Coming From the Lighthouse

                 Printer Friendly Version (click here)        November 24, 2008

In This Issue -

Why Christian Leaders Should Not Promote Henri Nouwen

Will Department of Defense Turn to Meditation?

"Touch Not Mine Anointed"

Those Who Stood: "To Be Filed Away for a Later Date"

Irony: Muslim Leaders Warn Against Yoga; Christian Leaders Remain Silent on Contemplative

WorldNet Daily: Emanuel Volunteers Americans to do "a lot"

Tony Campolo Against California's Restrictions on Gay Marriage

WorldNet Daily: eHarmony Caves in to Homosexual Demands

World Asked to Help Craft Online Charter for Religious Harmony

The Shack: Heralded by Christian Figures, including Michael W. Smith and Wynonna Judd

Is the Emerging Church Right? "There is no second coming of Jesus Christ."

Monasticism Reminds Catholics of What is Essential, says Pope

The Dangers of "Spiritual Formation" and "Spiritual Disciplines"

Obama's Fictitious Pro-Israel Team

Girl Scouts Continue Plunge into New Age Spirituality

"Twinning" Events Join Synagogues with Mosques

Book Review: Out of India

2008 Fall Book/DVD Special from Lighthouse Trails

Publishing News

To Forward Newsletter

Because we were not able to issue a newsletter last week, this week's newsletter is much longer than usual. However, there are some important articles and news items to read. The article on Henri Nouwen is vital because the mystical spirituality he espoused is non-biblical and highly deceptive, yet today countless Christian figures turn to Nouwen for spiritual understanding and recommend him to millions.

[Can you] deny your creed, which says, that Christ doth perpetually sit at the right hand of His Father, both body and soul, until He comes again; or whether He be there in heaven our Advocate, and to make prayer for us unto God His Father? If He be so, He is not here on earth in a piece of bread. If He be not here, and if He do not dwell in temples made with hands, but in heaven, what! shall we seek Him here? If He did not offer His body once for all, why make you a new offering? If with one offering He made all perfect, why do you with a false offering make all imperfect? If He be worshipped in spirit and in truth, why do you worship a piece of bread? If He be eaten and drunken in faith and truth, if His flesh is not profitable to be among us, why do you say you make His flesh and blood, and say it is profitable for body and soul? Alas! I am a poor woman, but rather than to do as you do, I would live no longer. (quoted from Another Jesus, p. 92)

Why Christian Leaders Should Not Promote Henri Nouwen

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

"Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God."1

Even though such a statement does not at all fit within biblical Christianity, and in essence denies the very foundation of Christ's work on the Cross, Henri Nouwen is touted as a great spiritual figure by countless Christian leaders, pastors, seminary professors, etc.

Even "America's pastor" Rick Warren and his wife Kay have highly recommended the works of Henri Nouwen. And it is a rare Christian college or university that does not have at least one professor who uses books by Nouwen to teach his or her students. Some of the most respected Christian leaders (e.g., Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah) view Nouwen as someone who can be looked up to and admired greatly. Regarding Nouwen's popularity, Ray Yungen says:

Many pastors and professors are greatly attracted to his [Nouwen's] deep thinking. In fact, one of his biographers revealed that in a 1994 survey of 3,400 U.S. Protestant church leaders, Nouwen ranked second only to Billy Graham in influence among them.2

Why this appeal for Nouwen? Yungen explains:

Nouwen combines a strong devotion to God with a poetic, comforting, yet distinctly intellectual style that strikes a strong and sympathetic chord with what could be called Christian intelligentsia.... One person told me that Nouwen's appeal could be compared to that of motherhood--a warm comforting embrace that leaves you feeling good.3

Let us examine what led Nouwen to come to his interspiritual, panentheistic sympathies.

In Nouwen's book, Sabbatical Journey (which was a diary or journal of what turned out to the be the last year of his life), Nouwen admitted he was listening to tapes on the chakras (which Reiki is based on) during that final year,4 and in that same book he discusses meeting a man named Andrew Harvey at a talk Harvey was giving. Nouwen said he was particularly attracted to this homosexual New Ager's mystical affinities.5 It is Harvey who stated: "we are all essentially children of the Divine and can realize that identity with our Source here on earth and in a body."6 Without a doubt, it is clear to see that Henri Nouwen concluded his life as one who had been affected by mysticism to the point it altered his spiritual outlook and gave him panentheistic propensities.

The fact is, Nouwen embraced this New Age spirituality after many years of drawing from the wells of mysticism. From his earliest writings, Nouwen was interested in Thomas Merton (whom he met once at the Gethsemani monastery in Kentucky), the Catholic monk who helped to bring contemplative spirituality out of the monasteries and into Christianity at large. After turning to mysticism himself, Merton came to believe that Divinity (God) dwells in all human beings.

In Nouwen's earliest books, Intimacy (1969) and Creative Ministry (1971), he was already talking about Thomas Merton. In 1972, Nouwen wrote a book titled: Pray to Live: Thomas Merton - Contemplative Critic. Clearly, this little-known testament of praise for Merton shows Nouwen's affinity to Merton's mysticism. In the introduction of the book, Nouwen admits the "impact" Merton had on his life. In that book, Nouwen discusses a major turning point in Merton's life when Merton crossed paths with a Hindu monk called Dr. Bramachari. "Merton wrote about him with much humor, great respect and deep reverence," Nouwen states.7 Merton, who was seeking to be a mystic and at the time was studying many of the "great" eastern mystics, was told by Bramachari that he did not have to leave the Christian faith to become a mystic; it could be found, he said, within the walls of "the Christian mystical tradition"8 - that is "Christian" mysticism. Merton took Bramachari's advice and became a pioneer in bringing mysticism to Christianity. Later, Richard Foster became Merton's voice in the evangelical church.

After writing Pray to Live: Thomas Merton - Contemplative Critic, Nouwen went on to write several other books with the continued theme of contemplative spirituality. Two of the most popular ones today are The Way of the Heart (1981) and In the Name of Jesus (1989). It is this latter book that Rick and Kay Warren so highly recommend. In that book, Nouwen states that Christian leaders must move "from the moral to the mystical."9 Rick and Kay may have learned about Nouwen from New Age sympathizer Robert Schuller who resonates with Nouwen as well, saying the students at Robert H. Schuller Institute for Successful Church Leadership (of which Warren was one) had to "watch and listen to" Nouwen.10

In The Way of the Heart, Nouwen speaks of eastern-style meditation:

The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart ... This way of simple prayer ... opens us to God's active presence.11

In A Time of Departing, Ray Yungen discusses this "active presence" that Nouwen was referring to:

But what God's "active presence" taught him, unfortunately, stood more in line with classic Hinduism than classic evangelical Christianity. He wrote:

Prayer is "soul work" because our souls are those sacred centers where all is one, ... It is in the heart of God that we can come to the full realization of the unity of all that is.12

It is critical to note here that Nouwen did not say all Christians are one; he said "all is one," which is the fundamental panentheistic concept of God--the God in everything unites everything. Like Thomas Merton, it was Nouwen's intent to make mystical prayer a pervasive paradigm within all traditions of Christianity. He felt the evangelical church had many admirable qualities but lacked one vital one: mysticism. He sought to remedy this by imploring,

It is to this silence [contemplative prayer] that we all are called....13

The doctrines (instructions) of demons (no matter how nice, how charming, how devoted to God they sound) convey that everything has Divine Presence (all is One). This is clear heresy, for that would be saying Satan and God are one also. If what Henri Nouwen proclaimed is true when he said, "We can come to the full realization of the unity of all that is," then Jesus Christ and Satan are also united. That, my friend, is something only a demonic spirit would teach!14

For skeptics in Christian circles (professors, pastors, teachers, etc) who are touting and promoting the writings of Henri Nouwen, let it be known that you are promoting the writings of Thomas Merton--they are one in the same. They both believed in the importance of eastern-style meditation, and they both came to believe there were many paths to God and divinity dwelt in all things and people. Not only are Nouwen's books evidence of this, but there is record of nearly thirty years of journals, articles, forewords to others books, talks, and interviews where Nouwen espouses the path of mysticism.15

In one of those forewords, a book that mixes Christianity with Hindu spirituality, Nouwen stated:

[T]he author shows a wonderful openness to the gifts of Buddhism, Hinduism and Moslem religion. He discovers their great wisdom for the spiritual life of the Christian ... Ryan [the author] went to India to learn from spiritual traditions other than his own. He brought home many treasures and offers them to us in the book.16

On the back cover of another book, Meditation, by Eknath Easwaran, a Hindu guru, Nouwen said: "This book has helped me a great deal."

In spite of all this, many, many Christian figures and leaders point their followers, readers, students, and congregants to Henri Nouwen. Whether these leaders understand the true spirituality of Henri Nouwen or not, they are leading people to something that could ultimately develop within them great spiritual deception and for some, detrimental eternal loss.

Notes:
1. Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey, p. 51.
2. Yungen, A Time of Departing, p. 61.
3. Ibid.
4. Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey, p. 20.
5. Ibid., p. 149.
6. Harvey, The Direct Path, p. 34.
7. Nouwen, Pray to Live: Thomas Merton - Contemplative Critic, p. 28, (later called Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic - 1981).
8. Ibid., p. 29.
9. Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus, pp 31-32.
10. Ford, Wounded Prophet, p. 35.
11. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart, p. 81, 1991 ed.
12. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, 1997, 1/15 & 11/16 readings
13. Nouwen, The Way of the Heart, p. 66.
14. Yungen, from chapters 3 and 7 of A Time of Departing.
15. Complete list of Nouwen's published works.
16. Ryan, Disciplines for Christian Living, pp. 2-3.

Will Department of Defense Turn to Meditation?

An article, "A proven enlightened counter-measure," written by Dr. David Leffler, an eight-year US Air Force veteran, now the Executive Director at the Center for Advanced Military Science (CAMS), appeared in The Aljazzera Magazine, an "independent media organization established in 1992 in London" reporting on world events that affect the Middle East.

In the article, Leffler discusses US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Gates' recent speech at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Gates said that "[e]nlightened counter-measures ... will bolster the internal strength of vulnerable states so they will not harbor violent networks seeking to launch the next attack." Leffler suggests that in the DoD's "struggle to eliminate violent extremism," eastern-style meditation techniques should be used:

Extensive scientific research indicates that the best way to reduce collective societal stress, eliminate extremism and thereby snuff out war and terrorism, is to adopt an ancient strategy. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has revived the ancient Vedic technology of Invincible Defense Technology (IDT) in a non-religious manner. It has been quietly and successfully used by members of many faiths to eliminate conflict in the past.

According to research, special units would be trained using Transcendental Meditation (TM) and TM-Sidhi programs.

Leffler's article states that for this "Maharishi Effect" (ME) to take place, a certain percentage of the population would have to practice this joint-effort meditation: "Extensive research shows that the group size needed to reduce social stress depends on population size. It needs to be at least the square root of 1% of the population." Leffler says that based on research, crime drops and quality of life goes up when the ME takes place. He gave a 1993 example where an ME intervention was studied in the U.S. capital - crime was said to have dropped by 23%.

The article says that "the U.S. is close to achieving the requisite number of IDT experts through the Invincible America Assembly in Fairfield, IA," but that economic conditions in Iowa are keeping the meditation group from full success. Countries like Holland, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad, and Peru are said to have enough practitioners of the TM-Sidhi program to create the Maharishi Effect in their countries.

Leffler states that the ME could take place around the world if each country's military would establish what he calls Prevention Wings of the Military. This group would make up for the percentage supposedly needed to meditate for world peace. As for the US military, Leffler says, "Ultimately, it is the DoD's duty to build a Prevention Wing of the Military."

According to New Age teachings, Leffler's proposition that a certain percentage of meditators will rid the world of terrorism, crime, and even poverty could work. New Agers say that a "critical mass" of meditators is needed to bring the ME about. While critical mass is a scientific term, it is used here to refer to "an explosion in global consciousness capable of 'touching' or transforming all of humankind." The idea is that when a certain critical number of people all share the same awareness, then change can come to all people's thinking because of the critical mass. This critical mass would bring about a global paradigm shift.

As Lighthouse Trails has documented for several years now, the number of people practicing eastern meditation is quickly increasing. From babies being taught to meditate to a huge infiltration of meditation in all sectors of society, and finally through the contemplative (i.e., spiritual formation) movement in the evangelical church, meditation practice is overwhelmingly accepted and embraced in the world today. Leaders of meditation believe that it is through meditation that the world will finally experience true peace and unity.

While the Bible says that the world will at some point reach a momentary, false global peace (through occultic practices, we believe), it will be short lived and demonically inspired. Ray Yungen discusses the false sense of unity and oneness that is achieved through meditation and why it is spiritually dangerous:

Dr. Rodney R. Romney, former Senior Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Seattle, is a person frequently quoted as an example of a New Age Christian. He very candidly revealed what was conveyed to him in his contemplative prayer periods. The 'source of wisdom' he was in contact with told him the following:

I want you to preach this oneness, to hold it up before the world as my call to unity and togetherness. In the end this witness to the oneness of all people will undermine any barriers that presently exist.

Could this be a familiar spirit speaking here? Jesus Christ did not teach that all people are one. There are the saved and the unsaved. And Jesus Christ is the catalyst for this distinction.

We have established in previous articles and reports that contemplative spirituality is a New Age belief system with which meditation is implemented and altered states of consciousness are reached. We have also shown how New Agers believe that the one common factor that unites all religious traditions is the metaphysical (i.e., mystical meditation). Listen again to Ray Yungen:

But the spirit who spoke to Dr. Romney also revealed something else of vital importance. It declared, "Silence is that place, that environment where I work." Please pay attention to this! God does not work in the silence -- but familiar spirits do. Moreover, what makes it so dangerous is that they are very clever. One well-known New Ager revealed what his guiding (familiar) spirit candidly disclosed: "We work with all who are vibrationally [meditationally] sympathetic; simple and sincere people who feel our spirit moving, but for the most part, only within the context of their current belief system."

Warren Smith, in his book Reinventing Jesus Christ talks about the critical mass. Here he quotes New Ager Marianne Williamson:

So it is that a new politics centers around the arousal of that power, using prayer and meditation to create a force field of transformation.

It is a mystical revolution that will usher in a mystical age.

As a loving critical mass coalesces, as hearts around the world continue to yearn and work for peace, then new forms will emerge to actualize our new planetary vision.

Williamson is not some obscure New Age guru. Today, she works diligently in Washington, DC, rallying for the support of Congressmen and others to start a U.S. Department of Peace. Every year, she and other influential individuals and groups grow that much closer to the DOP becoming a reality. 1

Some may think our headline for this story, suggesting that the US Department of Defense would turn to meditation techniques, is absurd. Perhaps the DOD would never consider taking Leffler's advice to use eastern mystical practices. But consider this: In October 2008, the Department of Defense awarded a $411,000 grant to the Center for Mind-Body Medicine to study the effectiveness of a non-drug approach for brain-injured soldiers who are suffering from depression. 2 The Center for Mind-Body Medicine uses various forms of eastern-style practices including guided imagery, meditation, and has an advisory board that includes New Age sympathizer Dean Ornish. Caryl Matrisciana discusses Ornish in her book Out of India:

In the 1970s, Ornish met Sri Swami Satchidananda (who was teaching Ornish's sister meditation techniques at the time) and told the guru he wanted to learn from him too. Today, he credits Satchidananda for inspiring his heart disease program. His book, Program for Reversing Heart Disease, became a New York Times best-seller and is a product of the swami's advice. Ornish says:

Swami Satchidananda began teaching me in 1972 the meditation and Yoga techniques that evolved into the stress management program described [in this book]. Since then, he has remained my teacher and close friend.

Ornish devotes two chapters in his book to Yoga and other meditative techniques, explaining that "Yoga is a system of powerful tools for achieving union . . . with a higher force," and through meditation, the higher self can be experienced. Quoting Swami Vivekananda, he states:

In one word, this ideal is that you are divine . . . All the powers in the universe are already ours.

Ornish was appointed to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy by former President Clinton and also served as a physician consultant to Clinton and several bipartisan members of the U.S. Congress. (from Out of India, pp. 165-166)

It is Swami Vivekananda's spirituality to which the Department of Defense is giving nearly 1/2 million dollars. So Leffler's hope that the DOD will incorporate meditation will most likely become a reality.

It is tragic to watch the futile efforts of the world seeking so desperately after peace in all the wrong places. The world has rejected Jesus Christ as the only Prince of Peace and has turned to the prince of this world (Satan) and his methods instead. Those methods convince humanity that it has the capability within itself to mend, heal, and save. Those methods, in particular meditation, convince man that he is divine and he needs no savior because salvation comes not from one person but from humanity itself.

What is even more tragic is that those calling themselves Christian leaders have turned to these methods as well, and now instead of being the salt of the earth and a light shining on the hill (always pointing to Jesus Christ), they have joined forces with the world to bring about peace through meditation. The fact that Henri Nouwen believed in "reconciliation" and peace through meditation and is touted by countless Christian ministries, organizations, schools, and churches is astounding.

Contemplative spirituality (i.e., spiritual formation) is of the same spirit as the Maharishi Effect. That silent sacred space that Christian contemplatives promote is the same silent space that is promoted by Hindu yogis and New Age leaders. It is interspiritual, interfaith and recognizes no single savior.

We beseech Christian figures and ministries to turn away from contemplative spirituality and return to the pure, simple and saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, offering that to the world of lost humanity. Many of these Christians leaders talk about Jesus through one side of their mouths while declaring the spirituality of Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, and Richard Foster out of the other side. It cannot work. It never will. The very nature of contemplative rejects man's sinful nature and his need for a savior.

The peace that Jesus Christ offers is to individual men, women, and children, one soul at a time. This is why the preaching of the Gospel is so vital. It is indeed a Gospel of peace but not the peace the world gives, yet it is the only eternal peace there is. Jesus Himself explained this:

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him ... And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter ... Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. (from John 14)

The apostle Paul, who was martyred for his faith, understood this as well:

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus ... Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you (4:7,9)

The true peace of God can never be reached through meditative practices but comes only to the repentant heart who accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Peace plans, peace coalitions, three-legged stools, mystical reformations, man-induced awakenings, enlightened counter-measures will never accomplish what only Christ can do.

Related Information:

A list of Christian ministries currently promoting Spiritual Formation

What is Contemplative Spirituality and Why is it so Dangerous? by John Caddock

The Shack and Universal Reconciliation

Rick Warren Calling for Reconciliation Between Religion and Politics

LTRP Note: Kevin Reeves, a Lighthouse Trails author, was an elder in a River (Latter Rain) movement church for many years until the Lord showed he and his wife the truth about the spiritual deception they were involved with. What happened to him is much the same that is happening to many Christians today who have become involved with Purpose Driven, contemplative, or/and emerging churches.

"Touch Not Mine Anointed"

by Kevin Reeves

Perhaps the single biggest factor hindering acknowledgment and genuine repentance of false doctrine is the unwillingness for believers to relinquish the superstar status of their spiritual heroes. And how many times had our [church] leadership supported this by telling us not to name names? It was the one thing above all others that tied my hands and put a gag in my mouth. Although I was told to go ahead and speak to whomever I wanted to within our group, such presentations were always followed up with appropriate damage control by the leadership. And I was forbidden to breach the unwritten hyper-charismatic code and expose people like Kenneth Copeland during the times I filled the pulpit....

This fear of exposing God's anointed, even if they are guilty of repeated heresies, bordered on (may I use the term?) paranoia. Regardless of the evidence presented, there was simply no way anyone in our leadership would even admit the word heresy was applicable. Even when the blood atonement of Christ on the Cross is denied; even when those doing the denying are becoming rich through the tithes and offerings of believers who are often materially far worse off; even when these same ministers threaten divine judgment on those in opposition (the old Ananias and Sapphira tactic. Acts 5: 1-11).

Both the Old and New Testaments are replete with examples of the Lord's apostles and prophets condemning false brethren. Check out Ezekiel 34 sometime, plus the entire books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Then look at Jesus' exposure of the hypocrisy and false teaching of His day, or the apostles' stern warnings in the epistles, such as found in the entire epistle of Jude. Anyone who claims the Bible commands silence on the subject simply doesn't know the Word as well as he thinks. Although false prophets are not stoned today (fortunate for them!), their sin will always be one of grave consequences.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)

We must name them. How else will the church be warned? Would that we had the courage of a Nathan, to thunder with the righteous anger of the Almighty, "Thou art the man" (II Samuel 12:7)!

The false shepherds among us have too long used I Chronicles 16:22 and Psalm 105:15 as a blank check to do as they please. "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm" was God's warning to the nations through which the Israelites passed during their sojourn through the wilderness. It implied swift judgment for any pagans who would come against the chosen people of the Lord. To wield this like a saber at a sincere brother alarmed at false doctrine smacks of spiritual tyranny, cowardice, and dishonesty. Hammered also with the Acts 5 account of the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, a concerned believer in Jesus is usually bullied into silence or into leaving the congregation. It's already been used right here in our town to squelch close examination of extra-biblical manifestations.

While a big part of me just wanted out, Kris and I continued to hang on to a shredded hope for change, and we wound up staying months longer than we otherwise would have.

In the end, I'm glad we did. Had we left sooner, some nagging doubts may have remained in both our hearts, and could have become a wedge between us. New Covenant leadership, although not present in our home, would possibly have kept a foot in the door of our lives. So we settled down to wait, and what was hidden finally came full-blown into the light. (an excerpt from The Other Side of the River by Kevin Reeves, chapter 12)

Also by Kevin Reeves:
"I Just Had a Vision!"

Related Information:

Purpose Driven Resisters: Must Leave or Die (A Record of Events)

A Refugee Once More by Roger Beach

Those Who Stood: "To Be Filed Away for a Later Date"

LTRP Note: With each passing year, there remain fewer and fewer witnesses still alive who lived through the Holocaust and can testify of what happened. Lighthouse Trails is honored and privileged to be the publisher for two of these witnesses, Diet Eman and Anita Dittman, one a Christian resistance worker in Holland, and the other a Christian Jew living in Germany during the occupation. Today, both women are still alive, and even though they are in their 80s continue sharing their stories with others. The following account is by Diet Eman, who was 20 years old when she resisted Hitler's "Final Solution" against the Jews:

July 1941
Last night we walked past the synagogue. Horrible: on the doors was written with large letters "Jude Suss." On the pillars a swastika and a large V and horribly drawn Jewish faces. In the street on the boarded-up shop windows, "Jew," "Pest Jude." How long still, O Lord?

September 16, 1941
Yesterday the paper had a "short" summary of the places where Jews are not allowed! I can better mention where they are still allowed "in their homes and in the streets!"...

There came a day when my Jewish friend Herman, who worked with me in the bank in The Hague, began to understand that for him, as a Jew, life could not go on in the same way anymore. He thus became the first Jewish person that we helped during the Occupation.

First the Jews weren't allowed on the trams anymore, or on the buses, in parks, or in shops. Rules like that were printed in the newspapers, and they were displayed on the trams and in shop windows. It was an enforced limitation of freedom for Jews in all kinds of ways. Next, Jews weren't allowed to visit most places in the city anymore; they had to stick to their own Jewish areas and shops. And though Herman and his family did not live in the Jewish area of the city, they, like all Jews, were no longer allowed to visit non-Jewish people.

[from Diet's diary] May 6, 1942 Seventy-two Dutch men have been executed. From last Saturday till Tuesday, six-thousand people have been arrested. Ex-military, pastors, all people of the first and second chamber [the Dutch parliament], etc., etc.

The worst is, I remain so stone cold. Does this war make you an "alive-dead person"? Is it not possible to remain yourself in this chaos? How long still?...

The next law the Germans made was that non-Jews could have nothing at all to do with Jews. Even after that, my mother and father wouldn't have minded Herman's coming over, but at that point he did not want to endanger them. Actually, the Germans might have punished my family a little bit for breaking the rules; but Herman would have gotten into major trouble. My parents loved him, but suddenly he couldn't come anymore.

Much of what had preceded the Jewish persecution had seemed an annoyance to most of us--no display of the royal colors, prohibitions against listening to the BBC--and for the most part we simply put up with it for a while. No one liked the restrictive laws, but in many people's eyes these relatively trifling laws were something we could tolerate. But when signs and notices suddenly appeared saying that the Jews had to leave their homes and could not live near us because, as the signs said, they were "infectious" (the Germans called them lice and rats and all kinds of names), when they were told they had to leave their homes in the Netherlands completely, then we stopped putting up with the injustices.

The Germans explained to us that the Jews were to be transported to East Germany from all the other European countries. There they would live only with each other, and that way they could harm only each other. When it started to go into effect, we knew we could simply not tolerate this horrible plan. We knew we had to do something.

According to Hitler, we were the great ones--the people with blond hair and blue eyes, the Aryan race. The "Jewish scum," as the Germans put it, had to be quarantined, rounded up, and separated from the decent, blue-eyed people of what he thought was the super race.... And they were beginning to implement this kind of policy.

At first, the Jews would get notices at their homes that they had to report to such and such an address on a particular night, say, after curfew. They were to report to schools, for instance, where the Germans gathered all of them and took them away in trucks. Or the Jews were told they had to go to the railroad stations, and they would show up, very scared. The Germans always did it after the curfew hours so the rest of us wouldn't see what was going on....

[A]t one point, my friend Herman's family got their notice to report. Like everyone else, Herman was instructed to take only one suitcase, small enough to carry.... The Jews had to leave behind almost everything of sentimental value to them personally, not to mention goods of dollars-and-cents value. And they had no choice but to report; they couldn't just throw away the summons.

July 21, 1942
A lot has happened again: the Jews are walking with their yellow stars on, are not allowed outside after 8 p.m., are not allowed to visit non-Jews, some streets are forbidden to them, etc., etc.

From Amsterdam many were sent to--??? Many are committing suicide!
O God, don't You see that they are touching the apple of Your eye? Is it still not enough?
O let us, in the midst of all these things which drive us crazy, still remember that You are the ruler of everything and that the punishment You will give them for these things will be more just than all things we think of to punish them....

Please teach us Christians now to be true Christians and to put into practice what we confess, especially to these Jews. O Lord, make an end to all this, only You can do it. We know that You give strength according to our cross, but it is getting to be so very heavy, Lord.

Herman wasn't working at the bank anymore at that time because he was not allowed to take the tram, the bus, or anything, and he was not allowed to enter that area of the city. So he asked me to come to meet him when he got his summons, because Jews were not allowed to visit non-Jews.

"If you were me, would you go?" Herman asked.

"I don't think so," I told him...

Herman's parents were middle class; his father was a decent man with a good government job. His parents really believed that this whole thing would only last a year. They figured the Germans would place them somewhere in Eastern Europe for a little while, a place where they might have to live a little more simply than they were accustomed to living at home. And then, when it was over, they could come back. That's what many people thought--Jews and non-Jews. Nobody thought they would be exterminated in gas chambers. Therefore, many of them went as meekly as sheep to their deaths.

German Jews who had lived from 1933 to 1937 or 1938 in Germany had seen how the Nazi system developed, had experienced Kristallnacht, and had fled to the Netherlands in the late 1930s. Many of those people had committed suicide during the German invasion of the Netherlands. The night Hitler invaded Holland--and in the five days of war after the invasion--there was no place left for them to run: Belgium was overrun, and Spain was pro-Nazi. There was no place for them to go but the North Sea....

Herman was only a year older than I, and we thought of the possibility that what was really happening was far worse than anyone had imagined. We thought about those suicides, and we considered Hitler capable of anything.

[T]hat evening when I saw Hein, I asked him, "What do you think, should Herman go?"
"You remember what the German Jews did," he said "They committed suicide." So I said to Hein [Diet's fiance'], "You say he shouldn't report, but what can he do? If he shouldn't go there, what else is there?"

And that moment was the real beginning of our Resistance work. Hein immediately said he knew plenty of Christian farmers around Holk--in the area of the Netherlands called The Veluwe.
"Any of those farmers I know around Nijkerk," he said, "any of them we ask will take Herman. He can work there on the farm."

The whole business grew so fast that within two or three weeks we had over sixty people who wanted places out in the country, in The Veluwe. Sixty Jews in two weeks, and that was just the beginning. Hein ... placed many Jews on the farms around that little town. But the list of Jewish people who wanted to hide kept growing....

At first we thought that was all we had to do: simply help the Jews who wanted to be helped when they began to understand what might happen to them. But we immediately learned that if we were to move these Jewish people out to the country, we would have to get them false identification cards. It was simply too risky to put them on trains when they were carrying IDs which were all marked with that big "J" and which the Germans required, to indicate the holder was Jewish....

By 1943 the group we worked with needed over eight hundred cards every month. The men from the knokploeg did that work, and of course it was very dangerous. But they did it for good reason, not simply because it was high adventure. I went to a few of their planning meetings, and those men always got down on their knees first to ask God to protect and help them....

December 3, 1942
... Jewish people are put out of their homes and into the street--without any shelter. All of Scheveningen has to evacuate. All the beautiful buildings are being razed! The coal [used for heating] has to be left behind, and when they raze the buildings this ends up under the rubble, while thousands are sitting without heat. All the government departments have to leave.

I think that Hitler is fulfilling his prophesy that if he goes under, he will drag all of Europe along with him....

(This has been an excerpt from chapter six of Things We Couldn't Say by Diet Eman)

For information on Anita Dittman, click here.

Irony: Muslim Leaders Warn Against Yoga; Christian Leaders Remain Silent on Contemplative

LTRP Note: According to a Fox News article, Muslim leaders in Malaysia are telling Muslims that Yoga is dangerous for them because of its Hindu roots. And yet, Christian leaders in America say virtually nothing against contemplative spirituality, which is also based on eastern-style meditation principles and practices. The Bible says Christians are to be the salt of the earth, shining the light of God's truth for all to see, but as mysticism plays a bigger and bigger role within Christian circles, this light dims more every day.

Associated Press
Fox News
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia --

Malaysia's top Islamic body on Saturday banned Muslims from practicing yoga, saying the Indian physical exercise contains elements of Hinduism and could corrupt Muslims.

The National Fatwa Council, which has the authority to rule on how Muslims must conduct their faith, issued a fatwa, or edict, saying yoga involves not just physical exercise but also includes Hindu spiritual elements, chanting and worship. Click here to read this entire article.

Related Information:

See our research on Yoga

WorldNet Daily: Emanuel Volunteers Americans to do "a lot"

Tony Campolo Against California's Restrictions on Gay Marriage

LTRP Note: As Lighthouse Trails has reported on in the past, there is a correlation between those who practice and/or promote New Age mysticism and a leniency toward the homosexual lifestyle. Campolo, who has openly endorsed mysticism, is another case in point.

"Tony Campolo tells messengers he opposed Calif. Prop. 8"
by Robert Dilday"
Baptist Press

ROANOKE, Va. (BP)--The Baptist General Association of Virginia, acknowledging an uncertain economic environment, approved a reduced budget for 2009 during a quiet annual meeting that drew about 1,200 people to the Roanoke Civic Center.... Speakers included Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania ...

Campolo's remarks were notable for his criticism of the recently passed Proposition 8 in California which would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Interpreting the meeting's theme "Who Is My Neighbor?" Campolo said, "The Samaritans were those who were considered spiritually unclean, abominations in the eyes of God." Some of today's "Samaritans," he said, are the poor, Muslims, illegal immigrants and gays. Click here to read this entire article.

More information on the beliefs and practices of Tony Campolo and the homosexual issue:

Homosexuality and the New Age

The Danger of Grace without Truth

Tony Campolo is Speaking His Mind on Mysticism and Interspirituality

Kay Arthur Shares Platform with Contemplative Campolo

From Faith Undone (chapter 7) by Roger Oakland:

Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of sociology of Eastern University in St. David's, Pennsylvania, is founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education. His own testimony is an example of someone who has not only embraced mysticism, it is the avenue through which he considers himself born again. Campolo states:

In my case intimacy with Christ had developed gradually over the years, primarily through what Catholics call "centering prayer." Each morning, as soon as I wake up, I take time-sometimes as much as a half hour-to center myself on Jesus. I say his name over and over again to drive back the 101 things that begin to clutter my mind the minute I open my eyes. Jesus is my mantra, as some would say. (from Letters to a Young Evangelical, p. 26)

WorldNet Daily: eHarmony  Caves in to Homosexual Demands

World Asked to Help Craft Online Charter for Religious Harmony

A website launched Friday with the backing of technology industry and Hollywood elite urges people worldwide to help craft a framework for harmony between all religions.

The Charter for Compassion project on the Internet at www.charterforcompassion.org springs from a "wish" granted this year to religious scholar Karen Armstrong at a premier Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) conference in California.

"Tedizens" include Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin along with other Internet icons as well as celebrities such as Forest Whittaker and Cameron Diaz.

Wishes granted at TED envision ways to better the world and come with a promise that Tedizens will lend their clout and capabilities to making them come true.

Armstrong's wish is to combine universal principles of respect and compassion into a charter based on a "golden rule" she believes is at the core of every major religion. Click here to read this entire article.

Related:
Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and other Christian Leaders Invite Muslims to Share "Common Love for God"

DID JESUS TEACH THE DEITY OF HUMANITY?

God in All Things? The Premise of Contemplative Spirituality

The Shack Heralded by Christian Figures, including Michael W. Smith and Wynonna Judd

The New York Times best seller Christian fiction, The Shack, is enjoying the endorsements and ravings of top Christian figures. Contemporary Christian singer Michael W. Smith says:

The Shack is the most absorbing work of fiction I've read in many years. My wife and I laughed, cried and repented of our own lack of faith along the way. The Shack will leave you craving for the presence of God.

Wynonna Judd, another popular recording artist states: "Reading The Shack during a very difficult transition in my life, this story has blown the door wide open to my soul."

Judd and Smith aren't alone in their promotion of The Shack. Eugene Peterson (author of The Message) says: "This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!" And Calvary Chapel speaker and teacher Gayle Erwin expresses:

Riveting, with twists that defy your expectations while teaching powerful theological lessons without patronizing. I was crying by page 100. You cannot read it without your heart becoming involved.

The list of endorsements by Christian figures goes on and on. The book has remained on the New York Times best seller list for 25 consecutive weeks now. But in spite of the heart-warming emotion that The Shack stirs within people, Lighthouse Trails believes this is a theologically off-base novel that has an underlying sensual New Age message, appealing to the "carnal" flesh rather than "the things of the Spirit.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:5,6)

For research and articles on The Shack, from a biblical point of view, click here.

Is the Emerging Church Right? "There is no second coming of Jesus Christ."

THE COMING KINGDOM
by Larry DeBruyn

Evolution or Revolution?

In recent years, Christendom's thinkers have offered a smorgasbord of ideas and theories about Jesus, thus begging the question--will the real Jesus please stand up? If one pays attention to the Jesus revisionists, we are left with the impression that nobody really understood Him, not even the Apostle Paul. To some, Jesus is a white Caucasian, and to others He's a black African. To some, He was a revolutionary, and to others a pacifist. To some, He's a prophet, while to others He's a Gnostic. From teacher to magician, Jesus, it seems, can become almost anyone to everyone--a man for all seasons. So, it is supposed, if we earnestly "quest" after Him, we might discover the authentic Jesus. However, Jesus "makeovers" usually require that disparate parts of the biblical record be affirmed on the one hand, and denied on the other. But amidst all this "Jesus questing," the believer can take solace in knowing that controversy over Jesus' identity is not new (See Matthew 16:13-20).

As he embraces "the nonviolent Jesus of the Gospels" (the Jesus of "love and grace"), one Christian leader now debunks what he labels the "jihadist Jesus" of the "Second Coming" (the Jesus of "violence and domination"). According to Brian McLaren, "the Second Coming Jesus"--once held by an evangelical consensus to be one of the five fundamentals of the Christian faith--needs rethinking....

New Age spiritualists are comfortable with the idea that a cosmic Christ-spirit, in a laissez-faire way, dwells in, around, and through all things, but are discomforted by any thought that the personal Christ might turn out to be a hands-on "Jesus," who when He comes, will not only judge men for how they treated His creation, but also for how they treated God and His children. Click here to read this entire article.

Related information on the Second Coming of Christ (and what others are saying):

A Few Quotes From Mark Driscoll's Vintage Jesus - Something to Think About

Brian McLaren - Rethinking the Second Coming of Jesus Christ

Will the Evangelical Church Help Usher in the "Age of Enlightenment" and the Coming False One?

Monasticism Reminds Catholics of What is Essential, says Pope

LTRP Note: After reading this article by the Catholic News Service, please refer to the links we have provided in the "Related Information" section below.

"Monasticism reminds Catholics of what is essential, pope says"
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In their silence, their prayer and their work, monks and nuns remind other Catholics that the central focus of Christian life must be to seek Christ, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Monastic life is "a reminder of that which is essential and has primacy in the life of all the baptized: to seek Christ and place nothing before his love," the pope said during a meeting Nov. 20 with members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The congregation was holding its plenary meeting Nov. 18-20, focusing specifically on "monastic life and its significance in the church and the world today." ...

The faith that is lived in deep silence in monasteries and chanted in their liturgies is what will proclaim the faith to visitors and attract new members, he said.

In a statement released before the plenary, the congregation said there currently are 12,876 monks living in 905 monasteries and 48,493 contemplative nuns living in 3,520 monasteries, two-thirds of which are found in Europe. Click here to read this entire article.

Related Information:

In the mid-seventies three monks wanted to bring contemplative prayer to Christianity. This is how they did it. Click here.

Evangelical Christians Combine Contemplative Mysticism with Catholic Eucharist

The Dangers of "Spiritual Formation" and "Spiritual Disciplines"

A Critique of Dallas Willard and The Spirit of the Disciplines
by Bob DeWaay

Practices called "spiritual disciplines" that are deemed necessary for "spiritual formation" have entered evangelicalism. Recent encounters with this teaching narrated to me by friends caused me to investigate these practices. The first experience involved my friend and co-worker Ryan Habbena who went back to seminary to finish his masters degree. Here is his experience in his own words:

I recently took a seminary course on the book of Luke. It was a summer intensive and was one of only two classes being offered at the time. About midway through the week, while the class was steeped in trying to discern the intent and significance of the book of Luke, we began to hear the echoes of mystic chanting coming through the walls. As it turned out, the other class being offered was parked right next to ours. The paper thin walls were carrying the choruses of a class exploring the life and teachings of Catholic mystic Henry Nouwen. We proceeded, trying to concentrate on studying the Scriptures while tuning out the chants that were carrying on next door. Perhaps what was more unsettling though is the class studying Nouwen was chock full, while there were plenty of empty seats next door for anyone wanting to learn about the inspired book of Luke.1

How can this be? A Baptist seminary was favorably studying the teachings of this Catholic mystic whose own biographers describe as having had emotional problems and homosexual inclinations.2 Soon after talking to Ryan, I met a lady who attends a Christian college. As part of her study program she was required to take a course on spiritual formation at her college. Spiritual formation in her class also concerned the study of Roman Catholic mystics and the search for techniques to help those who implement them feel closer to God. This study also explored "spiritual disciplines" which promised to make those who practiced them more Christ-like. After she finished the class she shared her textbooks with me. This article will focus on the claims of one of these text books, The Spirit of the Disciplines, by Dallas Willard.3 In our study we shall see that those promoting spiritual disciplines in courses of study called "spiritual formation" make claims that are unbiblical and dangerous.

Jesus' "Yoke" as "Spiritual Disciplines"
Dallas Willard bases his entire spiritual disciplines book on his understanding of Matthew 11:29, 30, which says, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light." Willard cites this passage at the beginning of a chapter entitled "The Secret of the Easy Yoke,"4 Willard says, "And in this truth lies the secret of the easy yoke: the secret involves living as he lived in the entirety of his life--adopting his overall life--style."5 He also says, "We have to discover how to enter into his disciplines from where we stand today--and no doubt, how to extend and amplify them to suit our needy cases."6 He claims that the "yoke" is to try to emulate Jesus' lifestyle in every possible way.7 Willard interprets Jesus' "yoke" as the practice of spiritual disciplines like solitude, silence, and simple living. He later adds voluntary banishment and others that we will discuss later.

Willard is very critical of traditional Protestant doctrine and practice, declaring it a massive failure.8 His remedy for this failure is to see the body and certain ascetic practices using the body as the means of change: "Looking back over our discussion to this point, we have connected the reality of the easy yoke with the practice of the spiritual disciplines. These in turn have led us to the body's role in redemption."9 He claims that we have been misguided by being concerned with the forgiveness of sins and "theories of the atonement." He says, "Salvation as conceived today is far removed from what it was in the beginnings of Christianity and only by correcting it can God's grace in salvation be returned to the concrete, embodied existence of our human personalities walking with Jesus in his easy yoke."10 According to this thinking, the yoke of Jesus involves using the body in certain ways to accomplish changed lives:

Although we call the disciplines "spiritual"--and although they must never be undertaken apart from a constant, inward interaction with God and his gracious Kingdom--they never fail to require specific acts and dispositions of our body as we engage in them. We are finite and limited to our bodies. So the disciplines cannot be carried out except as our body and its parts are surrendered in precise ways and definite actions to God.11
So evidently, rather than concerning ourselves with the blood atonement, averting God's wrath against sin, salvation by faith through grace, we should be practicing spiritual disciplines with our bodies so that we could then be more like Jesus.

The concept of Jesus' "yoke" being interpreted as an invitation to practice His life-style is reiterated throughout Willard's book; see pages 91, 121, and 235. This idea is the framework and logical foundation of Willard's entire thesis. But the question is, "Is this what Jesus meant in Matthew 11:29, 30?" Let us examine the passage in context to see if teaches the spiritual disciplines. Click here to read this entire article and for footnotes.

Related:
Research on Dallas Willard

Research on Spiritual Formation

Obama's Fictitious Pro-Israel Team

Girl Scouts Continue Plunge into New Age Spirituality

According to an article this week by Jane Chastain titled "Girl Scouts go hard left--and downhill," the Girl Scouts of America are heading deeper into New Age spirituality. Chastain states that the direction the organization is going in was clear to see at the "51st Girl Scout National Council Session and Convention," which took place earlier this month.

A large portion of the program was devoted to the antics of leadership consultant Christian Whitney Sanchez who used a process called "Story Weaving" to lead the almost 10,000 attendees and national council and girl members in a giant "Kumbaya" session to get them further down the garden path to the New Age and make them think it was all their idea.

Sanchez is about as far from founder Juliette Low as one can get. Her bio says she was born under the Leo Sun Sign and spent her undergraduate years with Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. She practices yoga and meditation as she engages in daily life as "spiritual practice" and looks for opportunities to fulfill her purpose of "contributing to the evolution of human consciousness."

Girls at this year's convention were also given the opportunity to visit a display of Sophia dolls (Sophia is goddess spirituality - the goddess within). A description at the display says the dolls "serve as a personal empowerment tool by allowing you or your daughter to connect with inner wisdom to guide in expanding and balancing life roles."

Chastain reports that "the highlight of the convention was the unveiling of the latest 'Journeys' program inspired by the Ashland Institute." The program is created with the help of Brian Bacon of the Oxford Leadership Academy, a practitioner and teacher of the Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga. "Girls are encouraged to make a Zen garden, use yoga and martial arts as a form of relaxation and use a Japanese tea ceremony to 'clear the mind,'" says Chastain.

A July 2008 Lighthouse Trails article titled The New Age Comes to the Girl Scouts addressed the New Age direction in which the 3.6 million member Girl Scouts organization is going. The article states:

While there have been many wholesome and practical aspects of the Girl Scouts in the past (teaching cooking, sewing, and outdoor skills), today the Girl Scouts has become a place where potentially millions of girls will be introduced to New Age spirituality.

With regards to the Ashland Institute (located in Ashland, Oregon and now partnering with the Girl Scouts), it is a group that teaches Attunement (metaphysical energy healing) described as "Creative Energy Practice," which "deepens" the "connection with the Source of Life." The Ashland Institute lists eleven resources for their participants, the majority of which are New Age/New Spirituality promoting groups, such as Collective Wisdom Initiative, Co-Intelligent Institute, The Millionth Circle (to "shift planetary consciousness" it says), and The World Cafe.

It is our prayer and hope that parents who have their daughters enrolled in Girl Scouts will search for an alternative outlet.

"Twinning" Events Join Synagogues with Mosques

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

When Rabbi Donald Rossoff of Temple B'nai Or in Morristown was asked if he would consider twinning his synagogue with a nearby mosque for a national weekend of Jewish-Islamic interfaith outreach, he said, "It was pretty much a no-brainer."

B'nai Or is one of several NJ synagogues participating in the Nov. 21-23 project spearheaded by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

According to the foundation, 50 mosques and 50 synagogues around the country will hold joint activities to "confront Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in their communities."

The weekend is the direct result of a summit meeting of 12 rabbis and 12 imams held in November 2007. The event is timed to coincide with a visit by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations. Click here to read this entire article.

Related:
Christians, Muslims, and Jews Will Meet Together in Spain

Book Review: Out of India

2008 Fall Book/DVD Special from Lighthouse Trails

Publishing News

Newsletter in Print

Our print newsletter has been delayed. However, we are still taking names. If you would like to receive the Coming from the Lighthouse newsletter in print form by mail, please send an email to newsletters@lighthousetrails.com. Be sure to include your mailing address in the email. We will be issuing a printed newsletter several times a year for those who prefer that over the email edition or for some reason need both. We apologize for the delay.

 Both email and printed editions will be free. The first issue of the print newsletter has not yet been issued.