by Ray Yungen Biola University, the traditional virtual bedrock of conservative Christian higher education, has opened itself to influences that would have its founders turning over in their graves. This Fall, at Biola’s Christian Spirituality Soul Care series, contemporary Protestant mystic Ruth Haley Barton will be a featured speaker. Ms. Barton is a graduate of … [Read more…]
On August 28th, we posted an article titled “American Family Association News Promotes Lectio Divina – AFA Sells the Book!” The article explained how Agape Press (a division of AFA) posted a favorable book review on a book that promoted lectio divina and contemplative spirituality. AFA received many phone calls and emails from people concerned … [Read more…]
Contemplative terms always seem to be changing. What is called one thing today may be exchanged for a new term tomorrow. A new term for “Spiritual Direction” is “Soul Care.” In Biola University’s Masters program, Spiritual Formation and Soul Care , the program “trains leaders in soul care to be spiritual mentors, directors and … [Read more…]
Richard Foster (on his Renovare website) has his own list of Spiritual Formation programs. We thought you might want to take a look at this. The list includes several Christian colleges and seminaries, including Bethel, Fuller, George Fox and Biola as well as many Christian organizations and ministries. See the list.
by Berean Beacon Ministries Anglican Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California, and author of Reimagining Christianity: Reconnect Your Spirit without Disconnecting Your Mind, lives deeply and unhappily awash in a world of particulars from which he has found no escape. He says his book “is a snapshot of the world in … [Read more…]
Baker Books seemed to be one of the few larger Christian publishing houses that had not jumped with both feet on the contemplative/emerging bandwagon. That all may be changing however. With their new release of James Wakefield’s book on lectio divina and the Fall 2006 release of emerging leader Robert Webber’s new book, The Divine … [Read more…]
Is Rick Warren promoting contemplative spirituality? We believe the answer to that is a wholehearted “yes.” The first clue came many years ago in Warren’s first book,The Purpose Driven Church, where he said that the Spiritual Formation movement had a “vital message for the church,” and has “given the body of Christ a wake … [Read more…]
The Evangelical Covenant Church began in the late 1880s “in the biblical instruction of the Lutheran State Church of Sweden, and in the great spiritual awakenings of the nineteenth century.” The denomination has ministries on five continents and claims that it “values the Bible as the Word of God.” Therefore it is with sadness to … [Read more…]
Mark Driscoll, the president of Acts 29 Network, became part of the original Emergent team that Leadership Network brought together. In a Criswell Theological Seminary article, Driscoll stated: “In the mid-1990s I was a young church planter trying to establish a church in the city of Seattle when I got a call to speak … [Read more…]
Last week’s exposure of evangelical leader, Ted Haggard, is going to bring a lot of questions to the surface. Gay rights activists, the secular media, and many others are going to say, “See, why should we ban homosexual marriages? Even the Christians do it. Why should we say it is wrong? And why should we … [Read more…]
by Paul Proctor I caught an interesting article last week from LifeSiteNews.com that highlighted the frustrations of a disgruntled AIDS activist by the name of Martin Sempa, who was commenting on the absurdity of a recent international AIDS conference held in Toronto. As I read his rant I discovered some rather disturbing parallels between the … [Read more…]
John Michael Talbot is a musician. He is also a Catholic monk. Many years ago, I heard him at a concert where he and his brother Terry performed. There were no Catholic rituals and certainly no mention of meditation, contemplative prayer, or New Age chanting and yoga. His music was gentle and soothing. His … [Read more…]
At Lighthouse Trails Research Project, we have watched various New Age Practices grow in popularity. We have tracked many of these practices through the Google search engine. While this is not a scientific method of study, it does reveal that the New Age is alive and interest continues to grow. Here are a few … [Read more…]
Over the last several days, Fox News has highlighted Rick Warren on news articles and in television interviews. It was looking like a Rick Warren Week at Fox News. On August 11th, Fox headlines read, “Can Rick Warren Save the World?” A few days later another article read, Can Rick Warren Change the World? … [Read more…]
From New Ager Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations with God) to Robert Schuller to Rick Warren, leaders (both secular and religious) are talking about global peace plans. Most of them have certain elements in common. Take a look at some of our research on the various peace plans being promoted today.
Recently we were contacted by a member of Overlake Church in Redmond, Washington who shared with us concerns about Overlake’s affinity with contemplative and emerging spiritualities. Overlake Church is a non-denominational church that states it “believes the Bible to be divinely inspired and inerrant.” However, this November they will be hosting the Revolution Conference, which … [Read more…]
Pretty soon, it is back to school, and thousands of teens and young adults will be flooding the doors of Christian colleges and seminaries. For nearly five years now, we have been researching Christian colleges and seminaries, have spoken to countless professors and several presidents and have found that most of these higher education … [Read more…]
On August 17th, acclaimed interviewer and broadcast journalist, Charlie Rose, interviewed Rick Warren. You may listen to this broadcast by clicking here. (You will have to let this file load.) In the interview, Rose and Warren discuss the Purpose Driven Life paradigm and its relation to Christianity in North America and around the world. Here … [Read more…]
by Ray Yungen [M]ystical silence is accomplished by the same methods used by New Agers to achieve their silence–the mantra and the breath! Contemplative prayer is the repetition of what is referred to as a prayer word or sacred word until one reaches a state where the soul, rather than the mind, contemplates God. Contemplative … [Read more…]
This month, Random House publishers purchased the Oregon-based Multnomah Publishers. See Multnomah press release. Multnomah isn’t the first Christian publisher that is owned by a secular corporation. Random House also owns Waterbrook Press while Zondervan has been owned by Harper Collins since the late 80s. While the purchase of Multnomah by a secular company will … [Read more…]
Every week I receive a copy of Rick Warren’s e-newsletter that goes out to pastors and other church and ministry leaders around the world. And every week, I watch as this newsletter endorses, promotes, and exalts the names of people, books and organizations whose spirituality opposes biblical Christianity. In essence, this newsletter is like a … [Read more…]
Every week I receive a copy of Rick Warren’s e-newsletter that goes out to pastors and other church and ministry leaders around the world. And every week, I watch as this newsletter endorses, promotes, and exalts the names of people, books and organizations whose spirituality opposes biblical Christianity. In essence, this newsletter is like a … [Read more…]
According to news reports about Rick Warren’s participation at the Ecumenical and Interfaith Pre-Conferences (for the International AIDS Conference), Warren stated: “We are here at these conferences to say to fellow Christians that we believe the Church needs to take the lead in the greatest health concern on the planet.” He said that Christians need … [Read more…]
The 2007 National Pastors Convention (presented by Zondervan publishers) carries a heavy-weight line up of speakers. From Ruth Haley Barton to Brian McLaren, next year’s convention will not be lacking in New Age sympathizing, meditation promoting speakers. John Burke, president of Emerging Leadership Initiative, was recently a speaker at the Ancient-Wisdom Conference, and says this … [Read more…]
By Paul Proctor Used with permission. He was born in an out-of-the-way place, the son of a poor mother and father whom the world would one day call blessed. He arrived challenging the establishment and literally shook the world with things that eyes and ears had never before witnessed. He offered a joy and freedom … [Read more…]
by Kjos Ministries Biblical Christianity means being joined to Jesus Christ through faith in what He did for us at the cross, then allowing Him to live His life through us, so that others might know Him and see His love. (That love may include sharing His warnings as well as His promises with those … [Read more…]
Yesterday we received the following question: “You make mention that LifeWay Christian Resources and/or stores (Southern Baptist) is also behind the emergent church movement. Where are you getting that from?” So we can set the record straight, we are providing the following documentation that shows Lifeway’s promotion of both contemplative and emerging: Perhaps the most … [Read more…]
The Walk to Emmaus, an adaptation of the Roman Catholic Cursillo Movement, which originated in Spain in 1949, is a program put on by Upper Room Ministries (an organization that promotes Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality)). If you want to understand the dynamics of Walk to Emmaus, then understanding the spirituality of Upper Room will … [Read more…]
Are Christian High Schools Promoting Contemplative Spirituality? In a few weeks, high schoolers will be returning to school, and many of them will be going to Christian high schools. Are Christian schools falling into the snare of contemplative/emerging spirituality as are Christian colleges and seminaries? And how many unknowing, devoted parents are placing their teens … [Read more…]
“I attended a meditation-intensive day at an ashram [Hindu spiritual center]to support a friend. As I sat in meditation in what was for me an unfamiliar environment, I suddenly felt and saw a bolt of lightning shoot up from the base of my spine out the top of my head. It forced me to recognize … [Read more…]