LTRP Note:In a time when many Christians are extremely concerned, and rightfully so, over the political and moral condition of America, confusion has arisen over how Christians can have an influence in our society (particularly politically) and yet maintain the integrity of  the true Christian message – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In an interview this past week between radio host Ingrid Schlueter of VCY America and columnist and researcher Sarah Leslie (from Discernment Ministries/Herescope), the two discuss a recent WorldNetDaily article condemning Discernment Ministries for reporting on the heretical and dangerous New Apostolic Reformation leaders and some evangelicals who are promoting them.  

Sarah Leslie describes  Dominionism as the following:

The Gospel of Salvation is achieved by setting up the “Kingdom of God” as a literal and physical kingdom to be “advanced” on Earth in the present age. Some dominionists liken the New Testament Kingdom to the Old Testament Israel in ways that justify taking up the sword, or other methods of punitive judgment, to war against enemies of their kingdom. Dominionists teach that men can be coerced or compelled to enter the kingdom. They assign to the Church duties and rights that belong Scripturally only to Jesus Christ. This includes the esoteric belief that believers can “incarnate” Christ and function as His body on Earth to establish His kingdom rule. An inordinate emphasis is placed on man’s efforts; the doctrine of the sovereignty of God is diminished.1 

Leslie says: 

Throughout the 2000 year history of Christianity there has always been a vein of dominionism embedded in the strata of doctrines. This seam has ebbed and flowed for 20 centuries, sometimes submerged, sometimes exposed. Whenever out in the open, it has given rise to horrible abuses done in the name of Christ. In the early 21st century, once again this vein is now showing and active. Keep in mind:

• Dominionism is always an aberration of true Christian theology.
• A remnant of believers has always opposed it, often suffering a martyr’s fate at the hands of intolerant dominionists.

Bottom line, while we believe that Christians should behave responsibly and actively (even at times with non-violent civil disobedience and resistance when governmental actions persecute certain groups of people - such as Hitler’s regime in Germany when many Christian resisters hid and protected Jewish people) with regard to government and politics, Christians should be able to recognize the difference between this and a dominionist-type mentality. We understand that this presents some confusion for many believers as to their roles in today’s world – and we pray that those who name the name of Jesus Christ will seek out His wisdom and guidance in this issue.  After you have read the piece below by Ingrid Schlueter of VCY America and hopefully listened to the interview,  please refer to some of our links below for Lighthouse Trails coverage on dominionism.

Worth noting, the evangelical church is absorbing the dominionist mindset through many avenues including the NAR, IHOP, the Purpose Driven, the emerging church, and the contemplative prayer movement. More to come on this in the future.

From VCY America/CrossTalk: 

“The Gospel is More Important than America: A Response to Janet Porter”

Sarah Leslie is an author and researcher, a member of the board of directors of Discernment Ministries and also a member of the Discernment Research Group.

On May 3, Crosstalk aired a program dealing with the May Day event held at the Lincoln Memorial. Ingrid and Sarah brought to listener attention a movement known as the New Apostolic Reformation. The program exposed teachers such as Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce, and false “prophetesses” Cindy Jacobs and Stacey Campbell whose teachings revolve around the New Apostolic Reformation. It’s a movement centered around a theology of dominionism that asks for a renewal of America based upon the idea that Christ’s work on the cross wasn’t finished.

Janet Porter of Faith 2 Action was a key organizer of this event. Recently she wrote a piece called, “Christians” for the Separation of Church and State?”where she criticized Discernment Ministries and their herescope blogsite; falsely criticizing them for being “highly critical of any Christian group that engages in any type of political or cultural activity.”

Sarah explains that Porter not only brought in mainstream Christian leaders, but also some of the deceptive leaders from the New Apostolic Reformation, giving them the mainstream recognition they’ve been seeking. Click here to listen to the interview between Ingrid Schlueter and Sarah Leslie. Click here for source and links to the WND articles.

Research Articles on Dominionism:

Whose Global Kingdom Come?

Many Believers in South Africa are Jumping on the Bandwagon of Dominionism

A Utopian Kingdom and Global Healing?

Jesus Camp Film Reveals the Mystical and the Militant, Not Biblical Christianity

Kingdom Now Theology

Dominionism: The New Christian Fascism?

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

by Christine Pack
Sola Sisters

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

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

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

Related Information:

Saddleback Church IS a Contemplative Church

Merton & Nouwen: Sacrificing Truth for Mystical Experiences

LTRP Note:The following is Chapters 16-19 of a fiction story written by former homosexual, now on-fire believer in Jesus Christ and free lance writer for the faith John Lanagan. If you would like to read his testimony, click here.To read previous 15 chapters, click here. This story below is only online and not in book form, originating on John's blog. However, Lighthouse Trails just signed a contract with John, who will be writing a novel based on the new spirituality that is overtaking much of organized Christianity today.

by John Lanagan
My Word Like Fire Ministries

Chapter 16: Attack of the Evange-hellicals

At 7:15 Saturday night, gay activist Mike Minor found he could move again. He had been in his hallway, in fetal position, for hours. That fearful dread was still there, but he somehow showered, shaved, and continued to ignore the steady rings of his phones.

Minor didn’t want to know what had happened that morning at the Gay Equality Foundation. He wasn’t concerned with national reaction to his “Big Tent” definition of Christianity.

Mike Minor simply wanted to get away for a while. From everything.

A prolific reader, Mike Minor devoured the written word, everything from newspapers to blogs to novels. The Reading People, a bookstore that stayed open 24-7, was one of his favorite haunts.

Sometimes he bought obscene material there, other times he settled for a popular novel, or even one of the classics. For Mike Minor, along with millions of others, the obscene often served as entertainment.

As the gay activist drove across town to the bookstore, and parked his car, he noticed that the dread–he could not describe it adequately with words–was actually lessening.
He breathed a sigh of relief. By the time he entered the bookstore, he was feeling almost jaunty. He knew his favorite X-rated novelist, Johnny Eddington, had a new book out. These were racy, fast-moving stories, often with heroic gay characters.

He walked up to the counter and asked for the latest Eddington. The employee, a small man he’d never seen before, reached underneath the counter and handed him a book in a brown paper bag. Because of Christian fanatics like Bishop Lionel Daniel, the bookstores had been forced to keep their X-rated material behind the counter.

Mike Minor took the bag and paid in cash. He drove home. While he wasn’t yet ready to deal with things, he would relax and read Eddington’s latest effort. Then, he told himself, back to the real world.

He sat on his comfortable sofa and pulled the slim novel out. One thing that Minor liked to do was open a new book and read several pages, just to see what was going on.

He opened the novel somewhere in the middle. As he read the words, his heart began to pound. Mike Minor dropped the book, which landed on the coffee table in front of him. Glancing at the title, he saw this was not a Johnny Eddington novel at all.

This was by a man named Jonathan Edwards. It was Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God.*  Click here to read chapter 17. Click here to read chapter 18. Click here to read chapter 19. Click here to read chapter 20.

From OneNewsNow:

According to a Christian renewal alliance, a California seminary affiliated with the United Methodist Church is revisiting its plans to launch schools of ministry for non-Christians.  

Two years ago, officials at the Claremont School of Theology (CST) set in motion its plans for “The University Project” to “rethink classical models of theological education” as part of an effort promoting “interreligious cooperation” and training leaders in a number of religious traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and others. One of the objectives, according to the project website, is to teach students to recognize the “legitimacy and integrity” of other religious traditions they will encounter in society.
 
In response, earlier this year the school was hit with an embargo on $800,000 from the United Methodist Church’s Ministerial Education Fund; and also was sanctioned by the University Senate, which is concerned about CST’s “proposed transformation from a school of theology to a university with schools of ministry.” Click here to continue reading.

The second issue of the Lighthouse Trails print newsletter went to press last week. If you are on the print newsletter mailing list, you should be getting it around the 21st-25th of the month. If you would like to be added to this 32-page newsletter, please email us at newsletter@lighthousetrails.com. You may read our first issue by clicking here. This is a free publication.

Lighthouse Trails has signed contracts with three new authors. First, John Lanagan of My Word Like Fire Ministries will be writing a Lighthouse Trails novel (to be our second novel following our debut novel, Castles in the Sand) that will be based on the mystical/contemplative/homospirituality that has come into the church. For a sampling of John’s writing, check out an online fiction story he is currently writing for his website with new installments nearly every day.  John is a former homosexual, who now serves the Lord with his wife. Second, we have signed a contract with United Kingdom author and researcher Dusty Peterson. Dusty and his colleague Elizabeth McDonald have written extensively on the truth behind the Alpha Course. The booklet we have contracted with Dusty is of a very sensitive nature: child molestation in the  church and how to keep it from happening in yours. Child sex abuse has become rampant throughout the world, but it should not be happening in Christian churches. This booklet will not only tell the stories that will break your hearts, but it will offer some practical suggestions and help on how to protect the children in your churches. Lighthouse Trails’ motto is “bringing light to areas of darkness.” This is one area to which we feel highly privileged to bring light. We currently carry Laughter Calls Me by Catherine Brown and The Kinsey Syndrome (DVD -by Addulam Films) on this topic.

Last, but not least, we have signed a contract with long-standing journalist and researcher/author Berit Kjos of Kjos Ministries. We will be updating and revising her book, Your Child and the New Age. This will be a special handbook for parents that will help them understand the barrage of New Ageism their children and teens are receiving from their schools and other venues (even some youth groups and Christian schools now thanks to contemplative spirituality). The revised edition that we are publishing will offer many practical ideas with Scriptural backup to help parents help their children and teens.

We do not have release dates for these new publishing projects yet, but as soon as we do we will let Lighthouse Trails readers know. We will be releasing our own edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs in July or August this year.

Please join us in prayer as we ask the Lord to provide for the continued resources to publish such books and DVDs. Publishing and marketing books and DVDs is very expensive – and when the products are as controversial as ours are, it makes for a very challenging ministry.