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LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESOURCES |
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Watchman
Fellowship Identifies
Ken Blanchard as New Age |
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While
Rick Warren and Dr. David Jeremiah defend their connections
with Ken Blanchard and continue with their plans to share
speaking platforms with him, it turns out that Lighthouse
Trails Publishing isn’t the first ministry to identify Blanchard
as a New Ager.
In their 1997 article, "Chicken Soup for the Soul Reviewed,"
Watchman Fellowship, a long standing cult-evangelistic ministry, in
an article by Craig Branch, listed Ken Blanchard as
a New Ager:
In A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul can be
found at least 38 New Age or Mormon contributors or attributions,
including M.
Scott Peck, ... Sai Baba, Martin Buber, Gandhi, ...
Leo Buscaglia, Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, Benjamin
Hoff, Ken Blanchard, Canfield, Hansen, and T.M. promoter Harold Bloomfield.
Now,
in the midst of ineffective defenses by David Jeremiah and
Rick Warren, Ken Blanchard has apparently sought assistance
from Watchman Fellowship in areas Blanchard terms, not as
sin, but as "problematic." In a statement Ken Blanchard posted
on July 22 on his Lead Like Jesus website, he said:
"Recently,
it was brought to my attention that some of my endorsements
and book forewords are for books written by authors who
espouse concepts that are contrary to Christian teachings.
I did not realize that this was the case when I wrote these
endorsements and forewords. But now after further study
and discussions with other followers of Jesus who I respect
and admire, including the staff at Watchman Fellowship,
I understand why these are problematic and I promise that
I will exercise better discernment in the future" -- Ken
Blanchard, July 22, 2005
Over
the last few months, we have brought to your attention a growing
list of events that have led up to this public statement by
Ken Blanchard. (See list below.) Because we stand firm on
our belief that Christian leaders, Christian seminaries and
evangelical pastors are being used to help escalate the infiltration
of New Age beliefs into the church, thus leading to great
apostasy and deception, we cannot relent on exposing what
appears to be a cover up of the truth and a minimizing of
New Age influences.
We are calling for these leaders, seminaries and pastors to
renounce all promotion and connection with the New Age and
protect those God has placed in their care. (Acts 20: 27-31).
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Below
is a recap of events:
- November
2003: Rick Warren announced
to his Saddleback congregation that
Ken Blanchard had “signed on” to help implement Warren’s
global peace plan. In the meantime,
Rick Warren, Bill Hybels of Willow Creek
and Ken Blanchard shared and continue to share
the speaking platform at various widely-attended
conferences.
- April
2005: Lighthouse Trails issues a press
release showing connections
between Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard and
showing Ken
Blanchard’s New Age connections and sympathies.
- May
23, 2005: Rick Warren Speaks
at the Pew & Religion Forum and
belittles the Five Fundamentals of the Faith,
shows his adherence to Catholicism and announces
that Peter Drucker is his mentor.
- May
29, 2005: Lighthouse Trails Publishing
issues press release showing connections
between Ken Blanchard, Bill Clinton, Peter
Drucker and Mikhail Gorbachev in their
global peace plan efforts.
- May
30, 2005: Rick Warren writes
letter to Lighthouse Trails Publishing in
opposition to April press release. However,
the letter is filled with statements
that are misleading and untrue.
- May
31, 2005: Rick Warren makes the letter
he wrote to LTP public.
- June
23, 2005: Lighthouse Trails receives email from Saddleback’s Frank Cate who
accuses LTP of being misinformed.
- June
24, 2005: Lighthouse Trails receives
phone call from Frank Cate, who says LTP
is damaging the Kingdom of God. LTP tells
Frank Cate that if they have some evidence
to prove their stand they need to present
it so it can be examined. Nothing was ever
sent.
- July
5, 2005: Editor at Lighthouse
Trails Publishing is interviewed
on Cross Talk with Ingrid Schlueter.
During the interview, which focuses on Ken
Blanchard and Rick Warren, it is disclosed
to the listeners that Dr. David Jeremiah
of Turning Point Ministries, is scheduled
to speak with Ken Blanchard at the Lead
Like Jesus conference later this year.
- July
14, 2005: David Jeremiah writes
letter to Lighthouse Trails and defends
Ken Blanchard and his association with Ken
Blanchard. David Jeremiah makes his letter
to LTP public immediately.
- July
17, 2005: Lighthouse Trails Publishing
writes public
response to David Jeremiah.
- July
21, 2005: Ken
Blanchard posts statement on his Lead Like
Jesus website.
- July
22, 2005, AM: Several hours after Blanchard
posted his statement, it is removed from
the Lead Like Jesus website.
- July
22, 2005, PM: A revised
statement by Ken Blanchard is posted
on the Lead Like Jesus website.
Related
Links:
Frequently
Asked Questions
Other
Research Ministries
A
number of Christian ministries and many believers
around the world stand together and ask Ken
Blanchard and other Christian leaders to make
a complete break from all ties to the New Age.
Such a break would include:
- Contacting
publishers of all New Age books that carry
said leaders endorsements and/or forewords,
to be removed in all subsequent printings.
- Removing
all recommendations for books on said leaders
websites that have New Age content; this would
include all books promoting contemplative
spirituality as well as the New Age.
- Remove
all New Age and contemplative persons from
any and all advisory boards related to said
leaders organizations or ministries.
- Remove
own name from any advisory boards of any and
all New Age and contemplative organizations
and ministries.
- Make
a public announcement, for all to see, renouncing
the New Age once and for all, making such
a statement clear that the New Age in its
entirety opposes Jesus Christ.
If
these remedial steps seem harsh, please keep in
mind that the message of Jesus Christ as the only
way of salvation has been compromised in the hearing
of thousands of people. We can only hope that
some of this damage can be reversed.
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Featured Resources
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Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that
uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness
(the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped
in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality
is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common
terms used for this movement are "spiritual formation," "the
silence," "the stillness," "ancient-wisdom,"
"spiritual disciplines," and many others.
Spiritual Formation: A movement that has provided a platform and a channel through which contemplative prayer is entering the church. Find spiritual formation being used, and in nearly every case you will find contemplative spirituality. In fact, contemplative spirituality is the heartbeat of the spiritual formation movement. |
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