By Ray Yungen Catholic priest William Shannon in his book, Seeds of Peace, explained the human dilemma as being the following: This forgetfulness, of our oneness with God, is not just a personal experience, it is the corporate experience of humanity. Indeed, this is one way to understanding original sin. We are in God, but … [Read more…]
If there is one thing we don’t hear much about from today’s Christian leaders and pastors, it is the importance of testing the spirits. The idea comes from the Bible in 1 John 4:1, which states: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try [test] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets … [Read more…]
By John LanaganThe Word Like Fire “It has been with great dismay that I have watched one Christian leader after another succumb to the appeal of contemplative spirituality,” states Ray Yungen in A Time of Departing. (pg.184) Some, like IHOP leader Mike Bickle, have been involved with contemplative prayer for decades. During the Passionate Pursuit … [Read more…]
God’s Dream for humanity is the gradual realization that we can become One.—Jean Vanier (1) On May 7th, Canadian Catholic humanitarian, Jean Vanier, died at the age of 90.2 Vanier, founder of L’Arche where Henri Nouwen spent the last ten years of his life, was a major proponent of contemplative spirituality, believing that all religions … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following is a book review by Gary Gilley on A.J. Swoboda’s book Subversive Sabbath, the Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World. BOOK REVIEW: Subversive Sabbath, the Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World by A.J. Swoboda By Pastor Gary GilleyThink on These ThingsUsed with permission. Subversive Sabbath won Christianity … [Read more…]
By David Dombrowski If I were to say to you that much of the church today has set aside the power of God, would you be shocked? After all, we live in a time where having the power of God in your life is a major theme preached from pulpits across the country. And book … [Read more…]
NEW BOOKLET: Heard From God Lately? by T.A. is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 10 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are available. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of the booklet. To order … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: As a Southern Baptist, I am concerned that powerful leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention are taking the denomination far from its biblical moorings. Bureaucracy within the organization is to blame, as are a few mega-church pastors who take turns filling decision-making posts whether elected or appointed. What can Southern Baptists do … [Read more…]
By T. A. MacMahonCo-Founder of The Berean Call Let’s say I were to voice the question, “Heard from God lately?” to a very large crowd that had a mix of Christians and non-Christians. Among the crowd would be professing Christians, biblical Christians, cessationist Christians, charismatic Christians, pentecostal Christians, contemplative Christians, progressive Christians, conservative Christians, as … [Read more…]
To Lighthouse Trails: Please make it very clear that Youth With A Mission (YWAM) was helping to head up The Send. In fact, YWAMers went to Lou Engle, and together they formed the idea for The Send. As a very recent former YWAM staff who was naive to all things NAR and contemplative, I am … [Read more…]
Preparing for Perilous Times and Finding God’s Peace in the Midst of Them By David Dombrowski For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and the trees of the field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12) Over the … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following letter to the editor was written in response to our recent post “Letter to the Editor: Yoga at Our CMA Church in Canada Broke Our Hearts.” Dear Lighthouse Trails: I too was once in a C&MA church in Southwestern Ontario. I attended from 1999 to 2001. I witnessed the whole shift … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: We are posting this letter to the editor not to single out this one particular Christian & Missionary Alliance church because the CMA denomination from top leadership down has embraced contemplative spirituality (see links below), and thus, it is no surprise that Yoga would enter in as well. This is happening in numerous … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following news story is posted for informational and research purposes. By Daniel PayneOneNewsNow Same-sex relationships are now, again, permitted on campus A Christian university has once again lifted a ban on same-sex relationships on its campus, several months after re-instating the ban after it had initially been lifted in the late summer … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Carl Teichrib is the author of a number of Lighthouse Trails articles and booklets. He has just released his new book, Game of Gods through Whitemud House Publishing. This large volume (552 pages) is packed with critical information and research pertaining to the days in which we live from a Christian and biblical … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following letter to the editor is in regard to our article: Walk to Emmaus and Tres Dias – A Walk to Deception. To Lighthouse Trails: There are NO MANTRAS in the Walk to Emmaus or any other cursillo movement. We follow a strict Bible centered curriculum covered with prayer and praise. I … [Read more…]
Navigators is a Christian organization, founded in 1933 by a young man named Dawson Trotman, that eventually became a household name in the evangelical church.* The Navigators motto is, “To Know Christ and to Make Him Known.” However, Navigators and its publishing arm NavPress have been on a contemplative trend for over 15 years, and … [Read more…]
By Ray Yungen Sue Monk Kidd’s spirituality is spelled out clearly in her book When the Heart Waits. She explains: There’s a bulb of truth buried in the human soul [not just Christian] that’s “only God” … the soul is more than something to win or save. It’s the seat and repository of the inner … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: Enclosed please find this announcement that was in our church’s bulletin (see image below) titled “New City Catechism.” We do not have a computer to do research on this, and we were wondering if you would be so kind as to do this for us. We are wondering if it is a … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following letter to the editor is posted with permission. It is written by a graduate student of a Christian university. We find the professor’s remarks to this student provocative, especially considering what we discovered after reading the professor’s post. Please see our comments after the two posts below. Dear Lighthouse Trails: I … [Read more…]
The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous monk, has passed under the radar of many church libraries, Christian bookstores, and theological seminaries and colleges. But this book is a primer on mystical contemplative spirituality. Check your church library and see if this book is sitting on the shelves. by Ray Yungen To my dismay, … [Read more…]
NEW BOOKLET: Legalism or License Versus The Treasure of Living Water by David Dombrowski is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are available. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the … [Read more…]
Today, a Lighthouse Trails caller asked if we could tell her what “breath prayers” are and wondered if we had any information on them because someone in her church is advising others to practice them. Thus, we are posting some information we have previously posted on breath prayers. Breath prayers, like lectio divina, are a … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: We are reposting this background article for those who have been asking how Lighthouse Trails got started. By Deborah Dombrowski Editor – Lighthouse Trails Part One: “It Was a Dark and Stormy Night.” Every good mystery starts off with “It was a dark and stormy night.” But this is a different kind of … [Read more…]
By Ray Yungen From a theological viewpoint, there now exist two branches (so to speak) of the Catholic Church—the traditional (as defended by someone like Karl Keating in his book Catholicism and Fundamentalism) and the progressive or contemplative* element (as exemplified by Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen).1 And while these two branches (or movements) can … [Read more…]
By Lynn Lusby Pratt That title was a crack I made around 2006 when I became aware of the new wave of false teaching entering the church. One aspect of that teaching hinted that our experience with Jesus was (should be?) sexual. (Christians who use a mantra, as in contemplative prayer, and go into … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: I recently began reading A Time of Departing. A very well-documented book. I am blown away by the amount of research Ray Yungen put into that book! Thank you for publishing it. Thank you also for your posts dealing with the Spiritual Formation movement, contemplative prayer, etc. I do not know exactly … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Eugene Peterson (d. 10/22/18) and Catholic priest Thomas Keating (d. 10/25/18) have died. The article below (which is promoting Peterson and Keating) is written by Carl McColman (author of The Big Book of Contemplative Mysticism) and is posted for informational and research purposes and not as an endorsement of the content. Both Peterson … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: Yesterday, I was reading 1 Corinthians 1 and 2, where Paul is writing about the wisdom of God versus the wisdom of the world. I was reminded of our former Baptist pastor in the early ’80s who was highly intellectual, which attracted a lot of people from academia in our college town. … [Read more…]
Nick Hall’s Together event is back again (October 20-21), this year as Together 2018 at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas (which can hold around 1/2 million people). On the event’s Facebook page, it reads: Love Matt Chandler? See him and many more for free on October 20-21 as we bring the nation … [Read more…]
