On July 31, 2008, a Retirement Party was held for Richard Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline. According to correspondence with a Renovare (Foster’s organization) Coordinator, Foster is “stepping back from active leadership at RENOVARE,” in order to “spend more time writing.” First published in 1978, Celebration of Discipline has had a massive influence on … [Read more…]
A Denver Post article “Filling spiritual voids, not just pews” is subtitled “Richard Foster’s treatise on disciplined faith turns 30,” speaking of Foster’s now 30-year-old Celebration of Discipline. Howard Baker, a professor at Denver Seminary says: “He’s definitely the pioneer among Protestants.” Foster’s book has now sold 2.5 million copies, with over half of those … [Read more…]
In the August 7, 2007 edition of Moody Bible Institute publication Today in the Word, MBI professor Dr. Winfred O. Neely tells readers that “deep and prolonged thinking about the Lord’s word, person, and work is biblical.” While he states that eastern style meditation is wrong and dangerous, he brings terrible confusion to the matter … [Read more…]
by Ray Yungen A mystical pragmatism is growing particularly fast through various New Age healing techniques. One such procedure is called Reiki (pronounced ray-key), a Japanese word that translates to Universal Life Energy or God energy. It has also been referred to as the radiance technique. Reiki is an ancient Tibetan Buddhist healing system, rediscovered … [Read more…]
J. P. Moreland is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot (Biola) School of Theology. He has written numerous books and has spoken at over 200 colleges. He has many academic credentials and honors such as: Outstanding Young Men of America, 1981 and Senior Class Professor of the Year, Biola University, 1992-93. But Moreland has another … [Read more…]
The headline is sadly accurate – Ravi Zacharias International Ministry website is carrying numerous articles which speak favorably of Catholic mystic Henri Nouwen, Catholic monk and mystic, Thomas Merton, and contemplative Richard Foster. The articles are under a section called A Slice of Infinity. A summary statement on the website says they are “aimed at … [Read more…]
Mark Driscoll, emerging church leader and owner of Acts 29 Network, and soon to be speaker at John Piper’s Desiring God conference, has strong connections to both contemplative spirituality and the emerging church. Acts 29 has partnered with Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. Western Seminary doesn’t hide the fact that it is a promoter of … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails, I am writing this as a warning to people who are looking for a church. It is extremely important to thoroughly investigate the church before you start attending. Check their website and every link. I learned this lesson the hard way after moving to a new city and began attending a church … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Contemplative prayer has entered the Christian church vigorously through the Spiritual Formation movement. The following article by Ray Yungen shows how contemplative prayer is the same as New Age, occultic meditation. To order copies of 5 Things You Should Know About Contemplative Prayer in booklet format, click here. By Ray Yungen It is fair … [Read more…]
Dear Ones at Lighthouse Trails: I truly appreciate all the research work you have been doing, much of which is hard to find elsewhere. Have you looked into the Eastern Orthodox Church and its influence on the evangelical churches? Our church’s pastor recently resigned and turned to Eastern Orthodoxy, leaving our Chinese speaking congregation without … [Read more…]
By Carolyn A. Greene (the author of Castles in the Sand—the powerful novel that challenges the Spiritual Formation movement) Editor’s Note: Today, it is not uncommon for Christian leaders and teachers to recommend the writings of Teresa of Avila. For instance, the late theologian Dallas Willard encouraged his followers to read Teresa’s Interior Castle saying Teresa is … [Read more…]
Neglecting to Test the Spirits—A Tragedy of Enormous Proportions by David Dombrowski and the Editors at Lighthouse Trails is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The booklet is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are available. Our booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails has been posting articles by Manny Silva for many years. Manny became part of a group called Concerned Nazarenes over fifteen years ago to warn the Church of the Nazarene denomination about the emergent movement and how it was entering into that denomination. Those warnings were largely unheeded by Nazarene leadership. … [Read more…]
Since 2016, Lighthouse Trails has been sending out topical booklets (usually three times a year) to a growing list of pastors and Christian leaders. This week, Lighthouse Trails will be sending out our second mailing of 2023 to Christian leaders & pastors. Our current list has nearly 1100 names. If you would like your pastor … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: Thanks again for all your effort and time that you put into this; it is greatly appreciated by many of us. There was a friend in our Bible study who was very much connected with contemplative spirituality and New Age. I gave her a copy of A Time of Departing for her consideration, … [Read more…]
Lighthouse Trails is very pleased to announce the release of the new updated and expanded 2nd edition of our 2013 booklet A Directory of Authors (Three NOT Recommended Lists) by Chris Lawson. The new edition includes many additional names, still under three categories and all alphabetized for easy look-up. Chris Lawson has done extensive research … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The information in this article was written a few years ago, but it remains as relevant today as it did back then—in fact, more so as you can see from the articles we link to at the bottom of this article. If you do not understand what the Catholic Church really teaches and stands … [Read more…]
Editor’s Note: Lighthouse Trails wrote this report in 2014. Since then, we have watched “Spiritual Formation” explode within the church. After over twenty years of warnings, to our dismay, the issue has not been challenged or even questioned by most of today’s Christian leaders and pastors. By Lighthouse Trails Editors Is your church involved in … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following letter to the editor is asking about a practice called visio divina. Below her letter are our comments, and below that is our article/booklet on Lectio Divina. Dear Lighthouse Trails: I’m attending a Bible study at _________________________, and they recently had a women’s 2-day conference. I didn’t attend, because throughout the … [Read more…]
“The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will be nothing.”—mystic Karl Rahner With the Asbury “revival” spreading into various other colleges and universities (and even churches), and with so much talk about revival today, one question that needs to be asked is, what kind of Christian will the majority of today’s … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: I am enclosing some magazine articles put out by the Salvation Army during the summer of 2022. One of them is from Peer magazine that is for teenagers and college-age kids. The article from that magazine is about [the Catholic contemplative mystic] Henri Nouwen. The other article, “Meditation in Movement,” is from … [Read more…]
The following is the new 2022 2nd edition of our 2013 booklet: Epidemic of Apostasy—How Christian Colleges Must Incorporate “Spiritual Formation” to Become Accredited. There is some important information in this updated edition, and we want to encourage everyone on this site to read it. Epidemic of Apostasy—How Christian Colleges Must Incorporate “Spiritual Formation” to … [Read more…]
Two years ago, Lighthouse Trails posted an article titled “Christian Colleges and Seminaries in More Trouble Than Ever as Many Plunge Into Emergent Spirituality.” As Christian parents are preparing to send their high-school graduate kids to Christian colleges and universities this coming fall, we hope that article (posted below) will provide a desperately needed warning. … [Read more…]
By Ray Yungen Contemplative advocates propose that something vital and important has been missing from the church for centuries. The insinuation is that Christians have been lacking something necessary for their spiritual vitality; but that would mean the Holy Spirit has not been fully effective for hundreds of years and only now the secret key … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: I thank you for the work you are doing for God’s kingdom. I enjoy your newsletters and have been taught many things to steer clear of because of your faithful and great teaching. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Our daughter, unfortunately, attended a Christian college in the mid 90s (Westmont College … [Read more…]
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.… And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (I John 4:10, 14) This weekend, people throughout the world will … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: I live in Canada, north of Toronto, Ontario, and have kept track of your website for at least ten plus years now. I am not sure how I came across your site, but I had been reading books by the Berean Call, and they had books on the emerging church and such … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: Are you familiar with the Lectio 365 app? It is being promoted at my church and the small amount of research I’ve done has me concerned. Thank you so much for your boldness in standing up for God’s Truth. C.D. Our comments: This group is connected with Pete Greig (Red Moon Rising) whom we … [Read more…]
As many of our readers know, Lighthouse Trails has been publishing a printed research journal since 2013. We started out with 6 issues a year and currently have 4 issues a year. These journals are 36-40 pages long and are filled with important articles, letters to the editor, resources, and news items. Many times, readers … [Read more…]
By Ray Yungen Two authors from Great Britain portray a stunningly clear picture of New Age spirituality. They explain: [T]he keynote of it appears to be a movement for synthesis derived from an understanding of the underlying unity behind all things and the sense of oneness that this brings. This oneness of all life is the … [Read more…]