as “Witch City,” was the location of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and has a long history of witchcraft and paganism that continues to this day.

yes, yes it does and this story just proves it, and it proves WHY you need the Bible as your foundation, not a witch like Aimee McPherson or Phil Wyman, or a Kansas Blessing... Kansas must be a haven of the Devil as that place keeps sending devils out from there...

[Psalm 51:17]

^^

I've encountered these pastor/evangelical types throughout my lifetime...

1) The pastor at my previous church, while I'm not 100% sure if he was a witch, had these traits - when he would preach on the pulpit, sometimes he would just hop around and not only start yelling, but would talk pretty fast where you can't even understand what he's saying. It was as if he was in a trance-like state. But nonetheless it left the pews spellbound. He wasn't the only one I encountered that had this personality - I remember another pastor in the 70's that just scared everyone to death with this style.(Pretty much a few years after I moved out, heard him do a radio interview where he was talking New Age nonsense like "dawning of a new day" - started to confirm my suspicions)

And no, it wasn't like they drank too much caffeine either(if you know what I mean here).

2) Remember that Asian missionary guy from 2 years ago I talked about here(that tried to attack my spiritually) - he supposedly had this "gift" of speaking/praying in tongues. His speaking in tongues is where he would just speak a bunch of fast gibberish no one would understand, but somehow everyone believed it was his "gift" from God. When he tried to come after me like that - I saw the expression in his eyes and face, I was completely horrified(puffing up, changing colors, etc while screaming and grabbing my head).

Ultimately - as much as I hate to say it, the modern-day church system has ultimately let these devils within their walls. Look at the Southern Baptist Convention and all their Freemasons they've allowed. Look how VERY little, if not at all pastors get held accountable(and the double standard that goes along with it where it's ONLY the pews that are told to be held accountable). Look at the perverted bible versions and "devotionals" they've used(which has left them with a wet noodle defense weapon).

[Psalm 51:17]

Another thing - it seems like a lot of these witches and occultists(not all, but for the most part) work in secret. I'm kind of surprised this guy is working out in the open like this(although not too blatantly, but subtlely).

I say this b/c that previous pastor I had - there was just a lot of secrecy and mysteriousness surrounding him. Like said, he had characteristics of a witch, but if you let's say weren't reading the right bible/were just a window-shopping church goer/lacked discernment, etc, you wouldn't notice a thing. But nonetheless if you were reading the right bible and researched proper info, while your suspicions would go way up, the guy himself would be a big mystery. And when he was doing questionable things in the open(ie-working with the city's RCC Interfaith group), it still wouldn't get much attention. As for the mystery stuff - they, like he, would give off a lot of cryptic messages(via word and deed). And remember that former megachurch pastor in the DFW metroplex I talked about a couple of years ago(who went on to become a "missionary" in China) - he and his family has this cloud of mysteriousness around them too, even though he's given himself away through cryptic messages.

[Mark]

I believe this is another witch that did infiltrate and take over a church, granted these churches are ripe for this kind of take over...

Tatted-Up, Foul-Mouthed’ Pastor Takes a Radically Different Approach to Teaching Scripture

Nadia Bolz-Weber‘s blunt preaching style differs greatly from what congregants generally see at traditional Christian churches. The tattooed Lutheran minister who believes in emphasizing “experience over rules” is an emerging star on the Christian left, but she doesn’t appear interested in embracing political labels.
There is no Christian LEFT,  bizzaro liberals...



While there is a growing group of believers interested in Bolz-Weber’s message, not everyone will be so enamored. For one, her use of what The Washington Post called a “frequently profane dialect” will certainly turn off more traditional church attendees. Still, she’s piquing the interest of others who are more theologically progressive in nature.
 
The 44-year-old pastor, profiled by the Post on Sunday, has an intriguing style that’s clearly driving interest in her theology, but it’s her personal story as much as her preaching chops that makes her an intriguing figure in the ever-diverse pool of Christian ministers.
 
After growing up in what the Post described as a “fundamentalist” Christian family, Bolz-Weber took a different path.
 
She said a thyroid disorder in her younger years led to anger and frustration, and she turned to drugs and alcohol and became sexually active. She experimented with Wicca and liberal faith groups, but later, in her recovery from drugs and substance abuse, reconnected with her Christianity.

SHE NEVER LEFT THEM...
 
Along the way, she said she never stopped believing in the almighty.
 
Bolz-Weber, a wife and mother of two, is now a Christian preacher who speaks to a very diverse audience. She’s the pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints, a Denver, Colo.-based church that’s part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America denomination in which tradition and innovation collide and where “scripture is honored enough to be faithfully questioned and struggled with.”

In her Patheos biography, she describes her church as having “a progressive yet deeply rooted theological imagination.”
 
Here’s how she recently described her sermons — which are generally around 10 minutes — and how services run at the church in an interview with Religion News Service’s Jonathan Merritt:
 
“We’re more liturgically traditional than most other Lutheran churches. So that’s, sort of, counterintuitive for some people. But how we do it is completely different. We’re in the round. Different parts of the liturgy are led by 15 or 18 different people. It’s not centered on the pastor. And we have a time right after the sermon, usually 10 minutes, to pray and reflect and respond. And that’s when people write “the prayers of the people” for later in the liturgy. So there’s an intimacy to how we live our liturgical life together. We always sing Southern gospel hymns, and we’re acapella. So we sing Fanny Crosby hymns, stuff like that. But then we’ll do acapella Gregorian chant liturgy. It is a bizarre combination.”
 
It’s obvious that Bolz-Weber isn’t a traditional pastor. In many ways, it seems she’s trying to mesh elements from both conservative and liberal traditions.
 
“In her body and her theology, Bolz-Weber represents a new, muscular form of liberal Christianity, one that merges the passion and life-changing fervor of evangelicalism with the commitment to inclusiveness and social justice of mainline Protestantism,” the Post wrote. “She’s a tatted-up, foul-mouthed champion to people sick of being belittled as not Christian enough for the right or too Jesus-y for the left.”
 
The Post summarized Bolz-Weber’s central message as follows: ”God doesn’t love you more if you do good things, or if you believe certain things. God, she argues, offers you grace regardless of who you are or what you do.”
 
The newspaper proclaimed that her focus on “experience over rules” poses a challenge to conservative and liberal Christians alike, though many conservative churches focus intensely on the Christian experience in their teachings. Based on that fact, there wouldn’t necessarily be a conflict with this general idea.
 
The Post also noted, however, that some progressive Christians might not be pleased with Bolz-Weber’s views — mainly that church needs to be more than a nonprofit organization.
 
“This isn’t supposed to be the Elks Club with the Eucharist,” she told the Post, going on to say that Christianity has been reduced to either social action of a list of dos and donts. Bolz-Weber summarized the dueling messages as stating: “‘recycle’ and ‘don’t sleep with your girlfriend.’”
 
Despite her likely appeal to more liberal Christians, it seems she isn’t interested in being characterized as a liberal or a conservative. When Jeff Chu, author of the book, ”Does Jesus Really Love Me?” tweeted that the Post’s article on Bolz-Weber reminds him that “‘liberal’ + ‘cons.’ = inadequate words to describe change in church,” she responded, under the Twitter handle @Sarcasticluther, “Yeah, I’m kind of neither.”

The description for her most recent book, “Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint,” says Bolz-Weber penned a “messy, beautiful, prayer-and-profanity laden narrative about an unconventional life of faith.” The description continues:
 
Heavily tattooed and loud-mouthed, Nadia, a former stand-up comic, sure as hell didn’t consider herself to be religious leader material-until the day she ended up leading a friend’s funeral in a smoky downtown comedy club. Surrounded by fellow alcoholics, depressives, and cynics, she realized: These were her people. Maybe she was meant to be their pastor.
 
Using life stories-from living in a hopeful-but-haggard commune of slackers to surviving the wobbly chairs and war stories of a group for recovering alcoholics, from her unusual but undeniable spiritual calling to pastoring a notorious con artist-Nadia uses stunning narrative and poignant honesty to portray a woman who is both deeply faithful and deeply flawed, giving hope to the rest of us along the way.

While Bolz-Weber seemingly doesn’t embrace political labels, some conservatives may see some of her messages as being too closely aligned with left-of-center social views.
 
For instance, the description of her book noted that it was written “for women who talk too loud, and guys who love chick flicks; for the gay man who loves Jesus, and won’t allow himself to be shunned by the church.”
 
Certainly some will see this as wonderful and inclusive, while others will shy away from the message due to connotations and an approach that is non-traditional (last year, she testified at the Colorado Senate Judiciary in support of civil unions).
 
Watch the preacher speak about faith and God, below:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/04/tatted-up-foul-mouthed-pastor-takes-a-radically-different-approach-to-teaching-scripture/

Bolz-Weber’s church, House for All Sinners and Saints, currently attracts around 180 people each week. While that’s comparatively a small congregation, Bolz-Weber’s influence is apparently growing. The popular pastor is constantly traveling the nation and sending social media updates.
 
But as her popularity grows, questions surround whether she wants to be a mega pastor or whether she can handle the burdens of a larger platform. Unlike other pastors, the mega route may not be her forte. Then again, only the future holds those answers.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/04/tatted-up-foul-mouthed-pastor-takes-a-radically-different-approach-to-teaching-scripture/

[Psalm 51:17]

“We’re more liturgically traditional than most other Lutheran churches. So that’s, sort of, counterintuitive for some people. But how we do it is completely different. We’re in the round. Different parts of the liturgy are led by 15 or 18 different people. It’s not centered on the pastor. And we have a time right after the sermon, usually 10 minutes, to pray and reflect and respond. And that’s when people write “the prayers of the people” for later in the liturgy. So there’s an intimacy to how we live our liturgical life together. We always sing Southern gospel hymns, and we’re acapella. So we sing Fanny Crosby hymns, stuff like that. But then we’ll do acapella Gregorian chant liturgy. It is a bizarre combination.”

And this is pretty much what the modern-day, organized church system for years and years have done in their Wednesday night meetings - fill out these "prayer request cards", get into groups to pray with each other, and then turn in these "prayer request cards" at the end. Pretty much it mirrors the whole RCC "confessional" system.

And as for these traditional hymn books - pretty much prior to the 19th century, hymns were sung STRAIGHT out of the bible(ie-Psalms), until men and women in the 1800's decided they needed to use their own thinkings and imaginations.
 
Pt being that while a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, and if you sow to the flesh you reap of the flesh corruption - it's going to take TIME for it to do so. We're now starting to see the rotten fruit really ripe to fruition(it's not like these witches made it up by themselves in recent years).

It’s obvious that Bolz-Weber isn’t a traditional pastor. In many ways, it seems she’s trying to mesh elements from both conservative and liberal traditions.
 
“In her body and her theology, Bolz-Weber represents a new, muscular form of liberal Christianity, one that merges the passion and life-changing fervor of evangelicalism with the commitment to inclusiveness and social justice of mainline Protestantism,” the Post wrote. “She’s a tatted-up, foul-mouthed champion to people sick of being belittled as not Christian enough for the right or too Jesus-y for the left.”

And this is what I'm seeing from especially the younger pastors nowdays - again, I'm NOT trying to belittle young people(we have a couple of Millenials here that are faithful KJB believers, and I'm a Gen Xer), but this is a pattern I'm seeing among a lot of younger pastors and youth pastors in their 20's and 30's. A lot of them may not be witches, but nonetheless they were brainwashed in their seminaries and their respective churches growing up. Pretty much they have this non-judgmental attitude.

As for the Christian LEFT - pretty much the opposition-controlled Christian RIGHT paved the way for them(ie-Jerry Falwell attended Rick Warren's Purpose Driven conferences, and Charles Stanley attended conferences with Rick Warren).

[Mark]

Here is one tha looks like an infiltration of a Christian ran business.

Grocery Store Owner Ordered to Pay Unemployment Benefits Over ‘Unacceptable’ Biblical Counseling

A grocery store owner in Iowa has been ordered to pay unemployment benefits to a former employee who quit her job after she was questioned about her personal lifestyle and exhorted to read the Bible.
 
Tyler Stille owns Tabor Market and Deli and is known for his strong Christian beliefs. He told reporters this week that he is up front with prospective employees about his faith before they are hired.
 
“We have a Christian fish symbol on our sign,” Stille explained. “Before we hire anybody, we tell them our faith. We play Christian music in our store all the time, and we always make sure that’s OK with them because that’s a part of our life.”
 
In September 2011, he hired Sherri Chafin, who is not a Christian, but said she didn’t have an issue with Stille’s Biblical beliefs—until those beliefs intersected with her personal life.

Chafin, who now works at a sexually-oriented shop, told the Des Moines Register this week that she quit her job months later after being questioned about her living arrangement and exhorted to read the Scriptures. She then filed for unemployment.
 
“[Stille] told me that I should read one Psalm, or one chapter, per day, something like that,” she testified at her unemployment hearing. “He asked me if I was receiving food stamps, or any welfare, or anything like that. He told me that if I was, it was unjust because I worked and I lived with my roommate—who is my boyfriend and we’re not married.”
 
“I was crying,” she said. “He was very intimidating.”

But Stille told the court that wasn’t what happened. He said that Chafin had made an inappropriate comment to a customer, and so he asked his wife to bring him his Bible as he wanted to read Chafin a few Proverbs. Stille stated that Chafin became “belligerent” and began “crying hysterically,” so he walked out of the room when communication became useless.
 
“We had talked Bible-talk for quite some time [in the past] and, in fact, Sherri, in December, had given us a very beautiful religious card thanking us not only for employment and everything we had talked about and what have you,” he told the court. “So I guess I am a little dumbfounded that all of a sudden she has an issue with Christianity.”
 
At the end of the hearing, Administrative Judge Julie Elder sided with Chafin, stating that Stille was wrong for imposing his beliefs on Chafin and ordered him to pay unemployment.
 
“He effectively held her hostage in his office and lectured her regarding his religious and moral beliefs and her alleged shortcomings in his eyes,” Elder ruled, calling Stille’s actions “inappropriate, unacceptable and unprofessional.”
 
Stille said that the decision was troublesome and that he didn’t believe the government had the right to tell him how to run his grocery store as a Christian business owner.
 
“It’s just a lot of baloney and it’s more of government getting involved where it shouldn’t,” he told the Des Moines Register. “I’m just really frustrated with the whole mess.”

http://christiannews.net/2013/11/15/grocery-store-owner-ordered-to-pay-unemployment-benefits-over-unacceptable-biblical-counseling/

[Psalm 51:17]

Yeah, sounds like her intent was never to have employment there for any decent reason(ie-over the long haul, or just temporary to pay for expenses like school, rent, etc). Looks like there was an agenda behind it.