The "Indigenous People's" (hereafter IPM) or "First Nations" movement is an unbiblical movement teaching heresies and doctrines of demons being spread worldwide by YWAM, Don Richardson, author of "Eternity In Their Hearts", John Dawson of President of YWAM, Richard Twiss of Wiconi International, Terry LeBlanc, Daniel Kikawa of Aloha Ke Akua, Danny Lehmann of YWAM/Calvary Chapel Komo Mai, and many other adherents.

This movement has ties to the apostolic leadership of the New Apostolic Reformation and C. Peter Wagner. A number of the announced speakers at their "A Call To All Nations" conference in Honolulu were also on the Aloha Ke Akua "Advisory Board" including John Dawson, Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc and Don Richardson. You can go here for more information about these people.  One thing you will notice is that people involved with YWAM play a major role in the promotion of this agenda and conferences around the world.

Daniel Kikawa and his book "Perpetuated In Righteousness", as well as the teaching of the First Nations, YWAM and the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) lay the basis for the ideas put forth by this movement.  Kikawa's book was endorsed by John Dawson of YWAM. YWAM is firmly a part of the NAR which is headed by C. Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets, Bill Hamon, Tommy Tenney, Mike Bickle and includes hundreds of other false apostles, false prophets and false teachers.  If you want an in depth study of the NAR, read free articles here or go here to purchase the book and/or DVD/VHS series on the NAR.  Richard Twiss and his ministry Wiconi are endorsed by the leadership of the NAR including C. Peter Wagner, Francis Frangipane and Charles Kraft.

The IPM is full of the false teachings of the Third Wave, NAR, Word-Faith, Dominionism, Latter Rain and many other false theological systems.  But it does have it's own distinctives that are driven by the works of Daniel Kikawa, Richard Twiss, John Dawson and Don Richardson in particular.  They are teaching Christians to “redeem” their cultures by worshipping their former gods, pretending they are YHWH.  But when Jesus Christ was first introduced to the islands He was introduced as the biblical Jesus Christ, the Son of David, born a Jew, the second person in the Triunity of God.  Jesus was NOT introduced as Pele or Io of Hawaii, as Tagaloa of the Marshalls, Nahnsapwe of Pohnpei, Wonofaat of Chuuk, Uchelianged of Palau, Yalafath of Yap,  Puntan and Fu’una of Guam or any other mythological or demonic god.  To call Jesus by these other names is to blaspheme His name (Phil. 2:9-10)!  There is salvation in only one name under heaven … that is the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).  We are to worship God by His name, not in other names.  27 times the New Testament declares that we are to follow God in the name of Jesus Christ. (Ac 2:38, 3:6, 4:10, 4:18, 4:30, 5:40, 8:12, 8:16, 9:27, 9:29, 15:26, 16:18, 19:5, 19:13, 19:17, 21:13, 26:9; 1 Cor. 1:2, 1:10, 5:4, 6:11; Eph. 5:20; Php. 2:10; Col 3:17; 2 Thes.1:12, 3:6; 1 John 3:23)

I believe it is time for islanders to take a stand against this stuff coming into the island churches.  I personally stand fully against this influx of these "First Nations" unbiblical ideas, and I do so because the ongoing ministry of my family for 44 years has been to minister alongside the churches of Micronesia in the furtherance of the Gospel.  We love the island people!  For people like Richard Twiss and Daniel Kikawa to teach the stuff they are teaching constitutes an ALL OUT ATTACK on mission and church work in the islands.

Please read also refer to the following articles for reference on Daniel Kikawa's book "Perpetuated In Righteousness":

Perpetuated In Righteousness - A Review by Mike Oppenheimer, 5/5/07
A series of articles reviewing, in detail, this book which is one of the books laying the basis for the "A Call To All Nations" conference.

(1) Overview of the Book Perpetuated in Righteousness
(2) The Gospel in the Stars
(3) Perpetuated in Righteousness or Perpetuating a Modern Myth
(4) Io the God of the Bible
(5) Io, the Trinity, and the gods

Indigenous People Issues - A Warning About The World Christian Gathering Of Indigenous People by Sandy Simpson, Pacific Waves Newsletter, 5/02
"But I do not endorse movements that, for all their good intentions, are a mixture of good, unbiblical and heretical theology. How can we effectively bring the gospel if that gospel is tainted by the world, the flesh and the devil. We as Christians must stand firm in the faith once for all delivered to the saints. We must not get involved in ecumenical movements that look like the world, act like the world, and instead of bringing the Word to the world are bringing the world to the world."  Go here for a commentary on the full transcript of the "Word To The World" radio programs 541-550.

Richard Twiss Connections by Sandy Simpson, 10/1/04
Richard Twiss is spreading the doctrines of the New Apostolic Reformation and is endorsed by them.  He claims that the Great Spirit of the Indians is the Holy Spirit of the Bible, and endorses ministries who make this same claim.  He endorses and promoted books by people like Daniel Kikawa that present information as fact when it is proven myth.  He continues to teach that the Great Spirit is the Holy Spirit by wearing the cultural items associated with the Great Spirit, even though it is a historical fact that the Great Spirit is a pantheistic god that required blood rituals and human sacrifice.  Richard Twiss claims that what he is doing is not syncretism, when it is the very definition of syncretism.

A Call To The Nations? by Sandy Simpson, 4/28/05
Unbiblical teachings by the organizers and participants of this conference including Richard Twiss, Daniel Kikawa, Aloha Ke Akua and YWAM.

Regarding The Accuracy Of Oral Traditions - With Reference To Daniel Kikawa's Book "Perpetuated In Righteousness" by Sandy Simpson, 5/10/05
The accuracy of oral tradition is, in a word, "inaccurate".  I dare say that if we were able to trace back most oral traditions today, as God sees them from an eternal perspective, we would see the mutations, changes and fabrications involved in modern mythology.  We would also see a lot of "fables".

The Testimony Of Heneri Opukaha'ia - regarding the state of religion and society in Hawaii before the Gospel - A Rebuttal To Daniel Kikawa's Book "Perpetuated In Righteousness" by Sandy Simpson, 5/17/05
This article is a reminder of what Hawaii was like before the Gospel was preached.  This is the account of a very important eyewitness. It is an unfortunate fact that often, by the third generation of Christians in any given area of the world, important information has begun to be lost and forgotten.  This is clearly evident in the writings of people like Daniel Kikawa.  The stark facts, of Hawaiian culture and religion before the Gospel was preached in Hawaii, are made evident by the testimony of a man without whom the peoples of Hawaii would never have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel message and would still be living in the sins of their ancestors.

1. IPM Leaders Teach That God Has Been Redeeming Cultures And That He Placed In All Cultures A Way For Men To Have A Relationship With God Outside Of The Gospel

“So these are clues that we felt God had left (the Hawaiian people) and evidence that He’s left as well as processes He has left in which our Hawaiian people can respond in a very natural way to God and really set things right between them and God.” (Leon Siu, Word To The World, show #544)

“There’s a myth that we have labored under for centuries in indigenous communities and the myth is that we are a godless heathen people.”  (Terry LeBlanc, Word To The World, show #542)

“And yet all brings glory to God in its own special way, and that’s true of human beings and cultures as well.” (Terry LeBlanc, Word To The World, show #542)

“God is now calling forth from among the indigenous communities of the world that good deposit which He has made in them of their cultures, their languages, their musical expressions and all that sort of thing ... as an expression of praise and worship unto Himself.” (Terry LeBlanc, Word To The World, show #542)

“The book of Revelation the Bible doesn’t say we’re going to be all one block of one color of people, it says every kindred, tongue, people, language and nation will be there, uh, languages, peoples and cultures in heaven.” (Danny Lehmann, Word To The World, show #542)

“… Several of these … redemptive analogies ... are in most if not all cultures.”  (Danny Lehmann, Word To The World, show #544)

A few years ago some friends and I were contemplating how we would be able to reach indigenous peoples and we thought that what was prevalent at that time was a misconception among, within the church of God's presence here in the islands.  The misconceptions that, as was expressed earlier, was that God didn't arrive until the missionaries arrived.  You know, and so when we started to look at this we started to look into our culture and see what things within our culture what God had originally intended for this particular group of people, Hawaiians. (Leon Siu, Word To The World, show #544)

You can find a fuller expose' of the first series of "Word To The World" programs here:

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lehmann.html
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lehmann2.html

In this new article you will also find quotes from the second "Word To The World" program featuring moderator Danny Lehmann and IPM Guest, Daniel Kikawa.

Let's address the two false assumptions above, namely that (1) God is in the business of redeeming cultures and (2) that God placed in cultures are way of redemption apart from the Gospel.

First, the only "culture" that will be redeemed will be that of God's chosen people, the Jews (Ps. 130:8), during the Tribulation (Zech. 13:1).  But this will be because a certain percentage of the Jews (Rev. 7:3-4; Rev. 14:3) will come to understand and believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah (John 3:3).  Other than this example there is nowhere in the Bible where it talks about God redeeming cultures.  Rev. 7:9 speaks of nations, tribes, peoples and languages standing before the throne of God, but not "cultures".  This verse is talking about individuals who have believed in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord from all the nations of the earth.  Cultures are the traditions of men (Mark 7:8-9, 13; Col. 2:8), not God-created as many of the IPM people claim.  God is in the business of redeeming individuals from sin (1 Pet. 1:18-23; Gal. 3:14) not cultures.  The idea of the redemption or "transformation" of whole cities, societies and cultures is actually a Dominionist idea from the Latter Rain and NAR.  This has no basis in Scripture whatsoever.  Each man must believe for himself (Act. 16:31; Rom. 10:9) upon conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-9).  Notice that though the Holy Spirit is sent into the world to convict of sin, He is convicting men who do not believe in Jesus Christ, not whole cultures.

Second, there is no way for men to come to believe in Jesus Christ without having heard the Gospel (Eph. 1:13).  You cannot hear the Gospel without it being preached to you (Rom. 10:14-15).  The Gentiles had no knowledge of the Gospel message until it that mystery was revealed to them by way of the apostles and missionaries (Eph. 2:12).

2. IPM Leaders Teach That The Gods Being Worshiped In Cultures Were Really the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and Deities Are Renamed Accordingly

See #5.

Kikawa makes up an elaborate mythology about Hawaiian culture claiming that Hawaiians already were worshipping God in the form of the bird god “Io” long before missionaries arrived (pg. 18, pp. 2). He claims that the Polynesian people were descended from Israel (pg. 62) that they can trace their genealogies back to Noah (pg. 72-73) and that they knew the gospel because it was written in the stars (pg. 55). (Arnold Fructenbaum review of Kikawa's "Perpetuated In Righteousness", http://www.letusreason.org/current4%20.htm

Here's proof of Leon Siu, a member of Daniel Kikawa's "Aloha Ke Akua" and IPM spokesman, participating in praying and celebrating "Io" as Jehovah.

As we stood at the edge of Hale-ma'uma'u Crater, singing praises to 'Io (Jehovah/Savior), thoughts of what took place 171 years earlier on that very ground, were on the minds of all who came. Included in our present celebration were prayers of thanksgiving and intercession for Hawaii. In 1824 Chieftess Kapiolani (not to be confused with Queen Kapiolani) made that same trek from Kona to the volcano - by foot. It took her two months. Many had tried to convince her not to go. But she felt compelled by God, as if on a divine mission. This true Hawaiian story is not unlike Elijah and his confrontation with Baal, described in 1 Kings 18. After this event at Kilauea, many Hawaiians - including Kahunas (ancient Hawaiian priests) of Pele, believed in Jesus, as the Christ - 'Io. {See article on the Hula, this issue}. Included in our present celebration were prayers of thanksgiving and intercession for Hawaii. There was also special music by Leon Siu and friends, and hulas by young Hawaiian Christians, telling of the historical event. As the crowd disbursed joyfully about three hours later, there was a strong sense of having participated in a very significant event in Hawaii's spiritual history. I'm soooo glad I went!! Later in the day the celebration continued at "The Gathering Place" (Hilo New Hope).  'Io - Jehovah God- is indeed alive and well in Hawaii nei. http://across.co.nz/articles.'Io.html

Notice Richard Twiss and YWAM were at the following conferences, along with Kenneth Copeland and other false teachers:

http://www.brokenwalls.com/archives_2000.html

Danny Lehmann had Richard Twiss, Leon Siu and Terry LeBlanc on his Word To The World radio program who are involved in the First Nations events.  This is one of their reports.  Notice that Richard Twiss was involved and look at the opening invocation.

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

In case you can't bring up this page (I had trouble) here is what the opening said:

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

Danny Lehmann argues that Christians can use the names of foreign false gods if we simply redefine them as the "Jewish God".

"... and you have been under the gun on this issue of Io in the Hawaiian culture, well that’s a bird god and its obviously a demon and so forth, you can’t worship it. We’re not saying that we need to worship a bird god or we’re not saying we need to worship a moon god. But were saying that those people understand it that way and they already have it as their god and perhaps we can use that name and teach the truth about the character of Jehovah God, without going to an arab muslim saying you have to accept the Jewish God, so that’s where we are coming from. So give us a little bit of illustration of this out of your experience." (Danny Lehmann, Word to the World, Feb.14/06, #7)

If Io is a false demonic bird god in HI, how can you change that to the real thing?  Won't people forever be confused about who God really is if their concept of God is a mixture.  Remember, God hates a mixture.  From the beginning He separated the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:4).

Psalms 75:8  For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

God blesses those who trust in the Lord Jehovah, and curses those who turn aside to false gods.

Psalms 40:4  Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.

From the beginning the nations had false gods, just like the Hawaiians have their false bird god Io among a pantheon of other Gods, including many "supreme being" creator gods.  Those who follow the Lord God of Israel and His Son, Jesus Christ, "walk in the name of the Lord", not the names of other false demonic gods.

Micah 4:5  All the nations may walk in the name of their gods; we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

Any prophet, or Christian for that matter, who speaks in the name of other gods, was put to death by Old Testament Law.  Today we are to rebuke false teachers and false prophets, marking them and avoiding them.

Deuteronomy 18:20  But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death."

What are Daniel Kikawa, Danny Lehmann and many other IPM "Christians" speaking today?  They are "speaking in the name of other gods"!

There is only One God in Three Persons as revealed to the prophets and apostles, the subsequently to those who believe in Jesus Christ.  In the Old Testament God revealed Himself to the Jews exclusively and there was no salvation apart from the Jews.  In the New Testament God revealed Himself through the apostles, and especially through Paul to the Gentiles.  All the gods of the nations were and are false gods (Deut. 32:17; 1 Cor. 10:20, Jer. 16:19, Amos 2:4).  Even the supreme beings of the nations are not God, as in the case of Amen (Amon) of Egypt (Jer. 46:25), Hadad of the Arameans (1 Kings 20:28) Marduk of Babylon (Dan. 3:16-18) and many other "detestable" gods (Lev. 18:30; Deut. 7:25, 7:26, 12:31, 18:9, 20:18, 27:15, 29:17, 32:16; 1 Kings 11:5, 11:7, 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3, 21:2, 21:11, 23:13, 23:24; 2 Chron. 15:8, 28:3, 33:2, 34:33, 36:14; Ezra 9:1, 9:11; Prov. 21:27, 28:9; Is. 1:13; Jer. 4:1, 7:30, 16:18, 32:35; Eze. 5:9, 5:11, 11:18, 11:21, 12:16, 14:6; Mal. 2:11).  By teaching these ideas the IPM is bringing people who have just come out of unbelief back into slavery to false gods (2 Pet. 2:18-21), and teaching things they ought not to teach (Titus 1:9-14).  As those in Paul's day were spreading Jewish myths, today the IPM is spreading Gentile myths instead of the true Gospel.

3. IPM Leaders Teach The Spiritual Warfare Techniques of John Dawson, C Peter Wagner And Other Third Wavers To Rid Cities And Nations Of Demonic Influence, Then People Will Just Find Themselves Wanting To Geg Saved

See the following expose of John Dawson's book "Taking Our Cities For God", a manual for the NAR and IPM.

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/dawson/

On Saturday, August 7th, there will be a historic intercessory prayer gathering convened in Bend, Oregon on Mt. Bachelor. It will be a time for people of the Northwest to pray for twelve hours, simply for the Father's heart to be released for the healing of the land and spiritual renewal. I have been asked to lead the first hour of prayer along with a team of First Nations believers from NW tribes. We will have a big drum, some dancers, and tribal elders/leaders who will lead this hour of prayer and worship. As the Holy Spirit leads, we may repent for the sins of our fathers, our unforgiveness, judgment and bitterness, pray for the release of ancient curses and pray a blessing over the land as the Host Nations. Several thousand people are gathering. Please join us in prayer for "the Kingdom to come and His will be done" in the Pacific Northwest as "it is in heaven." (Smoke Signals - Prayer Need and Reports Richard Twiss, July 20, 2004)

There will be traditional First Nations style drumming and dance as part of the worship time geared toward a prophetic impartation of release and liberty in Christ. Terry & Darlene Wildman (RainSong) from the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, Cheryl Bear-Barnetson and her team, and the Albany Vineyard band will be leading worship. Rita Bear-Gray (Cree Nation) will lead times of prayer and intercession. This will be a time to see the release of the "One New Person" made possible in Christ, between the Host People of the land, and later immigrant people in North America.  It will be a radical worship time for all tribes and nations, in the spirit of what John saw in Revelation 7:9, as people from all tribes, tongues and nations gathered around God's throne united in worship to Jesus. (Smoke Signals - Prayer Need and Reports Richard Twiss, June 16, 2004)

These pragmatic techniques will not liberate anyone.  The spiritual warfare movement is based on a false understanding of Matt. 16:19.  They claim they can bind and loose demons not only in individuals but over whole regions and nations.  This is a perfect example of the absolute necessity of "context, context, context" when studying the Scripture.

Matt. 16:17-20  Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

The context is one of establishing the Church and preaching the Gospel and has NOTHING to do with casting out demons or casting down territorial spirits.  Notice that the time had not yet come to proclaim that Jesus was the Christ, but the time would come when that Mystery would be revealed, first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:7-9).  This is also the context in which Matt. 18:18 must be understood where they are addressing church discipline.

Matt. 18:15-20 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. "I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

The context is one of establishing and maintaining the Church, not one of spiritual warfare, unless by "spiritual warfare" we are talking about confronting sin.  If a person in the Church sins and will not repent, then the leadership of the Church has the authority to bind or loose that person.  This all has to do with the continued establishment of the Church which is in the hands of God-called leadership of His Church.  It has NOTHING to do with spiritual warfare as proposed by people like John Dawson.

A larger question remains for the careful thinker ... why do this unbiblical spiritual warfare to rid towns, cities, cultures and nations of demonic influence when you are getting the people to go back to their old gods and worship them under the name of YHWH?  This is a case where two wrongs don't make a right, they make a mess!

4. IPM Leaders Teach That God Can Be Worshipped Using Cultural Methods Heretofore Used To Worship Other Gods

Richard Twiss travels all over the world teaching people to "dance their prayers".

Everything is in place for our big Dancing Our Prayers Switzerland Tour. (Smoke Signals - Prayer Need and Reports Richard Twiss, July 20, 2004)

Peru – Our national Dancing Our Prayers Peruvian tour was unprecedented! In twenty days our team of eighteen traveled to thirteen cities and jungle towns holding 70 outreaches in large stadium, auditoriums, public parks, churches, and city plazas. More than thirty thousand people heard the gospel with 1370 making commitments to Jesus Christ. I have never experienced the Father’s favor and blessing like this ever! However, after all expenses were totaled, several unexpected bills arrived and expected income didn’t materialize, so that, we are carrying a $5200 debt from the trip into 2004. Your gifts will be greatly appreciated. (Smoke Signals - Cool Stories and Encouraging Reports from 2003, Richard Twiss, Dec 16, 2003)

In light of mid-East political unrest, I am excited about my trip to dance with Jonathan Maracle at an international music festival in Cairo, Egypt. We leave May 25th and return the 31st. A special stage is being erected near the Great Pyramids to host the various groups. It will be televised globally. The majority of my expenses are being covered. However, I still need to raise $500.00 toward the trip. Any gifts would be a blessing. As we go in the grace, beauty and anointing of our cultural identity as a First Nations representation of Christ and the Kingdom, please pray for grace, protection and peace for our team. (Smoke Signals - Prayer Need and Reports Richard Twiss, April 28, 2004)

My good friend, Ray Aldred, Cree, asked me to speak at his conference and dance in their pow-wow. Ray is the National Director of the First Nations Alliance Churches of Canada, the Native expression of the Christian & Missionary Alliance Denomination in Canada. David Bird, Cree, is the pastor of the Regina First Nations Alliance Church. His cousin is the Chief of the Peepeekisis Reserve. After years of being invited to church meetings and witnessed to, the pow-wow was the first Christian event the chief ever agreed to attend. He was very touched by the Holy Spirit through what occurred, as were all the non-believers who attended. These folks would never attend a “church” service but came to drum and dance and heard a very clear message of faith and hope in Jesus Christ as Lord and Creator. (Smoke Signals - Cool Stories and Encouraging Reports from 2003, Richard Twiss, Dec 16, 2003)

For the information of the reader, the word "pow-wow" is defined this way in Webster's Dictionary:

Etymology: Narraganset powwaw or Massachuset pauwau 1 : an American Indian medicine man 2 a : an American Indian ceremony (as for victory in war) b : an American Indian social gathering or fair usually including competitive dancing 3 a : a social get-together b : a meeting for discussion.

So I guess the above "pow-wow" would have to be described as definition 3 or possibly 2.  Notice definition 1!.

This next explanation of the actual meaning of the word is even clearer:

Word History: Because trances were so important to the Native American shaman as a means of getting in touch with spiritual forces beyond the ken of the normal person, the title powwaw, literally meaning “one who has visions,” was accorded him. An occurrence of this word in an early piece of propaganda designed to bring more settlers to New England represents fairly well the Puritan attitudes to the religion of the native inhabitants of the New World: “The office and dutie of the Powah is to be exercised principally in calling upon the Devil; and curing diseases of the sicke or wounded.” The word whose spelling was eventually settled in English as powwow was also used as the name for ceremonies and councils, probably because of the important role played by the shaman in both. Eventually the newcomers decided that they could have powwows too, the first reference to one of these being recorded in the Salem, Massachusetts, Gazette of 1812: “The Warriors of the Democratic Tribe will hold a powwow at Agawam on Tuesday next.” The verb powwow, “to confer,” was recorded even earlier, in 1780. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.)

The Bible is clear that we don't "dance" our prayers or entered altered states to pray.  That is what the heathens have done with their false gods who had no knowledge of what God requires.  Born again Christians are to pray with their minds (1 Cor. 14:15), not in altered states (1 Cor. 14:14).  We are to remain alert when we are praying in the Spirit (Eph. 6:18).  We may lift up holy hands in prayer, meaning we worship God in our praying (1 Tim. 2:8), but prayer is a way to worship God (Acts 13:1-3), thank Him and present our petitions to God (Heb. 12:28, 1 Tim. 2:1), being devoted to prayer in watchfulness and thanksgiving (Col 4:2), not in partying (Rom. 13:13-14).  We used to be pagans, now we are children of God in Jesus Christ, not given to debauchery (1 Pet. 4:3).  There is nowhere in the Bible where dances were used for prayer.  Dances were used to praise and worship God such as in the case of David (2 Sam. 6:14).  But we do not pray with dances.  Prayer is an act of communication with God using our minds.

Daniel Kikawa also defends the use of the hula in Christian worship.

Daniel Kikawa: well again it’s a cultural thing. Now we talk about the, the hip swiveling of the hula, y'know in the Muslim world there's, there's a lot of countries that uh, uh, a well known muslim saying that when a woman walks the devil is moving her hips and y’know I’ve seen a woman walk and if she wants to really be sexy and sensual she can be just with her walk. It’s true- but its just like the Hula, you can see the hula done in Waikiki when they want to be sensual and sexual and so on and it can be. And you can see it being used to worship Pele the volcano god and everything and sense the presence of that God there. Because that’s what their worshipping. It depends on whom your worshipping with it y’know . and when y’know, we all know in Hawaii now, we’ve seen it over and over again…we estimate now over 200 groups worshipping God with hula… he just dwells within the praises of his people. The anointing of God is there when these dances are used to worship God. And it immediately tells to the Hawaiian people he’s Hawaiian who loves the Hawaiian people…We need to understand y’know in Acts again, it does not prohibit the, the native dances.  And what we need to do since Satan is not a creator, see if we say you can’t do this dance because Satan dirtied it, okay, well we can’t use the western guitar because its used to worship Satan, and so is the western paino. In fact so are our voices, people worship satan with our voices. So are we gonna say now that people shouldn’t talk because some people swear. You see Then satan steals everything, And were just giving it to him. Pretty soon we have nothing left. We need to take what satan has stolen back and put it where God created it which is to worship him.

Danny Lehmann: We used the same logic, nobody would tell someone that if you used to use your house for crack house and you get saved you need to burn that house down, because you become a Christian, no! You can say a couple of prayers and have a bible study in a house that used to sell crack in it and we don’t think a thing about it in the western world. But you have a hula or you have a dance or you have a smoke house among the, what do they call the houses among the native Americans- sweat lodge, where they smoke a pipe or something in there or whatever, we have all these non believing, non Christian cultural taboos.  (Word to the World, Daniel Kikawa Feb.9/06, #4)

Phil. 3:7-9  But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ— the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Richard Twiss, president of Wiconi International and keynote speaker at the 2001 conference, said the land restitution is "the fruit of following traditional indigenous protocol in presenting the redemptive message of faith and hope in Jesus Christ as Healer, Great Spirit and Chief Shepherd of all tribes and nations." (Richard Twiss, Charisma Magazine, October 2004, http://www.charismamag.com/a.php?ArticleID=9744)

Richard Twiss was on the 700 Club show with Gordon Robertson (Pat Robertson’s son) and in an interview he told Gordon that the Great Spirit of the Indians is the same as the Holy Spirit. Robertson heartily agreed. The problem with this idea is that the Great Spirit has no son, and without the son there is no redemption. The Great Spirit required human sacrifices and other atrocities. (http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/lehmann2.html)

See this article for more information on what Richard Twiss has been teaching and his associations.

http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/twissquotes.html

Twiss and his IPM friends are teaching these same ideas.

Eagles Wings is the ministry of pastor and author Randy Woodley and his wife Edith. Both Native Americans, their mission is "to present the Great Spirit's Son, Jesus Christ and His Words, the Bible to Native Americans in culturally relevant ways." (Link from Wiconi site)

Twiss is touted for having "worked with International Bible Society [and] Promise Keepers...[and] is a consultant on racial reconciliation for Promise Keepers." It is also stated that "Promise Keepers asked Christian Native American men to host the 'Standing In The Gap' gathering in Washington [D.C.] on October 4." Those who watched the event noted participation by a Native American in full headdress (an Indian war bonnet). Wearing the eagle feathers has a pagan and anti-Christian religious (not just cultural) meaning. Joseph Epes Brown, biographer of Sioux medicine man Black Elk, explains:  The Indian actually identifies himself with, or becomes, the quality or principle of the being or thing which comes to him in a vision, whether it be a beast, bird, one of the elements, or really any aspect of creation. In order that this "power" may never leave him, he always carries with him some material form representing the animal or object from which he has received his "power".... In wearing the eagle-feathered "war bonnet," the wearer actually becomes the eagle, which is to say that he identifies himself, his real Self, with WakanTanka[the Great spirit which Wanbli Galeshka (the Spotted Eagle) represents]. (Joseph Epes Brown, The Sacred Pipe. Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux (University ofOklahoma Press, 1989), 7,45). (Native American Gospel? Q&A - Berean Call - January, 1998, http://a-voice.org/discern/native.htm

Wiconi endorses Eagles Wings who claims the Great Spirit's son is Jesus Christ.

Eagles Wings is the ministry of pastor and author Randy Woodley and his wife Edith. Both Native Americans, their mission is "to present the Great Spirit's Son, Jesus Christ and His Words, the Bible to Native Americans in culturally relevant ways." http://www.ethnicharvest.org/peoples/nativeamer.htm

Yet the historical facts are that the Great Spirit is panentheistic!

Religious beliefs varied between tribes, but there was a widespread belief in a Great Spirit who created the earth, and who pervaded everything. This was a panentheist rather than a pantheist belief. But the pantheistic tone was far stronger than among Christians, and more akin to the pantheism of William Wordsworth. It was linked to an animism which saw kindred spirits in all animals and plants. (http://members.aol.com/pantheism0/indians.htm)

The Lakota concept of Wakan Tanka (most frequently translated as Great Spirit) illustrates panentheism well: Wakan Tanka is the Spirit over, under, and throughout all of the physical world, its guiding principle, present in individual phenomena yet not confined to it, not strictly singular nor plural, neither truly personal nor impersonal. Manitou/manitos of the Algonkians is a similar concept. http://www.stormwind.com/common/nadoc.html

Note: Richard Twiss is a Lakota Indian!

The Great Spirit required human sacrifice/suicide to lift a sickness he had sent.

“I am a very old man, my friends.  I have lived through many summers and through many snows.   Now I will tell you why I have lived so long.  My father, who was also a great Medicine Man, told me that when I became old, the Great Spirit would send a sickness upon our people.  All would die, unless a sacrifice was made to the Great Spirit.  An innocent maiden of the tribe, the daughter of a chief, must willingly go to the high cliffs above the Big River and throw herself upon the rocks below.  If she does this, the sickness will end.”

Not a word was spoken until the old man slowly sat down.  At last, the chief lifted his head and said, “Call all of the young maidens, who are daughters of chiefs.”  Soon all of the young maidens stood before the chief, including his own daughter.  The chief told them all that the old man had said.  “I think his words are the words of truth,” he added.  He then turned to his elders and said, “Tell our people to meet death bravely.  No maiden will be asked to sacrifice herself.   This meeting has ended.”

The next day Morning Sun saw the sickness on the face of her lover.  Now she knew what she had to do.  Without telling anyone, she followed the trail to the high cliffs above the Big River.  When she arrived there above the jagged rocks, she turned her eyes upward, lifted up her arms and spoke to the Great Spirit, “If you will accept me as a sacrifice for my people, let some token hang in the sky.”  Just then, the moon rose above the trees across the river.  It was the token.  She closed her eyes and jumped.  Soon afterwards, the sickness left her people.  (The Great Circle of Life,  Copyright 2001 - 2003.    All rights reserved by Roger Kayser, http://www.zeeone.com/Readings/Wedding/wedding.htm

As I have set down, they worshiped Toya, or the sun, which they claimed represented the Great Spirit. Every morning as the sun rose they would stretch out their hands in adoration and chant a hymn of praise; and also when the sun was at its highest gave they gave this salutation; as evening drew on most of the tribe would gather near the sacrificial mound. Just as the sun was about to set, their jauva would slay an animal and place its beating heart upon the altar and all would chant a prayer beseeching that Toya would return to give his light. When the sacrifice was a human heart only the warriors drew near unto the altar. After our companions had been sacrificed they brought in no more captives of our race, but did sacrifice warriors captured from other tribes. (CHASCO HISTORY  Written by then, postmaster Gerben M. DeVries in 1922 the pagent script, has been changed throughout the years - but still remains belittling and offensive., This translation from the original manuscript is dedicated to the Avery Library and Historical Society of New Port Richey, and published for the information of those who dwell in the West Coast section of Florida., By Gerben M. DeVries, New Port Richey, Fla. March.1922, http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/aimfl/script.html

But among some tribes north of the Rio Grande, human sacrifices did exist. Evidence exists that the Pawnee (in what is now Nebraska) occasionally sacrificed someone. The Iroquois are said to have occasionally sent a maiden and white dog to the Great Spirit. And human sacrifice and cannibalism are believed to have existed among people along the coast between Louisiana, Florida and up the coast to Virginia, where people experienced the wrath of the gods more frequently in the form of extremely violent storms than did people in other parts of the country. (THE AMERICAS, edited 9/20/2004, Copyright © 2000 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved., http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h16-am.htm)

The Great Spirit required blood rituals.

The Sun Dance - Each year, the summer sees another type of blood sacrifice; the Lakota Sioux and other natives of this continent spill their blood onto the earth in one of their most powerful rituals, the Sun Dance. In this controversial ritual, the participants pierce holes into the skin on their chests, thread large hooks made of antler or wood through the holes and hang themselves from a sacred tree until either they rip the skin through and fall or until they pass out. Through offering their own blood, they are able to achieve an ecstatic state, making a connection with the Great Spirit and giving back to the earth something that is truly of their body. This ritual was outlawed but still survives today as an Indian-only event, within the larger Sun Dance festival attended by thousands. (Sacrifice Today, In the Andes - And Closer by Wendy Davis, Copyright © 2004 by the article's author, http://www.widdershins.org/vol1iss3/l04.htm)

Richard Twiss is a Lakota/Sioux Indian.

In summary: Richard Twiss is spreading the doctrines of the NAR and is endorsed by them.  He claims that the Great Spirit of the Indians is the Holy Spirit of the Bible, and endorses ministries who make this same claim.  He endorses and promoted books by people like Daniel Kikawa that present information as fact when it is proven myth.  He continues to teach that the Great Spirit is the Holy Spirit by wearing the cultural items associated with the Great Spirit, even though it is a historical fact that the Great Spirit is a pantheistic god that required blood rituals and human sacrifice.  Richard Twiss claims that what he is doing is not syncretism, when it is the very definition of syncretism.

The Bible is clear that ALL Gentiles did not know God.  Again, ALL the gods of the nations were and are false gods (Deut. 32:17; 1 Cor. 10:20, Jer. 16:19, Amos 2:4).  Even the supreme beings of the nations are not YHWH, as in the case of Amen (Amon) of Egypt (Jer. 46:25), Hadad of the Arameans (1 Kings 20:28) Marduk of the Babylonians (Dan. 3:16-18) and many other "detestable" gods (Lev. 18:30; Deut. 7:25, 7:26, 12:31, 18:9, 20:18, 27:15, 29:17, 32:16; 1 Kings 11:5, 11:7, 14:24; 2 Kings 16:3, 21:2, 21:11, 23:13, 23:24; 2 Chron. 15:8, 28:3, 33:2, 34:33, 36:14; Ezra 9:1, 9:11; Prov. 21:27, 28:9; Is. 1:13; Jer. 4:1, 7:30, 16:18, 32:35; Eze. 5:9, 5:11, 11:18, 11:21, 12:16, 14:6; Mal. 2:11).  Also, again, there is no way for men to come to believe in Jesus Christ without having heard the Gospel (Eph. 1:13).  You cannot hear the Gospel without it being preached to you (Rom. 10:14-15).  The Gentiles had no knowledge of the Gospel message until that mystery was revealed to them by way of the apostles and missionaries (Eph. 2:12).  What Twiss, Kikawa and others are doing is to teach Two-Thirds World Christians to make up fables about their former religious practices not based on facts but based on myths.

2 Tim. 4:3-4  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

1 Tim. 1:3-4  As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work— which is by faith.

God's work among the Gentiles is a work of faith in Jesus Christ, not faith in their former gods who they are not renaming to try to sycretize their heathen, pagan beliefs with Christianity.

6. Richard Twiss Teaches That The Gospel Was A Source Of Division And Stumbling For First Nation's Peoples And This Is Blamed On Western Missionaries

One major wound in the land that negatively impacts the "character" of the American church lies in the fact that the message of Jesus has been so inextricably identified as "Euro-American." Because of this fact, the gospel message has been the cause of great shame, oppression, and in many cases, genocide among the Host People of the land. Because of past atrocities, regions have been condemned by the spilt blood upon the land that continues to cry out for justice; the Pacific Northwest being no exception. (Smoke Signals - Prayer Need and Reports Richard Twiss, June 16, 2004)

“Indigenous peoples have perpetually been put in the position of the mission field never fully recognized as been given gifts and callings and anointings to be coequal partners …” (Richard Twiss, Word To The World, show #541)

Next week my son Daniel is joining me on a trip to New York (his 16th birthday) where I am the keynote speaker at the "Healing the Land" Conference hosted by Pastor Peter Bruno of Metro Church. Pastor Bruno writes, "I really felt on my heart to reach out to pastors & intercessors from our region to invite them personally to this important conference. The problem with our land is that throughout the history of Christianity, the message of Jesus has been delivered (at times) with deadly force & hatred instead of in love and mercy. Because of past atrocities, regions have been condemned by the spilt blood upon the land that continues to cry out for justice. For our NYC/NJ region to come into it's fulfillment of God's vision, we must cleanse the past and partner into the future. I believe that God is calling His church to build bridges to see Native people come to faith & life in Jesus Christ and fulfill their God-given place within the Body of Christ. This conference will help bring these truths to light as well as help us to befriend, partner with and build bridges to our Native brothers & sisters. (Smoke Signals - Prayer Need and Reports Richard Twiss, May 7, 2004)

Aldred [Cree Nation] is the Director of the First Nations Alliance of Churches, and was the first Native American person to address an Urbana convention in its 57-year history. ... Aldred applied this culture-challenging aspect of the gospel in a powerful challenge to the western Church: "Western Christianity is syncretistic...It is a religion motivated about sharing the gospel story with people, not so they become who God has made them to be, but to make them like me so I can love them." Aldred said that much of the western missionary effort has been characterized by an attempt to assimilate people into its own mold, which is why the western church has so many fights over music and forms of worship. It has reduced the gospel to a technical presentation of facts separated off from the real life of the witness and the mysterious power of God. Western Christianity has separated the public and private realms, and banished Jesus' relevance to the personal and private world of piety, ignoring social and relational aspects of God's Kingdom. In actual practice it trusts more in its own wealth, knowledge, and power than in God's holy word. It is intellectualized rather than holistic and integrated in the whole human person. Aldred boldly announced these ways that the gospel of Jesus continues to call the western church to radical conversion from the culture of modernity to the Kingdom of God. (GOD MOVED IN POWER! Urbana Report #1, Richard Twiss, Jan 9, 2004)

This is how you confuse the issue.  You turn the issue of syncretism around and blame it on the missionaries.  It is true that some misguided missionaries, though clearly not the majority, tried to change indigenous cultural values to Western ones.  But he ignores the many missionaries who, in presenting the Gospel and sound doctrine, necessarily preached things that were in opposition to demonic cultures and practices like those of the Indians.  The missionaries were faced with heathen cultures, not unlike their own, and attempted to apply biblical principles, in cooperation with those in First Nations, to come up with a way of living in accordance to the Word of God (which is what ALL CHRISTIANS must abide by!).  Mistakes were made, but if you talked to the first generation of converts (like I had the privilege of doing long ago in Micronesia) you would understand fully what First Nation's cultures were like at the time.  Sexual perversion, women and child abuse, murder, human sacrifice, ruling elite who lorded it over everyone else, worship of demons, and other atrocities were commonplace.  Read A New Culture by Juanita Simpson.  Those who heard the Gospel preached to them and recognized the freedom in Christ offered were saved and delivered from the things in their cultures that were evil and immediately wanted to make a statement about the difference God had made in their lives.  Can we then blame them, in retrospect, for putting on clothes, stopping cultural activities that were tied to the demonic, and no longer being involved in sexual immorality, abuse, perversion, murder and the occult?  People like Kikawa and others are trying to rewrite history when they clearly have not done their research.  They have little understanding of what their formerly (and in fact currently) pagan cultures were like before the missionaries came and sacrificed their lives, in many cases, to bring the Good News.  They were not sent to bring culture nor was that their purpose. They were primarily bringing God's culture, the Bible, and applying its time-tested truths, together with First Nations peoples, so that they might be light and salt to the nations.  That historical mission work is now being demonized by these people in order to make way for the unbiblical ideas of the "First Nations" movement is a clear indication that its whole premise is "out to lunch".  The IPM is using diaprax methodology in order to bring in this new paradigm of unbiblical and even demonic thought.  IPM teachers are the ones bringing division because they are laying error alongside truth, teaching heresy.  The Bible is clear about heretics:

Jude 1:19  These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

It is not a coincidence that the message of the IPM is targeted at Christians especially.  Our mandate as Christians, with regard to these divisive malcontents is this:

Titus 3:10  Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

7. Richard Twiss Teaches That The Bible Is No Longer Our Sole Source of Truth, Nor Should We Be Tied Down By Doctrines Taught In The Bible

We are constantly growing, maturing and consequently changing in our perceptions and conclusions. How do we avoid getting stuck in our conclusions? Or harder yet, when we've grown so accustomed to the perceived "normalcy" or "correctness" of our beliefs, how do we get unstuck when we realize what we believed is no longer as true and right as we once believed? How can we change without "losing face?" We must create paths to change for one another that are highlighted by honor, respect and the love of Christ. (Smoke Signals "Views From the Hill" - New E-mail commentaries Richard Twiss, Apr 5, 2004)

The Bible is the ULTIMATE source of truth for the believer.

Romans 15:4  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

2 Timothy 3:15-17  and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Those who add or take away from Scripture, either through written or extra-biblical means, are denounced and judged by the Word itself:

Deut. 4:2  Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

Rev. 22:18-19  I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

1 Cor. 4:6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.

8. Daniel Kikawa States That The Gospel Needs To Be Presented To "Shame based" Societies In Terms Of "Jesus Christ Came To Take Away Your Shame."

"They think they don’t need Jesus because he is a God for, if you are a criminal. The other thing is that if you tell someone they need Jesus they can get very angry, because its implying to them that you think they are a criminal… that would be very offensive to them in this shame based society. ... So how do we present the gospel in that way. Maybe we can use the word shame in a shame based society. In other words Jesus came to take away all our shame"  (Word to the World, Danny Lehmann interview with Daniel Kikawa Feb. 6/06, #1)

Granted ... the issue of "shame-based" rather than "guilt-based" societies is a real missiological issue that must be dealt with in order to preach the Gospel effectively.  But Kikawa forgets that Middle Eastern societies are also shame-based, and it was to those societies the Gospel was first presented!  Shame is not guilt of sin or repentance.  Shame is basically an exercise in self-indulgence and self-pity.  When a person is caught at something in a shamed-based society, they lose face.  They generally do not repent nor do they stop doing what they were doing, they are simply embarrassed at the public humiliation of being caught.  The recognition of sin, on the other hand, is the starting point toward repentance. The way to present the Gospel in a shame-based culture is not to take the word "sin" out of the picture but to ask these questions:

(1) If a person steals something and no one sees him, is it a sin?
(2) If he gets caught then how does he feel?
(3) Did you know that when a person steals something, and no one sees them, that God sees them?
(4) Did you know that God says stealing is a sin?
(5) Now that you know that God is watching and that stealing is a sin, if you steal something will you feel ashamed?
(6) Will being ashamed not end there, but result in your realization that stealing is always a sin and that you need to stop stealing?
(5) God is the judge and He was already declared us all guilty of sin.  Therefore if you steal and you remember that God is watching you, then you have come to realize that you are ashamed because of your guilt, your sinful nature before a holy God, not because you were caught.  God has provided you a way to defeat sin through confessing your sin, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you, and then to live a life where you put off the old man of sin and put on the new man in Christ through the Holy Spirit daily.

The point of the above example is that it is possible to bring people from a "shame-based" paradigm to a biblical paradigm, which is the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in anyone who believes.  The Holy Spirit sharpens our conscience and convicts us of sin, at first while we are doing it, then eventually before we do it.  This is the biblical process, which Jesus Christ, a Jew, introduced to the Jewish culture, which is a shame-based culture.  As Christians we are to present the Gospel in the terms that it was presented by Jesus Christ and the apostles.

Rom. 10:9-11  That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

The problem of the human condition is one of sin, not shame.  Sin is defiance against the holiness of God.  Shame may be the result of our realization we have sinned (or may not) but rarely leads to repentance (turning from sin).  Therefore in preaching the Gospel to nations and cultures that have not known the character of God, it is important for them to understand that God is holy, we are cut off by virtue of inherited and willful sin, and that there is no way to salvation without confessing our sins and believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.  If calling sin what it is causes people to lose face and is an affront to people, then the Gospel has been presented CORRECTLY because the true Gospel message is an affront (1 Cor. 1:23, Gal. 5:11).

If Daniel Kikawa and others are no longer willing to talk about sin, they are no longer preaching the Gospel.

9. Danny Lehmann and the IPM's umnbiblical usage of the example of Paul at the Areopagus in Acts 17

Now yesterday Daniel, we closed our broadcast by taking about the issue of Japan and how people have a hard time having the gospel being communicated to them because it sounds foreign… that’s the big problem- whether its India or Thailand Africa or latin America. If the God appears to be a foreign God it would be equivalent to us in America which is a normally Christian based society accepting Buddhism, because it sounds foreign to us. And in the bible when Paul was preaching in Acts 17 it tells us that when he was talking about Jesus and the resurrection, they said "well he’s talking about a foreign God" and he went on to bridge the gap there in a magnificent way there at Mars hill. (Word to the World, Danny Lehmann, Feb. 7/06, #2)

Paul did preach the Gospel in terms that the Greeks could understand.  He used the illustration of the "unknown god" which they were worshipping, with some sarcasm as scholars note, to point out that they did NOT know the true God at all, not to bridge a "gap" between them and their worship of an "unknown god".

Acts 17:23  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

Barnes New Testament Notes states that an altar had been erected in Athens during a time of pestilence some 600 years before Christ because all the other "known" and named gods could not deliver them.  Paul came and used this altar to illustrate that they did NOT know God at all saying "Him I declare to you" in other words, "I make known to you his name, attributes, etc ... In other circumstances it might seem to be presumptuous for an unknown Jew to attempt to instruct the sages of Athens. But here they had confessed and proclaimed their ignorance. By rearing this altar they acknowledged their need of instruction. The way was, therefore, fairly open for Paul to address even these philosophers, and to discourse to them on a point on which they acknowledged their ignorance".

An "unknown god" means they were worshipping something unknown, not known.

John Gill Expositor states: God is an unknown God to those who have only the light of nature to guide them; for though it may be known by it that there is a God, and that there is but one, and somewhat of him may be discerned thereby; yet the nature of his essence, and the perfections of his nature, and the unity of his being, are very little, and not truly and commonly understood, and the persons in the Godhead not at all, and still less God in Christ, whom to know is life eternal: hence the Gentiles are described as such who know not God;

Another problem with Lehmann's analysis of this passage, out of context, is that most of the Greeks rejected the true God Paul was preaching because they did not believe in a resurrection.

Acts 17:32-18:1 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the Council. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

So if Paul was bridging a gap between the Jewish God and Zeus he was doing a very poor job!  As far was we know Paul was never invited back to the Areopagus to speak, so this invitation was really an empty one, designed to get him to shut up and leave.  Only a few believed in Jesus Christ.  Paul was not there to bridge a "gap" between an unknown foreign "supreme being" like Zeus and YHWH.  He was there to tell them that they had been worshipping an unknown god among many other false gods and to use that as an illustration that they were in error and to preach the Gospel about Jesus Christ.  This example of Paul, the only one in Scripture, does not justify telling people around the world that they have already been worshipping the true God and just have to add Jesus Christ into the mix.  Paul was clear about the Gospel he preached:

1 Corinthians 2:2  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Apparently, according to people like Kikawa and Lehmann, we now need to be experts in foreign gods to present the Gospel effectively, bridging the gap between false gods and the One True God.  Paul resolved to be an expert in the Gospel!

"and isn’t it interesting that he used the Greek word for God "theos" and he says I’m going to declare to you about that God." (Word to the World, Danny Lehmann, Feb. 7/06, #2)

"Theos" is a general word for "god" as is the word "god" in our language.  This in no way shows that Paul was talking to them abou