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Who We Are |
Lighthouse
Trails is a Christian publishing company. While we hope you will read the
books we have published, we also provide extensive free research,
documentation, and news on our Research
site, blog, and newsletter.
We pray that the books as well as the
online research will be a blessing to the body of Christ and a witness to
those who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
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What is Contemplative
Spirituality? |
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definition: contemplative spirituality: a
belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states
of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult
but often wrapped in Christian terminology; the premise of contemplative
spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all).
spiritual formation: a
movement that has provided a platform and a channel through which
contemplative prayer is entering the church. Find spiritual formation being
used, and in nearly every case you will find contemplative spirituality. In
fact, contemplative spirituality is the heartbeat of the spiritual
formation movement.
How Widespread Has Spiritual
Formation Become?
Read our list of
ministries that are promoting it. Please pray for the leaders of these
groups that their eyes may be opened.
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Myanmar Update |
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For
the latest updates on Understand the Times orphanages in Myanmar where the
recent cyclone hit, please visit Understand
the Times website. |
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CONTACTING US |
Important
Note: If you try to reach Lighthouse Trails through email and do not
receive an answer from us within a timely manner, please either re-email
your comments or call us. Unexplainably, we do not receive all our email,
and some of our email to others does not reach its destination. Phone
calling, faxing, and regular mail are the most reliable methods of
communication at this time.
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Using Our Material |
Lighthouse
Trails Research Project exists as a service to the body of Christ, helping
to equip in the defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the biblical
Christian faith. While all of our own articles (and books) are copyrighted
material, we want the material to be available to be used on other
websites, in newsletters, newspapers, on radio, in articles, and in books.
Please click
here for guidelines
to using our material.
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The Shack and Its New Age Leaven - God IN Everything?
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LTRP Note: Former New Age
follower Warren Smith has been writing about the New Age influence on the
Christian church for several years. The following article offers some
important insights into the new book, The Shack, which is being
marketed as a Christian book.
"The Shack and Its New Age Leaven - God IN Everything?"
by Warren Smith
The Shack is being described as a "Christian" novel and is
currently ranked number one on the New York Times bestseller list
for paperback fiction. Many believers are buying multiple copies and giving
them to friends and family. The Shack reads as a true story, but is
obviously allegorical fiction. The book conveys postmodern spiritual ideas
and teachings that challenge biblical Christianity - all in the name
of "God" and "Jesus" and the "Holy Spirit."
Author William P. Young's alternative presentation of traditional
Christianity has both inspired and outraged his many readers. All the while
his book continues to fly off the shelves of local bookstores.
Much like New Age author James Redfield's book The Celestine Prophecy, The Shack is a fictional vehicle for upending certain religious
concepts and presenting contrary spiritual scenarios. Allegorical novels
can be a clever way to present truth. They can also be used to present
things that seem to be true but really are not. Some books like The Shack
do both.
I was drawn into the New Age Movement years ago by books and lectures
containing parabolic stories that were not unlike The Shack. They
felt spiritually uplifting as they tackled tough issues and talked about
God's love and forgiveness. They seemed to provide me with what I
spiritually needed as they gave me much needed hope and promise. Building
on the credibility they achieved through their inspirational and emotive
writings, my New Age authors and teachers would then go on to tell me that
"God" was "in" everyone and everything. Click here to read this entire article.
To learn more about the ministry of Warren Smith, click here.
Related:
The Shack: Father goddess Rising by John Lanagan
The twisted "truths" of The Shack & A Course
in Miracles by Berit Kjos
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Non-Profit Ministries - A View of the Future? |
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As
many of you may be aware, the Canadian government recently told MacGregor Ministries (BC)
that the government was stripping them of their non-profit status as a
ministry. This past week we received MacGregor's newsletter, in which Lorri
McGregor stated:
I received an early birthday present from
our Canadian Government, namely notice of MacGregor Ministries official
revocation as a Charity on April 21, 2008. . . . MacGregor Ministries is
truly "over" as a Canadian Charity.
We now have a one-year period to dispose
of all our assets with proceeds then being taxed 100% by the Canadian
Government, or gifted to a Canadian Charity they consider
"qualified." MacGregor Ministries will be reduced to a big zero
financially in the end.
Thirty years of dedicated volunteer
ministry to our God - trashed and deemed to be of no value, by a Government
with no concept of what the gospel is. We were told we were
"uncharitable" and our outreaches, "hate."
Thank God there is a higher judge who deals in truth and mercy.
What has just happened in Canada may
happen in America too. We believe that non-profit ministries may be
required to follow certain strict guidelines to maintain their non-profit
status. We believe some of these guidelines would include no negative talk
or writing about the homosexual lifestyle and no public statements that say
Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. These kinds of statements will
be considered "uncharitable" and fall within the "hate"
crime laws.
Basically, if this does happen, churches
and Christian organizations will have to either become state run institutions
or will have to leave their non-profit status behind and operate without
that benefit. However, a government could make this a very costly change if
all assets gained during the ministry years had to be eradicated.
On the MacGregor website, Lorri states:
The Canadian Government has made it
impossible for us to continue as a Christian Charity and not compromise our
faith. They have shut down some 2,500 charities already over the past year
for various reasons. The government no longer allows critiques of other
faiths, even if done fairly and documented thoroughly. Freedom of speech
guaranteed under our Charter in Canada does not extend to charities I was
bluntly told.
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New LT Website - The Ministry of Warren Smith |
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Lighthouse
Trails is in the process of creating websites for each of our authors.
This week we would like to present the website for the ministry of
Warren Smith, author of Deceived
on Purpose, The
Light That Was Dark, and Reinventing
Jesus Christ. On this site you will find a database
of Warren's articles, his current speaking itinerary, and contact and
book information. Please click here to take a
look at this new site. |
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SPECIAL
REPORT: Greg Laurie Connects Purpose Driven to a Move of God - Gives
Financial Support |
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Quick Links:
Greg Laurie Letter to Pastors
Laurie Sponsorship for PDL Event
Contact person at New York City Leadership group: Beverly Cook (Director of Communications)
On
May 6th, Greg Laurie, pastor of mega-church Harvest Christian Fellowship wrote a letter to pastors
and church leaders in the New York region, announcing his Harvest Crusade 2008 in New York City on October 19th.
This letter to pastors and leaders is causing confusion among some because
of its content, and this Lighthouse Trails report will examine this issue.
Greg Laurie is best known as a Calvary Chapel pastor. His church is listed on the Calvary Chapel website, and Laurie
often speaks at Calvary Chapel functions. And it is Laurie's connection
with Calvary Chapel that presents a great dilemma.
Two years ago, in May of 2006, Calvary Chapel issued a "Parson to Parson" letter, in which a
statement was made against the emerging church and contemplative
spirituality. The following month, at the 2006 Senior Pastor's Conference,
Calvary Chapel founder and pastor, Chuck Smith, told the senior pastors
that Calvary Chapel as a whole was rejecting various movements and
practices that have been taking place within the Christian church at large
as well as in some Calvary Chapel churches. According to a number of
pastors in attendance, who afterwards spoke with Lighthouse Trails, Smith
asked that those Calvary Chapel pastors who were going in the direction of
the emerging church would no longer call themselves Calvary Chapel
churches. One week later, Calvary Chapel instructed its distribution center to immediately remove all of Rick
Warren's Purpose Driven Life books from its center. The statement
read: "The teaching and positions of Rick Warren have come into
conflict with us at Calvary Chapel. Pastor Chuck has directed us to
discontinue this product effective immediately." 1
Such directives coming from the founder of Calvary Chapel have caused an
array of mixed feelings. There are many Calvary Chapel pastors who
wholeheartedly support these decisions, such as John Higgins of Calvary Chapel Tri-City in Tempe,
Arizona and Jim Jarrett of Calvary Chapel Redding in California.
Both pastors have taken strong stands against contemplative and emerging
spiritualities, as have other Calvary Chapel pastors. However, there are
some who have ignored Chuck Smith's directives and continued taking their
churches toward these beliefs. And still others have been unsure in which
direction to go. But one thing is for sure, Chuck Smith is one of the only
well-known Christian figures today who has made public declarations against
contemplative, emerging, and Purpose Driven. Just last week, at the 2008 Senior Pastors Conference, former New Age follower
Warren Smith addressed the 800 senior pastors, at Chuck
Smith's invitation. Warren Smith is the author of Deceived on Purpose:
The New Age Implications of the Purpose Driven Church. This invitation
leaves no question that Chuck Smith is still committed to his earlier
statements rejecting the Purpose Driven, emerging, and contemplative
movements.
And now this brings us to the unpleasant task of reporting that Greg Laurie
is giving a strong promotion of Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, which means he
is indirectly promoting contemplative and emerging (which we will explain
later in this article), and directly promoting Purpose Driven. And
unfortunately, there is a twist to this story.
In Laurie's May 2008 letter to pastors and leaders, Laurie talks
about his upcoming crusade in New York City, saying, in
reference to it, "God is on the move." He then states that
"[t]his move is also seen in the formation of the New York City Leadership group. Under their direction,
a community-wide 40 Days of Purpose campaign with Pastor Rick Warren has
been launched, and the significant services of Bill Hybels' Leadership Summit conferences are also being organized
to strengthen the local church."
Because Laurie has publicly connected Purpose Driven to a move of God
and calls Willow Creek's conferences "significant," Lighthouse
Trails is compelled to issue a warning to the body of
Christ. For those who may find this rebuttal too severe, bear in mind that
just last month Rick Warren had New Age sympathizer Leonard Sweet speak at his small groups conference. Sweet has stated that
small groups are the means in which people can attain to a "christ-consciousness"
(a New Age belief). And as for Bill Hybels, this spring Willow Creek
featured Brian McLaren at one of their youth conferences. McLaren, who calls the
doctrine of hell and the Cross "false advertising for God", is one of the
emerging church's most prolific writers and a close associate of Willow
Creek. And as Lighthouse Trails has been consistently showing for over five
years, both Rick Warren and Bill Hybels are two of the emerging church's
most influential proponents, and both heartily promote the mystical
contemplative prayer movement (see A Time of Departing, chapter 8). For those who
understand the ramifications of the contemplative approach to spirituality
this is disconcerting.
In addition to Greg Laurie's letter to pastors regarding Rick Warren and
Bill Hybels, Lighthouse Trails has learned that Laurie is also helping to
finance Warren's September event in New York. Lighthouse Trails contacted
the New York City Leadership group this past week after we learned that Laurie's name was on their website showing him to be a sponsor. The New
York City office said that this sponsorship is in the way of financial
support and is for Rick Warren's September conference. There are two "Event Sponsors": Greg Laurie and a legal
firm in New York. Without a doubt, Laurie supports Purpose Driven.
And now for the twist: To make a long story short, in 2005 Lighthouse
Trails issued a report titled "Rick Warren teams up with New Age guru Ken
Blanchard". Our report, while fully documented and accurate,
brought on a barrage of response from Rick Warren and Saddleback, including
a letter from Warren to Lighthouse Trails denying the
connection, phone calls and emails from two Saddleback leaders, numerous
letters sent out from Saddleback calling Lighthouse Trails evil and liars,
and an accusation from Saddleback, saying that Federal agents believed that
Lighthouse Trails may have broken into their computer server. In addition, there
was an effort to discredit George Mair, a biographer who wrote a testament
of praise in his book A Life with Purpose but who inadvertently
connected Rick Warren with Ken Blanchard.
All this to say that Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard had made plans to work together to
implement the global P.E.A.C.E. Plan (read transcript).But since our report and since Warren
denied the connection, little has publicly been done between Blanchard and
Warren.(1) But that has changed. On the New York City Leadership's "National Advisory Team," which incidentally
is a brand new organization (according to the phone call we had this week),
sits, among others, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Ken Blanchard.(2) We were
told that Blanchard's role is to help develop programming for area pastors
and leaders. For those who are not familiar with Blanchard's promotion of
eastern style mysticism and numerous New Age authors, we encourage you to study the matter on our research site, in which we
provide solid documentation. Blanchard, who claims to have become a Christian in the
mid-eighties, has even up until recently shown a propensity toward mysticism; and
his involvement with a process called the Hoffman Quadrinity Process (a New Age belief system),
leaves no doubt as to where Blanchard stands on these spiritual matters. Of
the Hoffman Process, Blanchard says, "The Hoffman Process brings forth
spiritual leadership in a person" and "It made my spirituality
come alive."2 In a 2007 book titled Little Wave and Old Swell, a
book that is "Inspired by Hindu Swami Paramahansa Yogananada,"
Blanchard has written a glowing foreword!
This report will obviously be disheartening to many Calvary Chapel pastors
and church goers who have believed that their movement was going to press
forward into the future without these un-biblical movements. Laurie's
current promotion and financial backing of Rick Warren will cause many to wonder
just which direction the Calvary Chapel movement will really end up going. Roger Oakland, a world-wide evangelist who has
ministered to pastors and congregations for over twenty years had this to
say about the situation:
While Pastor Chuck Smith has clearly
attempted to warn Calvary Chapel pastors about the dangers of the Emerging
Church, not all Calvary Chapel pastors are listening and taking his warning
seriously. The idea that we need to find methods and practices to reach the
postmodern generation by becoming postmodern is dangerous. I am deeply
concerned for pastors who are moving in this direction.
It is ironic that on April 21st of this
year, WorldNet Daily posted an article written by Greg Laurie titled
"'The Emergent Church': A dangerous counterfeit."
In the article, Laurie said that as a teen he "had been looking for
something to believe in, something worth living or dying for, something
that was genuine, real and authentic. But most of all," he said,
"I was looking for something that was true." Laurie said he found
this truth in Jesus Christ. He added, in referring to the emerging church:
"And there are some pied pipers out there who are leading many young
people down the wrong road." And then he quotes Brian McLaren. In his
article, Laurie correctly identifies the panentheistic overtones of the
emerging church, but here lies the irony. While Laurie is right in exposing
the false doctrines of Brian McLaren and mystics who say all paths lead to
God and God is in all, by his promoting Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, he too
is promoting these heresies. Indirectly yes, but nevertheless still
promoting them. And this is going to confuse and mislead many people. Maybe
it is time Greg Laurie goes full circle and comes back to that place of his
youth when he said, "I was looking for something true." He won't
find it in contemplative or in the emerging church; and that means he won't
find it in Willow Creek or Purpose Driven because both of these
movements adhere to contemplative and emerging. It is our prayer that Greg
Laurie will remove his financial backing from Rick Warren's New York conference
and send out a new letter denouncing what he previously suggested is a move of God.
This coming November Greg Laurie will present "Preach the Word," a conference for Pastors
and Leaders. Those joining him will include Alistair Begg, Chuck Smith, and
John MacArthur. Perhaps these three men can help Greg Laurie remember the
simple and true faith he found so many years ago.
Notes:
1. In
the fall of 2007, Rick Warren invited Ken Blanchard back to Saddleback. As
far as we know, it was the first time he had been there in over three years
(see story).
2. Bob Buford also sits on the board. Read chapter 2 of Faith Undone for
documentation on Buford's significant role in launching the emerging church
movement. |
Chuck Smith Speaks Up Against California Ruling on Gay
Marriage
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Regarding the recent California ruling making
gay marriage legal, Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement,
has spoken up against the ruling. Click here to view a news clip.
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False Revival - A comparison |
In view of CBN's upcoming seminar on
Soaking Prayer and the growing popularity of the Todd Bentley revival, we
are posting this clip.
Even him, whose coming is after the
working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.
(II Thessalonians 2: 9-11)
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Emergent Road-Tour Tony Jones Asks: "What in the World
are we Doing?" |
Emerging
church leaders Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and Mark Scandrette have gone on a
summer road tour across the US as we reported on May 22nd in our article, Emergent Road Show Receives Sponsorship From Major
Organizations.
In a June 19th posting on the tour blog, Tony Jones asks the question, "What in
the world are we doing?" This is a valid question. Jones says the tour
is a rendition of evangelism 100 years ago. The three men dress up in the
style of that era, and Jones says: "barnstorm the country with our
message and our books."
While Jones admits there is an element of "goofiness" to their
plan, he says their mission is "deadly serious." "We think
that the church -- even Christianity -- needs an overhaul," Jones
states.
Lighthouse Trails believes this tour will mislead many people. For three
emerging leaders to say they are impersonating evangelists from a hundred
years ago is a frivolous parody at best, and a mockery of godly believers
of the past and the God whom they served at worse. The great evangelists
from the past were for the most part Christians who held fast to the Word
of God and did not compromise its truth and authority. But not so with
those who lead what is known as the emerging church. In a recent book by
Tony Jones (one that is indicative of many of the movement's leaders), The New Christians, Jones illustrates this very
clearly.
In Christians, Jones degrades the authority of Scripture several
times in the book. A theme for that book would go something like this:
Emergents say they believe in truth, but
they define it as something that is always changing and being refined, can
never be grasped, and enfolds all beliefs, except the ones that insist
there is only one truth.
As is typical with many emerging church
books, The New Christians emphatically tries to convince readers
that the "church is dead" (p. 4), at least church as we have
known it. Jones uses several analogies to describe present day
Christianity, such as it being like the nearly-obsolete pay phones, or a
dying old growth forest, or compost (rotting vegetables). He says we can
almost hear the "death rattle" of "America's church"
(p. 5).
Ultimately, what one will come away with from Jones' book is that Jones
(and all emergents, he says) believes that truth cannot be pinned down and
set in concrete. What is true for today may not be considered truth
tomorrow. And he isn't talking just about negotiable societal and cultural
ideologies. He is talking about doctrine too. In fact, that is really the
point he wants to get across in this book. Emergents love the Bible, he
says, but they are not going to be so arrogant "[t]o assume that our
convictions about God are somehow timeless" and to think they are
"establishes an imperialistic attitude that has a chilling effect on
the honest conversation that's needed for theology to progress" (p.
114).
This progression of theology that Jones speaks of is not limited to areas
of theology that are often and legitimately debated by Christian scholars.
No; Jones says even the doctrine of atonement cannot be set in stone. He
says it is "arrogant and a bit deceptive" (p. 77) to suggest that
there can be any one understanding of atonement. He was referencing the
difference between a traditional Christian pastor versus Brian McLaren, who
has called the doctrine of hell and the Cross "false advertising"
for God. 2
Jones states that to "try to freeze one particular articulation of the
gospel, to make it timeless and universally applicable, actually does an
injustice to the gospel" (p. 96). He says we must "refigure our
theology" (p. 104) and that "emergents" are "looking
for a Christianity that's still exploratory" (i.e., theology is
flexible - p. 108) and "a gospel that meshes with our own experience
of the world" (p. 110). "Theology is not universal, nor is it
transcendent" (p. 112), he claims, but it is "temporary" and
we "must carry our theologies with an open hand" (p. 114).
Doug Pagitt and Mark Scandrette would resonate with Jones' spirituality.
The three of them were authors in the book, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope.
Of that book, Pagitt says it "provides a rare glimpse inside the
emerging church." This "rare glimpse" actually lays out the
agenda of the movement, and in essence An Emergent Manifesto is the
emerging church's coming out of the closet tribute. Pagitt says Emergent is
a "call to friendship ... with the world" and this
"friendship" is a "dangerous leap" in which many ways
have been created to connect (p. 19). Throughout the book, these ways to
connect become quite obvious. While other terms in the book are used, the
concepts behind them are interspirituality (all religions coming together),
panentheism (God is all creation), universalism (all are saved), and
mysticism (the means by which this connecting takes place).
In this "sense of interconnection," the book states:
[R]enewed popularity of the "kingdom"
language is related to the emerging global narrative of the deep ecology
movement - a consciousness and awareness that everything matters and is
somehow interdependent (p. 27).
New Age sympathizer, Leonard Sweet (in
his book Quantum Spirituality) calls this the Theory of Everything. This
theory not only says that all creation is connected but that it is all
inhabited with Divinity (God).
Universalism is a pronounced theme in the book as well. Manifesto
calls salvation "a collective experience." A Manifesto
poem illustrates this:
"Not only soul, whole body!
Not only whole body, all of the faithful community!
Not only all of the faithful community, all of humanity!
Not only all of humanity, all of God's creation!" (pp. 82-83)
The spirituality of the emerging church is really no different than that of
occultist Alice Bailey. In her book, The
Externalisation of the Hierarchy, she states:
He [the "Coming Christ"] will
move to restore the ancient spiritual landmarks, to eliminate that which is
nonessential, and to reorganize the entire religious field--again in
preparation for the restoration of the Mysteries. These Mysteries
[mysticism], when restored, will unify all faiths. (p. 573)
In view of the emphatic promotion and use
of mysticism in the emerging church and the interspiritual leanings, any
discerning believer should find Bailey's statement alarming. This is no
19th century evangelistic doctrine. Rather it is an age old lie that began
in the Garden of Eden. Jones, Pagitt, and Scandrette are way off when they
say they are imitating these past saints.
The three emerging leaders plan to visit 32 cities, 6 of which they have
already done. As we stated in our May report, the tour has received
sponsorship from some very large organizations: Compassion International,
International Bible Society, Jossey-Bass (the men's publisher), Zondervan,
and Christianbook.com. While it appears that the emerging church is
receiving financial and other support from mainstream evangelicalism, we
are compelled here at Lighthouse Trails to issue a serious warning about
this tour.
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CBN Presents Soaking Prayer Seminar - Serious Problems with
this Practice |
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The
Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is promoting a practice called Soaking
Prayer. On June 24th, they will present the Spiritual Gifts Seminar with
Marguerite Evans of Catch the Fire Ministries. In addition, CBN posted an
article about Evans who is the USA Coordinator for Soaking Centers. The article, titled "Soaking in the Spirit,"
explains that "the aim of soaking prayer is to put oneself in an
attitude of stillness, focusing on Jesus without an agenda."
Evans, originally from South Africa, is now part of the training
staff for the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, the church in
Canada where the "Toronto Blessing" began. In an article written by Evans titled "How to Experience the Father's Love," she
says that soaking prayer "is a simple practice that was lost to the
majority of the Church for centuries" (see Desert Fathers).
On the TACF website, where a description and instructions are given about
soaking prayer, it says that those who practice soaking prayer will often
respond with falling or lying on the floor, where they "soak in God's
presence." 1 Instructions for soaking suggest turning on
"intimate worship music with meaningful words that quiet your soul and
help you draw near to God." Results can include: a feeling that a
heavy weight is on the body, an electric tingling in the hands and feet,
and a warm sensation going through the heart.
While the instructions on the TACF website are rather vague, there is no
question that soaking prayer is something that must be taught and
practiced. Offering numerous soaking prayer Kits, including one for teens,
special soaking prayer music, and "soaking essentials" (pillow
and blanket), along with an entire training seminar on how to start your
own soaking prayer center, is evidence that what is being taught goes
beyond the realm of a biblical quiet time where a believer reads the Word,
meditates mindfully on it, and prays.
The goal in soaking prayer is to quiet the soul and enter into a stillness.
Once in this stilled state, the participant can supposedly feel God's
presence and hear His voice, and thus experience His love and perhaps
healing from wounds of the past. But being able to shut off the mind to
enter this stillness is not something that can take place naturally, and
this is where contemplative prayer and soaking prayer become basically
synonymous. On the TACF website, one of the topics taught at the Soaking
School is actually called "Contemplative Prayer."2 The "meaningful words that quiet your soul"
are indicative of this.
In a revealing article about soaking prayer, Roger Harper,
a UK chaplain, stated: "Soaking prayer is a modern form of
contemplative prayer ... The Toronto church sees soaking prayer as one of
the main ways in which they encourage people to be open to the Holy Spirit
... Joyce Huggett notes, 'a fresh touch of God's Spirit often opens the
door to contemplative prayer.'" While some claim that soaking prayer
is different than contemplative prayer, it is interesting that this article
points readers to Richard Foster and Henri Nouwen. Interestingly, in
Harper's article, he writes about John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard
Church movement.
John taught that there are signs that the
Holy Spirit is on a person. "Some of these phenomena are obvious:
weeping, cries, exuberant and prolonged expressions of praise, shaking,
trembling, calmness, bodily writhing and distortions, falling over
(sometimes referred to as 'being slain in the Spirit'), laughter and
jumping. Other phenomena are more subtle: slight trembling, fluttering of
the eyelids, faint perspiring, a sheen on the face, ripples on the skin,
deep breathing..' Wimber also said that people sometimes experience a sense
of heaviness or tiredness, weeping or drunkenness.
These symptoms that Wimber describes,
along with the electric tingling and warm sensations described at TACF, are
also the signs of what is called the Kundalini effect. Ray Yungen discusses
this:
[K]undalini
is a Hindu term for the mystical power or force that underlies Hindu
spirituality. In Hinduism it is commonly referred to as the serpent power.
St. Romain, a substance abuse counselor and devout Catholic lay minister,
began his journey while practicing contemplative prayer or resting in the
still point, as he called it.... Having rejected mental prayer as
"unproductive," he embraced the prayer form that switches off the
mind, creating what he described as a mental passivity. What he encountered
next underscores my concern with sobering clarity:
Then
came the lights! The gold swirls that I had noted on occasion began to
intensify, forming themselves into patterns that both intrigued and
captivated me ... There were always four or five of these; as soon as one
would fade, another would appear, even brighter and more intense ... They
came through complete passivity and only after I had been in the silence
for a while.
After
this, St. Romain began to sense "wise sayings" coming into his
mind and felt he was "receiving messages from another." He also
had physical developments occur during his periods in the silence. He would
feel "prickly sensations" on the top of his head and at times it
would "fizzle with energy." This sensation would go on for days.3
In
A Time of Departing, Ray Yungen talks about a Life Times
magazine article about a woman who was initially skeptical about mystical
experiences. Her skepticism evaporated when she discovered that meditation
was "a powerful force":
Soon
I began to notice unusual sensations in my body while meditating. It felt
like energy flowing through me. In the morning I woke up feeling happy and
energetic and filled with a glowing warmth as though I had been sleeping in
the sunshine on a sandy beach. Gradually the sensations became stronger and
after a while it seemed like electric currents were coursing through my
body. My fingers tingled and I felt a slight throbbing in the palms of my
hands. I had no inkling of the significance of this energy until one night
in a very lucid dream, I was told that I could heal.4
Thus,
we can see that what happens to a person during Hindu or New Age meditation
is the same as what happens during contemplative prayer or soaking prayer.
While TACF and Evans use several Scriptures to support their belief in
soaking prayer, a look at these Scriptures do not indicate that a method
like soaking is being suggested at all.
Meditate
within your heart on your bed, and be still. Psalm 4:4
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Psalm 37:7
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
These
verses in no way indicate that a mystical practice is engaged in order to
still the mind. When the Bible says "be still," it is talking
about trusting the Lord, not becoming anxious or agitated, but resting and
trusting in Him. And there is nothing in Scripture that suggests we will
experience these physical symptoms when in God's presence or when spending
time in prayer.
In an article titled "Toronto-Blessing: Christian Based Magic?,"
the writer describes the symptoms that occur during meetings with Swami
Baba Muktananda:
The
Swami would transfer what was called "guru grace" to his
followers through physical touch (shaktipat). This "grace" triggered the
gradual awakening of the Kundalini which in turn produced various physical
and emotional manifestations.
These included uncontrollable laughter, roaring, barking, hissing, shaking,
etc. Some devotees became mute or unconscious. Many felt themselves being
infused with feelings of great joy and peace and love. At other times the
"fire" of Kundalini was so overpowering they would find
themselves involuntarily hyperventilating to cool themselves down.
When
CBN presents their Spiritual Gifts Seminar this coming Tuesday with
Marguerite Evans, we pray that participants will have their eyes opened and
see that soaking prayer is not biblical prayer but could put them into
contact with realms that would endanger their spiritual wellbeing.
Notes (ones that are not live links):
3. Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails
Publishing, 2nd ed. 2006), pp. 48-49, citing Philip St. Romain, Kundalini
Energy and Christian Spirituality, Crossroad Pub. Co., 1995, pp. 20-29.
4.Mary Ellen Lafferty, "The Joys and Frustrations of Being a
Healer" (Life Times, Issue Number 3), p. 59.
More research on soaking prayer.
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Footprints of a Prophet or Track Marks of a Wolf?
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by Jan Markell
I am writing the
"inconvenient truth" today. I have been blitzed with e-mails
about the Todd Bentley "revival" in Florida. Before you fall for
his stories and "signs and wonders," please allow me to make some
comments. I realize this will not be received well by many.
This is a Charismatic happening called the "third wave." The
"first wave" was Toronto, and it fizzled out. The "second
wave" was Pensacola, and it had the same fate. Now Bentley has brought
in the "third wave," and folks are coming from around the world
for the "anointing." Even the Charisma Magazine editor Lee Grady
says -- sounding a warning -- "My inbox has been full of messages from
Charismatic leaders who are concerned about everything from Bentley's
tattoos and body piercings to his claim that he once interviewed the
apostle Paul in Heaven. When I called for scrutiny of some aspects of the
Lakeland Revival, I was labeled a Pharisee and a 'religious policeman.' I
had suddenly become the enemy."
Who is Todd Bentley? He is an ex-Satanist, a pierced and tattooed signs and
wonders guy, and a man who gets messages from angels, particularly one
named Emma. Click here to read this entire article.
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Announcing Summer 2008 Book
Release: Things We Couldn't Say |
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Lighthouse Trails Presents:
Things We Couldn't Say by Diet Eman - August 2008
This is the true story of Diet Eman, a young Christian woman
who joined the Christian resistance movement in the Netherlands during
WWII. Together with her fiancé and other Dutch men and women,
"Group Hein" risked their lives to save the lives of Jews who
were in danger of becoming victims of Hitler's "final solution."
Things We Couldn't Say is an endearing and
moving love story that occurs in the midst of extreme danger and often
unbearable circumstances and loss. Before the war ends, Eman, her fiancé,
and several in their group are arrested and sent to concentration camps -
many of them lose their own lives.
This story will help us remember a time
in history that should not be forgotten and will inspire us to live more
courageously and stand for what is right, doing so by the power and grace
of God. Things We Couldn't
Say is a powerful illustration of II Corinthians 12:9, which
states: "And he [the Lord] said unto me, My grace is sufficient for
thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me."
Things We Couldn't Say
ISBN 978-0-9791315-7-8
Retail $14.95, 352 pages
August 2008
PRE-ORDER TODAY
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