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**FEATURE ARTICLE: Wycliffe Bible Translators to “Re-evaluate” Methodology to Removing “Son of God” and “Father” from Bible Translations

February 8, 2012
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The Misguided Aims of the Counterfeit “Church”

By Berit Kjos
Kjos Ministries

Almost two millennia ago, Jesus called His Church to follow Him, delight in His Word and spread His gospel. Thousands did. By faith, they faced torture and persecution, hatred and death. Yet they rejoiced, for they knew they were sharing the life and suffering of Jesus! His eternal Kingdom was far more precious to them than any earthly treasure.

Twelve centuries later, dark clouds shrouded Europe. During the Middle Ages, the “common people” could neither own nor read the Latin Bible. So when John Wycliffe’s first English Bible became available around 1390, a virtual war on Biblical Christianity began. In the years ahead, thousands of faithful martyrs were tortured and killed by Europe’s corrupt Catholic hierarchy for owning the new Bible and spreading God’s Word. For example:

In 1413, John Oldcastle was hanged and burned in Wales. His sin? Living by the truths he found in his new Bible! “Do with me what ye will,” he told his executioners. “Though ye judge my body… ye can do no harm to my soul…. I will stand [true to His Word] to the very death by the grace of my God.”[1]

“The established ‘church’ in Bohemia, accused John Hus of heresy for teaching God’s Word. “Tried” and found guilty in 1415, he was mocked by the crowd and led naked to the stake to be burned. “We commit your soul to the devil,” cried a bishop. When offered a last chance to recant, he answered, “In the truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached I am willing gladly to die today.” Then the fire was lit using pages from the forbidden Wycliffe Bible as kindling. Immersed in flames, he sang, ‘Christ, thou Son of the living God, have mercy upon me.’”[2]

In Germany, the Anabaptists were hounded for their faith. Their emphasis on pacifism and adult baptism offended other Protestant groups as well as the Catholic establishment. So in 1527, when leader Michael Sattler refused to recant his faith, he faced a cruel sentence: the hangman would “cut out his tongue, then chain him to a wagon, tear his body twice with hot tongs… then burn his body to powder as an arch-heretic. Before he died, he prayed with slurred speech, “Almighty eternal God. Thou art the way and the truth…. I will, with Thy help on this day, testify to the truth and seal it with my blood.”[3]

Click here to continue reading and for endnote material.

Related:

John Wickliffe – Standing (and Dying) for the Word of God Against Apostasy and False Doctrine

Lighthouse Trails resources on the persecuted church

 

Roger Oakland Shares Gospel at High Security Prison in the Philippines

By Roger Oakland

Our day spent at the New Bilibid Prison, maximum security compound located in Muntinlupo City was an experience of a lifetime. We arrived at 9 am and took over an hour to go through registration, identification and screening. As this was my third time at this prison I was somewhat familiar with what to expect. However, it was obvious that since our last visit security had been upgraded.

Pastor Richard brought several friends who were involved with him in prison ministry. One of the brothers was an ex-convict himself who had been released December of 2010. We went immediately to the Calvary Chapel facility where we were to speak but discovered there had been a miscommunication regarding the time we were to begin. Instead of 10 am it was 1 pm. We had about three hours in the prison before our seminar.

The brother who was the ex-convict (Jo Jo by name) disappeared for a moment and came back saying he had contacted a warden that he knew and that we had been invited to speak within a cell block to prisoners who never attended church services and had little knowledge of the gospel. It was obvious by this time that this meeting had to be God ordained. Our group headed to the cell block, chairs were set up for about 30 prisoners and a podium was placed directly in front of them.

I have spoken in many places under many circumstances around the world but this situation was unique. Heavy clad steel doors that were unlocked during the day, lined both walls. Once we had started, prisoners popped out of the cells to see what was going on and joined the group. Click here to continue reading and for ongoing updates.

The Misguided Aims of the Counterfeit “Church”
Roger Oakland Shares Gospel at High Security Prison in the Philippines
Wycliffe Bible Translators to “Re-evaluate” Methodology to Removing “Son of God” and “Father” from Bible Translations
What’s Wrong With a More Social Gospel?
Washington State House committee approves homosexual marriage bill
The Cross Versus the Higher Self
An Afternoon with a Spiritual Formation Professor at a North American Bible School
Strong Reader Response to Let There Be Light
3 DAY SPECIAL OFFER FOR LET THERE BE LIGHT - 3 Books for Price of 2
Become Part of our Mission Work in Kenya
7 FREE THINGS FOR OUR READERS
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Wycliffe Bible Translators to “Re-evaluate” Methodology to Removing “Son of God” and “Father” from Bible Translations

LTRP Note: This is a follow up of our article ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ Ousted from the Trinity in New Bible Translations by Wycliffe and 2 Other Groups .

In a growing controversy where Wycliffe Bible Translators is removing “familial terms” such as Son of God and Father in their Bible translations in order to accommodate Muslim readers, the organization posted a statement on February 7th, saying:

While we have never intentionally sponsored a translation that neglects to properly communicate the divine familial terms, some observers have raised concerns about whether our methodology has consistently met our goal. We are listening to those concerns and are seeking God’s guidance as we re-evaluate our methodology and investigate to ensure that our commitment to accurate and clear translation is being reflected in every project. We are engaged in meaningful conversations with partner organizations, constituents, and church leaders to evaluate our standards, and expect to be prepared to issue a more complete statement soon. Thank you for your patience and prayer as we seek to fulfill our mission to make God’s Word accessible to all people.1

This statement came on the heels of Wycliffe issuing a statement a few days earlier than the one above, criticizing accusations that they had indeed been removing the terms. That earlier statement said:

Wycliffe is not omitting or removing the familial terms, translated in English as “Son of God” or “Father,” from any Scripture translation. Erroneous information and rumors on the internet have recently raised questions concerning this issue.

A large public response caused Wycliffe and their “sister organization,” SIL International (the translating arm of Wycliffe), to make the February 7th re-evaluation statement. Lighthouse Trails contacted Wycliffe on the 7th and asked the names of the “constituents” and “church leaders” who were “engag[ing] in meaningful conversations to help Wycliffe evaluate this situation. We were directed to the President’s Office to leave a message, but no one got back to us. Upon further research, we discovered that one of the “ministry partnerships” that Wycliffe lists on their website is YWAM.2 This, of course, produces even more concern because of YWAM’s promotion of what we call the “new” missiology, which would include doing things like changing the names Son of God and Father to lessen any offense to Muslims.

Wycliffe calls SIL International their “primary strategic partner,” whom Lighthouse Trails also spoke with and who has also now posted a response to this practice of removing familial terms from their Bible translations. The SIL statement said:

SIL announces that as of today, February 6, 2012, in situations where we are involved and partnering with others in translation, and have the responsibility to do so, we will put on hold our approval of publication of translated Scripture around which this criticism is focused.

We expect this dialogue with partners, and the corresponding hold period, to commence immediately and run for an extended period.

In light of a number of questions raised about our Best Practices Statement on the translation of Divine Familial Terms, we recognize it is important to have a fuller dialogue with our many partners globally and benefit from their input to our approach in Scripture translation related to this issue. Since questions about our commitment to these translation principles have been raised, we will proactively engage to understand the concerns, clarify misunderstandings, and where indicated, adjust practice. 3

It is clear that Wycliffe and SIL did not anticipate such a strong public response regarding their “approval of publication” to alter the familial terms in their Bible translations. An article from World Magazine titled “Holding Translators Accountable” offers some interesting insights to the controversy. The article addresses a meeting held last year in Istanbul where discussion took place on how to translate the phrase “Son of God” and “God the Father” in Muslim contexts. The “private” meeting was called by Wycliffe and SIL. The World Magazine article stated: “Through several days of conversations between attendees in Istanbul who had been deeply divided on the matter, the participants agreed on new translation standards . . . Soon after the Istanbul meeting, Wycliffe/SIL officials began briefing staff members on the new standards.”

The World Magazine article relays the story of a couple who were being trained to do mission work for Wycliffe. During the training, the couple began to grow increasingly concerned about the direction Wycliffe may be heading:

Wycliffe required David to read Muslims, Christians, and Jesus, a book by Carl Medearis, an advocate of several ideas associated with the “insider movement,” something the Irvines didn’t know anything about at the time.

The movement generally questions the need for outward “conversion” to Christianity as long as someone has a personal relationship with Christ, and “contextualizes” Christian teaching and practice for Muslim cultures by finding common ground between the two.

Believers in the following video talk about the “insider movement” and how it is causing a lot of confusion and problems for faithful Bible-believing missionaries (click here if you cannot view this video).

The book by Carl Medearis that Wycliffe told the couple (in the World Magazine article) to read advocates the “insider” viewpoint. Medearis states the following in his book:

Truth be told, there is a growing number of Muslims around the world who maintain their cultural identity as “Muslim” but choose to align themselves with the spiritual and moral teachings of Jesus, becoming his disciples while becoming what “Muslim” really means: ‘Submitted to God.’ (p. 134)

If [a Muslim] can retain his cultural identity and yet follow Jesus without having to convert his religious title to Christianity, he benefits in that he can keep his family and his normal healthy relationships. He also can begin what I like to call ‘an insider movement toward Jesus as Christ. (p136)

Roger Oakland addresses this “new” missiology in his book Faith Undone. In Oakland’s article (an excerpt of Faith Undone) “The New Look of Christian Missions,” he explains:

Emerging spirituality is changing the way missions is being conducted. 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 they can keep their religion, just add Jesus to the equation. They don’t have to embrace the term Christian.

Oakland continues:

A May/June 2000 issue of Watchman’s Trumpet magazine explains what this new missiology really entails:

“Several international missions organizations, including Youth With a Mission (YWAM), are testing a new approach to missionary work in areas where Christianity is unwelcome. A March 24, 2000, Charisma News Service report said some missionaries are now making converts but are allowing them to “hold on to many of their traditional religious beliefs and practices” so as to refrain from offending others within their culture.”

The Charisma article in which Watchman’s Trumpet reports elaborates:

“’Messianic Muslims’ who continue to read the Koran, visit the mosque and say their daily prayers but accept Christ as their Savior, are the products of the strategy, which is being tried in several countries, according to Youth With a Mission (YWAM), one of the organizations involved.”

The Charisma story reports that a YWAM staff newsletter notes the new converts’ lifestyle changes (or lack thereof):

They [the new converts] continued a life of following the Islamic requirements, including mosque attendance, fasting and Koranic reading, besides getting together as a fellowship of Muslims who acknowledge Christ as the source of God’s mercy for them.

When one of the largest missionary societies (YWAM) becomes a proponent of the new missiology, telling converts they can remain in their own religious traditions, the disastrous results should be quite sobering for any discerning Christian. (Oakland, Faith Undone, ch. 10)

Mike Oppenheimer (Let Us Reason Ministries) and Sandy Simpson (Deception in the Church) have done extensive research on the matter and address it in their book on the indigenous people’s movement, Idolatry in Their Hearts. Oppenheimer and Simpson present page after page of documentation showing this paradigm shift in Christian missions. They ask the question, “Can one be a Hindu or a Muslim and follow Jesus?” They explain why the answer is no:

One cannot be in relationship with Jesus within the confines of a false religion. One must leave his or her religion to follow Jesus, not just add Him on….

This broadens Jesus’ statement of the road being narrow into a wide, all encompassing concept. What is concerning is that these same kinds of statements are also made by those who are New Agers that hold a universal view. (Idolatry in Their Hearts, p. 358).

In an article by Mike Oppenheimer “A ‘New Evangelism’ for the 21st Century,” Oppenheimer states:

Can a Christian now call himself a Muslim? The word Muslim is made up of two words, Islam and Mu. Muslim does not just mean submission; it means submission to the God Allah; not the Lord Jesus Christ or Yahweh. Can a Muslim be called a Christian and walk with Allah? This seems to make no doctrinal or practical sense, unless they change the names and the meaning. This only brings confusion. Why do this when you can introduce Yahweh as the true God without any baggage and shuffling around in names, nature or descriptions? The answer is that you may not see the same results. This is what this is all about isn’t it, results; pragmatism, the end justifies the means.

In Faith Undone, Roger Oakland elaborates on this “new” missiology. Oakland discusses an article titled “Christ-Followers in India Flourishing Outside the Church,” from which the following statement is made regarding the research of Herbert Hoefer (author of Churchless Christianity):

In striking research undertaken in the mid-eighties and published in 1991, Herbert E. Hoefer found that the people of Madras City are far closer to historic Christianity than the populace of any cities in the western Christian world could ever claim to be. Yet these are not Christians, but rather Hindus and Muslims. In their midst is a significant number of true believers in Christ who openly confess to faith in fundamental Biblical doctrines, yet remain outside the institutional church.

Oakland explains that the article “expands this idea that one does not need to become a Christian or to change his religious practices; he just needs to add Jesus to his spiritual equation ” as shown by a further statement by the article:

However, some might argue that this [the "smothering embrace of Hinduism"] is the danger with the ishta devata strategy I am proposing. It will lead not to an indigenous Christianity but to a Christianized Hinduism. Perhaps more accurately we should say a Christ-ized Hinduism. I would suggest that really both are the same, and therefore we should not worry about it. We do not want to change the culture or the religious genius of India. We simply want to bring Christ and His Gospel into the center of it.

Oakland shares his concerns about Herbert Hoefer’s research:

[Hoefer's] idea [is] that rather than “changing or rejecting” the Hindu and Muslim culture missionaries should be “Christ-izing” it. He says there are thousands of believers in India whom he refers to as “non-baptized believers.” Reasons for the believers not becoming baptized vary, but usually it is because they will suffer financial or social loss and status. Hoefer admits that these non-baptized believers are not Christians, and usually they do not choose to call themselves that. In many of his examples, these non-baptized believers continue practicing their religious rituals so as not to draw suspicion or ridicule from family and friends. Hoefer explains one story:

“[There is] a young man of lower caste who earns his livelihood by playing the drum at Hindu festivals and functions. ‘All this is what I must do,’ he said, ‘but my faith is in Christ. Outside I am a Hindu, but inside I am a Christian.’”

Roger continues:

Another family of the Nayar caste consisted of a wife, her husband and one son. Hoefer describes their situation:

“[H]er husband and son have been believers in Christ for eight years. They both had studied in Christian schools and learned of Christ. The husband’s father had a vision of Christ, and one brother also is a non-baptised believer. The husband does not join his wife in coming to Church, but he occasionally joins her for the big public meetings. They do not have family devotions, but worship Jesus along with the Hindu gods in their home. Their approach to the Hindu festivals is to carry them out but to think of God, not Jesus specifically.” (source)

Oakland says “[I am not] “here to judge whether these non-baptized believers are truly born again. That is for the Lord to decide. My concern lies with the way missions is changing and how the Gospel is being presented. To say that someone does not have to leave their pagan religion behind, and in fact they don’t have to even stop calling themselves Hindu or Muslim, is not presenting the teachings of the Bible” (Faith Undone, chapter 10).

In an article by columnist Paul Proctor, The ‘Camel Method’ of Evangelism is Not Biblical, Proctor addresses other aspects of this new way of doing missions:

I have addressed, on numerous occasions, the Church’s ongoing efforts to reinvent Christianity into a global religion of Results & Relationships by using the powers of pragmatism and consensus to artificially grow itself into something more widely accepted by the world instead of faithfully proclaiming the Word of God “in season and out” as we are commanded to do in 2nd Timothy 4:2.

Proctor talks about a story where “Christians are encouraged by a ‘veteran missionary’ to employ what’s called “The Camel Method” to evangelize, where the Quran is used, instead of the Bible, to share Christ with Muslims – a method that reportedly utilizes ‘selected verses’ and ‘doesn’t teach or lecture, but asks questions.’ Proctor is concerned about this approach:

[W]here in God’s Word are we commanded to “take up thy Quran” and “go ye into all the world and start a movement?” It’s alarming enough that the Bible is set aside with this method of “evangelism,” but it’s outright heresy that Jesus Christ is presented as the son of Allah, since Allah was widely recognized and worshipped as a pagan moon god even before there was a Mohammed. How then can the truth set you free if it begins with a lie?

There are many changes taking place within evangelical/Protestant missions today. What Wycliffe and SIL are doing, in conjunction with organizations like YWAM, is part of this paradigm shift toward a “new” progressive emerging missiology. Paul Proctor urges biblical Christians to beware:

The leaders of the new spirituality and its church growth movement have always had a hard time avoiding the “wide gate” and “broad way” choosing clever methods of “evangelism” that are not only incompatible with God’s Word, but also prove them unwilling to trust Him with the increase – ever looking for something more clever, spectacular and impressive to glory in and boast about to a watching world.

While advocates of the “new” missiology are taking the “fruit” of evangelism into their own hands by manipulating and distorting biblical truth to make it more palatable for the lost, trusting God alone to reap the harvest of true biblical evangelism is being put on a back burner. We pray that Wycliffe Bible Translators will truly re-evaluate the direction they are heading and reject the “new” missiology. We pray they will not succumb to pressures by other organizations that are telling them they must get on board this progressive missiology. We are instructed in Scripture to plant and to water and to trust the Lord to give the increase. If this new way of mission work had been practiced by the apostle Paul and the other disciples, they probably wouldn’t have been martyred, but they were willing to count the cost of discipleship. They could have kept their conversion to Christianity a secret, but they didn’t; they did not compromise nor hide their faith to anyone, and for this they were martyred. Similarly, in present day Christianity there is a paradox where Muslims and Hindus converting to Christianity encounter extreme persecution while others hope to avoid persecution by hiding their faith. Roger Oakland reminds us that “Paul exhorted believers to be willing to give up all for the sake of having Christ.” Shouldn’t missionary societies such as Wycliffe and YWAM do so as well?

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

What’s Wrong With a More Social Gospel?

by Paul Proctor
Free-Lance Writer
(used with permission)

In an article for Christianity Today titled, “A More Social Gospel,” C.L. Lopez writes about a new evangelical emphasis emerging on college campuses:

There has been a definitive shift in how campus ministries think about connecting with students,” said Kara Powell, executive director of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary. “More and more campus leaders are realizing that the gospel is both personal evangelism and justice.

The gospel is “justice”?

If there is any “justice” to the gospel, it is that the Lord Jesus Christ took our “justice” on the cross to satisfy the debt we incurred in our rebellion against God. But that’s not what “social justice” or the “social gospel” is about.

Lopez continues:

Scott Bessenecker, associate director of missions for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, said students within the organization’s 850 groups on 562 campuses have focused more on social causes in recent years.

As Mr. Bessenecker points out, their “focus” is “more on social causes” which, frankly, is not the gospel Christians are called to proclaim. Still, he added:

[We] want to engage students with a Jesus who walks among the marginalized,” Bessenecker said. “InterVarsity is trying to help students embrace and engage the social dimensions of the gospel in a way that will inspire individuals to say, ‘I want to follow this Jesus.’

How many Jesus’ does Mr. Bessenecker think there are?

First of all, when one talks about the “marginalized” in general, they are usually referring to those outside the mainstream of society. But then, one could make the case that all minorities feel “marginalized” at some point along life’s way, from African Americans to fundamentalist Christians to homosexual activists to witches.

In fact, I would dare say that most individuals have, at one time or another, felt to some degree, “marginalized.” So, in this context, statements like Jesus “walks among the marginalized” might have a universal appeal and even sound compassionately Christian, but in reality, may not be at all biblical or even relevant with respect to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. And that is my concern here.

Moreover, it has been my experience that whenever someone refers to “a Jesus,” they’re probably not talking about the Jesus of the Bible, but instead, a less scriptural and more worldly personality that appeals to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life” – a “Jesus” more useful in advancing earthly agendas than those of heaven.

“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” – 2nd Corinthians 11:4

The social gospel and its increasingly popular “social justice” campaign is not an acceptable substitute for preaching repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Its promoters all too often set aside the vertical, spiritual and eternal issues of sin, rebellion, obedience, holiness and reverence toward God in order to redirect the focus toward more horizontal, physical and temporal values. In the end, the flesh is, for a time, fed and comforted, but the souls of sinners are left abandoned to biblical ignorance because disobedient do-gooders have spiritually sidetracked the Church and its mission.

And then there was this in the CT piece:

Josh Spavin, an intern with the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Campus Crusade for Christ chapter, said traditional evangelistic outreach still works, but times have changed with this generation.

It “still works, but times have changed?” Sounds like dialectic doubletalk to me – designed to carefully steer the undiscerning in a new worldly direction without alarming or offending anyone.

The article went on to say:

Students tend to not just take it unless they experience it or see it in someone else’s life,” Spavin said. “It is still the same gospel and it is still the love of Christ that is being shared – it is just a different tactic.

“For by tactics are ye saved?” Is that what the Apostle Paul taught in Ephesians?

The “love of Christ” is obedience to His Word, not doing what is right in our own eyes to “connect” with people and win their favor so they might hopefully hear the truth someday. If we put our relationships with each other over and above our relationship with Jesus Christ and withhold the whole counsel of God so as not to offend, not only are we breaking the two greatest commandments given, we are yielding to the flesh and prince of this world.

I would say the greatest failure of the Church today is its unwillingness to say and do the unpopular thing. Too many Christians busy themselves these days trying to come up with new ways of being admired and desired by the world rather than simply being obedient to the Lord they claim to love.

With a self-sustaining focus on acquiring evermore results and relationships (i.e., “church growth”) by way of pragmatism and consensus, none of which is biblical, today’s Christians are, by and large, being persuaded and trained week after week to embrace surveys, marketing principles, public relations programs and people skills as their new commandments with dialectically-trained consultants and facilitators posing as prophets and preachers – people pleasers who know how to work the crowd and steer the herd while selectively applying the scriptures as needed to maintain a biblical appearance of righteousness and religiosity.

We’re essentially giving people what they want at church these days in hopes they will reciprocate with more participation and support. How is this “tactic” any different from those used on Wall Street and in Washington D.C.?

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

Related Articles:

“They Hate Christianity But Love (Another) Jesus” – How Conservative Christians Are Being Manipulated and Ridiculed, Especially During Election Years

“Contextualization” of the Gospel – A Free-Falling Catastrophe

Will the Evangelical Church Sell Out the Gospel for a Dominionist Political Agenda?

Washington State House committee approves homosexual marriage bill

 By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A House committee on Monday advanced a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington state, and the Senate is expected to vote on its companion bill within days.

The House Judiciary Committee approved its gay marriage bill on a party line vote, with seven Democrats voting for it, and six Republicans voting in opposition.

Three Republican amendments were rejected, including one that would have added private businesses and individuals, such as bakers and photographers, to the religious exemption in the measure that doesn’t require religious organizations or churches to perform marriages, and doesn’t subject them to penalties if they don’t marry gay or lesbian couples.

Rep. Jay Rodne, R-Snoqualmie, called the bill “an act of raw political power to modify the definition of marriage.” Read more, click here.

The Cross Versus the Higher Self
by Ray Yungen 

The New Age and Christianity definitely clash on the answer to the question of human imperfection. The former [the New Age] espouses the doctrine of becoming self-realized and united with the universe, which they see as God but in reality is the realm of familiar spirits. On the other hand, the Gospel that Christians embrace offers salvation to humanity through grace (unmerited favor). Romans 3:24 boldly states: “… being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” In Romans 6:23 we read: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This gift is not earned or given as a reward for earnest or good intentions as Scripture clearly states:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

This Scripture that tackles the issue of pride sharply distinguishes all of man’s religions from Christianity. Religion persuades us that man is innately good and, therefore, can earn his way to heaven through human perfectibility or, better yet, through the realization of his own divinity. Christianity emphatically states the opposite view that man needs to humbly recognize his own sinfulness and fallibility, and consequently needs salvation through grace.

The Holy Spirit, through the Scripture, convicts the sinner of his sinful and lost condition and then presents to the despairing and repentant man God’s solution–salvation through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the Cross: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7) and then:

[I]f you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

Salvation is entirely a gift of grace bestowed on whoever believes in Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross as both God and man. Consequently, we must receive Him as Lord and Savior, understanding that it is by grace and grace alone that we are made acceptable in Christ before a holy God. Justification is God’s gift to the believer. This saving faith, also a demonstration of God’s grace, is more than an intellectual belief in Jesus’ death on the Cross but involves committing and entrusting one’s life to Jesus as both Lord and Savior–Christ’s going to the Cross was a finished work, and we as believers are now complete in Him. Nothing else can be added to this. How totally opposite from New Age thinking is God’s plan of salvation!

It all comes down to the preaching of the higher self versus the preaching of the Cross. New Agers may say God is synonymous with a person’s higher self, and the experience of God can only be discovered by way of meditation. However, the Christian admits his or her sinfulness before a Holy God and remembers he is saved only by the grace and mercy of God through the sacrificial shedding of Christ’s blood for his sins.

The message of Jesus Christ reaches out to the lost human race with the love of God who sacrificed His only begotten Son for the Swami Muktanandas of the world. The Bible teaches that man has an inherently rebellious and ungodly nature (which is evident), and his ways are naturally self-centered and evil in the sight of God. The Bible teaches that God is not indifferent to us. The sacrifice of Christ for the ungodly to reconcile us to God reveals the Lord’s love toward Man.

This explains why Christianity must be steadfast on these issues. If a belief system does not teach the preaching of the Cross, then it is not “the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18). If other ways are correct, “then Christ died in vain,” rendering His shed blood unnecessary and immaterial (Galatians 2:21).

Because of this conflict, we can safely assume that Christianity is the most formidable obstacle to the New Age, standing like a bulwark against this tidal wave of meditation teachers and practical mystics. But, incredibly, many of the most successful practical mystics are appearing from within Christendom itself. Ironically, instead of stemming the momentum of New Age spirituality, it is our own churches that may very well be the decisive catalysts to propel this movement into prominence. Certain spiritual practices are becoming entrenched in our churches that, like an iceberg, seem beautiful and impressive on the surface but in reality will cause severe damage and compromise of truth.(from A Time of Departing, pp.24-26)

 

An Afternoon with a Spiritual Formation Professor at a North American Bible School

LTRP Note: Before reading this excerpt, please read a note we have written to explain why we have posted this excerpt: Reader finds “An Afternoon with a Spiritual Formation Professor at a North American Bible School” to be “Junk”

Excerpt from the novel Castles in the Sand by Carolyn A. Greene

A small twirling crystal, hanging from a thread on a curtain rod, caught the sunlight making tiny spots of brilliant colors dance playfully on the walls and ceiling that were painted a deep indigo color.

Tessa’s eyes continued to look around the room then rested on a large oil painting that hung on the wall across from where she sat. The artist had depicted an extraordinarily beautiful scene of a medieval castle rising out of the mist. The castle almost appeared to be floating in mid-air. Tessa loved it. She looked around the room and smiled. She also loved the way the varying colors in the room were so tastefully coordinated.

Adding to the ambiance, gauze curtains filtered the mid-afternoon sunlight, providing the room with a gentle warmth that soothed the soul. Additional lengths of gauze had been strategically hung, dividing the room into different listening spaces, as Ms. Jasmine called them.

A coffee table held some books and a small, star-shaped vanilla candle. Its sweet aroma wafted gently through the air, adding to the aura of peace and tranquility.

Ms. Jasmine was dressed casually today, although her platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a glamorous roll held together with a jewel-studded clasp that caught the sunlight whenever she turned her head. Tessa couldn’t help but notice how much she reminded her of her own mother.

Before beginning with her usual prayer, Ms. Jasmine had lit the candle and waited quietly for the moment of silence to pass. Tessa always enjoyed these moments of deep breathing, necessary to refocus her thoughts from the outward to the inward.

“We thank you for this mysterious universal gift of prayer that is offered to all who will receive it,” Ms. Jasmine prayed softly. “As we sit in stillness and silence, we wait to be infused in the Light.”

For some reason, curiosity got the better of Tessa this afternoon. She slowly raised her head, opened her eyes, and watched in fascination as her mentor, or rather her spiritual director, prayed. She noted with astonishment that Ms. Jasmine didn’t bow her head and fold her hands to pray the way Gramps always did. Instead, her head was up and her hands were at her side, thumbs and pointer fingers pressed together in a circle. Now as she opened her eyes, Tessa looked away, embarrassed, and pretended not to notice.

“Well. What comes to mind this week, Tessa? What has the Spirit been saying to you?” Ms. Jasmine inquired, her gold bracelets jangling as she rubbed her temples.

“Is it OK if I just read out of my journal this week, Ms. Jazz?” Tessa replied as she pulled a spiral-bound notebook from her backpack.

“That would be delightful,” said Ms. Jasmine, crossing her legs and making herself comfortable on the oversized, red-and-gold-tasseled cushion. She leaned against the wall and picked up her cup of steaming hot green tea. “Today is a double session, remember? We have all the time in the world. Begin!”
Tessa opened her journal.

“Oh my stars! Did you draw that horse?” gasped Ms. Jasmine, pointing at Tessa’s notebook.

“Uh . . . oh, yeah. I like to doodle sometimes—it’s nothing much.”

“I had a horse once. Well, she wasn’t mine. But she was mine to look after and ride. A beautiful mare . . . she had a foal. A pretty little thing . . .” Ms. Jasmine spoke with a faraway look in her eye as she proceeded to tell Tessa the story of how on one dark night, when the vet had pulled into the driveway, she ran out from the barn crying until she couldn’t breathe. She ran barefoot into the foothills shaking her fist at God for taking away the only thing she’d ever loved. She had begged God to save the animal, but He hadn’t listened. The mare died, and the tiny foal wasn’t expected to survive.

“Early the next morning, I packed a small bag, found the keys, then started the old farm pickup and took off,” Ms. Jasmine added in a sad mournful way. “I drove away from that farmhouse and . . . well, no use reliving the past now.”

“That must have been a sad time for you. My horse actually belongs to—” Tessa began.

“Wait . . .” Ms. Jasmine cupped her hand around her ear and looked at the window. “Do you hear that? Do you hear bees?”

“Ms. Jazz?” Tessa turned her head toward the window. She couldn’t see or hear any bees. The room was perfectly quiet.

“Never mind. It’s hot in here. Isn’t it hot in here? Would you be a dear and open the window?”

Tessa rose from her cushion and walked to the window. When she tried to open it, it was stuck. She pushed a little harder, and up it went. Instantly a freezing blast of winter air blew the curtains wildly around her face.

“Ah yes, that feels good. Thank you, dear. Now come back and sit down.” Ms. Jasmine took a deep breath and leaned against the wall again. Tessa could see the steam rising from her teacup. “Enough horse stories. One can’t live in the past. Attachments are merely sources of pain and distraction. St. Teresa knew that. Even the Buddha knew that. Now tell me, where were we?”

Tessa gave Ms. Jasmine a long look, picked up her journal, and sat down. She was quite used to Ms. Jasmine’s unpredictable mood swings by now and had even come to expect them. They no longer alarmed her. She always mellowed soon afterward.

How could anyone not be mellow in this room? Ms. Jasmine (the most recent faculty addition at Flat Plains Bible College, who had come to the school highly recommended by the Spiritual Transformation Institute–the most sought-after training center for spiritual formation leaders in North America) had transformed everything. The only thing unchanged in the old prayer room in the Thompson Building was the stained glass window. It was no longer just any old prayer room. It was the Sacred Space. And it was in this room that the more promising students from the spiritual formation classes received personal one-on-one counseling from Ms. Jasmine.

Under her direction, Tessa had been journaling for the past several months. Every morning after a twenty-minute listening exercise, Tessa had faithfully pulled out her pen and notebook and recorded the words she heard Jesus speak to her. It was always thrilling to reread the messages her pen had written, but lately she had become increasingly exhausted by these exercises. Well, exercise is supposed to make you tired, she reasoned. Now she read aloud the words Jesus had spoken to her earlier that morning:

“January 9—‘When I brought you to Flat Plains you were angry. You thought I wouldn’t talk to you, and even if I did, you didn’t want to hear me. Now, since we met on the beach and in the labyrinth, you are finally listening to my voice. How pleased I am that you are not afraid to listen anymore.’”
Tessa stopped for a moment and looked up.

“Can I close the window now?” she asked, shivering.

Ms. Jasmine’s eyes were closed, her face an expression of serenity. She made a graceful shooing motion with a ring-bejeweled hand. “Fine.”
Tessa closed the window and placed her jacket around her shoulders before sitting down. “This is what I wrote today . . . just some of my thoughts,” Tessa continued.

“Please go on,” said Ms. Jasmine, eyes still shut.

“It was a frosty morning last fall when I first walked the outdoor labyrinth, and my idea of what prayer meant was totally changed. Before walking the labyrinth, I always thought prayer was saying lofty words to God who was somewhere way up there. But what I have experienced as I’ve been practicing awareness exercises and the listening prayer is that it’s only in the silence that I can hear His voice. That first day in the labyrinth is where it started. As we took turns walking, I felt moved, as Jesus met me in the center where He was waiting for me. He spoke to me in that still small voice and told me I was gifted. I wasn’t sure at first if it was His voice, but since then I’ve had an awareness of His presence. It is as if God is in everything around me and in me too.”

Tessa looked up for a moment, then continued. “I’ve also been having the same dream, that I am riding my horse across the drawbridge into the courtyard of a beautiful ancient castle. I can hear someone calling my name, so I explore all the rooms to see who is calling me. Each room is more beautiful, more wonderful than the last, with tables full of food. I have a taste from each table, and go to the next, but I always wake up before I can go up the stairs to the last room, which is locked. I wake up imagining what it would be like in that room, and I know it is the voice of God calling me to the secret room. I try to get back to my dream, but can only imagine . . .”

Imagine . . . Ms. Jasmine’s mind drifted, as Tessa continued to read. She thought about the presentation she had given to the faculty members at the Flat Plains leadership prayer retreat last year. They had seemed mesmerized as she explained the spiritual benefits of praying in a labyrinth. The Spiritual Transformation Institute determined long ago that this was usually the most successful way to introduce Christians to the concept of assimilating breathing exercises and the prayer of the heart into their prayer life.

“Just imagine,” Ms. Jasmine had said to the leaders, “getting your students to pray more in one afternoon than they would normally pray in an entire week. Once they try it, you won’t be able to stop them from spending time in prayer. The average prayer walk through the labyrinth takes about forty-five minutes, and as you walk, you use both the left and right sides of your brain. This helps to center your thoughts and focus on Jesus. It not only opens you up to God, but also helps give you a new perspective on the depths of the meaning of prayer. Most people say they have a profound experience during a prayer walk and are never the same again. Is your prayer life dry? Do you want to revitalize the spirituality of your students? I encourage you to walk in the labyrinth this afternoon, to see for yourselves if what I am saying is true.”

They had all been eager to try it. All, that is, except for two narrow-minded, uptight faculty members. Later that afternoon while the other staff members were walking and meditating along the circular path of the labyrinth, those two resisters had met in the prayer chapel and quietly closed the door. They were in there at least two hours, she remembered. Then, later that evening, they’d asked to meet privately with the college president. Evidently, the meeting hadn’t gone the way they’d hoped. Both had left the room an hour later, glassy-eyed and shoulders drooping. They were a picture of despair, Ms. Jasmine recalled. In September, she’d noted with interest that one of them was no longer at the school.

The other staff members, however, had been much more open-minded to the labyrinth. In fact, their experience had left them mightily impressed. So much so, Ms. Jasmine had received a call from the president of Flat Plains who asked her to assess the possibility of constructing a permanent labyrinth on their campus. Of course, she’d been thrilled to custom-design the large outdoor labyrinth for the enthusiastic staff, especially when they agreed to put her name on the dedication plaque. There had been just one problem. The only available green space had been the soccer field, but since Flat Plains had decided to place more emphasis on their new environmental awareness program and less on their sports program, the vote was eighteen to two in favor of the new plan to build an outdoor labyrinth on it that fall. Indoor soccer would have to suffice.

Much to her delight, Ms. Jasmine had also been invited to accept the recently vacated position of Campus Counselor, in addition to providing assistance with the new spiritual formation class they’d been planning for some time. And now here she was, in this beautiful, newly redesigned room. It was hers, and she loved it.

“Ms. Jazz?”

“Yes, Tessa,” she answered quietly, as she shook her head from side to side and opened her eyes.

Tessa shivered. She always had an uneasy feeling when Ms. Jasmine stared right through her like that, but she knew it was an honor to have a spiritual professor of her reputation spend extra personal time with her. Ms. Jasmine had mentioned once in passing that she could charge eighty dollars an hour for private lessons if she was working at a spiritual direction service.

“I haven’t told anyone,” Tessa continued, “and I’m not sure how to describe this . . . but the last time we did the labyrinth with our class—the winter solstice walk—I felt as if I was in a shower of white light, just like you said might happen to some people. At first I thought it was the snowflakes reflecting the light from our candles, but the light slowly entered my head and flowed down to my feet. I felt as if I was . . . bathed in light. Even though it was below zero and freezing, I felt warm, and time seemed to stand still. I forgot about everyone and everything else.”

Ms. Jasmine smiled and nodded. She was pleased to see this girl far more open to enlightenment than the others seemed to be.

“Do you think that was the divine illumination you’ve been talking about . . . where Jesus meets us in the center of the labyrinth? Is this the place St. Teresa of Avila wrote about? Is this the center of the castle of our souls?”

Ms. Jasmine took a long breath and leaned forward. “Tessa,” she began slowly, “you have learned a great deal since you came here. Now here is what I think. I believe these experiences you have been having are definitely divine. I know it is from the Master Jesus, because hearing about your experience fills me with peace and tranquility. It also reminds me of something else.”

She took another sip of tea and set the cup on the floor, deep in thought. “Some who have been enlightened like this . . .” She paused, then spoke more slowly with each word, “have called this . . . the middle eye of the labyrinth. God has His eye on you, my child. You are the apple of His eye.”
Tessa felt her eyes well up with tears.

“If only more of our students could be so remarkably connected with their Christ consciousness. I am so pleased. Before we end our session together today, we must have a prayer!”

Tessa was good with that. How much she had changed since she first arrived at this school! How much she had matured! God had chosen her and was even speaking to her personally through her daily spiritual disciplines. The spark she thought had died long ago was now being rekindled. Nothing was quite as exhilarating as that. She decided she would open herself completely to all He had to give her.
Ms. Jasmine came and stood behind her. Tessa waited.

“Aren’t you . . . going to pray?”

“I already am,” Ms. Jasmine whispered, “silently. You may close your eyes and concentrate on the light within you. Praying is a skill we must all learn to actualize. Visualize Christ here in this room.”
“Oh. OK.”

Tessa thought she could sense a presence moving around her . . . Ms. Jasmine’s hands, she presumed, as she could hear the tinkling of her jewelry . . . and then a strange thing happened. She felt a prickly sensation begin in her head and move downward through to the end of her fingertips. Her hands felt warm, and she felt something well up inside her, like a lump forming in the throat, only it came from deeper within.

“Wha . . . what is that?” she asked, startled, not sure whether to be fearful or to welcome this new sensation. Suddenly, she had the same doubt she’d experienced the first time she did a lectio divina reading in the courtyard of the school, when she’d thought someone had called her name, but she had been alone. It was also like the first time she’d walked the labyrinth last September and thought she’d felt a presence when she reached its center and heard a voice saying, “Don’t be afraid.” Tessa hadn’t been sure whether she could trust her feelings, or the voices.

“It’s the divine energy of the Spirit’s healing touch you are sensing, my dear.” Ms. Jasmine always had a comforting answer.

“Ohhh! That’s amazing! Ms. Jazz, I was wondering . . . do you ever sense the feeling, like a presence, or that your soul is, like, weightless? Maybe that’s a dumb question.”

Ms. Jasmine was quiet for a minute, as if listening for the answer before she gave it. “Ah yes, this is what St. Teresa meant when she wrote in the Fifth Mansion of The Interior Castle that “as soon as the soul, by prayer, becomes entirely dead to the world, out it flies like a lovely little white butterfly!”
It seemed Ms. Jasmine had memorized the whole book.

“She also spoke of a presence we may sometimes feel is near us, even if we cannot see anyone. ‘Is it Christ, or His glorious Mother, or a saint? . . . The soul will recognize which saint has been sent by God to be its helper or companion.’ In the same way, you will learn to discern the presence, but you must trust yourself, Tessa. Know your true self. Soak in the peace and tranquility. It is in the center of your soul where He speaks to you.”

“Ms. Jazz, didn’t St. Teresa pray to Mary? My roommate always says this stuff is so . . . Catholic and can be traced back to Hinduism. I’m not sure what I should say to her.”

She didn’t see the startled look on Ms. Jasmine’s face behind her. “A common misconception,” she said nonchalantly. “Your friend will soon learn the truth. We are addressing that this semester in our spiritual formation class.”

“She’s . . . not going to be taking it. I’ve seen her schedule.”

“It’s required.”

“She’s in the missions program, and they don’t require it. Besides, Mr. Goldsmith told her they weren’t in favor of—”

“Sam Goldsmith is young and new to the school. He has much to learn.” Ms. Jasmine sighed. “I’ll have to look into that loophole for next year. How many other students are not getting proper training?” This was exactly the type of problem of which STI had warned her. There were ways to deal with these people who didn’t understand spiritual things. She must solve the problem quickly, before it got out of hand. First, she must answer Tessa’s question. She walked to the cushion where she’d left her nearly empty teacup, picked it up, turned to face Tessa, and looked her straight in the eye.

“Tessa, dear, we must remember the words of Teresa of Avila.” She spoke slowly and clearly. “That dear saint suffered much to learn this great lesson—that Christians who understand the inner life will always encounter obstacles which prevent them from achieving absolute union with God. These obstacles can come in many different forms, some of them evil. The Pharisees opposed Jesus for claiming he had found union with the Father. In the same way, I want you to realize that those who have not been enlightened as you and I have will usually oppose what we are doing. They want to put God in a box. Their faith is based on fear. Do you understand?”

“Uh, yeah . . . .” Tessa felt a little light-headed, almost euphoric. She was trying to remember what Gramps had once told her about the Pharisees, something about them wanting to stone Jesus for blasphemy because He claimed to be God, not just that He had found union with Him. It was all so foggy now. Her hands still tingled. This session had seemed strange and scattered, but that wasn’t surprising. After all, that was just the kind of person Ms. Jasmine happened to be.

Ms. Jasmine sat down and sipped the last of her cold tea before she recited her usual closing prayer about leaving the castle. She found these double sessions very draining, and they always made her headaches worse. “We’re finished for today,” she said, massaging her temples. “Have a blessed weekend. Oh, and I’ll see you at the labyrinth Sunday afternoon, right?”

The bangles on Ms. Jasmine’s wrist jingled as she made the sign of the cross and blew out the candle. The smoke wafted up to the ceiling, catching the last rays of the setting sun before it vanished behind the distant horizon. 

Excerpt from the novel Castles in the Sand by Carolyn A. Greene (Lighthouse Trails, 2009), chapter 13.

Strong Reader Response to Let There Be Light

Late last fall, Lighthouse Trails released Roger Oakland’s apologetics biography, Let There Be Light. We call this book an apologetics biography because interwoven in the pages of Roger’s life as an evolutionist-turned-creationist is a defense of the Gospel and a contending for the biblical Christian faith, addressing several vital issues (for example: the emerging church, road to Rome, Calvary Chapel, abortion, evolution, and the New Age). The book is an emotional and hard-hitting read as many of our readers who have already read the book have been telling us. One of the reasons we believe the response is so strong is that those reading it are resonating with Roger’s struggle to get other Christians, including pastors, to take his warnings seriously. Some of the people who have contacted us have expressed their own frustrations and struggles in trying to get their families, friends, colleagues, and pastors to take heed to their exhortations about watching out for spiritual deception.

Below is an excerpt from the book. This episode took place prior to Roger becoming a Christian. Also, click here to see the first 13 pages of the book, including Table of Contents and Prologue. Also this excerpt from another chapter is available to read.

(from Chapter 7 of Let There Be Light by Roger Oakland)

My head rolled woozily on my shoulders. I squinted, clumsily trying to insert the house key into the lock of the front door. It was three o’clock in the morning and all I wanted to do was to get inside and slip into bed unnoticed. As I struggled with the lock, I was unaware that I was making enough noise to wake the dead. To my horror, the door suddenly flew open, and I was confronted by the angry face of my wife. A sick, sinking feeling rose in my stomach.

“Where have you been?” she pleaded, her voice heavy with emotion and exhaustion. “Don’t you have any consideration for me?”

I noticed how red-rimmed her eyes looked. I tried to form some words of apology, but my dull brain wouldn’t cooperate with my mouth. As I flopped down onto the living-room couch, Myrna broke into a flood of tears.

“Can’t you see what’s happening to us? There’s nothing left between us anymore. You don’t even care if I exist. All you can think about is yourself.”
I raised my hand to try and stem her tide of hostility. “Calm . . . calm down,” I said, desperately trying to gather my thoughts. “Let’s just go to bed. Everything will be okay tomorrow.”

Myrna, however, would not let me off the hook that easily.

“No, it’s not going to be okay,” she shouted. “I tried to go to sleep tonight, but I couldn’t. This was the one night I wanted you to be at home so I could talk to you. And now you come in like this. There’s no use talking to you now.”

“What do you want to talk about? Let’s talk about it right now. What is it that’s bothering you?” Desperately I tried to focus my mind.

Myrna worked as a nurse at the obstetrics department at the University of Saskatchewan Hospital. She was employed in the delivery suite where the majority of her work dealt with delivering babies. The ward was also used for performing abortions. Over the past few weeks, a number of nurses had asked to be transferred to another department because they didn’t want to assist in the abortions. This same issue had troubled Myrna as well, but she had not publicly protested her feelings. In previous discussions, I had told her not to worry about it. As far as I was concerned, she should have no moral reservations because “abortion was not a moral issue.”

However, on this particular day, a heartbreaking scenario had taken place. An abortion that had been performed by saline procedure had resulted in a baby being aborted while it was still alive. The baby was then placed in an incubator along with the other premature infants in the hospital, where it quickly died. Seeing this whole procedure had created an emotional dilemma, causing Myrna to lie awake, constantly rehashing the issue. She had desperately wanted to talk with me about it. I, of course, had spent the whole evening at a bar, solving the problems of the world.

“Myrna, we’ve talked about this in the past,” I said, trying to form my words in a cohesive manner. “I wish you wouldn’t become so emotionally distraught over such a minor issue. A fetus, while it’s developing in the womb, isn’t even human. It’s just a blob of cells undergoing division.”
Myrna had punched one of my sensitive buttons. Her words had triggered me to explode with one of my well-prepared, pro-abortion speeches.
For the past several years, I had been involved in developing a teaching aid to help students comprehend the process of cell division. As an instructor, it became apparent to me that students at the university level did not understand some of the most basic concepts of biology, one of which was mitosis or cell division. In order to help them comprehend the details regarding this very basic process necessary to the perpetuation of life, I had designed a teaching kit to visually illustrate mitosis.

At a recent biology show at the university, I had prepared a display designed to demonstrate how cell division was essential to the development of life from a single cell through to the fully developed embryo. For the latter stages of the development of the embryo, I had obtained some human embryos from the University Hospital that had been preserved in formaldehyde. I had proudly displayed these specimens in order to draw attention to the display and to demonstrate that the human embryo is a product of cell division.

“The fetus that died in the incubator was no different from the embryos I display in the pickle jars,” I growled impatiently. “So forget about this nonsense and let’s go to bed.”

Myrna looked at me with frightened eyes, wondering if I was even human anymore. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was in a deep sleep. But for Myrna, the conversation about the saline abortion and my behavior that night was just one more wedge of separation between the two of us. The chasm was becoming wider by the day. Would there ever be a way to bridge it? (Excerpt from Let There Be Light by Roger Oakland) For other Lighthouse Trails excerpts and sample chapters of other LT books, click here for sample chapters, and click here for excerpts.

3 DAY SPECIAL OFFER FOR LET THERE BE LIGHT -3 Books for Price of 2

For three days, we are offering this special offer to Let There Be Light.

3 copies of Let There be Light for the price of 2 – Click here for details.

Become Part of our Mission Work in Kenya

We hope you will consider becoming part of our mission work in Kenya, Missions for Truth. Lighthouse Trails is working in conjunction with Understand the Times and a group of dedicated trustworthy Bible-believing pastors in Suna and Rongo, Kenya. Pastor Pius Achilla is the senior pastor of the group there. Roger Oakland traveled to Kenya last November to meet these pastors. He found he resonated with these men and desired to become involved in helping them as he witnessed their integrity and love for the Lord and His Word. He also met several Christian widows who are caring for many orphans as well as their own children. Because of AIDs, disease, and starvation, there are many many orphans in Kenya.

There are two ways to donate to our missions work in Kenya. First, you can donate to Understand the Times Bryce Orphan Home project. These donations go directly to the 12 new Bryce Orphan Homes set up and sponsored by UTT. To support the orphan homes, please donate through UTT website. Pastor Achilla, his wife Jane, along with his pastoral team and their wives will be overseeing the Bryce Orphan Home project. With Roger Oakland's guidance, the pastors have formed a board and will be accountable to both UTT and LT on how donations are disbursed. Understand the Times donations are tax-deductible.

The second way to donate is through Lighthouse Trails. These donations go toward the following:

1. Support for the all the pastors and their families (this includes food, water, education for children, housing, clothing, and travel expenses connected with evangelism)

2. A discipleship center being built in Suna. This center has been built with the donations from Lighthouse Trails readers. We were also able to provide the funding for a 100 foot well to be built. With so much drought in Africa, a deep well with good water is essential for survival. Already, many people are using the water from the new well.

3. To buy new KJV Bibles for the pastors to distribute

4. For many other needs such as travel expenses (gasoline, rented vehicles to travel from one town to the next, motorbike travel, etc), emergency needs (such as recently when a man came to Pastor Achilla's church with an incredibly infected eye), and so forth

Please donate for these needs through the Missions for Truth (a Lighthouse Trails website).These donations are NOT tax-deductible. When you get to the website, just look for the DONATE button. This will take you to a secure site called MyCharityBox.com which we are using to accept donations.

Missions for Truth is a Lighthouse Trails sponsored project.

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