Posts Tagged ‘Christian leaders’

There are concerns about why in Lesson 8 of the Truth Project, Del Tackett uses the term “unio mystica” and “oneness.”   If Christian leaders are going to use these terms (terms that frequently and usually are used by the New Age/New Spirituality), then these Christian leaders should take care to educate their followers of Satan’s devices and the New Spirituality deception that is so prevalent with the evangelical church today. It may seem petty to some, but using such terms can, even if unknowingly, condition Christians to be more accepting of the concepts. Focus on the Family has not shown itself to be a ministry that takes spiritual deception serious in that they have and do continue to promote contemplative spirituality, a spirituality that fits right in with the New Age terms of unio mystica and oneness.

One website describes how contemplative prayer is synonymous with unio mystical: [quote]Contemplative prayer helps to calm the mind and cultivate inner silence. It seeks to reach a non-conceptual, loving awareness of the Divine. Its ultimate aim is the unio mystica, the divine union in which the human soul gets merged in the Godhead. http://meditation-techniques.suite101.com/article.cfm/contemplative_prayer#ixzz0xwVSqlTR[/quote]

We are not trying to say here that the Truth Project is necessarily trying to inadvertently promote contemplative mysticism, but we do believe  a caution is worth noting, especially in view of the immense popularity of The Truth Project as well as contemplative spirituality. There is an interesting question and comment by a reader on Del Tackett’s website (http://deltackett.com/2007/09/20/a-silent-killer-in-the-house/). The reader stated: [quote]How does one protect their family from subtle lies mixed with truth in Christian articles, books, etc., in today’s society? For example, our kids were told at church (one we no longer attend) to “repeat a word over and over until your mind becomes silent, thereby silencing your mind” in order to “become one with yourself and God.” This church also said you couldn’t deepen in your relationship with God if you didn’t practice the spiritual disciplines put forth by Richard Foster.

We love your “Truth Project” and would like to hear your thoughts in a blog on the new and upcoming contemplative spirituality, spiritual disciplines, and lectio divina that seems to be taking the Christian world by storm.[/quote] This family is obviously concerned about what they see as a clear and present danger today. The question remains, will Focus on the Family and Del Tackett see it? Or will they keep talking about unio mystical and oneness without issuing a strong warning to the body of Christ. Will they continue to promote contemplative advocates like Gary Thomas and Richard Foster? Ironically, the title of Tackett’s website article is called “A Silent Killer in the House” (referring to carbon monoxide). Well, there is a “silent” killer in the church. It is called contemplative prayer.

Other information: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4497.

The contemplative prayer movement and the new emerging spirituality continue to wreak havoc on the body of Christ and on the preaching of the Gospel to the lost. For eight years, Lighthouse Trails has shown through one report after the next the teachings by many that outright or indirectly deny the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ (the basic essence of the salvation for the believer). And yet today many Christian leaders, professors, and pastors continue to promote atonement deniers or those who resonate with them. And we say again, it makes no sense to celebrate Easter while promoting those who deny the atonement.

A case in point. Calvary Chapel teacher, Gayle Erwin, has his endorsement of The Shack on the back cover of the book and on The Shack website. Yet,  Erwin continues addressing Calvary Chapel pastors (e.g. recently at the SW Calvary Chapel Pastors Conference with Greg Laurie and other Calvary Chapel pastors). But William Paul Young, author of The Shack has denied the biblical substitutionary atonement as we showed in John Lanagan’s 2009 article, The Shack Author Rejects Biblical Substitutionary Atonement. Lanagan states, after listening to a radio interview with Young: 

 [T]he author of this bestselling book does not believe Christ was punished on the Cross by the Father for our sins. This is a central doctrine of our faith–that Jesus willingly took our place of punishment and that through His sacrifice we can have eternal life. (click here to read the transcript of the interview with William Paul Young)

Another case in point. Alan Jones, the Reverend at Grace Cathedral in San Fransisco, wrote a book called Reimagining Christianity. The book is filled with theology that negates essentials of the Christian faith. In that book he states:

The Church’s fixation on the death of Jesus as the universal saving act must end, and the place of the cross must be reimagined in Christian faith. Why? Because of the cult of suffering and the vindictive God behind it.–Alan Jones1

Of the atonement, Jones also says: “Jesus’ sacrifice was to appease an angry God. Penal substitution was the name of this vile doctrine.”–Alan Jones, (Reimagining Christianity , p. 168) No one can argue that Brian McLaren’s name on the back cover is an endorsement by McLaren on Jones’ beliefs expressed in that book. In fact, McLaren, in his own words, calls the doctrine of hell and the Cross “false advertising” for God. But also on the back cover of Jones’ book is Walter Brueggemann, who says that Jones’ “vision of faith” and “ministry for the time to come” will be a “gift” for readers. For those who are not familiar with his name,  Walter Brueggemann is one of the main editors for Richard Foster’s Spiritual Formation Study Bible. Foster, a contemplative New Age sympathizer, is admired and even heralded by countless Christian leaders, teachers, ministries, and pastors around the globe. Two of those are Focus on the Family and Rick Warren. And yet, clearly Foster resonates with Brueggemann, or he wouldn’t have him contribute to a Bible of all things. To resonate with Brueggemann is to resonate with someone who accepts the denial of the atonement. This is not guilt by association – this is guilt by promotion!

And we could give so many other examples. The point is, Christian leaders and pastors are helping promote figures who reject the atonement or stand with those who do. And yet, this weekend, some of those same leaders and pastors will stand in front of their people to give recognition to Christ’s death on the Cross and His resurrection. This is double-minded, to say the least, and it makes no sense.

Do Christian leaders and pastors understand the nature of this “gospel” of no atonement? That “gospel” and its “Jesus” are not the biblical ones. In fact, they completely oppose the biblical Gospel and Jesus Christ. In 1992, Oprah Winfrey said that A Course in Miracles (the New Age manual channeled through Helen Schucman) is reputedly from Jesus Christ.   Oprah said that the philosophy of this Course in Miracles “Jesus” could change the world.  Sixteen years later, in 2008, Oprah had Marianne Williamson teach A Course in Miracles daily on her Oprah and Friends online radio network. But listen to what this Course in Miracles “Jesus” has to say about the atonement and the crucifixion:

Do not make the pathetic error of “clinging to the old rugged cross.” The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross. Until then you are free to crucify yourself as often as you choose. This is not the Gospel I intended to offer you. (Text, p. 52)

The journey to the cross should be the last “useless journey.” …If you can accept it as your own last useless journey, you are also free to join my resurrection. Until you do so your life is indeed wasted. (Text, p. 52)

The song of Easter is the glad refrain the Son of God was never crucified. (Text, p. 428) (quotes taken from Warren B. Smith’s free online book, Reinventing Jesus Christ)

This Course in Miracles “Jesus” is the same “Jesus” that can be found in The Shack and the same one promoted by Alan Jones, Walter Brueggemann, and Brian McLaren, and it is the same “Jesus” that is being wittingly or unwittingly promoted by too many Christian leaders.

For those who are skeptical, consider what the two icons of the contemplative prayer movement – Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen –  have to say about Christ’s atonement. When Merton was attempting to have “dialogue” with a Sufi master, the Sufi (an Islamic mystic) stated the following to Merton: “Islam inculcates individual responsibility for one’s actions and does not subscribe to the doctrine of atonement or the theory of salvation” ( Merton and Sufism, p.109) Merton answered back:

Personally, in matters where dogmatic beliefs differ, I think that controversy [the atonement and salvation] is of little value. . . . But much more important is the sharing of the experience of divine light, . . . It is here that the area of fruitful dialogue exists between Christianity and Islam. (Merton and Sufism, p. 110, as quoted in ATOD, pp. 59-60)

At the end of Nouwen’s life, in the last book he ever wrote (Sabbatical Journey), he said the following:

Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God. (p. 51)

The following article by Roger Oakland lays out this plan to thwart the atonement message.

“A Slaughterhouse Religion”
by Roger Oakland

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. (Ephesians 1:7)

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (II Corinthians 5:21)

The heart and core of the Christian faith is based upon Jesus Christ’s shed blood at Calvary as the only acceptable substitutionary atonement for mankind’s sins. The Gospel message requires this foundation. The Bible says the wages of sin is death—thus every person alive should receive the penalty of spiritual death because none of us is without sin, since we are born with our sin nature intact. Satan hates the Gospel message. He understands what the Gospel means, and his agenda is to deceive mankind from understanding and believing so they can suffer eternally with him. While Scripture is very clear about the necessity of Christ’s death in order for us to be saved, some believe this would make God a blood-thirsty barbarian. Embedded within the structure of the emerging church is just such a belief.

Precivilized Barbarity
Many in the emerging church movement would vehemently object if someone told them that emerging church leaders don’t like the Cross. They would jump up and say, “Yes, they do. I’ve heard them talk about Jesus and His going to the Cross. They say they love the Cross.”

Some emerging church leaders do say they love the Cross, but an underlying theme is gaining momentum among them. It says Jesus’ going to the Cross was an example of sacrifice and servanthood that we should follow; but the idea that God would send His Son to a violent death for the sins of mankind—well, that is not who God is. A loving God would never do that! Such a violent act would make Christianity a “slaughterhouse religion.”1
Liberal theologian and pastor of the Riverside Church in New York City, Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969), believed that the doctrine of the atonement, where “Jesus suffered as a substitute for us” because of our sins, is a “precivilized barbarity.”2

In his book, The Modern Use of the Bible, Fosdick says that Jesus’ going to the Cross should be seen as an example of a life of service and sacrifice and not compared with “old animal sacrifices” and “made ‘a pious fraud’ played by God upon the devil.”3 In Fosdick’s book Dear Mr. Brown, he states:

Too many theories of the atonement assume that by one single high priestly act of self-sacrifice Christ saved the world.4

Fosdick ends that statement with a pronounced—“No!” He insists, “These legalistic theories of the atonement are in my judgment a theological disgrace.”5

Fosdick considered the idea that God would actually send His Son to die on a Cross to take our place to be the basis for a violent and bloody religion. He rejected the biblical message of an atonement and substitutionary sacrifice.

Fosdick was the pastor of Riverside Church of New York City from 1925 to 1946. While he has been long gone, his ideologies have remained intact and have drifted right into the emerging church. In October 2006, Riverside Church held the 5th Fosdick Convocation in honor of their former pastor. Two of the emerging church’s most influential teachers were there as speakers in honor of Fosdick—Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo.6 As I will show you, McLaren resonates with Fosdick’s view of the Cross.

False Advertising for God
In an interview, Brian McLaren questioned the idea of God sending His Son to a violent death, calling it “false advertising for God”:

[O]ne of the huge problems is the traditional understanding of hell. Because if the cross is in line with Jesus’ teaching then—I won’t say, the only, and I certainly won’t say even the primary—but a primary meaning of the cross is that the kingdom of God doesn’t come like the kingdoms of this world, by inflicting violence and coercing people. But that the kingdom of God comes through suffering and willing, voluntary sacrifice. But in an ironic way, the doctrine of hell basically says, no, that’s not really true. That in the end, God gets His way through coercion and violence and intimidation and domination, just like every other kingdom does. The cross isn’t the center then. The cross is almost a distraction and false advertising for God. (emphasis added)7

What an extraordinary example of faith under attack and the consequences of thinking outside of the box. If McLaren is right, all those who have ever lived and believed in Christ’s atonement have been misled and wrong. McLaren has taken the freedom to reconstruct what faith means by distorting the Scriptures, or worse yet, saying the very opposite of what the inspired Word of God says. This is blasphemy! McLaren also states:

And I heard one well-known Christian leader, who—I won’t mention his name, just to protect his reputation. ‘Cause some people would use this against him. But I heard him say it like this: The traditional understanding says that God asks of us something that God is incapable of Himself. God asks us to forgive people. But God is incapable of forgiving. God can’t forgive unless He punishes somebody in place of the person He was going to forgive. God doesn’t say things to you—Forgive your wife, and then go kick the dog to vent your anger. God asks you to actually forgive. And there’s a certain sense that, a common understanding of the atonement presents a God who is incapable of forgiving. Unless He kicks somebody else.8 …

That God Does Not Exist
This idea of rejecting God’s judgment placed on Jesus Christ instead of us is not exclusive with Fosdick or McLaren. In fact, such rejection is integrated into the teachings of many others. In 1991, William Shannon (biographer of Catholic monk and mystic Thomas Merton) said:

This is a typical patriarchal notion of God. He is the God of Noah who sees people deep in sin, repents that He made them and resolves to destroy them. He is the God of the desert who sends snakes to bite His people because they murmured against Him. He is the God of David who practically decimates a people … He is the God who exacts the last drop of blood from His Son, so that His just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased. This God whose moods alternate between graciousness and fierce anger … This God does not exist.12

So in other words, according to Fosdick, McLaren, and Shannon, Jesus should be seen as a model of sacrifice to follow in our own lives, but to view God the Father as a judge against sin is not a proper view of God. Those who reject the atonement realize the greatest threat to their heretical views is those who take the Scriptures literally and seriously. Fosdick explains:

Were you to talk to that fundamentalist preacher, he doubtless would insist that you must believe in the “substitutionary” theory of atonement—namely, that Jesus suffered as a substitute for us the punishment due us for our sins. But can you imagine a modern courtroom in a civilized country where an innocent man would be deliberately punished for another man’s crime? … [S]ubstitutionary atonement … came a long way down in history in many a penal system. But now it is a precivilized barbarity; no secular court would tolerate the idea for a moment; only in certain belated theologies is it retained as an explanation of our Lord’s death … Christ’s sacrificial life and death are too sacred to be so misrepresented.13

This is another perfect example of how the emerging church turns doctrine it doesn’t understand into a mockery against Scripture and God’s plan of salvation. God’s ways are not our ways and to expect them to line up with our own human reasoning is ludicrous:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Former Catholic priest Brennan Manning has been a major influence in emerging spirituality. In his 2003 book Above All (foreword by singer Michael W. Smith) he quotes William Shannon almost word for word, regarding the atonement:

[T]he god whose moods alternate between graciousness and fierce anger … the god who exacts the last drop of blood from his Son so that his just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased, is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist.14

Dying for the Sins of the World
Marcus Borg is Distinguished Professor in Religion and Culture and Hundere Endowed Chair in Religious Studies at Oregon State University. He is a lecturer and the author of several books, some of which are Jesus and Buddha, The God We Never Knew, and Reading the Bible Again for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously But not Literally. While most would not consider him an emerging church leader, his thinking has greatly influenced the movement and its leaders. Brian McLaren says he has “high regard”15 for Borg; the two of them participated in a summer seminar series at an interspiritual center in Portland, Oregon, in 2006.16 Rob Bell references and praises him in Bell’s popular book Velvet Elvis.17 Walter Brueggemann, a professor at Columbia Theological Seminary and one of the contributors for Richard Foster’s Renovare Spiritual Formation Study Bible, considers Borg an essential part of the emerging spirituality. Brueggemann states:

Marcus Borg is a key force in the emerging “new paradigm” of Christian faith.18

Borg explains in his book The God We Never Knew that his views on God, the Bible, and Christianity were transformed while he was in seminary:

I let go of the notion that the Bible is a divine product. I learned that it is a human cultural product, the product of two ancient communities, biblical Israel and early Christianity. As such, it contained their understandings and affirmations, not statements coming directly or somewhat directly from God.… I realized that whatever “divine revelation” and the “inspiration of the Bible” meant (if they meant anything), they did not mean that the Bible was a divine product with divine authority.19

This attitude would certainly explain how Borg could say:

Jesus almost certainly was not born of a virgin, did not think of himself as the Son of God, and did not see his purpose as dying for the sins of the world.20

If what Borg is saying is true, then we would have to throw out John 3:16 which says God so loved the world He gave His only Son, and we would have to dismiss the theme of a blood offering that is prevalent throughout all of Scripture. In the Old Testament, it is clear:

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11)

But Borg rejects this emphasis:

To think that the central meaning of Easter [resurrection] depends upon something spectacular happening to Jesus’ corpse misses the point of the Easter message and risks trivializing the story. To link Easter primarily to our hope for an afterlife, as if our post-death existence depends upon God having transformed the corpse of Jesus, is to reduce the story to a politically-domesticated yearning for our survival beyond death.21

What is behind this mindset? Listen to one New Ager describe what underlies this line of thought:

Jesus was an historical person, a human becoming Christ, the Christos, is an eternal transpersonal condition of being. Jesus did not say that this higher state of consciousness realized in him was his alone for all time. Nor did he call us to worship him. Rather, he called us to follow him, to follow in his steps, to learn from him, from his example.22

Fosdick would resonate with this. When he says, “Christ’s sacrificial life and death are too sacred to be so misrepresented,” he means that Christ is an example to be followed, not an innocent sacrifice for our guilt and thus worthy of praise and worship. Satan wants desperately to be worshiped and adored as God. He hates all that Jesus’ death stands for. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, purchased with His own blood the lives of those written in the Book of Life.

The Bible says, “without the shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22), and also, “He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). Are we to reject these Scriptures and other ones as well that speak of the atonement because it doesn’t sound logical? Scripture tells us that the carnal mind is at enmity with God. We need to recognize that the Bible is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is our final authority, and we must adhere to the truth of its teachings.

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)

(from chapter 11 of Faith Undone by Roger Oakland – for entire chapter and endnotes, click here.)

by Roger Oakland
Understand the Times

Promoters of the emergent conversation say we are on the verge of a new spiritual awareness. New “spiritual disciplines” are being touted as the avenue to spiritual formation that will take Christianity to a new and higher level. Where is this concept in the Bible?

…………………………………………………………………………

J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler are both professors at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in southern California. Moreland is professor of philosophy and Issler is professor of Christian education and theology. In 2006, Navpress published a book they co-authored titled The Lost Virtue of Happiness: Discovering the Disciplines of the Good Life. [1] On the back cover, the following statement is made:

Authors J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler illustrate how we are happy only when we pursue a transcendent purpose – something larger than ourselves. This involves a deeply meaningful relationship with God through a selfless preoccupation with the spiritual disciplines. The Lost Virtue of Happiness takes a fresh look at the spiritual disciplines, offering concrete examples of ways you can make them practical and life transforming.[2]

The title gives a good overview of what the book is about. Apparently, Moreland and Issler believe they have rediscovered important spiritual principles that have been lost.

One of the spiritual disciplines the authors have recovered is outlined in a chapter titled “Gaining Happiness by Losing Your Life.” Under the subheading “Two Friends: Solitude and Silence” the authors state:

The disciplines of solitude and silence are absolutely fundamental to the Christian life, and they are naturally practiced in tandem. In solitude we choose to be alone and to reflect on how we experience the facets of life (family, job, relationship with God, finances) and what they mean to us while in isolation. We unhook from companionship with others; we take ourselves physically and mentally out of our social, familial, and other human relationships. [3]

This spiritual discipline that Moreland and Issler suggest will bring true happiness requires a quiet state of mind and sounds like a good thing to do if one is attempting to get closer to God. However, there are some concerns. Further in the chapter the authors quote Henri Nouwen, a well known Roman Catholic mystic in support of this spiritual discipline that is being recovered. Nouwen said:

The man or woman who has developed this solitude of heart is no longer pulled apart by the most divergent stimuli of the surrounding world but is able to perceive and understand this world from a quiet inner center. [4]

This “quiet inner center” Nouwen mentions is suspect, especially in light of spiritual disciplines practiced by those involved in the Buddhist and Hindu faiths. Further, it seems Nouwen’s Roman Catholic mystical beliefs have strongly influenced the authors. Continuing to develop their idea of the importance of rediscovering the lost art of finding the “quiet inner center,” they state:

Go to a retreat center that has one of its purposes the provision of a place for individual sojourners. Try to find a center that has gardens, fountains, statues, and other forms of beautiful artwork. In our experience, Catholic retreat centers are usually ideal for solitude retreats… We also recommend that you bring photos of your loved ones and a picture of Jesus… Or gaze at a statue of Jesus. Or let some thought, feeling, or memory run through your mind over and over again. [5]

I have searched the scriptures. Staring or gazing at a picture or statue of Jesus or concentrating on a thought or feeling in order to establish “a quiet inner center” just isn’t there! For endnotes and also an audio version of this article by Roger Oakland, click here. If you have not yet read Roger Oakland’s powerful expose on the emerging church, Faith Undone, we highly recommend it.  This book shows how the panentheistic, anti-biblical spirituality of the emerging church is entering the evangelical church through many of the popular movements today including the Purpose Driven movement and the spiritual formation movement.

Related to this article:

Book Warning: Kingdom Triangle by J.P. Moreland

by Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries

The East has convinced the West that the greatest thing they have to offer is Eastern-style meditation. Because some Christians lack discernment, what we have is the complete hijacking of biblical meditation in favor of the Eastern brand. This is risky because it involves blanking out your mind and, by default, allowing anything in. 

I guess this shouldn’t be shocking when a major news story of 2009 had this headline: “More U.S. Christians Mix Eastern and New Age Beliefs.”  While you may think this is being done only by liberal Christianity, think again! It crosses all  denominations. This is not just some kind of fad or an isolated phenomenon. It is building momentum month by month, and more and more people are seeing this mystical spirituality as a valid and powerful way to experience the presence of God. Many influential and respected people within Christianity view this practice as being perfectly in accordance with orthodox Christianity.  

I have already presented the story of the Bethel symposium in early November that suggested there might be a common bond or “common ground” between Christianity and Buddhism in the realm of meditation. The symposium had information about “Christian Zen” but NO information about authentic, biblical meditation.  There was no solid gospel presented in 75 minutes. Click here to continue reading.

In 2009, we witnessed a huge growth in the contemplative/mystical New Spirituality in the Christian church.

This is not just some kind of fad or an isolated phenomenon. It is building momemtum month by month, and more and more people are seeing this mystical spirituality as a valid and powerful way to experience the presence of God. Many influential and respected people within Christianity view this practice as being perfectly in accordance with orthodox Christianity. However, there is no way one can reconcile interspirituality (the ”fruit” of contemplative) with the preaching of the Cross and still remain faithful to biblical fidelity.

One of the things we have noticed in 2009 is a significant blurring of the lines between outright New Age/New Spirituality and this new Christianity. An example of this blurring came to our attention just as we were about to release this newsletter. In Charles Stanley’s January 2010 In Touch magazine, it features an article titled, “I Didn’t Want to Be a Christian, But . . . how running away can take you on an unexpected journey” by Joseph Bentz. In the article, Bentz (author of Silent God) highlights the spiritual journeys of two women, one of whom is Anne Lamott (Traveling Mercies). Most In Touch readers are probably not familiar with any problems associated with her name.  But Lamott, mentioned in several Lighthouse Trails articles, reveals her true spiritual sympathies when she endorsed the back cover of the made-popular-by-Oprah book, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The book is about Gilbert’s search for spirituality, which took her to India and eastern meditation. Her book is a virtual primer on New Age thinking. Lamott not only endorsed the back of her book but also has spoken with her at various events. Of Gilbert’s book, Lamott states: “This is a wonderful book, brilliant and personal, rich in spiritual insight.”1 William Paul Young includes Lamott in his New Spirituality book, The Shack, as someone he is “grateful” for. 

While we are not suggesting that Charles Stanley is a contemplative now because of the inclusion of this article, we believe it is a perfect example of a steady blending of contemplative and New Age to the point where eventually no one will notice the difference, and what will be known as Christianity will be mystical. This will fulfill Jesuit mystic Karl Rahner’s sentiments when he said “The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will be nothing.”2 

We at Lighthouse Trails are confident that the information that we put forth is very credible and documentable. Over the past year, we have received much opposition. One source referred to our efforts as “nonsense.” Another source publicly suggested that we were “haters.” Even though some may perceive our passion and persistence as being negative or hateful, on the contrary, it is actually our love for fellow humanity that propels our efforts. If you look carefully at what we say in our books and newsletters, you will not find contempt or vindictiveness toward individuals but rather a challenge to their positions on the issues concerned.

Paul says in II Thessalonians 2 that the spiritual platform that will be reigning during the latter times prior to the time of Christ’s return will be the mystery of iniquity, which we believe is occult mysticism. There are two reasons why we believe this. First, the word mystery comes from the word mysterion in the Greek (meaning mysticism or hidden, i.e., occult), and second, the man of sin cannot show himself to be “God” in any other way except through the occult because that is what the occult proclaims – that man is God. And it is this very underlying nature of contemplative/emerging spirituality that has presented itself as a new and better kind of Christianity that the church needs. But it actually reflects occultism and rejects the preaching of the Cross.

An example of this is when Thomas Merton, who could legitimately be called the father of modern contemplative prayer, said that if we all knew who we really were, we would fall down and worship each other because the pure glory of God is in us – in everyone of us.3

Merton’s panentheistic views acquired from his mystical experiences gave him a very solid belief in the divinity of man. With contemplative prayer as his tutor, an atoning sacrifice for mankind (the Cross) waned in insignificance to his way of thinking to the point that when a Sufi master (Islamic mystic) told him that Islam did not believe in an atonement for sin or the “theory of redemption,” Merton replied: “Personally, in matters where dogmatic [doctrine] beliefs differ, I think that controversy is of little value.” Merton explained that such doctrines take away from the “spiritual realities” (mystical experiences)  and that “much more important is the sharing of the experience of divine light, . . . It is here that the area of fruitful dialogue exists between Christianity and Islam.”4 

It is in that context that we believe that the man of sin is going to proclaim himself to be God and dispel the “gospel myth.” And this is why we don’t stop what we are doing. This is our motivation and the calling we believe God has placed upon us.

In 2010, it is our hope that we can continue to warn others about the spiritual deception taking place today. It is also our desire that we can encourage believers in Christ to stand strong in defending the faith and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only avenue through which salvation can come.

^“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9 

Notes:

1. from Elizabeth Gilbert’s website

2. Ignacio Larrañaga, Sensing Your Hidden Presence, p. 11, citing Rahner.

3. (from A Time of Departing, quoting Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander -1989 edition, pp.157-158)

 4. Yungen, A Time of Departing, pp. 59-60 citing from Rob Baker and Gray Henry, Editors, Merton and Sufism, pp. 109-110.

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:12-14

by Ken Silva,
Apprising Ministries

Right Back To The Dark Ages

Following a trail that was initially cut by the online apologetics and discernment ministry Lighthouse Trails Research years before Apprising Ministries has been covering the rise in popularity within Protestant evangelicalism of practicing corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM) ala Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic Richard Foster, with an assist from his spiritual twin Dallas Willard. It’s a rapidly spreading—and very dangerous—fad; and if left unchecked by spiritually timid evangelical leaders, CSM is going to be the cause of much division within the church visible.

My research shows that as far back as the early 80’s even conservative evangelical seminaries were using—in a positive way—Foster’s magnum opus Celebration of Discipline, which Dr. Gary Gilley rightly calls a virtual encyclopedia of theological error. However, Foster and Willard’s speculative so-called spiritual disciplines were really given a boost under the guise of spurious Spiritual Formation (SF) by the the egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church—morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC)—which is a cult of postliberalism now firmly within mainstream evangelicalism. Click here to continue reading this article.

More on Lectio Divina, click here. Also read Castles in the Sand, which is a novel about lectio divina and contemplative spirituality.

Comments on the Rick Warren
LETTER/VIDEO STATEMENT TO UGANDAN CHURCH LEADERS
By Rick Warren, Pastor of Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, Calif.,
Regarding the Pending Anti-Homosexuality Bill Before the Ugandan Parliament

by Sandy Simpson
Deception in the Church Ministries

In a letter and video statement to the government and church leaders in Uganda, Rick Warren laid out his reaction to the anti-homosexuality bill that is pending with the Ugandan Government. Warren opposes it.

Now there are some provisions in the bill that any Christian should oppose such as imprisonment and possible death penalty for homosexuals (apparently just for being a homosexual), forcing pastors to report private counseling with gays, etc. However statements by Warren such as “While we can never deny or water down what God’s Word clearly teaches about sexuality, at the same time the church must stand to protect the dignity of all individuals – as Jesus did and commanded all of us to do.” does not address at all what the Bible teaches on sex outside of marriage which is defined as between a man and a woman including homosexuality. All sex outside of marriage is a sin before God and must be repented of. This also means that repentance will be followed by a turning away from practicing sin to practicing righteousness (1 Jn. 2:29; 3:4, 8, 10). When Warren states: “ALL life, no matter how humble or broken, whether unborn or dying, is precious to God” this is true but the Gospel is left out of this equation, thus presenting only part of the picture, thus presenting error alongside of truth. God wants all men to be saved and does not want anyone to perish (2 Pet. 3:9), but that is why He sent His only Son to die to purchase us salvation and forgiveness from our sins if we believe in Him and repent. Homosexuality is a sin and those who practice sin are destined for damnation (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Practicing homosexuals are living lifestyle sin, thus God does not love their sin and will punish them if they do not respond to the conviction of their sin by the Holy Spirit.

Though some of the provisions of the anti-homosexuality bill are unjust and should be removed we have to understand that HIV/AIDS is a huge problem there and is being propagated and spread by homosexual behaviors as well as other methods. Uganda is trying to find ways to protect their society against this deadly sexual disease. Warren states that we all have “the freedom to make moral choices and our right to free expression are gifts endowed by God.”. This statement comes from his erroneous teaching on “gifts”. He has taught repeatedly on this subject in his “Purpose” series and often confuses natural gifts with spiritual ones. Do we have the right to make choices that cause others to die of AIDS? If the “free expression” of homosexuality is a “gift endowed by God” then why does God prohibit it in Scripture? We are not just free to do anything we want as people created by God. There are laws against murder, and infecting others with HIV/AIDS should be prosecuted just as any other act of murder is. If you knowingly give someone poison and they die will you not be tried for that crime? Please click here to continue reading this article.

From Christian Research Network (see also: Contemplative Mystic Pete Scazzero Promoted By Rick Warren)

Rick Warren has an upcoming conference at his Saddleback Church in February called Radicalis that features Perry Noble and Mark Driscoll, in addition to himself.

In the latest email promoting this conference, entitled Chat Live with Radicalis Speaker, Pete Scazzero, Wednesday, December 9 at 11 am pst. Warren writes:

Chat live with Pete Scazzero, tomorrow, Wednesday, December 9 at 11 am pst (2 pm est). Pete will be teaching how to develop emotionally healthy leadership in churches at Radicalis this February.

Pete, along with his wife, Geri, are co-founders of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, a groundbreaking ministry that integrates emotional health and contemplative spirituality to pastors, leaders and local churches. For more and source, click here.

For extensive documentation regarding Rick Warren’s long-time, ongoing promotion of contemplative/emerging spirituality, please refer to the following:

A Time of Departing, chapter 8: “America’s Pastor” (free online)

“Saddleback IS a Contemplative Church”

Research pages on Rick Warren and Contemplative Spirituality