Coming From the Lighthouse

June 12, 2007

In This Issue -

Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation?...

A Global Religion - Is God in Graffiti?...

Gay Agenda Takes Spotlight in Israel

Lynne Hybels Interview: On the "breath"...

Baptist General Convention Texas Hosting Rick Warren

Brennan Manning: Promoted by Christian Leaders But Resonates with New Agers

The Ripening - Planet Earth Welcomes Maitreya?...

J. P. Moreland and Contemplative Prayer

Publishing News...

Quick Links

The Other Side of the River by Kevin Reeves

 

 

 

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Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation?

A Global Religion - Is God in Graffiti?

What is happening to mainstream Christianity is the same thing that is happening to business, health, education, counseling, and other areas of society. Christendom is being cultivated for a role in the New Age. The [demonic] entity, Raphael, explains this very clearly in the Starseed Transmissions:

We work with all who are vibrationally sympathetic; simple and sincere people who feel our spirit moving, but for the most part, only within the context of their current belief system.

He is saying that they "work," or interact, with people who open their minds to them in a way that fits in with the person's current beliefs. In the context of Christianity this means that those meditating will think that they have contacted God, when in reality they have connected up with Raphael's kind (who are more than willing to impersonate whomever the person wishes to reach so long as they can link with them).

This ultimately points to a global religion based on meditation and mystical experience. New Age writer David Spangler explains it the following way:

There will be several religious and spiritual disciplines as there are today, each serving different sensibilities and affinities, each enriched by and enriching the particular cultural soil in which it is rooted. However, there will also be a planetary spirituality that will celebrate the sacredness of the whole humanity in appropriate festivals, rituals, and sacraments. There will be a more widespread understanding and experience of the holistic nature of reality, resulting in a shared outlook that today would be called mystical. Mysticism has always overflowed the bounds of particular religious traditions, and in the new world this would be even more true.

The rise of centering prayer is causing many churches to become agents of transformation. Those who practice it tend to embrace this one-world-religion idea. One of the main proponents of centering prayer had this revelation:

It is my sense, from having meditated with persons from many different traditions, that in the silence we experience a deep unity. When we go beyond the portals of the rational mind into the experience, there is only one God to be experienced.... I think it has been the common experience of all persons of good will that when we sit together Centering we experience a solidarity that seems to cut through all our philosophical and theological differences.

In this context, we may compare all the world's religions to a dairy herd. Each cow may look different on the outside, but the milk would all be the same. The different religious groups would maintain their own separate identities, but a universal spiritual practice would bind them together-not so much a one-world church as a one-world spirituality.

Episcopal priest and New Age leader Matthew Fox explains what he calls "deep ecumenism":

Without mysticism there will be no "deep ecumenism," no unleashing of the power of wisdom from all the world's religious traditions. Without this I am convinced there will never be global peace or justice since the human race needs spiritual depths and disciplines, celebrations and rituals, to awaken its better selves. The promise of ecumenism, the coming together of religions, has been thwarted because world religions have not been relating at the level of mysticism.32

Fox believes that all world religions will eventually be bound together by the "Cosmic Christ"33 principle, which is another term for the higher self.

As incredible as this may sound, it appears to be happening now. The New Age is embedded in American religious culture far deeper and broader than many people imagine. If your concept of the New Age is simply astrology, tarot cards, or reincarnation, then you could easily miss the real New Age as it pulses through the religious current. If mystical prayer continues its advance, then we could one day see, perhaps sooner than we expect, many Christian churches becoming conduits of New Age thought to their membership.

Sue Monk Kidd is a best selling novel writer. Her book, The Secret Life of Bees has sold over four million copies, mainly to women. At one time a Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher, she became attracted to centering prayer as a way to know God more deeply. Today, she is the Writer in Residence of the Sophia Institute, which is devoted to "foster[ing] the emergence of the sacred feminine" (i.e., the Divine feminine).

Monk Kidd now adheres to what New Agers teach, that this mystical force (called God or Divinity) is in all things, nothing excluded:

Deity means that divinity will no longer be only heavenly ... It will also be right here, right now, in me, in the earth, in this river, in excrement and roses alike.

She reiterates this in her 2006 book, First Light, in which she writes:

If I am intent on centering my life in the presence of God, then I must understand what I believe about where this presence can be found ... God became the steam of my soup, the uprooted tree, the graffiti on the building, the rust on the fence.

But what if the graffiti is gang graffiti about killing members of a rival gang or even worse, what if the graffiti is cursing God with vile language?

Well, Monk Kidd would still say that the graffiti is God.

Why?

It is because New Agers believe God is not a being but Being itself. In other words, there is nothing that is not God. This is the decision that the world is now facing--is God a personal being or is God the Universe and all that it entails? (from For Many Shall Come in My Name, 2nd, pp. 128-132. Click here for reference citations.

Gay Agenda Takes Spotlight in Israel

Israel Today
by Ryan Jones

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22

In its quest to resemble the nations of the world, Israel is rushing headlong to join an increasingly humanistic global community in tossing aside this, along with most every other, divine prohibition.

And it is going far beyond sanctioning gay "pride" parades and recognizing homosexual marriages, both of which are already old news in Israel. The gay community is now poised to transform Israel into one of the world's premier homosexual vacation spots, and make its mark on Israeli politics as well.

In remarks to Israel Today, a spokesman for Israel's Ministry of Tourism vehemently denied any official participation in a new gay tourism campaign featured prominently last week in Israel's largest daily newspaper, but stressed that if requested, the gay community would receive the same assistance in attracting visitors as any other sector of society.

"We treat [the gay community] like we treat any other group that comes to us and asks for help ... we helped them as much as we can," said spokesman Amatzia Bar-Moshe. "We won't say anything about [gay tourists] coming, just like we won't say anything against Christian tourists." Click here to read the rest of this article.

More information on homosexuality.

Related Articles:

Ted Haggard Story Will Raise Serious Questions for All

The Dirty Little Secret About Many Online Christian Bookstores

Signs of the Times - A Gay Bible

Lynne Hybels Interview: On the "breath"

The following excerpt is from an interview with Willow Creek Lynne Hybels, in which she discusses the "breath."

You're getting ready to do a conference at Willow-and also here in Australia--called Breathe. What does the word "breathe" mean to you and how does that apply to your life right now?

Breathe is a wonderful image for so many good things in life. Inhaling deeply is a great metaphor for taking in the soul nourishment, the refreshment, the sense of rest that we need in order to offer to the world-to exhale-the gifts, talents and passions that God has placed in us.

Breathe also implies relaxation. You let your shoulders drop, you close your eyes and take a deep breath, and your whole body settles into a more centered place. I also appreciate the image of breathing in all that is of God and breathing out all that isn't from God. Breathing in what's true and breathing out what's false. The term also implies something that is natural, real, authentic, life giving. The Breathe conference embraces all of those ideas. It's a time to admit what's real in our lives, to acknowledge our needs, to open ourselves to fresh perspectives and insights, and to look forward to new things God might want to do in and through us in the future.

The opposite of breathing deeply, of course, is to feel like you can't catch your breath, like you're smothering. For many years that was how I felt: trapped in a life I was barely surviving, drained of energy, wishing I didn't have to get up in the morning. I didn't have a clue how to take in what I needed, and I certainly didn't have anything to give out. Click here to read this entire interview.

For more information:

For information on breath prayers, please click here.

Also see our research titled: Willow Creek and Contemplative Prayer

Book Alert: Listen by Keri Wyatt Kent

Baptist General Convention Texas Hosting Rick Warren

LTRP Note: The BGCT is the largest Baptist state convention with over 2.3 million members and is part of the Baptist World Alliance which has over 110 million members.

Baptist General Convention of Texas
Article by John Hall
DALLAS - The Baptist General Convention of Texas Annual Meeting will feature Rick Warren, best-selling author of The Purpose-Driven Life who has been called "America's new people's pastor."

Warren will speak Oct. 29 about his P.E.A.C.E. Plan, an effort where churches lead the way in eliminating issues such as illiteracy, poverty and tyranny. His sermon will be the centerpiece of the BGCT Annual Meeting, themed "Missions - Together We Can Do More."

"We are delighted Rick Warren will be with us in Amarillo," said BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade. "Rick has caught the attention of people around the world with his vision of what local churches can do to make a genuine difference in solving the giant problems facing humanity. His articulation of the P.E.A.C.E. program is very similar to the concerns of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its cooperating churches as we minister in a lost and needy world." Click here to read more.

Quotes by Rick Warren on his New Reformation:

"Who's the man of peace in any village - or it might be a woman of peace - who has the most respect, they're open and they're influential? They don't have to be a Christian. In fact, they could be a Muslim, but they're open and they're influential and you work with them to attack the five giants. And that's going to bring the second Reformation." --Rick Warren, May 2005, Pew Forum on Religion

"I am praying for a second reformation of the church that will focus more on deeds than words. The first Reformation was about beliefs. This one needs to be about behavior.... We've had a Reformation; what we need now is a transformation." --Rick Warren, July 2005 at the Baptist World Alliance with Tony Campolo and Jimmy Carter

"Warren said the deeds of a new reformation will require mobilizing Christians, multiplying churches, evangelizing the world and eradicating global problems." --A World of Baptists By Greg Warner Associated Baptist Press

"I see absolutely zero reason in separating my fellowship from anybody," he said. Noting he has theological differences with many of the diverse denominations that invite him to speak, Warren added, "That doesn't stop me from fellowshipping with them." When he heard of the SBC's withdrawal, he added, "I thought, 'This is silly! Why would we separate ourselves from brothers and sisters in the world?'"--Rick Warren at the Baptist World Alliance, Warren: Global Baptists 'are all in this together' By Trennis Henderson

"I have two goals in my life. One is a reformation of the church in America and the other is a return of civility to society when people who disagree can still get along and like each other even if they disagree." Rick Warren on Larry King,12/2/05

Related information:

Rick Warren Interview: Campaigning for His New "Reformation"

Research on Rick Warren's New Reformation and Global Peace Plan:

P.E.A.C.E. Plan

New Reformation

Brennan Manning: Promoted by Christian Leaders But Resonates with New Agers

In a June 3rd article called "NonDual Community: The Flowering of Intersubjectivity," posted on a pro-mysticism, pro-New Age blog, the teachings of a woman named Beatrice Bruteau are discussed. The article states:

[S]he has been active in articulating her own vision of an evolutionary spirituality and ecological ethics which integrates the best of ancient contemplative and modern scientific perspectives.... she draws on mythical Trinitarian language to formulate a perspective which accounts for the mystical intuition of oneness without eviscerating the unique gifts of multiplicity and mutuality.(emphasis added)

Translated, this means that "evolutionary spirituality"(i.e., man is evolving into perfection because he is divine) which uses "ancient contemplative" (mysticism) leads to a "oneness" of all creation. This is exactly what Ray Yungen has been warning about for many years. You may be asking, "Well what does someone like Beatrice Bruteau have to do with the Christian church?" Unfortunately, quite a bit.

Brennan Manning is a popular and much read author of several books: Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba's Child, The Signature of Jesus, and many more. You may have heard of some of these. His influence is widespread in the Christian world. Christian authors, teachers, and leaders speak of him highly. Beth Moore says that his contribution to "our generation of believers may be a gift without parallel"1 and says Ragamuffin Gospel is "one of the most remarkable books" she has read. Christian pop singer Michael W. Smith wrote the foreword to Manning's book, Above All, and Manning is often a speaker for Christian colleges and seminaries.

However, in spite of the fact that Manning and his teachings are so accepted by the Christian community at large, Manning resonates with Beatrice Bruteau and others with her same spiritual proclivities. Of Bruteau, Manning states that she is a "trustworthy guide to contemplative consciousness" (from Abba's Child). And interestingly, in the article mentioned above "NonDual Community: The Flowering of Intersubjectivity," another man is mentioned who Manning also resonates with. That man is Bede Griffiths, who wrote The Golden String (a book teaching that God is woven through all creation and He is in all people). Manning once told Ray Yungen that Griffiths was an author he had been reading for years. Listen to Yungen discuss this:

Behind Manning's charisma lie some troubling connections. For example, Manning favorably quotes a Catholic monk, Bede Griffiths, in two of his books, Abba's Child and Ruthless Trust. Griffiths, like Merton, "explored ways in which Eastern religions could deepen his prayer." Griffiths also saw the "growing importance of Eastern religions ... bringing the church to a new vitality."

A few years ago, Manning spoke at a church in my hometown. After the meeting, I asked him about his connection with Griffiths. He told me, "I have been reading him for years going all the way back to The Golden String" (the autobiography of Griffiths). This book has been around for about forty years, so it is clear Griffiths has influenced Manning for many years. When I also asked Manning which books on prayer he liked, he recommended Thomas Keating's, Open Mind, Open Heart, a well-known primer on the practice of centering prayer, which projects a panentheistic view of God.

The June 2004 issue of Christianity Today had a four-page article about Manning and his influence. The first few paragraphs featured an impressive list of Christian luminaries and their quotes on the positive impact Manning had on their spiritual lives. Included were members of the rock super group U2 [and Dallas Willard and singer Michael Card]. This article backs up some of what I am saying here in this book, such as the following statements:

* "['T]he vast majority of my ministry is in the evangelical world.'"
* "In order to hear from God, Manning himself retreats to silence and solitude."
* "It takes him about 20 minutes he says, to come to a state of inner stillness." (A Time of Departing, 2nd ed., p. 84)

In the article "NonDual Community: The Flowering of Intersubjectivity," Bruteau is quoted as saying:

This is the divine life in Wholeness: realization as Absolute, formless Person-Community, the effusion of Love; and realization as relative, formed Cosmos-Community, the unceasing Birth in Beauty.

This belief that divinity is in all things, including all people, is contrary to the Word of God, which actually supports dualism, not "non-dualism." Yungen elaborates on Satan's plan and how it ties in with non-dualism:

It is important to understand that Satan is not simply trying to draw people to the dark side of a good versus evil conflict. Actually, he is trying to eradicate the gap between himself and God, between good and evil, altogether. When we understand this approach it helps us see why Thomas Merton said everyone is already united with God* or why Jack Canfield said he felt God flowing through all things. All means all-nothing left out. Such reasoning implies that God has given His glory to all of creation; since Satan is part of creation, then he too shares in this glory, and thus is "like the Most High" (Isaiah 14) (ATOD, 2nd ed., p. 108).

This belief that God is in all of creation lines up with other New Age teachers too. Neale Donald Walsch, in his Conversations with God books says that even Hitler had this divinity and will not go to hell. And he takes it to a higher level by saying that since death is not really death, Hitler did the Jews a favor by killing them (see For Many Shall Come in My Name, 2nd ed. p. 166).

A question we often ask ourselves here at Lighthouse Trails is this: If leaders like Beth Moore and Erwin Lutzer (who endorses contemplative Larry Crabb (Manning is a mentor of his) would actually take the time to look at the documentation on contemplative spirituality (and Manning's teachings), would they still promote the practice and those who teach it? We may never know the answer to that question. But we often wonder.

For related information:

Beth Moore Gives Thumbs Up to Be Still DVD (and Brennan Manning)

Trusted Evangelical Leaders Endorse The Papa Prayer by Larry Crabb!

The Ripening - Planet Earth Welcomes Maitreya?

by Mike Oppenheimer (Let Us Reason Ministries)

We have come to a point in history where things are converging to a massive unity for survival. Saving the environment, the planet (Gaia) has become accepted with the agenda of global warming. religious unity is on everyone's mind, for they know without this there can be no real and lasting peace.

The Roman Catholic Church wants to unite the world (and the churches) under Christendom-under the Pope, who claims to be the representation of Christ on earth since he left. There is no question to their unparalleled cooperation with other religions in the last 25 years to forge their goals.

Islam wants to unite the world under a Islamic caliphate wherein Sharia law will rule through its Islamic states. Many Muslims are awaiting and anticipating the 12th Imam Mahdi, the Muslim Messiah will eliminate evil and corruption. He will fight against the enemies of the Muslims (destroy Israel) who would be victorious! Islam will be victorious over all the religions. (Reefernce: Sideeque M.A. Veliankode, Doomsday Portents and Prophecies (1999) p. 277; Al-Sadr and Mutahhari, prologue, pp. 4,5).

The spiritual movement of the New Age is waiting for the Christ, a world teacher of the Aquarian age. There is excitement in the air. Unbenowest to all, the spirit of the age is moving with such rapid speed to accomplish its goals put in its followers for hundreds of years. Eventually all will converge- into a synthesis not imagined since the Tower of Babel.Click here to read the rest of this article by Mike Oppenheimer.

J. P. Moreland and Contemplative Prayer

Promoters of the emergent conversation say we are on the verge of an era that promises renewed spiritual awareness. "Spiritual disciplines" are being touted as the avenue to a "spiritual reformation" that will take Christianity to a new and higher level of spirituality drawing all participants closer to God.

Books published by major Christian publishers written by well known authors are plentiful on this topic. For example, 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. 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. Moreland and Issler believe they have rediscovered important spiritual principles that have been lost. If you follow these principles and they become part of your everyday Christian life, you can be transformed.

Click here to read the rest of this article:   http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c65.shtml

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