Posts Tagged ‘Rick Warren’

by Warren Smith

Leonard Sweet is definitely one of the point men for today’s emerging/postmodern/Purpose Driven Church. As Rick Warren has aligned himself with Sweet, it is important to remember that Sweet has described former and present New Age figures as his “heroes” and “role models.” He has openly acknowledged that his quantum “new cell theory” understanding of “new light leadership” was formulated with the help of veteran New Age leader David Spangler. Additionally, Sweet describes mystical New Age priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as “Twentieth-century Christianity’s major voice.”1 And while Sweet’s almost “in your face” New Age sympathies are there for all to see, Rick Warren, and other Christian figures continue to hold him in high esteem. But it is just business as usual as Warren’s apologist tells us that “Doctrinally/theologically, Leonard Sweet is about as Christian as anyone can get.”2

In his 2009 book So Beautiful, Leonard Sweet underscores his quantum “relational worldview”3 by favorably quoting from William Young’s The Shack regarding relationship.4 He also tells readers to look to Margaret Wheatley’s Leadership and the New Science to further understand his quantum view on the “spiritual and social significance of relationship.”5 And he still continues to refer readers back to his 1991 book, Quantum Spirituality.6

While appearing to be somewhat of a 21st century renaissance man who leaves everyone in the wake of his postmodern intellect, Leonard Sweet’s “scientific” postmodern/quantum/New Age view on things raises some critical questions—particularly in regard to his association with Rick Warren. If Warren, Sweet, and other Christian leaders continue to move the church towards the New Spirituality, how will it ultimately play out? Will we see Warren, Schuller, Sweet, McLaren, and other “New Light” leaders signing a mutual accord someday affirming that God is “in” everything? Will that proclamation be based on new “scientific findings” from quantum physics? Will they explain that Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and the “God” of Neale Donald Walsch and William Young had it right—that “the sub-atomic reality” is that God is in every atom? That God really is—scientifically speaking—“in” everyone and everything?

But what about the inevitable reaction that will come from those referred to by Rick Warren as “fundamentalists”7 when they accuse Warren of flip-flopping? Will Warren defend his new worldview by repeating what he said at the Saddleback Civil Forum—that “sometimes flip-flopping is smart because you actually have decided a better position based on knowledge that you didn’t have”? Armed with seemingly scientific “facts” from quantum physics, will Warren defend his new worldview by stating, “That’s not flip-flopping. Sometimes that’s growing in wisdom”? Is this where Warren, Sweet, and other Christian leaders will try to take the church? Are they about to take a big “quantum leap” into the New Spirituality of a New Age that is based on the findings of the “new science”? Given the continued New Age implications of the emerging Purpose Driven movement, it would seem that this is a real possibility. (from A “Wonderful” Deception, chapter 13)

Notes:
1. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, op. cit., p. 106.
2. Richard Abanes, “Leonard Sweet, Rick Warren, and the New Age,” http://abanes.com/warren_sweet.html.
3. Leonard Sweet, So Beautiful (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2009), p. 279, #118.
4. Ibid., p. 101.
5. Ibid., p. 256, #22.
6. Ibid., p. 278, #107.
7. Rick Warren referred to “Christian fundamentalism” as “one of the big enemies of the 21st century.” See: Paul Nussbaum, “The purpose-driven pastor,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 08, 2006, http://web.archive.org/web/20060522084523/www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/religion/13573441.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp.
On May 23, 2005, Rick Warren spoke at the Pew Forum on Religion and stated the following: “Today there really aren’t that many Fundamentalists left; I don’t know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren’t that many Fundamentalists left in America. . . . Now the word ‘fundamentalist’ actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity.” See: “Myths of the Modern Megachurch,” http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=80.

On June 1st, Lighthouse Trails posted an article by M. Danielsen titled, “Sojourners Founder Jim Wallis’ Revolutionary Anti-Christian “Gospel” (and Will Christian Leaders Stand with Wallis?).” On June 19th, we posted a second article titled TRAVESTY at LIFEST – PARENTS: Don’t Send Your Kids – Radical-Emergent/Liberal Jim Wallis to Speak at Lifest (What is Luis Palau Doing There?).” This second article included a link to a radio interview by VCY America’s Ingrid Schlueter and Mare Danielsen on this same subject. Yesterday, June 30th, a Wisconsin radio station (Lifest is held in WI) pulled its sponsorship of Lifest because of Wallis’ appearance. All of these things led to a response by Jim Wallis on his Sojourner’s blog today. That article begins as such:

Calling People to Faith

by Jim Wallis 07-01-2010

Several months ago, I was invited to speak at Lifest, a Christian festival in Wisconsin with more than 100 musicians and 50 speakers that draws tens of thousands of mostly young people. That invitation has recently become controversial, as a number of false accusations have been made against me and our Sojourners ministry. One long article [Danielsen's article on Lighthouse Trails] actually put me in the company of Rick Warren, Bill & Lynne Hybels, and the National Association of Evangelical as heretical. Most recently, a local radio station in Wisconsin pulled their sponsorship of Lifest, saying “we believe the social justice message and agenda they promote is a seed of secular humanism, seeking an unholy alliance between the Church and Government.”  Nevertheless, Bob Lenz and the leadership of Lifest stood by their invitation for me to speak next week. I wrote this statement at Bob’s request in response to the controversy.

It has come to my attention that there is some controversy around the invitation I received to speak at Lifest. It seems there have been false rumors and misperceptions spreading about me and about Sojourners, the organization I lead. I wanted to help clarify who we are in an effort for us all to put the main focus back on the mission of Lifest, which is to call people to faith in Jesus Christ. (To read this entire article by Jim Wallis, click here.)

The questions many may be asking, what DOES Jim Wallis believe in and stand for, and should he be representing biblical Christianity and standing on platforms with evangelical speakers, addressing Christian youth whose parents believe their kids are attending a “Christian” event with Bible-believing speakers? In other words, do Wallis’ beliefs line up with the main message in the Bible, which is the Cross and atonement of Jesus Christ, the foundation of true Christianity.

In an article last week, we stated: “As more and more talk arises about a ’spiritual revolution’ or awakening, believers should be asking, is this a revolution from God? Or is this coming global ‘revolution’ part of the great falling away of which the Bible speaks?” Many of today’s major Christian figures  (Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet, Erwin McManus, William Paul Young (The Shack), Tony Campolo, Brian McLaren, and yes, Jim Wallis) are all talking about “revolution.” Former New Age follower, Warren B. Smith, identifies this emerging “revolution” as “indeed the same New Age ‘revolution’ attempting to transfix and transform the church today.” Smith adds: ” We should be very concerned when self-professing Evangelical leaders with New Age sympathies talk about starting a “spiritual revolution” (A “Wonderful Deception, p. 134). Sadly, all of the aforementioned names above hold to “New Age sympathies,” in particularly their embracing and resonating with contemplative mysticism (the basis of which is panentheistic – God is in all).

M. Danielsen’s article laid out clearly Wallis’ and Sojourners‘ socialistic, marxist ideologies. But what about Wallis’ views on the nature of spirituality itself, mainly contemplative mysticism, which is the antithesis of the atonement of Jesus Christ? And is Sojourners providing a dynamic platform for an anti-biblical “gospel”?

It doesn’t take too long in looking at Sojourners to find their contemplative-mystical persuasions. On their website, on a video clip,  two Sojourner editors discuss contemplative practices. The video is actually classified as a “how-to video on contemplative prayer” with Sojourner editors Rose Marie Berger and Jeannie Choi.

(Note: Wheaton College is mentioned in this video as the place the one Sojourners editor learned contemplative practices. See our research on Wheaton.)

For sake of time, we will show just one more piece of proof of Wallis’ stance on the contemplative/New spirituality movement.  This case in point, last summer on God Politics: a blog by Jim Wallis and friends, an article by Richard Rohr was posted. Rohr, founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation and a Catholic priest,  is a panentheist who wrote the foreword to a 2007 book called How Big is Your God? by Jesuit priest (from India) Paul Coutinho. In Coutinho’s book, he describes an interspiritual community where people of all religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity) worship the same God. Incidentally, in the same year Rohr wrote the foreword for Coutinho’s book, Rohr and Wallis were the speaking teamat a conference in Ohio. Rohr, one of the most popular speakers in the Catholic church today and commands the respect of thousands of priests, states: 

The term “cosmic Christ” reminds us that everything and everyone belongs. . . . God’s hope for humanity is that one day we will all recognize that the divine dwelling place is all of creation. Christ comes again whenever we see that matter and spirit co-exist. (“The eternal christ in the cosmic story,” NCR, 12/11/09)

Make no mistake, there is ample evidence available to show that Wallis (and Sojourners) is a conduit for contemplative (ie., New Age/New Spirituality)  (which we believe is the driving force behind this emerging/emergent church and will be the propeller to bring about a global “awakening” (i.e., a global mass deception). Consider these two verses:

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:9

“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness.” II Corinthians 11:14-15

Wallis, Rick Warren, Brian McLaren, and other emerging-type leaders have tried to convince our society that the church has failed, and that is why the world is in such a mess today. They conveniently neglect to tell people that the reason the world is in such disarray is because of sin and man’s rejection of Jesus Christ. It is not because of the true body of Christian believers, which through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit, long to help others and share the true “Gospel of Jesus Christ.”  These heretical teachers are attempting to convince Christians,  that they need to lay down their moralistic conservative views such as wanting to stop the murder of millions of babies and proclaim that marriage should only be a civil and legal union between a man and a woman. They go to great lengths to lay upon the conservative Christian guilt for the state of the world. They say we have been too narrow-minded, and as Rick Warren has stated, they say we need to look for a “new reformation,” one that includes Muslims, gays, and all belief systems. And look how so many have bought into it. The Shack, which proclaims the same “gospel” as Rick Warren and Jim Wallis proclaim, remains a New York  Times best seller, and that is mostly among proclaiming Christians. Yes, look how many have caved in to these lies. Nearly every denomination and Christian movement has been affected to some degree: Christian Missionary Alliance, the Mennonites, the Southern Baptists, some Calvary Chapel churches, the Nazarenes, the Wesleyans, even some Amish and Independent Baptist groups  … certainly too many to ignore.

Where will this all lead? Ray Yungen, who has been warning the church of this contemplative New Age  ”revolution” for nearly twenty years, says this:

Some day, and it could be soon, the Lord will allow the man of lawlessness [the antichrist] to emerge. In the mean time, the world is opening its arms to wholly embrace a spirituality that will exist under the umbrella of mysticism. The correlating theme will be—we are all One. When the man of lawlessness does rise to power with a one-world economy and political base, he will seduce many into searching for their own Christ consciousness rather than the Messiah, Jesus Christ. (A Time of Departing, pp. 127-128)

Among this group of men such as Wallis, who are attempting to redefine biblical Christianity, is Leonard Sweet who in his own writings exalts this idea of “christ consciousness” and tells his followers that he sees some of today’s most prolific New Age/New Spirituality leaders as his “new light heroes.”1 

In spite of this clear and obvious move away from biblical faith by so many of today’s prolific figures, when one looks over at the arena of Christian leaders, teachers, and pastors today, a deafening silence fills our ears. These men and women who say they represent Christianity, stand on the side lines holding the cloaks of those who fervently seek to persuade people away from traditional biblical truth.

In conclusion, Jim Wallis’ vision, although noble sounding in some respects, it has at its center, as its spiritual component a practice and belief system that could be legitimately called part of the mystery of iniquity (discussed in II Thessalonians 2). One of the major icons of this movement, Thomas Merton, told a Muslim mystic in essence that it didn’t matter whether one believed in the atonement and redemption of Jesus Christ or not (*see citation below). What did matter was that Muslims and Christians will hopefully someday share in divine light. This is where Sojourners vision will lead. Sojourners shares Merton’s hope for the future.

Lighthouse Trails is not against justice and mercy; Lighthouse Trails is not against feeding the poor and helping those who are downtrodden and destitute - Lighthouse Trails is against a mystical belief system that proclaims that the divine is in everything, including all of humanity regardless of faith in Christ or not.

This is beyond speculation. One of the pioneers of this “reconciliation”/mystical revolution, Henri Nouwen (frequently quoted by Sojourners), rejoicingly said:

The God who dwells in our inner sanctuary is also the God who dwells in the inner sanctuary of each human being. (Nouwen, Here and Now, 1997, p. 22)

The apostle Paul wrote that we are reconciled with God through the death of His son. It goes without saying that Christians are supposed to have the fruit of the spirit, which is what this so-called “progressive Christianity” claims to portray, but the bedrock of Christianity which cannot be compromised, is this very thing, but contemplative/emerging spirituality is moving people away from reconciliation through the Cross rather than toward it.

At Lifest with tens of thousands of young people, while Wallis may inspire them to remember the poor and the hurting, he will no doubt also inspire them to follow this dangerous mystical paradigm shift.

*Thomas Merton citation: Quoted in chapter 3 of A Time of Departing; Rob Baker and Gray Henry, Merton and Sufism, p. 109

Related Stories:

Film Warning: “With God on Our Side” – Championed by Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, Brian McLaren & Steve Haas (World Vision)

LTRP Note: In 2002, when the first edition of A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen was released, Lighthouse Trails sent a copy of the book to Rick Warren, hoping to warn him of this  mystical spirituality that was fast moving into the evangelical church via Richard Foster and other contemplative pioneers. Rick Warren sent LT a personal note thanking us for the book saying, “I agree this is a hot topic!” Little did we know at the time that Rick Warren was fully aware of the contemplative prayer  (spiritual formation) movement already- years before The Purpose Driven Life was released (same month that A Time of Departing was released), in Rick Warren’s first book, The Purpose Driven Church, Warren said that the spiritual formation movement (ala Richard Foster and Dallas Willard) was a “valid message for the church” and has “given the body of Christ a wake up call” (PDC, p. 127). From the time A Time of Departingwas first released (2002) until its second edition  four years later, a lot has come to the surface, so much so that the 2nd edition of Yungen’s book carries an entire chapter on Rick Warren’s promotion of contemplative spirituality. In fact, Rick Warren is one of the most influential and powerful proponents of the contemplative prayer movement (as well as the emerging church movement) on the scene today.  The article below reminds us of this and why it should not be so. Keep in mind that Richard Foster is not the only contemplative figure whom Rick Warren  promotes. There are many: Henri Nouwen, Gary Thomas, Tricia Rhodes, Adele Calhoun, Leonard Sweet, and Mark Driscoll – just to name a few.

by Christine Pack
Sola Sisters

Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church website features two books by Quaker and mystic Richard Foster, today’s leading proponent of something known as “Spiritual Disciplines” or “Spiritual Formation.”  Also promoted are several other books focusing on the Spiritual Disciplines, which teach a practice that is nothing more than a “Christianized” version of mantra meditation, a pagan practice borrowed from Hinduism and Buddhism.  In this pagan practice, a person will “empty” the mind employing some kind of device: rhythmic music, repeating a word or phrase, focusing on breathing, etc., in an attempt to connect to God.

But in today’s undiscerning church, this pagan practice has been flowing into churches because its proponents insist that this is a Christian practice and has been practiced by Christians for centuries. After all, what could be wrong with something called “Spiritual Formation,” right? It sounds kind of Christian and churchy, doesn’t it? And we know there’s something about Christ being formed in us (Gal 4:19), so that has to be what this is talking about, right?

Wrong.  Spiritual Formation is a series of disciplines which supposedly aid in “spiritual development,” and which are generally thought to be Christian because these disciplines were formed centuries ago by monks in Roman Catholic monasteries. There’s just one problem here, but it’s a biggie: these Roman Catholic monks, who were known as the Desert Fathers, cloistered themselves in the Middle East and Egypt; and, because of their close proximity to eastern cultures, ended up being heavily influenced by paganism to the point of grafting pagan practices into their prayers, chiefly, mantra meditation.  So in essence, these “spiritual disciplines” that are part of today’s “Spiritual Formation” programs are classic, eastern occultic practices that have simply been “Christianized” with a sprinkling of the magic pixie dust of Christian terminology.  But make no mistake, these practices areoccultic. Click here to continue reading this article.

Related Information:

Saddleback Church IS a Contemplative Church

Merton & Nouwen: Sacrificing Truth for Mystical Experiences

LTRP Note: Last week, we posted an article titled  “Sojourners Founder Jim Wallis’ Revolutionary Anti-Christian “Gospel” (and Will Christian Leaders Stand with Wallis?).” As more and more talk arises about a “spiritual revolution” or awakening, believers should be asking, is this a revolution from God? Or is this coming global “revolution” part of the great falling away of which the Bible speaks? Consider the following article by Warren B. Smith, and next time you hear a Christian leader talking about revolution, ask yourself, “Whose revolution is this?”

by Warren Smith
(from A “Wonderful” Deception)

The “spiritual revolution” I referenced in my 1995 journal article ["M. Scott Peck: Community and the Cosmic Christ," SCP Journal, 19:2-3 (1995)"]  … is indeed the same New Age “revolution” attempting to transfix and transform the church today. We should be very concerned when self-professing Evangelical leaders with New Age sympathies talk about starting a “spiritual revolution.”

In chapter four [of A "Wonderful" Deception], I describe how New Age sympathizer Ken Blanchard recounted at a 2003 Lead Like Jesus conference that Rick Warren had turned to him and stated: “You know, Ken, let’s start a revolution.”1Five years later Blanchard was calling his Lead Like Jesus conference a Lead Like Jesus “Revolution.”2 In his book The Secret Message of Jesus, Brian McLaren’s second suggested metaphor after “God’s Dream” is “revolution of God.”3 And McLaren’s book Everything Must Change is even subtitled Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. Erwin McManus, another emerging church leader, calls for an “Evolution of a Revolution” in his Rick Warren endorsed book The Unstoppable Force.4 It is noteworthy that New Age leader Neale Donald Walsch has also talked of an “evolution revolution”5 that will be an “unstoppable force.”6 Organized Christianity and the New Age are overlapping and blending so much that soon—very soon—there will be no distinguishing the two as they blend right into the New Spirituality of the New World Religion.

Overlapping terms like “revolution,” “reformation,” “as above, so below,” “God’s Dream,” “Cosmic Christ,” “Oneness,” and “God in everything” are being used to transition what was once considered traditional Christianity into the New Spirituality of a New Age. New Age leader Marianne Williamson has stated that the New Age/New Spirituality “revolution” is “a global phenomenon that will change the cellular structure of the human race.” In her 2004 book The Gift of Change, she writes:

An underground revolution is sweeping the hearts and minds of the people of the world, and it is happening despite the wars and terror that confront us. This revolution is a fundamental change of worldview, and it carries with it the potential to reorganize the structure of human civilization. It brings a basic shift in the thoughts that dominate the world. It wages a peace that will end all war. It is a global phenomenon that will change the cellular structure of the human race.7

An underground “revolution” that will be a “global phenomenon” bringing peace to the world? A “revolution” that will “change the cellular structure of the human race”? David Spangler describes the cell as the basic metaphor of the New Age, while Leonard Sweet thanks Spangler for helping him to formulate the “new cell theory” of his quantum spirituality. In the meantime, Rick Warren and Brian McLaren describe a spiritual “revolution” that could change history(8) and change everything.(9) New Age leaders Marianne Williamson and Neale Donald Walsch also talk of a spiritual “revolution” that could change history and “change everything.”10

On the surface, this talk of a revolutionary world peace that will change everything sounds admirable. However, this “peace” is based on deceptive New Age principles, not on a sound biblical foundation. Christian leaders seem to be taking the church—into a quantum spirituality of a New Age/New Spirituality—into a New Worldview—into the coming New World Religion.

WHOSE REVOLUTION 
QUOTES BY “REVOLUTIONARIES”

“The Evolution of a Revolution”
                  —Erwin McManus, Unstoppable Force (p. 102)

“If you ever get a chance to hang out with Mack, you will soon learn that he’s hoping for a revolution.”
                  —William Paul Young, The Shack (p. 248)

“The time has come for a new kind of conversation, a new kind of Christianity, a new kind of revolution.”
                  —Shane Claiborne, Irresistible Revolution (p. 29)
 
“An underground revolution is sweeping the hearts and minds of the people of the world. . . . This revolution is a fundamental change of worldview.”
                  —Marianne Williamson, The Gift of Change, (p. 279)

“The world is undergoing an extraordinary revolution, an intellectual rebellion against the exclusionary belief structure that has dominated Western thought for centuries.”
                  —Willis Harman, The Global Mind Change, back cover

“The translucent revolution is about human consciousness and could lay the foundation for an evolutionary leap in human life unlike anything we have known.”
                  —Barbara Marx Hubbard, Translucent Revolution (p. 419)

“[I]gniting a revolution of hope that can change everything. Beginning with you. Beginning now.”
                  —Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change, back cover

“You know, Ken, let’s start a revolution.”
                   —Rick Warren to Ken Blanchard
                       Lead Like Jesus Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, 2003

(The article above is from chapter 10 of  A “Wonderful” Deception – to read entire chapter, click here.)

Notes:
1. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, p. 324.
2. Ibid., p. 125.
3. Ibid.
4. Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, op. cit, p. 88.
5. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christianity and Evolution (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1971), p. 56.
6. One example of where Rick Warren says this is at the Pew Forum of Religion on May 23, 2005, “Myths of the Modern Megachurch,” http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=80.  Rick Warren: “You know, 500 years ago, the first Reformation with Luther and then Calvin, was about beliefs. I think a new reformation is going to be about behavior. The first Reformation was about creeds; I think this one will be about deeds. I think the first one was about what the church believes; I think this one will be about what the church does.”
7. Robert H. Schuller, Hour of Power, “God’s Word: Rebuild, Renew, Restore.”
8. “Myths of the Modern Megachurch,” Pew Forum on Religion.
9. M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1978), p. 281.
10. Ibid.

To Lighthouse Trails:

I have been reading your posts regarding C.C. Albuquerque and Leonard Sweet.

I thought you might like the following information so that we might all be able to determine the truth regarding this matter.

According to Calvary Chapel Albuquerque’s website on their upcoming events page, Dr. Leonard Sweet will in fact be speaking. If you scroll down to about the 17th event … National Worship Conference … there is an audio promo posted which states that Mr. Sweet will in fact be speaking: http://www.calvaryabq.org/events.asp

I would also like to point out that Leonard Sweet while blatantly New Age, is not the only speaker in question. There are many other people in this upcoming conference who are a part of Saddleback and Willow Creek. Both pastors of both churches, Rick Warren* and Bill Hybels respectively, are graduates of the Robert Schuller School of Church Leadership, and both pastors also endorse contemplative prayer, a ‘Christianized’ brand of Hindu meditation practices. [see "Saddleback IS a contemplative church" and also "No Repentance from Willow Creek – Only a Mystical Paradigm Shift"]

Others, such as Mr. Maher routinely minister in Roman Catholic fellowships (is he a Roman Catholic, or an ex-Roman Catholic and a Christian simply reaching out to these souls?): Matt Maher – is still involved in local church ministry at St. Timothy Catholic Community, as well as helping out with the young adult ministry at All Saints Newman Center on the campus of Arizona State University.

Buddy Owens is Pastor of Spiritual Growth at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.
Scott Dyer is the Pastor of Worship and Arts at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship, in the northern suburbs of Dallas, TX, where he has served since February of 2004. Prior to coming to Bent Tree, Scott spent 14 years on the staff of Willow Creek Community Church and the Willow Creek Association.

Stan Endicott is Executive Worship Pastor at Mariners Church in Irvine, Calif., a large church known for progressive and culturally compelling approaches to worship, communications and ministry. He also consults with churches around the country and continues to work with established and up-and-coming recording artists in music production. Stan is a mainstay at Arts and Worship conferences at Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington, Ill., and at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., where he also directs the worship choir.

Curt Coffield – Curt is committed to helping others worship. He is the Pastor at Sewickley Valley North Way Christian Community in Pennsylvania. Formerly, Curt served as Worship and Teaching Pastor at Resurrection Life Church in Grandville, Michigan; as Worship Pastor at Shoreline Community Church in Monterey, California; and as Worship Director at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. As a member of Integrity Music’s band PK7, Curt led worship for Promise Keeper events in arenas around the country for several years.

Tony Guerrero is currently serving as the Director of Creative Arts at Saddleback Church, where he leads a mostly volunteer group of hundreds of musicians, singers, and performers in a variety of arenas.

Randy Swanson has been involved in Creative Arts ministry for over 30 years. He has a degree in music from UCLA and a JD from Western States University. He was admitted to practice law in California in 1983. As an accomplished trumpet artist he performs in churches and orchestras on a regular basis. He served as the Executive Director for the Robert Schuller Performing Arts Center.

Information above taken from the official web site, posted below
http://www.nationalworshipleaderconference.com/index.cfm?tdc=dsp&page=speakers

I am personally dismayed that CC continues to align themselves with those who are apart of the EMERGENT Church.

Signed by a Lighthouse Trails reader

Related Information:

Calvary Chapel Rejects Contemplative, Emerging, and Purpose Driven

By Michael Carl
WorldNetDaily

Rick Warren promotes un-biblical interspirituality

 The effort among some Christian churches to meet with Muslims and dialogue about faith is a betrayal of the basic foundations of Christianity, asserts a critic of the developing trend.

A Time of Departing speaks on breath prayers:

“When [Richard] Foster speaks of the silence, he does not mean external silence. In his book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Foster recommends the practice of breath prayer—picking a single word or short phrase and repeating it in conjunction with the breath. This is classic contemplative mysticism.

“In the original 1978 edition of Celebration of Discipline, he makes his objective clear when he states, ‘Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it.’ In Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, he ties in a quote by one mystic who advised, ‘You must bind the mind with one thought.’ The advice recounts Anthony de Mello’s remarks in his contemplative prayer classic, Sadhana: A Way to God. His approach was virtually identical to Foster’s:

To silence the mind is an extremely difficult task. How hard it is to keep the mind from thinking, thinking, thinking, forever thinking, forever producing thoughts in a never ending stream. Our Hindu masters in India have a saying: one thorn is removed by another. By this they mean that you will be wise to use one thought to rid yourself of all the other thoughts that crowd into your mind. One thought, one image, one phrase or sentence or word that your mind can be made to fasten on.

“I once related Foster’s breath prayer method to a former New Age devotee who is now a Christian. She affirmed this connection when she remarked with astonishment, ‘That’s what I did when I was into ashtanga yoga!’” (A Time of Departing, p. 75

Are “breath prayers” a method by which we can become best friends with God?To direct people on a spiritual journey for 40 days, Rick Warren wrote The Purpose Driven Life. The best selling book has impacted millions of persons. Some of Warren’s purpose involves his recommendations for “Becoming Best Friends with God.” The author shares six secrets to become God’s friends, one of which is practicing God’s presence by being in “constant conversation” with him. After quoting 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (“pray without ceasing”), Warren asks how a Christian can practice unceasing prayer to which he answers, “One way is to use ‘breath prayers’ throughout the day, as many Christians have done for centuries. You choose a brief sentence or a simple phrase that can be repeated in one breath.” Then after providing ten examples of prayers, short biblical phrases that could work as breath prayers, Warren advises “Pray it as often as possible so it is rooted deep in your heart.” In this context Warren also cites the book of Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God, who advocated experiencing the presence of God in the most menial of circumstances, by praying short conversational prayers throughout the day. The Roman Catholic practice of praying the rosary is also akin to breath prayers.

Though breath praying is not found in the Bible, advocates of the practice recommend repeating a short phrase, the phrase can be biblical, in prayer throughout the day. For example, in the parable of The Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14), Jesus portrayed a tax collector who in repentance and humility, cried out, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’” Out of this The Desert Fathers, a monastic group in Egypt during 3rd and 4th centuries, created the “Kyrie Eleison” (“Lord have mercy.”) prayer which later became known as the “Jesus Prayer.” The prayer became a favorite of these fathers who later expanded it to be, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Click here to read this entire article.

Rick Warren
“With practice, you can develop the habit of praying silent ‘breath prayers’”—Rick Warren
Also see pages 89 and 299 of PDL

Saddleback Church ”Breath prayers are a great way to keep in contact with our Heavenly Father throughout our day. Just repeat short heart-felt prayers, such as “You are my God,” “I love you Lord,” and “Thank You, Jesus.” Consult Chapter 10 of The Purpose-Driven Life for more information.”

Cook Communications
“helps you practice the presence of God”

“Be sure to breathe prayers to God about your conversations …” —Nancy Ortberg (John Ortberg’s wife)

“I began practicing meditation, specifically breath prayer, once again. I integrated the use of Tai Chi and yoga.”—John M. Talbot, Catholic monk and musician

Rob Bell on Breath Prayer, Noomas, Yoga and more… The following Audio clip is a sermon by Rob Bell. In this audio, Bell leads the audience through a meditation exercise and talks about various aspects of contemplative spirituality. Please use caution when listening to this audio file (not suitable for children). Click here for audio file - scroll down to audio file.

What I am proposing to do is to narrow that gap between pantheism and Christianity by bringing out what one might call the Christian soul of pantheism or the pantheist aspect of Christianity.1 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Now I realize that, on the model of the incarnate God whom Christianity reveals to me, I can be saved only by becoming one with the universe. Thereby, too, my deepest ‘pantheist’ aspirations are satisfied.2 Chardin

I believe that the Messiah whom we await, whom we all without any doubt await, is the universal Christ; that is to say, the Christ of evolution.3 Chardin

“[Pierre Teilhard de Chardin] is twentieth-century Christianity’s major voice.” 4 Leonard Sweet

(by Warren B. Smith from A “Wonderful” Deception)
“As Christian As Anyone Can Get”

Given all of Leonard Sweet’s New Age/New Spirituality sympathies, Rick Warren has continued to work with Sweet and promote him rather than separate himself from him and expose him as the Bible admonishes him to do:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Ephesians 5:11)

There is an interesting twist here. Richard Abanes—Rick Warren’s most outspoken apologist and someone who has written extensively on the New Age—actually wrote an article defending Leonard Sweet and Warren’s involvement with him. In a 2008 article titled “Leonard Sweet, Rick Warren and the New Age,” Abanes writes:

Doctrinally/theologically, Leonard Sweet is about as Christian as anyone can get.5

Unbelievable! The man who consults with New Age leader David Spangler and describes [New Agers] Willis Harman, Matthew Fox, and M. Scott Peck as his “personal role models” and “heroes” is “about as Christian as anyone can get?” Perhaps Abanes has forgotten what he once wrote about Peck and Spangler in his 1995 book The Less Traveled Road and the Bible: A Scriptural Critique of the Philosophy of M. Scott Peck. In this book that Abanes co-wrote with H. Wayne House, in a section written by Abanes, he writes very forthrightly about Peck’s and Spangler’s involvement in the New Age movement. Describing both Peck and Spangler as “New Agers” and warning about their promotion of the New Age concept of “oneness,” Abanes writes:

Peck is echoing a concept found in Hinduism and Buddhism, namely, that all reality is oneness and that what we perceive to be individuality is an illusion . . . . The above concept is a major tenet of the New Age movement, as New Age spokesperson David Spangler demonstrates when he writes, “Oneness is a key concept. In a spiritual sense, the world has always been one. . . .”

Like all New Agers, Peck embraces the belief that realization of our oneness with God—or our own godhood—is essential to spiritual growth and freedom from problems. Attaining godhood is really the only reason we exist. Realization of our divinity is also the whole purpose behind evolution, which is another “miracle” to Peck.6

Given these strong warnings, why is Richard Abanes now defending Leonard Sweet from those who are concerned about Sweet’s enchantment with the same M. Scott Peck and David Spangler that Abanes had previously exposed as New Agers? Rather than taking Sweet to task for aligning himself with New Agers like Peck and Spangler, Abanes takes Sweet’s critics to task. Almost inexplicably, Abanes admonishes Sweet’s critics for suggesting there are New Age implications not only to Sweet’s teachings but also to Rick Warren’s involvement with Sweet. This seems to contradict his own past writings about Peck, Spangler, and the New Age.

As an apologist for Rick Warren, Abanes obviously wishes to protect Warren. But in this case he is hurting him more than helping him. In refusing to acknowledge the New Age implications of Warren’s involvement with a New Age sympathizer like Leonard Sweet, Abanes does a great disservice to the body of Christ—and to Rick Warren himself.

One final note of irony in regard to Richard Abanes, Leonard Sweet, M. Scott Peck, and the New Age. In the introduction to his 1995 book about M. Scott Peck, Abanes actually quoted from the journal article I had written about Peck earlier that same year. In my article, which was titled “M. Scott Peck: Community and the Cosmic Christ,” I described how Peck had initiated a spiritual “revolution” that was attempting to redefine biblical Christianity with deceptive New Age teachings that came in the name of Christ. Recognizing the validity of my warnings about Peck and the New Age, Abanes opened his book by favorably quoting me. He wrote:

Christian author Warren Smith notes in a 1995 article for the SCP Journal that Peck single-handedly “helped to spark a spiritual revolution that is still going on today.” Peck’s influence on the Christian church has been especially strong since his alleged conversion in 1980 to Christianity. Smith explains:

“His [Peck’s] writings over the last decade or so have also caused Christians to reexamine their faith in light of his teachings. His books are often found in Christian bookstores. There is no question that his writings and his endorsements of others have had a profound impact on the spiritual marketplace.”7

Doesn’t Richard Abanes see that the statement he quoted from my article back then is just as applicable today? That this same deceptive “spiritual revolution” is still going on? Only now, M. Scott Peck’s “spiritual revolution” is coming even more directly from within the church through New Age sympathizers like Leonard Sweet and others. (By Warren B. Smith from chapter, 11 of A “Wonderful” Deception - to read entire chapter 11 free online, click here.)

LTRP P.S.For those who believe that Leonard Sweet is “as Christian as anyone can get,” consider the following two quotes from Sweet and Brian McLaren’s book, A is for Abductive:

“This book would not have been possible without a deep compatibility of perspectives between Brian [McLaren] and me. - ”Preface by Leonard Sweet” (p. 10) of A is for Abductive

“I needed to seek out some new mentors, and Len [Sweet] was the first on my list.  “Preface by Brian McLaren” (p. 13) from A is for Abductive

Notes:

1. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christianity and Evolution (Harcourt, 1969), p. 56
2. Ibid., p. 128.
3. Ibid., p. 95.
4. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality(Dayton, OH, Whaleprints, 1994), p. 106
5.  Richard Abanes, “Leonard Sweet, Rick Warren, and the New Age,” http://web.archive.org/web/20080214224312/http://abanes.com/warren_sweet.html. 
6. Richard Abanes and H. Wayne House, The Less Traveled Road and the Bible: A Scriptural Critique of the Philosophy of M. Scott Peck (Camp Hill, PA: Horizon Books, 1995), pp. 28-29.
7. Ibid., pp. 2-3.