by T. A. McMahon
The Berean Call

According to the online encyclopedia wikipedia.org, “Christianity Today [CT] is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, IL. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming readership of 290,000. The founder, Billy Graham, stated that he wanted to ‘plant the evangelical flag in the middle-of-the-road, taking the conservative theological position but a definite liberal approach to social problems.’

“Today it, and its 13 sister publications, reach well over 2 million readers in its traditional paperbound form, and more than 10 million pageviews per month in their Internet form.”

It was right after I became a born-again Christian more than thirty years ago that I encountered my first copy of Christianity Today. Having grown up Roman Catholic, my appetite for anything evangelical was ravenous. Yet even in those early years of my faith, there were things that I read in that magazine that troubled me. I recognized, in Mr. Graham’s own words, “a definite liberal approach to social problems” in the promotion of “Christian” psychological counseling (see TBC, July 1999).

Of even more concern, however, were articles that clearly favored Roman Catholicism. This was disconcerting for one who had recently been delivered from the bondage of the false gospel of Rome. I remembered also reading an old quote from Billy Graham, which he had spoken nearly a decade before he started CT. He declared that “The three gravest menaces faced by orthodox Christianity are Communism, Roman Catholicism, and Mohammedanism” (Plains Baptist Challenger, March 1984). Incredibly, years later, among CT’s contributing editors and writers were Roman Catholics, including Catholic priest Richard John Neuhaus. It was Neuhaus, along with CT editors Chuck Colson, J. I. Packer, Timothy George, Thomas Oden, Richard Mouw, and Mark Noll, among others, who formed, were promoters of, and/or were signers of “Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium.” Their news release proclaimed: “[L]eading Catholics and evangelicals are asking their flocks for a remarkable leap of faith: to finally accept each other as Christians….[E]vangelicals including Pat Robertson and Charles Colson joined with conservative Roman Catholic leaders today in upholding the ties of faith that bind [them]….They urged Catholics and evangelicals…to stop aggressive proselytization of each other’s flocks.”

The Catholic bias of CT is reflected in the modus operandi of Graham’s crusades: they were, and continue to be, publicized and subsidized by each Catholic diocese where they take place. Additionally, the crusades continue to be outfitted with Catholic counselors who guide those Catholics that “come forward” to return to their local Catholic churches.

The list of Catholic luminaries celebrated by CT includes popes Benedict XVI and John Paul II (Graham told Larry King that he and the pope “agree on almost everything”), Mother Teresa, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Buddhist/Catholic monk Thomas Merton, and mystic Catholic priest Henry Nouwen. Catholic mysticism is further promoted by CT contributing editor Richard Foster, who is the godfather of the modern contemplative/mystical (read “Eastern”) movement within evangelical Christianity.

It seems that no voice that advances apostasy has been omitted from CT’s list of contributing editors or writers: Ron Sider, President Obama’s leftist theologian; Notre Dame professor Mark Noll; Eugene Peterson (who wrote his own bible called The Message); Eastern Orthodox followers Frederica Mathewes-Green and Bradley Nassif; former executive editor Terry Muck (who writes of his love for the Buddha); Leith Anderson (who promotes the experiential over the propositional, i.e., that emergent experience trumps doctrine); and psychology and Bible integrationist Eric L. Johnson, to name but a few. Click here to continue reading this article.

Investigating the intent of Jesus’ statement, “You are gods”

By Pastor Larry DeBruyn

“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?”
Jesus, John 10:34, KJV

Mystic, New Age, cultic and Word of Faith spiritualists commonly assume that in the essence of their being they are divine, that either they are or can become gods.[1] For example, by employing The Third Eye mystics attempt to contemplate into a consciousness of their divine nature. One Norwegian website explains:

During deep meditation, the single or spiritual eye becomes visible within the central part of the forehead. This omniscient eye is variously referred to in scriptures as the third eye . . . [2]

The website asserts that the Lord is in heaven. But where is heaven? How can heaven be found? “Gliding inside oneself in the right way should ‘work wonders’,” the university explains. How can someone “glide within” to discover heaven within where the Lord dwells? By meditating upon the assumption that you are “the image of God inside yourself.” In a spirit of self-hype, members of the Word of Faith movement also claim themselves to be little gods who can self-create what they want out of life. To assert their divinity, both movements employ the statement of Jesus where He asked the Jews, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?” (John 10:34).

When in John 10:34 He told the Jews, “You are gods”, did Jesus mean to say that persons possess an essential divinity awaiting their discovery by taking a meditative journey into “inner space”? To support their claim that man is or can become God, teachers of the “man-is-god” doctrine have seized upon words that Jesus intended only for the Jews, ignored their original intent and arrogantly applied them to their own being. Without conscripting Jesus words to make them conform to any preconception of what we might want them to say, what did Jesus really mean when He said to the Jews, “You are gods”?[3] Click here for endnotes and to finish reading this article.

PRINT NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

January/February (Vol. 1. #1)

Summer (Vol. 1 #2)

Our New Forum - Check it Out

In the August 2010 cover story of Christianity Today, the magazine has brought out two things that the major Christian media has thus far ignored – one, that Beth Moore, described as “the most popular Bible teacher in America”  by CT is a proponent of contemplative prayer, and two, that there is a debate over whether contemplative meditation is of Eastern religious origin or not. This Lighthouse Trails special report will look at both of these facets, Beth Moore’s contemplative propensities (incidentally, she is noted in CT  for influencing “millions” of women) and the vital question as to whether contemplative prayer is indeed rooted in Eastern mysticism. 

Christianity Today hit the nail right on the head when it informed its readers that:

“Critics argue that contemplative prayer is rooted in Eastern mysticism and thus not a practice that Christians should engage in.”

Lighthouse Trails has always warned that contemplative prayer is in fact rooted in Eastern mysticism, with a heavy emphasis on the word “rooted.” In Ray Yungen’s book, A Time of Departing, Yungen brings out that contemplative prayer was created by the Desert Fathers, a group of monks who lived in the desert during the early middle ages. Quoting Ken Kaisch, A Time of Departing reveals:

It was a time of great experimentation with spiritual methods. Many different kinds of disciplines were tried, some of which are too harsh or extreme for people today. Many different methods of prayer were created and explored by them. (Finding God, p. 191).

At the time, the city of Alexandria, close to where the Desert Fathers existed, was a stronghold of Eastern mysticism through the connection of King Alexander’s link to India. It is believed that the Desert Fathers utilized Eastern style meditation practices (i.e., mantra meditation), but instead of using Hindu or Buddhist mantras, they tailored this Eastern style prayer to their Christian beliefs, using “Christian” mantras. As an early treatise on contemplative prayer written by an anonymous monk, The Cloud of Unknowing, describes:  ”Take just a little word, of one syllable rather than of two . . . With this word you are to strike down every kind of thought under the cloud of forgetting.” This is why all the major icons of contemplative prayer (Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, Henri Nouwen, etc) echo the same spiritual perceptions as Eastern meditation practitioners. Thomas Merton said as he was leaving on a trip to South Asia to address Hindu and Buddhist monks: ” We left the ground– I with Christian mantras and a great sense of destiny, of being at last on my true way after years of waiting and wandering … I am going home, to the home where I have never been in this body. ” (Merton’s Asian Journal, pp. ). Henri Nouwen echoed this when he said that Hinduism, Buddhism, and the Muslim (i.e., Sufism) religion offered many treasures for the spiritual life of the Christian (in the foreword of Thomas Ryan’s Disciplines for Christian Living).

For those who are still skeptical, the co-founder of one of the largest centers for teaching contemplative prayer, Tilden Edwards of The Shalem Institute, said that contemplative prayer is “the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality” (Edwards, Spiritual Friend, p. 18). How much more clear can this be? We could go on and on to verify the link between Eastern religion and contemplative spirituality. We have documented over 200 pages in A Time of Departing, not to mention article after article with continued documentation.

Returning to Beth Moore, while it may come as a surprise to many Christianity Today readers that Moore is being identified with contemplative “mysticism,” it is no surprise to Lighthouse Trails because in the spring of 2006, Moore was included in our coverage of a Fox Home Entertainment film titled Be Still,* an infomercial for contemplative spirituality.  Shortly after the DVD was released, Lighthouse Trails spoke with Moore’s personal assistant who said that Moore did not have a problem with Richard Foster or Dallas Willard’s teachings. To reiterate this, Living Proof Ministries issued a  statement a few weeks after the release of the DVD that stated: “[W]e believe that once you view the Be Still video you will agree that there is no problem with its expression of Truth.” Living Proof offered to send a free copy of the DVD to anyone who receives their email statement and wishes to view the DVD, saying that, “[I]t would be our privilege to do this for you to assure you that there is no problem with Beth’s participation in the Be Still video.” This statement was issued because several women contacted Moore’s ministry after reading the Lighthouse Trail report on the Be Still DVD.

In the Be Still DVD, countless enticements, references, and comments clearly show its affinity with contemplative spirituality. For instance, Richard Foster says that anyone can practice contemplative prayer and become a “portable sanctuary” for God. This backs up other statements by Foster over the course of the past thirty years in which he believes that even a non-believer in Christ can participate in the “spiritual discipline” of silence and have an encounter with God. The assumption by all mystics is that God dwells in all people, and meditation will help them to realize their own Divinity. This panentheistic view of God is very typical for contemplatives. As Ray Yungen points out, those who practice contemplative prayer begin to view God through panentheistic (God in all) and interspiritual (all is united) eyes. Thomas Merton, whom Foster has admired publicly for many years, believed that all human beings have divinity within, and this divinity can be accessed through contemplative prayer, thereby making the Cross of Jesus unnecessary for union with God. We believe that the reason for this change in spiritual outlook for those who continue practicing contemplative meditation (i.e., mantra-like meditation) is that these altered states of consciousness actually engage the practitioner with demonic realms leading to spiritual deception.

The underlying theme of the Be Still DVD is that we cannot truly know God or be intimate with Him without contemplative prayer and the state of silence that it produces. While the DVD is vague and lacking in actual instruction on word or phrase repetition (which lies at the heart of contemplative prayer), it is very misleading, to say the least. What they don’t say in the DVD is that this state of stillness or silence is, for the most part, achieved through some method such as mantra-like meditation. The purpose of the DVD, in essence, is not to instruct in contemplative prayer but rather to make you and your family hungry for it. The DVD even promises that practicing the silence will heal your family problems.

The thoughtful and discerning Christian needs to ask whether the Be Still DVD is an accurate “expression of Truth,” as Beth Moore says it is, and is there truly “no problem with Beth’s participation” in this project? Considering the fact that Christianity Today calls Moore “the most popular Bible teacher in America,” these are fair questions to ask. Moore has the potential of leading  millions of women in a spiritually dangerous direction. Those women in turn will bring this mystical teaching home to their husbands, children, and churches. In the Be Still DVD, Moore states: “[I]f we are not still before Him [God], we will never truly know to the depths of the marrow of our bones that He is God. There’s got to be a stillness.” Moore says that it is not possible to “truly know” that He is God without “a stillness.” She is not talking about a quiet place to pray and spend time in God’s word, but rather she is talking about a stillness of the mind – this is what contemplatives strive for – unless you practice this stillness of the mind, your relationship with the Lord is inadequate. According to Beth Moore, you don’t even know Him in the way you should.

Many reading this may be asking, is there any other evidence as to where Moore really stands with regard to contemplative. The answer to that may at least partially be found in a book she wrote in 2002 called When Godly People Do Ungodly Things. In a section about “Unceasing Prayer,” Moore states:

I have picked up on the terminology of Brother Lawrence [a Carmelite mystic who said he "cried out, singing and dancing  violently like a madman" when he went into the "presence"1], who called praying unceasingly practicing God’s presence. In fact, practicing God’s presence has been my number one goal for the last year. (p. 109)

Moore says: “A head full of biblical knowledge without a heart passionately in love with Christ is terribly dangerous–a stronghold waiting to happen. The head is full, but the heart and soul are still unsatisfied” (p. 60). This language is very indicative of contemplatives and echoes Richard Foster who said we have become barren within or Rick Warren who says the church is not fully mature without spiritual formation ala Foster and Willard (i.e., contemplative prayer)  (The Purpose Driven Church, p. 126-127 ). However, all of this talk leads one to think that the Word of God is little more than a philosophy and needs the help of contemplative prayer to be effective at all. The insinuation is that the Holy Spirit is dormant and ineffective without this vital stimuli.  Contemplatives are making a distinction between studying and meditating on the Word of God versus loving Him, suggesting that we cannot love Him or know Him simply by studying His Word or even through normal prayer–we must practice contemplative to accomplish this. But the Bible makes it clear that the Word of God is living and active, and it is in filling our minds with it that we come to love Him and know Him, not through a mystical practice that is never once mentioned in the Bible, except in warnings against vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7) and Old Testament warnings against seeking to make contact with the spirit world or going into altered states of consciousness (Deuteronomy 18:11).

In Moore’s book, she makes frequent references to contemplative pioneer Brennan Manning, stating that his contribution to “our generation of believers may be a gift without parallel” (p. 72). This is indeed a troubling statement made by “the most popular Bible teacher in America.”  No doubt, many of the women who follow Moore, in reading her comments about Manning and her quoting of him have turned to the writings of Manning for further insights. Why wouldn’t they when their favorite Bible teacher speaks so highly of him? When they do turn to him, they will find that Manning is a devout admirer of Beatrice Bruteau, founder of  The School for Contemplation. Bruteau wrote the foreword to a book called The Mystic Heart by New Age mystic Wayne Teasdale, a book that actually lays out that contemplative prayer will unite Christianity with all the world’s religions at a mystical level. And yet, in Manning’s book, Abba’s Child, he says that Bruteau is a “trustworthy guide to contemplative consciousness.”  Manning  backs his love for “contemplative consciousness” by stating the following:

[T]he first step in faith is to stop thinking about God at the time of prayer. (The Signature of Jesus, p. 212)

Choose a single, sacred word or phrase that captures something of the flavor of your intimate relationship with God. A word such as Jesus, Abba, Peace, God or a phrase such as “Abba, I belong to you.” … Without moving your lips, repeat the sacred word inwardly, slowly, and often. (SoJ, p. 218)

When distractions come, … simply return to listening to your sacred word…. [G]ently return [your mind] to your sacred word. (SoJ, p. 218)

[E]nter into the great silence of God. Alone in that silence, the noise within will subside and the Voice of Love will be heard. (SoJ, p. 218)

This is the contemplative prayer that Beth Moore is promoting – Manning’s contemplative prayer. Furthering Beth Moore’s great admiration for Manning, she quotes him from his book Ragamuffin Gospel calling the book “one of the most remarkable books” (p. 290) she has ever read. But it is this very book that reveals Manning’s true affinity with contemplative spirituality. In the back of the book, Manning makes reference to Catholic priest and mystic Basil Pennington saying that Pennington’s methods will provide us with “a way of praying that leads to a deep living relationship with God.” However, most assuredly Pennington’s methods of prayer draw from Eastern religions. In his book, Finding Grace at the Center, Pennington says:

We should not hesitate to take the fruit of the age-old wisdom of the East and “capture” it for Christ. Indeed, those of us who are in ministry should make the necessary effort to acquaint ourselves with as many of these Eastern techniques as possible. Many Christians who take their prayer life seriously have been greatly helped by Yoga, Zen, TM and similar practices. (from A Time of Departing, 2nd ed., p.64, quoting Finding Grace at the Center, pp. 5-6)

Pennington also says that the Holy Spirit is the soul of the human family (Centered Living, The Way of Centering Prayer, p. 104).

In Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning cites Carl Jung as well as interspiritualists and contemplative mystics, Anthony De Mello (see note below), Marcus Borg (denies the Virgin birth and Jesus being Son of God), Morton Kelsey, Gerald May, Henri Nouwen, Annie Dillard, Alan Jones (who denies the atonement), Eugene Peterson, and goddess worshipper Sue Monk Kidd. This is a list of mystics that any discerning Bible teacher would never point followers to either directly or indirectly!

For Moore to call Manning’s book “remarkable” and to say his contribution to this generation of believers is “a gift without parallel” leads one to conclude that Beth Moore has absorbed Manning’s spirituality. And if that is the case, which we believe it to be, then Moore, as nice and well intentioned as she may be, has become another conduit for a panentheistic spirituality.

 What makes the Christianity Today’s August issue noteworthy is that this is the first time to our knowledge since the beginning of Lighthouse Trails in 2002 where a major Christian media has publicly recognized that there is a “debate” going on about contemplative spirituality (i.e., spiritual formation). While they did not identify  Lighthouse Trails as one of the “critics” of this debate, nevertheless they have  helped to bring it to the table and give it a broader platform. We would like to note here that over the past eight years thousands of believers have contacted Lighthouse Trails and do see what is taking place. This is not just something that only a handful of people see, albeit a minority in the church.

Lighthouse Trails sincerely implores Beth Moore and all Christian leaders going in the contemplative direction to take an honest look at the evidence that contemplative prayer IS rooted in Eastern mysticism. Nothing else explains the affinity that so many practitioners have for Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sufism. As Merton told a Sufi teacher, “My prayer tends very much to what you call fana” (Thomas Merton, My Brother, Pennington, p. 115). Fana is the same as Hindu Samadhi and Buddhist nirvana. Merton went on to explain how mystical meditation even eclipses the need to believe in Jesus’ atoning and saving work on the Cross. To the Sufi teacher, Merton stated:

Personally, in matters where dogmatic beliefs differ, I think that controversy [“the doctrine of atonement or the theory of redemption,” said the Sufi teacher] is of little value because it takes us away from the spiritual realities into the realm of words and ideas . . . . But much more important is the sharing of the experience of divine light, . . . It is here that the area of fruitful dialogue exists between Christianity and Islam. (Merton and Sufism, p. 109)

It is essential to grasp the significance of what is being said here: Merton believed that the doctrines that are the essence of Christianity (such as atonement and salvation) were irrelevant and actually, if taken seriously, were an  impediment to religious unity. The complete union of all the world’s religions cannot be accomplished  without a form of mysticism within Christianity-that form is contemplative prayer, the very thing that a growing and large number of Christian leaders are propagating today!

It is this that motivates Lighthouse Trails to continue issuing a warning. We are not haters, as some have supposed; in fact we love people,( including those who promote contemplative prayer) and feel compelled to warn them about the spiritual land mines buried within the mystical paths on which they have embarked.

Footnote:

1. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, translated by John Delaney, Image Books, 1977, p. 34

Many of the quotes in this report are taken from A Time of Departing. Click here for information on A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen.

Also read: Richard Foster and the Be Still DVD

*To view a transcript of the entire Be Still DVD, please contact us.

Quote by ANTHONY DEMELLO ON CONTEMPLATIVE SILENCE:

To silence the mind is an extremely difficult task. How hard it is to keep the mind from thinking, thinking, thinking, forever thinking, forever producing thoughts in a never ending stream. Our Hindu masters in India have a saying: one thorn is removed by another. By this they mean that you will be wise to use one thought to rid yourself of all the other thoughts that crowd into your mind. One thought, one image, one phrase or sentence or word that your mind can be made to fasten on. Anthony de Mello, Sadhana: A Way to God (St. Louis, the Institute of Jesuit Resources, 1978), p. 28.

Comment from Understand The Times:

 The following article which describes an “apparition of Jesus” that supposedly took place in a Catholic church in Nigeria recently, is exactly what authors Jim Tetlow and Roger Oakland predicted would be taking place in the future in their book Another Jesus: The Eucharistic and the New Evangelization. Jesus warned that “false appearances” would be taking place as one of the signs of the last days.

(Matthew 24:23-26).KJV - Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
 

The article:

St Paul’s Catholic Church along Airport Road in Benin City, yesterday, turned into a mecca of sorts as people from all walks of life thronged the church to catch a glimpse of what has been literally described as an apparition of Jesus Christ.

The uncommon but holy phenomenon according to catholic faithful and enthusiasts present at the church premises, came up early Wednesday morning immediately after the offering of adoration at the church. It has however generated so much frenzy amongst catholic faithful and non-Catholics who jostled through the ever-busy Airport Road in the state capital to witness the rare spiritual occurrence.

Rev. Fr. Edosomwan further stressed that the appearance of Christ on the Blessed Sacrament through the monstrance would help re-direct the lives of Christians whose faith have been ebbing out owning to varying challenges of life. The “apparition of Christ” according to the Priest,” was to remind Christians that through His presence they can draw support and increase their faith in God.”

Similarly, the spiritual significance of the “apparition of Christ” at the St Paul’s Catholic Church was further described to connote the signs of the end of time by Prince Ken Ebosele, a committed catholic faithful who was present at the church to catch a glimpse of the “apparition”. Prince Ebosele revealed that it was a reassurance of the fact that the salvation in Christ which Christians profess was not in vain, adding that the appearance of Christ was a manifestation of the presence of Christ in our lives.

Others who pleaded anonymity disclosed that the “apparition of Christ” at this critical period of human’s sinful existence was clear indication that no matter how neck-deep we are involved in sin, the Almighty God has special interest in the salvation of human beings.

A member of the Edo State House of Assembly representing Ikpoba Okha Constituency, Hon. Jude Ise-Idehen who was also in the Church described the occurrence as a re-affirmation that “Jesus Christ is real,” adding that, “this is the belief of Catholics and other Christians. It is our faith and belief.”

She confirmed that she saw Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament that was placed on the altar, stressing that “it is real and that with her coming to Jesus on the altar, all her hearts desires have been received by faith”.

Meanwhile, the miraculous appearance of Jesus Christ in Benin City yesterday have been described as a good Omen and an indication that better things are coming to Edo State. The Director, Edo State Poverty Alleviation Agency, Chief (Mrs.) Evelyn Igbafe who stated this is a chat with The NIGERIAN OBSERVER in Benin City yesterday, remarked that the appearance of Jesus Christ in the state was an affirmation that the present governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was God -sent.  Read more.

LTRP Note: Fairly frequently, people  contact us and ask, “I heard Willow Creek repented a few years ago. Is this true?”  The answer remains, “No.” Below is an article we wrote 2 1/2 years ago shortly after Christian media headlines pronounced, Willow Creek Repents. Whatever Willow Creek repented from, one thing for sure, it wasn’t from following the contemplative/emerging church.

“No Repentance from Willow Creek – Only a Mystical Paradigm Shift”

Recently, headlines about Willow Creek filled the front pages of several online news outlets. The caption stated: “A Shocking Confession from Willow Creek Community Church.” Some wondered if Willow Creek’s pastor Bill Hybels was repenting from past errors in ministry techniques.1 But a Lighthouse Trails commentary showed that this “shocking confession” was actually a re-enforcement of Willow Creek’s efforts to “transform this planet” through contemplative and emerging spiritualities. The LT commentary stated:

It is no new thing that Willow Creek wishes to “transform the planet.” They are part of the emerging spirituality that includes Rick Warren and many other major Christian leaders who believe the church will usher in the kingdom of God on earth before Christ returns. This dominionist, kingdom-now theology is literally permeating the lecture halls of many Christian seminaries and churches, and mysticism is the propeller that keeps its momentum. If Willow Creek hopes to transform the planet, they won’t be able to get rid of the focus on the mystical (i.e., contemplative). Their new Fall 2007 Catalog gives a clear picture of where their heart lies, with resources offered by New Age proponent Rob Bell, contemplative author Keri Wyatt Kent, and the Ancient Future Conference with emerging leaders Scot McKnight and Alan Hirsch as well as resources by Ruth Haley Barton and John Ortberg. Time will tell what Willow Creek intends to do about strengthening its focus on “spiritual practices” and “transform[ing] the planet.”

Well, it appears it isn’t going to take a lot of time to see what their future intentions look like. The most current issue (Fall 2007) of Willow Creek’s magazine, Willow (in hard copy and also online) gives a clear view of the organization’s spiritual emphasis. The issue titled Ministry Shifts has a subtitle that says: “The landscape of our ministries is shifting. Brace yourself for the aftershocks.”

Article titles in this Willow issue certainly make a statement that things are going to change: “Seismic Shifts,” “Rediscovering Spiritual Formation,” “Stemming the Tide,” “The Changing Face of Worship,” “Shifts in Missional Mindset,” and “The Next Great Debate.” With such commitment to change, it’s no wonder Willow Creek supports Brian McLaren, who is currently on his “Everything Must Change” tour (named for his new book).

In the first article, “Seismic Shifts,” the message is straightforward: “Change or die. … If the local church refuses to change, it will die. … But the winds of change are blowing. Leaders and entire congregations are making the choice to try something new. They are looking at the world, culture, norms and trends and they are daring to take a chance, venture a risk, find another way.” Bell explains that the other articles in the issue give “snapshots” of how the church is now shifting.

In the first article to follow, “Rediscovering Spiritual Formation,” meditation promoter Keri Wyatt Kent writes positively about “monastic communities” and “the emergent church.” Quoting or favorably referring to one mystic after the next (Richard Foster, Ruth Haley Barton, David Benner, John Ortberg, etc.) Kent paints a picture that shows mysticism’s role in this seismic shift Willow Creek proclaims. She correctly states that while there are some “conservative” Christians who are suspect of spiritual formation, by and large the term and “the practices” have become “mainstream.” These practices, of course, are the mystical practices that are the energy behind the spiritual formation movement.

Kent identifies Scot McKnight as part of this mystical shift. McKnight acknowledges the Catholic connection to contemplative practices, and amazingly, Kent brings into her article Catholic priest Richard Rohr. Why amazing? Rohr’s spirituality would be in the same camp as someone like Matthew Fox who believes in pantheism and panentheism. For Willow Creek to include him in Willow speaks volumes about the level of spiritual deception that Willow Creek is now under. If Kent is right that spiritual formation is now mainstream, then this deception is mainstream as well. Incidentally, Richard Rohr wrote the foreword to a 2007 book called How Big is Your God? by Jesuit priest (from India) PaulCoutinho. In Coutinho’s book, he describes an interspiritual community where people of all religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity) worship the same God. Is this where Willow Creek is heading?

While the Willow issue says that they are not moving away from biblical principles, nothing could be further from the truth. For those reading this who may be new to the terms contemplative prayer and spiritual formation, it is quite simple. A mantric-style meditation is practiced so that the pray-er can enter a silent, altered state, which supposedly allows him or her to hear God’s voice and be transformed. However, because the premise of contemplative prayer is panentheistic (God in all), it is actually occultic in nature. We can say that, because in occultism all things are one, and there is no distinction between God and man – both enjoy equal glory. This is why research analyst Ray Yungen believes that the mystery of iniquity talked about in the book of Revelation could very well be mysticism. If man is brought under the delusion that he is part of God and one with God (with or without Jesus), then the Cross and the Gospel become of no effect (theoretically). It is Satan’s ultimate desire to be equal to God (Isaiah 14:14), and he tried to convince Eve of this in the Garden of Eden and continues to this day with his seductive alluring.

Some people have said that contemplative spirituality and the emerging church are just passing whims or trends. But that isn’t true, and Keri Wyatt Kent see that. She explains: “Spiritual formation is not a passing fad, but it does continue to shift and to change as the Church and its people grow.” Of course, what this really means is that where once the true nature of contemplative had to be disguised, more and more it can come out of the closet. No passing fad here. Contemplative is pure New Ageism, the devil’s religion to put it bluntly.

For those who realize that contemplative spirituality is the vehicle through which the kingdom-now, emerging church, dominionist views draw their strength and momentum, Willow Creek’s “shocking confession” will indeed be very shocking. As Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and most other major leaders in Christianity today, stand arm and arm with contemplatives and emerging spirituality, those who understand biblical prophecy about the days prior to Christ’s return will realize that history is being made. But unfortunately, Scripture warns that Satan will deceive the whole world (Revelation 12:9) and that a great falling away will occur. Let us be sober-minded and diligent to stand for biblical truth and the Gospel that alone can save the soul that turns to Jesus Christ in humility and repentance, acknowledging Him to be God, Lord, and Savior.

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. I Thessalonians 5:1-8

Also read:

Contemplative Emphasis Continues at Willow Creek … Stronger Than Ever

by OneNewsNow

A counseling student has filed suit against a university in Georgia because she claims the school is forcing her to abandon her Christian beliefs in order to receive a degree.

Jennifer Keeton, 24, is pursuing her master’s degree in counseling at Augusta State University. But after her professors learned of her biblical beliefs — specifically her views on homosexual conduct — from both classroom discussions and private conversations with other students, the school imposed a “remediation plan.”

“It’s in essence [telling her] ‘you do not have the correct beliefs, we are going to re-educate you into the correct beliefs,’” explains David French, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund. “And unless she completes this — quote — ‘remediation plan’ to their satisfaction, then she can be thrown out of [the school's counseling program].” Click here to continue reading.

Below is a partial speaking schedule for Lighthouse Trails authors Warren B. Smith and Ray Yungen. If you live near any of these areas, we hope you will get the chance to attend. All these events are offered free of charge. If you are interested in having Warren or Ray (or both) speak to your group, call us at 406/297-7756, or email at editors@lighthousetrails.com.

August 29, 2010 (Sunday evening service)
The Home Church
11451 N. West Lane
Lodi, CA 95242
(209) 339-7333 

September 18, 2010
Calvary Chapel Pasadena, CA (Pastor Xavier Reis)
Warren B. Smith and Ray Yungen

September 22, 2010
Village Community Church (Warren Smith)
Long Beach, CA

2011

April 9-11, 2011
Prophecy Conference
La Crete, AB, Canada

April 2011
Cedarburg Cultural Center
W62 N546 Washington Avenue
Cedarburg, Wisconsin
Warren Smith, Larry DeBruyn, Sarah Leslie

May 21, 2011
(9:30-4:00)
Gold Country Calvary Chapel
Warren B. Smith, Ray Yungen, Johanna Michaelsen
13026 LaBarr Meadows Rd
Grass Valley, CA 95949
530-274-2108
No cost. Free will offering.

October 12-15, 2011
Winnipeg Prophecy Conference
Winnipeg, MB, Canada

2012

April 13-14, 2012
Discerning the Times Conference
Warren B. Smith, Rob Lindsted, John Plantz, Dave Dunn, Steve Herzig
Ramada Inn
806 Idylwyld Drive North, DIEFENBAKER ROOM
Saskatoon, Sask.
1-306-371-6877 (conference contact)
No cost. Free will offering.

(courtesy Linda Harvey, Mission America)

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - He hasn’t talked about it publicly until now.  It was a decision that caused uproar in the Irmo community and made worldwide headlines.

In May 2008, then Principal Eddie Walker announced he would retire because the school district forced him to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance at Irmo High.

Walker’s decision drew lots of criticism, including a protest outside of one of the school board meetings.

After two years of silence, Eddie Walker sat down with News 10’s Brandi Cummings to explain things in his own words.

Eddie Walker is a dedicated educator of 31 years, who has left the career he knows so well.

Walker’s reign as principal of Irmo High School is coupled with both triumph and controversy.

Although Irmo has been named among best in the nation, the world watched as the school went through its share of turmoil starting in 2008. Click here to continue reading.

1. FREE PRINT NEWSLETTER: Starting January 2010, From the Lighthouse print newsletter will be mailed to those requesting it. If you would like to request the newsletter, please fill out our Newsletter Request Form.

2. FREE CATALOG: Fill out our short form to receive a free catalog. Click here to access form.

3. FREE E-NEWSLETTER: Sign up to receive our free e-newsletter, delivered to your email box 3-4 times a month.

4. FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS: Check out our free sample chapters of many of our books.

5. FREE SHIPPING OFFERS: Lighthouse Trails has a growing number of FREE SHIPPING offers on our books, DVDS, and CDs.

6. New Lighthouse Trails interactive forum - CHECK IT OUT.

7. FREE ONLINE E-BOOKS: Lighthouse Trails currently has two free e-books. We also hope to soon be offering some of our titles as Kindle books (digital books to be read on Kindle machines) for low prices. We hope that in offering these digital versions of our books, readers will have the chance to see the quality of our workmanship before purchasing print versions. Click here to see our available e-books.

8. FREE SHIPPING: Lighthouse Trails offers free shipping on a number of items on our store. You can check out those specials, by clicking here.

Christian or Christ-follower. It’s a distinction that is being made more and more today, and often the latter term, Christ follower, is replacing the former term, Christian. Even many Christian leaders are making the switch. But just what does it mean? Emerging church leader, Erwin McManus says his “goal is to destroy Christianity as a world religion and be a recatalyst for the movement of Jesus Christ.” In McManus’ book, The Barbarian Way, he talks about being “awakened” to a “primal longing that … waits to be unleashed within everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ.” McManus says that the “greatest enemy to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity [i.e., Christians].” A video series on YouTube.com called “Christian No More” (by Christian Community Church) exemplifies this view by portraying those who call themselves Christians as shallow church-goers who wear suits and ties, have Christian bumper stickers on their cars and prefer the King James Version. This belittling video is evidence that it is increasingly more popular to call oneself a Christ follower rather than a Christian.

Interestingly, most of the leaders who seem to be downplaying the name Christian and promoting the appropriation of the term “Christ follower” are contemplative spirituality proponents. One contemplative advocate, Rick Warren, had the term throughout his former pastors.com website. Lee Strobel refers to it in his book Case for Christ (Student Edition), and Wesleyan pastor David Drury has a Christ-Follower Pop Quiz on his web site to help determine if you are really a “Christ Follower.”

This theme of anti-”Christian” sentiment is not going to disappear any time soon. In emerging church leader and labyrinth promoter Dan Kimball’s book called, “They Like Jesus, But Not the Church,” the idea is that you can go for Jesus, but you don’t have to identify yourself as a Christian or part of the Christian church. This concept spills over into some missionary societies too, where they teach people from other religions that they can keep their religion, just add Jesus to the equation. They don’t have to embrace the term “Christian” (see The New Missiology).

So what’s the problem? So what if you want to be a Christ follower instead of a Christian. Well, the problem, when identified, will show you why the Spiritual Formation movement (which is promoted by Purpose Driven, Willow Creek, the emerging church, etc) is so dangerous and misleading.

Let us explain. If you have researched the teachings of contemplative authors, you may have noticed a common message. That message says: If you want to be like Christ, then practice these certain disciplines and you can be like Him. Chuck Swindoll bought into this when he wrote his book, So You Want to Be Like Christ: Eight Essential Disciplines to Get You There. But Swindoll exalts one particular discipline – the silence. In fact, he goes so far as to say you can’t become a deep, meaningful Christian without it. Beth Moore, in the pro-contemplative film, Be Still, says: “[I]f we are not still before Him [God], we will never truly know to the depths of the marrow of our bones that He is God. There’s got to be a stillness.” And this is what contemplatives teach. The one common thread woven throughout spiritual formation teachings is that the silence and being a Christ follower are practically synonymous. You can’t have one without the other. And of course, this silence is induced through meditative practices such as centering prayer, lectio divina, etc.

So what we are witnessing is countless teachers, authors and leaders telling people they can become like Christ through a method that can be learned. Richard Foster teaches that anyone, not just believers, can practice contemplative prayer and become like Christ.

Now here lies the difference between a Christian and a Christ-follower. A person who is truly born-again has Jesus Christ indwelling him. Jesus lives inside that person. And it is His life in him or her that gives the power to become progressively more like Him (sanctification), as Paul said in his address to Corinthian Christians: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18). The believer draws his strength and power from Jesus Christ (who indwells him), and he realizes his salvation and any good thing in him is from Christ; as the Scripture says: “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9).

But being born again or having the indwelling of Jesus Christ is not a prerequisite for the Christendom of today. Spiritual formation can be practiced by anyone. Jesus becomes a model or an example who can be followed and mimicked. For example, Ken Blanchard, says Jesus is a perfect model to follow. That’s why he talks so much about leading like Jesus would lead. But Blanchard has shown time and again that he believes meditation is a key factor in becoming like Jesus.

While Jesus was and is a model, that wasn’t His primary mission. And when people refer to Him as a model, it is often because they see Him as a model for higher consciousness rather than the unique Son of God, Emmanuel (God with us) who came to die for us and be our Savior. And that’s what you find across the board in contemplative writings. Contemplative icons Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen saw Jesus in this manner. This is why Nouwen said it disturbed him when he heard people say Jesus was the only way. He said it was his mission to help people find his or her own way to God (see Sabbatical Journey). That’s also why he saw India as a source for many spiritual “treasures” for the Christian. 1 In an eastern religion like Buddhism, Buddha was a model where his followers were imitators of him. But in Christianity the Spirit of Christ indwells us through faith. So Jesus becomes more than a model; He is a living presence in us. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

This is actually the heart of the whole spiritual formation movement. It supposedly teaches you how to be like Christ, but the power to do this doesn’t come from Jesus Christ living in you (in fact that isn’t a requirement, according to Richard Foster) – but the power to change has to come from somewhere. Where? It comes from meditation! So anyone at all, from any walk of life, from any religion, can be a “Christ follower.” But this does not mean they have Jesus Christ in them. The contemplative prayer movement is misguiding millions into believing that if they practice certain disciplines they can be like Christ, thus securing their spiritual well being. They may come to believe that they have a christ consciousness and are Christ like, yet they do not have the actual power of Christ within. That power can only come from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12).

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16).

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God (I Corinthians 1:18).

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come … Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (II Timothy 3:1,5).

The man who virtually wrote the book on the subject (Centering Prayer), Basil Pennington, made the point of what we are trying to say when he penned these words:

It is my sense, from having meditated with persons from many different [non-Christian] traditions, that in the silence we experience a deep unity. When we go beyond the portals of the rational mind into the experience, there is only one God to be experienced.

Another major contemplative promoter stated:

The new ecumenism involved here is not between Christian and Christian, but between Christians and the grace of other intuitively deep religious traditions.–Tilden Edwards

These two men have both been leaders of the contemplative prayer movement for decades. And it is important to note that evangelical leader Richard Foster endorsed Edwards’ book, Spiritual Friend, from which this last quote came (see back, Celebration of Discipline). Both Pennington and Edwards would call themselves Christ followers, following in the same spiritual path as Jesus Christ followed. But as you can see, both Pennington and Edwards do not accept the view that believing the gospel is a vital prerequisite for having a relationship with the living God. Otherwise they would not have said the above. With this mindset, the message of the cross is rendered useless. And so the question that we must ask ourselves is this: Will we, who have Jesus Christ living in us, call ourselves Christians? Let those of us who name the name of Christ, stand and say, yes, we will be called Christians.

For a complete analysis and documentation of contemplative spirituality and its infiltration into Christendom, we encourage you to read A Time of Departing.

From Roger Oakland of Understand the Times

On August 5,2010, it will be nine years since our son Bryce suddenly passed from this world to his eternal home in heaven. Not a day goes by that we don’t think of him and long for his presence. He was twenty-seven when he left us. If he were alive today, he would have turned 36 on June 23rd.

Several years ago, on my first trip to the country of Myanmar, I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart. Phillip and Mang had shared with me the tremendous need of looking after poor and orphaned children in the country of Myanmar (Burma) that was hopelessly impoverished. When I saw these children face to face and the great need there was to establish Christian homes for their care and education, a thought came to my mind. Would it be possible for Understand The Times to financially assist Christian leaders in Myanmar to establish a place for a few children to be rescued from the clutches of Buddhism and abstract poverty?

Then another thought dropped into my head: Why not initiate a program for children in memory of Bryce! He loved little children. This would be a great project that we could endorse and promote in his memory!

February, 2010, will be the 4th anniversary of the Bryce Lodge program that was launched in 2006. There are now five Bryce Lodges that have been established in Myanmar housing over 80 children. These children have been sponsored by various individuals from all over the world. It has truly been a blessing to see them growing up in a home where they are being provided food, education, clothing, shelter with Christian leaders who have dedicated themselves to their care and Christian upbringing.

Myrna and I thank God for what He has done and what He is doing in the memory of Bryce. We pray that this ministry will continue and that Jesus Christ would receive all the glory for what He has done!

As most of you will know, I spent the last year on the sidelines from ministry because of an accident and breakdown of my health. For months, I did not think that I would ever return to a state where I could be used by the Lord again. Meanwhile, through this difficult time, God’s people continued to support the ministry of Understand The Times and provide support for our Myanmar commitments. Myrna and I are so grateful for this.

One day, just a little over a month ago when I was attempting to force myself to relearn some of the basics on my notebook computer, I came across a video clip of a song sung by Bryce Lodge. Two children that I had recorded on my last trip to Myanmar. The words of the song I will follow touched my heart: If only I could have the same enthusiasm as these children and continue to “follow” the Lord and do His will, I thought. When you listen to the song I know you will understand how the Lord spoke to me through these children.

The clip is available on our UTT web page at: http://www.understandthetimes.org/bl2song.shtml

I want to thank everyone who has contributed through prayer and finances to Understand The Times during my absence from active ministry. Please continue to pray for Myrna and me, Understand The Times, and those who have faithfully stood with us – especially Ron Pierotti, our web master, who truly is a mighty servant of God.
If you would like to assist Understand The Times to support our general expenses for the Bryce Lodge Program which includes support for leaders and the yearly rental for the housing facilities you can do so online, or by sending a check to either our USA or Canadian office.

Sincerely In Christ,
Roger Oakland

Understand The Times, International
________________________________________
email: roakland@aol.com
web: http://www.understandthetimes.org

Lighthouse Trails Research Project | P.O. Box 908 | Eureka | MT | 59917

OFFICE: 406/297-7756  **  FAX: 406/297-7993