A Note From Lighthouse Trails: Shortly after we sent out our January 15th Lighthouse Trails E-newsletter, we discovered that a link we provided to an article about Moody Bible Institute was no longer working. We learned that the website called The Broken Twig (which we believe was created by some Moody alumni) had been taken … [Read more…]
For many years, Lighthouse Trails has written about the slide that Biola University in Southern California has taken into contemplative spirituality. Our first indication that the school was heading that way was in February of 2006 when we learned that Biola was actively participating in a publication called Conversations Journal, a magazine whose primary purpose … [Read more…]
By Dwight L. Moody I do not see how any Christian, most of all a Christian minister, can go into these secret lodges with unbelievers. They say they can have more influence for good, but I say that they can have more influence for good by staying out of them and reproving their evil deeds. … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails has been reporting on and challenging Moody Bible Institute for several years because they have been progressively promoting and turning to contemplative spirituality via Spiritual Formation programs. And yet, in our dealings with them, they have always denied doing this. As we have pointed out so many times, once a school … [Read more…]
See also Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of our 2017 Year in Review. The following is our 2017 coverage on Christian colleges and seminaries. For nearly 16 years, Lighthouse Trails has been tracking how contemplative spirituality and the emerging church (i.e., the “New” Spirituality) have been entering Christian schools. We estimate, based on … [Read more…]
Just as Lighthouse Trails was about to issue a post this week about Celebration of Discipline’s (by Richard Foster) 40-year anniversary announcement (that we received by e-mail this month), we received the following e-mail from a Christian university graduate: Three years ago this past September, I began my studies at Tyndale University in Toronto, Ontario. … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: After reading this letter to the editor, please read the section below the photo for an excerpt of Cedric Fisher’s booklet on the IF:Gathering. Dear Lighthouse Trails Editors: Thank you for the article regarding Dallas Theological Seminary’s movement toward contemplative prayer and the New Spirituality. It was painful to read as I have … [Read more…]
A Lighthouse Trails reader sent Lighthouse Trails a copy of a letter he recently received from Dallas Theological Seminary. DTS has consistently said the school does not promote the” bad” Spiritual Formation, but we have reported on a number of occasions that the Spiritual Formation taught and promoted at DTS IS contemplative spirituality (which is … [Read more…]
Hundreds of Protestant and evangelical scholars, pastors, and theologians have signed a document called “Reforming Catholic Confession” to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, which will be commemorated on October 31, 2017. According to Dr. Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama, who co-chaired the Confession’s steering committee, “a significant motivating … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: This is from a circulating email from Prairie [formerly Prairie Bible Institute or PBI in Three Hills Alberta]. It sounds so good, but I suspect it is dangerous. S. ____ Email Our Reader Received from Prairie: What’s NEW for our upcoming year New Student Orientation begins tomorrow! This time of year campus … [Read more…]
Fall is quickly approaching, and by now, if you have a child or grandchild who is going to attend Christian college this year, he or she is most likely enrolled and ready to go. As Lighthouse Trails has reported over the last several years, the majority of evangelical/Protestant colleges, seminaries, and universities are now, to varying … [Read more…]
Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) has always maintained that while they teach Spiritual Formation, they only teach the “good” kind and that they are not a school that promotes contemplative spirituality. Lighthouse Trails has always challenged these suppositions. In fact, it wasn’t that long ago when Lighthouse Trails editors had some correspondence with two different DTS … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following is an excerpt from Carolyn A. Greene’s novel, Castles in the Sand, the first novel published that addresses the contemplative prayer (spiritual formation) movement. In this excerpt, the young Christian Teresa [Tessa], now attending a Christian college, is in her dorm room, thinking about her new spiritual director, Ms. Jasmine, who has … [Read more…]
To Lighthouse Trails: I have been studying Bill Mounce’s “Basics of Biblical Greek” textbook. It is an excellent course of study, but Mr. Mounce puts a plug for his website biblicaltraining.org. Though they are a Calvinist-based ministry, there are some good apologetic things and history things that I’ve looked at. I was shocked though when … [Read more…]
On February 22nd, 2017, Biola University hosted a one-evening live recording of the renowned public radio podcast “ON BEING with Krista Tippett.” During the event, which was free to attend to all Biola students and others, Tippett interviewed artist Enrique Martinez Celaya. Biola, a Christian university, began wandering into the contemplative/emergent camp many years ago, … [Read more…]
Over the past decade, while most evangelical colleges, seminaries, and universities have allowed the influence of the Spiritual Formation movement into their schools to one degree or another, not all of them had gone so far as to create a Master’s Degree program in Spiritual Formation. In fact, ten years ago, there weren’t that many … [Read more…]
For many years now, Lighthouse Trails has been trying to warn the body of Christ about the book that first introduced contemplative spirituality into the evangelical/Protestant church. That book, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, was released in 1978, and in that first edition, Foster said, “we should all without shame enroll in the school … [Read more…]
After a request by a Lighthouse Trails reader to check into Southern Baptist Convention’s Gateway Seminary which has locations in five different US cities, Lighthouse Trails has added Gateway Seminary to the Lighthouse Trails Contemplative-Promoting College list. If you are not familiar with that list, it is a list of NOT recommended Christian colleges, universities, … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: After you read this article about the dilemma in which Canada’s Trinity Western University finds itself, you can read about the history of Trinity Western University’s fight to have a law school in Canada and yet still maintain that marriage is between a man and a woman here. Also worth noting, TWU is … [Read more…]
By Garrett Haley Christian News Network NASHVILLE – A private university in Tennessee that was founded by the Methodist Church will soon begin covering transgender-related surgeries under its student insurance plans, drawing sharp criticism from a local congresswoman. Vanderbilt University is a private school in Nashville, Tennessee. For the first 40 years of its existence, … [Read more…]
Castles in the Sand by Carolyn A. Greene is a story based on true facts and addresses the fast growing contemplative prayer movement within the evangelical/Protestant church. The story is about a 21st century Christian college girl who is introduced to the writings of a 15th century mystic girl, Teresa of Avila in her Spiritual Formation … [Read more…]
On the week of May 16, 2016, Lighthouse Trails began a second booklet-mailing project. Whereas our first booklet-mailing project is sending out booklets and short letters to over 130 Christian leaders every 2-3 months, this new project is reaching out to 235 Christian college and seminary presidents (and some deans). After 14 years of research, … [Read more…]
In March of this year, Lighthouse Trails sent out a letter and a booklet to over 130 Christian leaders. We told our readers about this on February 25th in an article titled “Lighthouse Trails Publishing to Make Contact with Over 100 Christian Leaders to Warn About Jesus Calling.” The booklet we sent was Warren B. … [Read more…]
In recent years, a type of meditation known as mindfulness has made a surprising showing. Based on current trends, it has the potential to eclipse even Yoga in popularity. You will now find it everywhere that people are seeking therapeutic approaches to ailments or disorders. True to its Buddhist roots, mindfulness involves focusing on the … [Read more…]
Spring 2016 is almost here, which means parents will be diligently helping their college-age children search for Christian colleges, seminaries, and universities for enrollment for this coming fall. As many of you know, Lighthouse Trails has been researching Christian colleges for 14 years. Three years ago, we published a report called An Epidemic of Apostasy, … [Read more…]
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Isaiah 119:105) For nearly 14 years, Lighthouse Trails has been trying to warn Christian leaders and the body of Christ of the spiritual deception that has entered the church. While thousands of Christians have responded favorably to the work we do, … [Read more…]
See also Part 1 Year in Review | See also Part 2 Year in Review 1/Two Letters to the Editor About Cedarville University Lead to New Research That Causes Continued Concern 2/Wheaton College Suspends Hijab-Wearing Professor Who Declared ‘We All Worship Same God’ 3/Liberty University Welcomes Socialist Bernie Sanders to Address Student Body: ‘We Have … [Read more…]
Lighthouse Trails has been following Cedarville University since 2006 when we wrote an article titled “Cedarville University – Heading Down the Contemplative Road?” Since then, Lighthouse Trails has written several others articles having watched this Christian school head down the contemplative/emerging path. In 2013, Cedarville University got a new president, and we wrote an article … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: In this sad state of affairs, in many ways, Wheaton College has brought this situation upon themselves by promoting, endorsing, and encouraging the “new” “progressive” Christianity for quite some time. Because the “fruit” of contemplative prayer and the emerging church is interspirituality, it only makes sense that such colleges will have professors (and … [Read more…]
To Lighthouse Trails: I took on the leadership of the Free Methodist denomination and lost the battle. I told them “be still and know that I am God” refers to His Glory. How can Bishops not know how to interpret Scripture????? Chambers insists that the basis of everything is tragic. Therefore Redemption is the only … [Read more…]
