Archive for November, 2009

by Larry DeBruyn
Guarding the Flock Ministries

Some Christians naively and mistakenly equate that because Christianity and Islam are monotheistic faiths (belief in one God), Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Any differences between the two religions are viewed to be only apparent, not actual. Only the names are different. Muslims call Him Allah, while Christians address Him as Lord. The singleness of God is thought to be an ecumenical rallying point, a basis for mutual understanding, if not spiritual unity, between the two religions.

Unfolding acts of terrorism committed in the name of Allah against the “Christian” west however, strategically challenge thoughts of unity. While medieval history reveals a mutant and violent strain of Christianity, a faith far removed from the peaceful non-violence  Jesus advocated (Matthew 5:39; 26:51-53), terrorism ought to give Christians pause and cause them to ask, “Is the God of The Quran really the same as the God of The Bible?” Numbers of Christian scholars have studied the question and conclude that essential differences exist between the way the sacred writings of the two religions portray God in the essence of His being. Read the rest of this entry.

Related:
“Episcopal Priest: “I am Both Muslim and Christian” — OK with Emerging Church”

An Emergent Manifesto of Hope: Emerging Church Coming Out of the Closet

In the midst of overwhelming spiritual deception taking place in the evangelical church today, and in spite of popular Christian leaders telling their followers that Christians haven’t been doing anything good until they came along (e.g. see Rick Warren’s comments), there are some wonderful Christian missionary and evangelist groups, working diligently to bring the gospel to a lost world. Often these are smaller ministries and do not receive recognition from the pop Christian media.

One of those mission efforts is led by 81-year-old veteran evangelist, Truett Dodd of Come and See, Go and Tell ministries. Truett has served in Siberia, Russia since 1993. He evangelizes unbelievers and ministers to believers with a deep love for the Lord and His word and an unwavering commitment to this work. In the photo above, he is standing with a group of young Russian men who have been part of a drug rehabilitation program that Truett is involved with.

Of his ministering in Siberia, Truett writes:

“For over 13 years I have learned that the “Rewards of Being Faithful” is a proven fact. Both in Novosibirsk and Omsk, Siberian cities, God has given me the honor of serving Him. Through the severely cold weather, God has helped me be content. I have spent some cold winters in Siberia with the temperature sometimes near fifty below zero. This is very cold for someone that was raised in South Alabama. Always God has been faithful in what He called me to do. I too want to be faithful in serving Him.”

Truett’s work includes a Bible School in Siberia and taking Bibles to Russia and distributing them, among many other related activities. Many Lighthouse Trails readers have told us that they are always looking for ministries to support that are not going in the contemplative/emerging way. With large organizations like Compassion International and Focus on the Family drifting toward the New Spirituality, concerned Christians are looking for other avenues to support. We hope you will consider financially and prayerfully supporting Come and See, Go and Tell ministries. It is a non-profit organization, and your gifts will be tax deductible. Below is contact information:

Checks should be made out to:

Come and See – Go and Tell

Earlene V ClarkEarlene – earlenevclark@bellsouth.net  

Come and See – Go and Tell

2616 N. Magnolia Drive

Baker, LA 70714-3222

Email Addresses:

Truett in USA – td71@juno.com  

Truett in Russia – bessiean@omskcity.com  

Two interviews with Truett Dodd

Contemplative terms always seem to be changing. What is called one thing today may be exchanged for a new term tomorrow. A relatively new term for “Spiritual Direction” is “Soul Care.” In Biola University’s Masters program, Spiritual Formation and Soul Care , the program “trains leaders in soul care to be spiritual mentors, directors and teachers who will assist others in their journey of growth in Christ and His body.” This program incorporates contemplative experiences and “Soul Care Practicum.” Clearly Biola sees a relation between soul care and contemplative spirituality.

Where did the term Soul Care come from anyway? In the late nineties, contemplative and New Age promoter, David Benner, wrote a book called The Care of Souls, and then later wrote one called Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls. Thomas Moore wrote Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life , and there are other books with similar titles. Nearly all of them promote spiritual direction and contemplative spirituality.

What exactly is meant by Soul Care? According to an article on the Natural Care College site, “soul care is the artistry of helping a person to find their personal and relational path to the sacred, where they are able to open to and live from their deeper self, reaching a higher level of living and loving through their own unique soul-nurturing spirituality and way of being in the world.” In other words, soul care is finding the divinity that is within each person. Interestingly, that is what spiritual direction means too. As Thomas Merton put it, it is coming to the realization of what is already there – God – in every human being. Rick Warren’s colleague, Leonard Sweet (who agrees with Merton), explains this in his book Quantum Spirituality.

Soul Care is just another term for the same ol’ New Age spirituality. The New Age started in the Garden of Eden when the serpent told Eve she could be like God. Satan still tries to convince man of this today, just as he did many thousand years ago. Nothing has changed. And the same goes for contemplative spirituality, which has a New Age premise. Terms may be exchanged for new ones, but this is just a disguised effort to conceal a terrible and damaging belief system.

by Ingrid Schlueter
CrossTalk/VCY America

Emergent author Brian McLaren doesn’t believe in a literal Second Coming of Jesus. He has problems with the penal substitutionary atonement of Jesus on the cross. A literal hell with eternal torment for those who reject Christ? Not likely. The Genesis account of the fall of man? Not true. But instead of addressing his own spiritual rebellion, Brian appears to want to paint his critics as bigots. In a recent blog post, McLaren demands that what he calls “discernment websites” (he used the quote marks) address an African country’s attempts to codify severe penalties for homosexuality into law. He seems to imply that these same “discernment ministries” would automatically support the arrest and execution of gays by Uganda.

For the record, Brian, that’s a pretty nasty strategy to use against those who point to your heretical doctrinal views. While emergents supposedly are intellectual, open-minded people who enjoy conversations with subtle nuances and lots of mystery, McLaren actually sees things in black and white. Anyone who is not willing to jettison cardinal doctrine and embrace his “new kind of Christianity” is painted as ready to commit hate crimes and would support mistreating gays. What an appallingly dishonest way to deal with your critics, McLaren.

Mr. McLaren is helping create a new kind of Christianity that will turn on the old Christianity (the 2000-year-old kind that originated with Jesus Christ) and help create the basis to prosecute the old (biblical) Christians for committing hate crimes. The ADL sent out a press release this morning announcing that hate crimes are just endemic, exploding everywhere you turn, and that something must be done about it. Now that the laws are in place in Washington, Brian McLaren can get busy trying to portray biblical Christians as dangerous, militant wing-nuts who foment hatred against gays and other religions. Consider your strategy exposed, Brian. Our love for the souls of homosexuals is the same love we have for all who need to hear of the saving grace and forgiveness of sins found in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. And all the dishonest emergents will never be able to stifle that powerful, life-changing message.

The phrase ‘the Second Coming of Christ’ never actually appears in the Bible. Whether or not the doctrine to which the phrase refers deserves rethinking, a popular abuse of it certainly needs to be named and rejected.
–Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change, p. 144

Source of this article: CrossTalk

Related Articles:

Brian McLaren Wants End Time Believing Christians Robustly Confronted

Bible Prophecy on Trial

by Bob Unruh
WorldNet Daily

A program proposed at the University of Minnesota would result in required examinations of teacher candidates on “white privilege” as well as “remedial re-education” for those who hold the “wrong” views, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

The organization, which promotes civil liberties on the campuses of America’s colleges and universities, has dispatched a letter to University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks asking him to intervene to prevent the adoption of policies proposed in his College of Education and Human Development. 

“The university’s general counsel should be asked to comment as soon as possible,” said the letter from Adam Kissel, an officer with FIRE. “If the Race, Culture, Class, and Gender Task Group achieves its stated goals, the result will be political and ideological screening of applicants, remedial re-education for those with the ‘wrong’ views and values, [and] withholding of degrees from those upon whom the university’s political re-education efforts proved ineffective.”

By any “nontotalitarian” standards, he wrote, the the plans being made so far by the school are “severely unjust and impermissibly intrude into matters of individual conscience.”  Click here to continue reading.

Also see: Banning Free Speech of College Campuses: Letter to University of Minnesota

See also related YouTube video clip:

As a follow up to our recent posting about a new film, The Men Who Stare at Goats, we are issuing this special news report about a project currently underway with US Military Chaplains and other military personnel to receive ongoing training in contemplative mysticism.  Those who understand the serious implications of the contemplative/emerging spirituality will likely be quite troubled by this report.

The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society was founded in 1991 and was inspired by retreats led by Thich Nhat Hanh (a Buddhist) and Ram Dass (a Hindu). The Center states that its “intention is ‘not to isolate meditation, but to reflect on the contemplative traditions as powerful techniques that have potential for beneficial change in American society.’” 1 The Center’s objective is to bring meditation into all facets, both religious and secular, of society.

Over the past decade or so, some of those involved with the work at the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society include a number of eastern meditation advocates, some of whom are Daniel Goleman (The Meditative Mind), the Dalai Lama, Charlie Halpern,  Thomas Keating, and Dr. Dean Ornish. The Center’s targeted areas in society to bring “awareness” in the role of eastern meditation have included education, medicine, environmental, business, law, prisons, economics, youth, philosophy, psychology, and religion.

The Center now has added a relatively new project,  one that is geared toward training those in the military in contemplative/mindfulness meditation. The project is called the Military Care Providers Project. The Center says it is “working with the US Army to explore the uses of meditation to restore resiliency in chaplains and medical caregivers.” Chaplains and caregivers would then be able to pass on their newly-learned meditation practices to soldiers, other military personnel, and even families:

The project includes a research report on The Use of Meditation and Mindfulness Practices to Support Military Care Providers. That report will be the basis of a meeting at the National Cathedral in Washington DC … a one-day dialogue between mindfulness [New Age] meditation and contemplative neuroscience subject matter experts (practitioners and scientists) and Army leaders. The symposium will focus on research related to the use of mindfulness training and contemplative practices with caregivers, soldiers, and family members.2

In the Center’s 57-page report (written  by Maia Duerr, Chaplaincy Coordinator for the Upaya Zen Center) on bringing eastern-style meditation into the military on a large scale, a wide range of meditative practices are discussed. Interestingly, the report kicks off with a quote by emerging church author Tony Jones from his book The Sacred Way. In his book, Jones makes an appeal for contemplative mysticism. Clearly, the eastern mystics of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society resonate with someone presenting “Christian” contemplative prayer for the reason, as Lighthouse Trails has been stating for years, they are the same thing, and this report does not hide that fact, even though the majority of “Christian” contemplative advocates try incessantly to convince Christians that contemplative prayer and eastern meditation are two completely different belief systems.

The Preface of the research report is written by a US Army Chaplain and a US Army Major. They discuss practices such as The Jesus Prayer and Centering Prayer, saying such practices are “the foundation of this study.” Other meditative practices that are talked about in the report are: “T.M., contemplative prayer, lectio divina, mindfulness meditation, insight meditation (also called vipassana), Zen meditation (also called zazen), and movement meditations such as yoga and qigong” (p. 9). The Center’s Tree of Contemplative Practices illustrates the variety of meditative practices that can be incorporated. The project’s objective is to use meditation in various trauma and stress related scenarios for those in the military and for their families.

The report acknowledges that contemplative prayer has its “roots in early Christian monasticism” and that Thomas Merton, Basil Pennington, William Menninger, and Thomas Keating were instrumental in bringing the contemplative tradition to the forefront and “distill[ing] the practices and teachings of St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, and other Christian contemplatives into the discipline of centering prayer [mantra meditation]” (p.11). The report also acknowledges that these meditative practices are mind-altering techniques used to change one’s thinking patterns.

The report says that a similar program in Canada uses meditation techniques after deployment but states it would be advisable to teach meditation before, during, and after deployment (p. 31). Thus, if all goes according to the Center’s plans, soldiers would receive training throughout their entire military service. It is determined by the Center that “it is probable that Soldiers will benefit by receiving improved care from military care providers who have been supported to develop greater skills in self-care and self-awareness [through meditation] (p. 33).

To further along the research of the Center’s plans for the military, in April 2009, the Symposium on Contemplative Practices for Army Care Providers was held at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Representatives from across Army organizations attended:

The one-day symposium was a formal way to bring proponents from the Army medical community, Army Training & Doctrine Command’s Human Dimension, Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, Army Chaplains, DOD’s Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Army research labs, civilian neuroscientists, scholars, and experienced contemplatives/mindfulness trainers into a dialogue with each other about the research and science related to contemplative practices/mindfulness and care providers.4

 It is important to understand that the Center’s studies and efforts to incorporate eastern meditation into the military is not an isolated event, and the implications are serious. For instance, in a November 2008 Lighthouse Trails article titled Will Department of Defense Turn to Meditation to Bring World Peace?, it was revealed that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that “[e]nlightened counter-measures … will bolster the internal strength of vulnerable states so they will not harbor violent networks seeking to launch the next attack.” It was suggested that in the Department of Defense’s “struggle to eliminate violent extremism,” eastern-style meditation techniques should be used.

The Lighthouse Trails article pointed out that Dr. David Leffler, an eight-year US Air Force veteran, now the Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS) explained in his article titled “A proven enlightened counter-measure”:

Extensive scientific research indicates that the best way to reduce collective societal stress, eliminate extremism and thereby snuff out war and terrorism, is to adopt an ancient strategy. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has revived the ancient Vedic technology of Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) in a non-religious manner. It has been quietly and successfully used by members of many faiths to eliminate conflict in the past.5

We feel we need to reiterate some of the information that was pointed out in our own article last year. According to research, special units would be trained using Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi (psychic powers) programs.

In the Leffler article, it states that for this “Maharishi Effect” (ME) to take place, a certain percentage of the population would have to practice this joint-efforted meditation: “Extensive research shows that the group size needed to reduce social stress depends on population size. It needs to be at least the square root of 1% of the population.” Leffler says that based on research, crime drops and quality of life goes up when the ME takes place.

Leffler states that the ME could take place around the world if each country’s military would establish what he calls Prevention Wings of the Military. This group would make up for the percentage supposedly needed to meditate for world peace. As for the US military, Leffler says, “Ultimately, it is the DoD’s duty to build a Prevention Wing of the Military.”

According to New Age teachings, Leffler’s proposition that a certain percentage of meditators will rid the world of terrorism, crime, and even poverty could work. New Agers say that a “critical mass” of meditators is needed to bring the ME about. While critical mass is a scientific term, it is used here to refer to “an explosion in global consciousness capable of ‘touching’ or transforming all of humankind.” The idea is that when a certain critical number of people all share the same awareness, then change can come to all people’s thinking because of the critical mass. This critical mass would bring about a global paradigm shift.

As Lighthouse Trails has documented for several years now, the number of people practicing eastern meditation is quickly increasing. From babies being taught to meditate to a huge infiltration of meditation in all sectors of society, and finally through the contemplative (i.e., spiritual formation) movement in the evangelical church, meditation practice is overwhelmingly accepted and embraced in the world today. Leaders of meditation believe that it is through meditation that the world will finally experience true peace and unity.

While the Bible says that the world will at some point reach a momentary, false global peace (through occultic practices, we believe), it will be short lived and demonically inspired. Ray Yungen discusses the false sense of unity and oneness that is achieved through meditation and why it is spiritually dangerous:

Dr. Rodney R. Romney, former Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Seattle, is a person frequently quoted as an example of a New Age Christian. He very candidly revealed what was conveyed to him in his contemplative prayer periods. The ’source of wisdom’ he was in contact with told him the following:

I want you to preach this oneness, to hold it up before the world as my call to unity and togetherness. In the end this witness to the oneness of all people will undermine any barriers that presently exist (Romney, Journey to Inner Space, p. 132).

Could this be a familiar spirit speaking [to Romney] here? Jesus Christ did not teach that all people are one [spiritually speaking]. There are the saved and the unsaved. And Jesus Christ is the catalyst for this distinction. (from A Time of Departing, chapter 4)

We have established in previous articles and reports that contemplative spirituality is a New Age belief system with which meditation is implemented and altered states of consciousness are reached. We have also shown how New Agers believe that the one common factor that unites all religious traditions is the metaphysical (i.e., mystical meditation). Yungen elaborates:

But the spirit who spoke to Dr. Romney also revealed something else of vital importance. It declared, “Silence is that place, that environment where I work.” Please pay attention to this! God does not work in the silence — but familiar spirits do. Moreover, what makes it so dangerous is that they are very clever. One well-known New Ager revealed what his guiding (familiar) spirit candidly disclosed: “We work with all who are vibrationally [meditationally] sympathetic; simple and sincere people who feel our spirit moving, but for the most part, only within the context of their current belief system” (Carey, The Starseed Transmissions, p. 33).

Some may think our suggesting that the US Department of Defense would turn to meditation techniques is absurd. Perhaps the DOD would never consider taking Leffler’s advice to use eastern mystical practices. But consider this: In October 2008, the Department of Defense awarded a $411,000 grant to the Center for Mind-Body Medicine to study the effectiveness of a non-drug approach for brain-injured soldiers who are suffering from depression. 6 The Center for Mind-Body Medicine uses various forms of eastern-style practices including guided imagery, meditation, and has an advisory board that includes New Age sympathizer Dean Ornish (also involved with the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society ). Caryl Matrisciana discusses Ornish in her book Out of India:

In the 1970s, Ornish met Sri Swami Satchidananda (who was teaching Ornish’s sister meditation techniques at the time) and told the guru he wanted to learn from him too. Today, he credits Satchidananda for inspiring his heart disease program. His book, Program for Reversing Heart Disease, became a New York Times best-seller and is a product of the swami’s advice. Ornish says:

Swami Satchidananda began teaching me in 1972 the meditation and Yoga techniques that evolved into the stress management program described [in this book]. Since then, he has remained my teacher and close friend (Ornish, p. xvii).

Ornish devotes two chapters in his book to Yoga and other meditative techniques, explaining that “Yoga is a system of powerful tools for achieving union . . . with a higher force,” and through meditation, the higher self can be experienced. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he states:

In one word, this ideal is that you are divine . . . All the powers in the universe are already ours (Ornish, p. 21).

Ornish was appointed to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy by former President Clinton and also served as a physician consultant to Clinton and several bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress. (from Out of India, pp. 165-166)

It is Swami Vivekananda’s spirituality to which the Department of Defense is giving nearly 1/2 million dollars! So Leffler’s hope that the Department of Defense will incorporate meditation will most likely become a reality.

It is tragic to watch the futile efforts of the world seeking so desperately after peace in all the wrong places. The world has rejected Jesus Christ as the only Prince of Peace and has turned to the prince of this world (Satan) and his methods instead. Those methods convince humanity that it has the capability within itself to mend, heal, and save. Those methods, in particular meditation, convince man that he is divine and he needs no savior because salvation comes not from one person but from humanity itself.

What is equally tragic is that those calling themselves Christian leaders have turned to these methods as well, and now instead of being the salt of the earth and a light shining on the hill (always pointing to Jesus Christ), they have joined forces with the world to bring about peace through meditation. The fact that Henri Nouwen believed in “reconciliation” and peace through meditation and is touted by countless Christian ministries, organizations, schools, and churches is astounding.

Contemplative spirituality is of the same spirit as the Maharishi Effect. That silent sacred space that Christian contemplatives promote is the same silent space that is promoted by Hindu yogis, Buddhist monks, and New Age leaders. It is interspiritual, interfaith, and recognizes no single savior.

We beseech Christian figures and ministries to turn away from contemplative spirituality and return to the pure, simple and saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, offering that to the world of lost humanity. Many of these Christians leaders talk about Jesus through one side of their mouths while declaring the spirituality of Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, and Richard Foster out of the other side. It cannot work. It never will. The very nature of contemplative rejects man’s sinful nature and his need for a savior.

The peace that Jesus Christ offers is to individual men, women, and children, one soul at a time. This is why the preaching of the Gospel is so vital. It is indeed a Gospel of peace but not the peace the world gives, yet it is the only eternal peace there is. Jesus Himself explained this:

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me… Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. (from John 14)

The true peace of God can never be reached through meditative practices but comes only to the repentant heart who accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Peace plans, peace coalitions, three-legged stools, mystical reformations, man-induced awakenings, enlightened counter-measures will never accomplish what only Christ can do.

Related Information:

Research on the Department of Peace

by Pastor Adam Gislason
Great Adventure Ministries

A good friend of mine recently emailed me and posed this question about Joel Rosenberg speaking at the Break Forth Canada Conference that is being held January 29-31, 2010 in Edmonton, Alberta: “If Rosenberg can wake thousands up at this conference, wouldn’t that be a good thing?” It’s a good question, but in order to answer that question, we need to ask ourselves a couple of other really important questions:

First, is this a “Christian Conference?” I am not convinced that it is from the research that I have done on both Break Forth Canada and their line up of false teachers. If both Christian doctrine and false doctrine are being taught at an event that’s being advertised as a “Christian Conference,” then let’s be honest-it’s not really a “Christian Conference” is it? Rosenberg has advertised Break Forth on his blog as a “Powerful Christian Conference” and has encouraged his readers to “sign-up” and to “join us” for an “amazing weekend.” As they say at NASA-Houston, we have a problem. Rosenberg clearly does not understand the magnitude of what’s happening with false teaching in the church today from the language on his blog. He is uniting with false teachers (join us) and encouraging others (sign-up) for an “amazing weekend.”

In Romans 16:17-18, Paul writes, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” In Titus 3:10, Paul writes, “Warn a divisive person once and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.” And in Ephesians 5:11, Paul writes, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

So in light of the Scriptures, I have some more questions … Click here to continue reading.

by Kjos Ministries

Their crime? They were Christians who refused to compromise or recant.  They would rather die than deny their faith and betray the Lord they loved!

 Speratus, the apparent leader of the small group of faithful disciples, answered,

‘We have never done ill, we have not lent ourselves to wrong, we have never spoken ill, but when ill-treated we have given thanks….”

“We too are religious,” answered the proconsul, “and our religion is simple, and we swear by the genius of our lord the Emperor, and pray for his welfare, as you also ought to do.”

“The empire of this world I know not,” explained Speratus, “but rather I serve that God, whom no man has seen, nor with these eyes can see. I have committed no theft; but if I have bought anything, I pay the tax; because I know my Lord, the King of kings and Emperor of all nations.”

“Be not partakers of this folly,” said the proconsul. Click here to continue.