Contemplative Practices

Letter to the Editor: Liberty University Taking Students on “Spiritual Journey” With Contemplative/Emergent Leader Richard Foster

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LTRJ Note: For 18 years, Lighthouse Trails has been warning about the contemplative prayer movement and its role in creating an “emergent” “progressive” church. Part of our investigative research scope has included Christian universities and seminaries, a majority of which now promote contemplative spirituality. Liberty University, one of the largest Christian universities in the U.S., … [Read more…]

Booklet Highlight: Is Your Church Doing “Spiritual Formation”? (Important Reasons Why They Shouldn’t)

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By Lighthouse Trails Editors Is your church involved in a Spiritual Formation program? If so, you might want to ask the question, what exactly is Spiritual Formation? It’s a fair question, and one that, if not asked, could end up surprising you when your church changes in ways you never imagined. A Christianity Today article states: “Spiritual … [Read more…]

Letter to the Editor: Be Still DVD with Beth Moore Advocates “Urgent Need to Lower Your Breathing Rate”

Dear Lighthouse Trails: I bought and gave the Be Still DVD to my last pastor prior to moving out of state. My husband and I had become horrified at the Beth Moore’s women’s gatherings that were being promoted at our church.  I was already very familiar with Beth Moore’s stance on contemplative prayer.  This gentleman, … [Read more…]

Lighthouse Trails to Send Out 13th Mailing to Christian Leaders & Pastors

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Since 2016, Lighthouse Trails has been sending out topical booklets three times a year to a growing list of pastors and Christian leaders. If you would like your pastor or a church leader to begin receiving these mailings, please send the name and a valid mailing address to us at editors@lighthousetrails.com. The names and addresses … [Read more…]

Contemplative Prayer – Does Our Intent to Find Jesus Justify the Method?

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 [I]f you were to jump off a cliff with the intent to fly saying the word “fly, fly, fly” as you jump off and someone else jumped off the same cliff with the intent to hit the bottom saying “fall, fall, fall” as he jumps off, in either case both will hit the bottom. – Ray … [Read more…]

Bad Counsel to a Christian Girl at a Contemplative College

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LTRP Note: The following is a chapter from Castles in the Sand, a Lighthouse Trails novel based on true facts, exposing the dangers of contemplative spirituality. The story is about a young Christian college girl who is introduced to mysticism through her spiritual formation professor. In the following chapter, Tessa, troubled by some of the strange symptoms … [Read more…]

Warning: Zondervan Introduces Its First-Ever Film, Nine: The Enneagram Documentary— to Release in Theaters Fall 2020

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LTRP Note: The news release below regarding the Christian publisher, Zondervan, is posted for informational and research purposes. Lighthouse Trails warned about the Enneagram in our booklet, The Enneagram—An Enlightening Tool or an Enticing Deception? (written by Lois Putnam), which we released last Fall. Obviously, when one of the largest evangelical publishers releases a film … [Read more…]

Is Christianity Missing Out on Something Vital? Contemplatives Say “Yes”

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By Ray Yungen Contemplative advocates propose that something vital and important is missing from the church for centuries. The insinuation is that Christians have been lacking something necessary for their spiritual vitality; but that would mean the Holy Spirit has not been fully effective for hundreds of years and only now the secret key has … [Read more…]

Passion Conference Louie Giglio Gives Thumbs Up to Enneagram—Could Influence Scores of Young Evangelicals

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Louie Giglio is an extremely popular megachurch pastor and author as well as the founder and leader of the Passion conferences, which have drawn in hundreds of thousands of mostly young people since 1997.(1) On the week of March 16th, Giglio (a Calvinist) was a guest on emergent social-justice “Gospel” advocate Ian Morgan Cron’s Enneagram … [Read more…]

The Goal of Contemplatives: Changing the Consciousness of Humanity – One Contemplative Prayer After the Next

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By Ray Yungen Two authors from Great Britain portrayed a stunningly clear picture of New Age spirituality. They explained: [T]he keynote of it appears to be a movement for synthesis derived from an understanding of the underlying unity behind all things and the sense of oneness that this brings. This oneness of all life is … [Read more…]

Lent and Contemplative – A Likely Match

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According to Wikipedia, Lent is: . . . a solemn religious observance in the Christian liturgical calendar that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks (40 days) later on Holy Thursday, the memorial of the Lord’s supper the Thursday of Holy Week before Easter Sunday. The purpose of Lent is the preparation of … [Read more…]

LECTIO DIVINA – What it is, What it is not, and Should Christians Practice it?

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There’s a lot of talk about it today; umpteen books are published and more are on the way about lectio divina; and an increasing number of evangelical/Protestant figures are writing about it, endorsing it, and teaching it. Some people think lectio divina simply means to read a passage of Scripture slowly (or “praying the Scriptures”) … [Read more…]

Lilly Endowment’s Contemplative-Focused Clergy Renewal Program Updated Lists

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In 2013, we posted an article titled “What’s Up with Lilly Endowment – Funding Pastoral Sabbaticals with a Contemplative Agenda.” Below is a copy of that article (with excerpts from a related 2007 article). In it, it provides a link to the list of churches whose pastors were “winners” of the 2012 Lilly Endowment grants. … [Read more…]

Christian Colleges and Seminaries in More Trouble Than Ever As Many Plunge Into Emergent Spirituality

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For nearly 18 years, Lighthouse Trails has been reporting on the slide that evangelical colleges, universities, and seminaries have been taking into the contemplative/emergent/ecumenical river. It would be great if we could say there’s been a real turn around and things at these colleges are getting better. It would be great if we could say … [Read more…]

The New Age Christian—An Accepted Oxymoron

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It is important to understand that Satan is not simply trying to draw people to the dark side of a good versus evil conflict. Actually, he is trying to eradicate the gap between himself and God, between good and evil, altogether. By Ray Yungen The current popularity with meditative contemplative mysticism presents a very perplexing challenge for … [Read more…]

Christianity Today: “We are theologically conservative . . . committed to the glory of God.”—CT History Shows Differently

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On December 19th, 2019, Christianity Today, the magazine that considers itself the “flagship” magazine for Christianity released an article written by the just-retired editor-in-chief, Mark Galli, titled, “Trump Should Be Removed from Office.” According to CT, the article set off a firestorm. And by our estimates, millions have now seen the article as scores of … [Read more…]

GC2 Conference on Mental Health Includes “Spiritual Formation” Teachers Rick Warren and Ruth Haley Barton

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On December 12, 2019, Christianity Today posted an article by “new” Christianity pastor Ed Stetzer, giving a recap of the GC2 Summit that took place on December 6th. The article, titled “Lies Pastors Believe, Part One,” states: Two months of planning for our GC2 Summit on Facing Hard Truths & Challenges in Pastoral Ministry couldn’t … [Read more…]

Letter to the Editor From Dallas Theological Seminary Student—DTS Does Advocate for Contemplative Spirituality

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To Lighthouse Trails: The relationship Dallas Theological Seminary has with contemplative spirituality has been debated on Lighthouse Trails, and defended by DTS. As a current student, I can confirm some departments and professors do advocate explicitly for the contemplative brand of spirituality.  The school requires four semesters of spiritual formation. Students must engage with the … [Read more…]

Beyond a Doubt: Contemplative Prayer EQUALS New Age Meditation

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By Ray Yungen Before writing my book, A Time of Departing, I made sure I could prove, beyond a doubt, that contemplative prayer had not only slipped into the Christian faith, but also prove it is an integral part of the New Age movement. In fact, New Agers see contemplative prayer as one of their … [Read more…]

New Booklet: The Enneagram—An Enlightening Tool or an Enticing Deception?

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NEW BOOKLET: The Enneagram—An Enlightening Tool or an Enticing Deception? by Lois Putnam and the Editors at Lighthouse Trails is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 18 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 … [Read more…]

Remembering Ray Yungen and Richard Foster’s “School” of Contemplative Prayer

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Three years ago today author and researcher Ray Yungen passed away at the age of 64. As regular Lighthouse Trails readers know, it was through Ray’s work that Lighthouse Trails began nearly 18 years ago. Interestingly, on the eve of this 3rd anniversary of Ray’s departure, we read an e-mail notice we received this week … [Read more…]

About Us

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(TO CONTACT US, CLICK HERE.) Lighthouse Trails Publishing, Inc. and Lighthouse Trails Research Project began in 2002. There are currently several authors, editors, news writers, web and computer technicians who work with Lighthouse Trails throughout North America plus a small on-site staff in NW Montana where the offices of Lighthouse Trails are located. We are … [Read more…]

Video: Mike Oppenheimer and Ray Yungen on Mysticism and God’s Word

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Mike Oppenheimer and Ray Yungen discuss mysticism and the emgerging church movement in comparison to God’s Word.

Cutting-Edge Christianity or Shamanism?

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By David DombrowskiChief Editor, Lighthouse Trails Publishing I find it rather interesting how God has orchestrated things in life, which demonstrate His great love and ongoing mercy to ordinary people like myself. But, more specifically, I am thinking right now about how years ago I happened to come across a copy of a nearly forgotten … [Read more…]

Letter to the Editor: The Catholic Catechism and Contemplative Prayer

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Contemplative prayer is hearing the word of God … Contemplative prayer is silence.—Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994 edition, p. 652 LTRP Note: Since 2002, Lighthouse Trails has continued to issue warnings about contemplative prayer. We began our warnings after meeting Ray Yungen in the year 2000 and examining his extensive research. One of the … [Read more…]

Letter to the Editor: Interest in Contemplative Catholic Monasteries Increasing

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The contemplative response is not a luxury or an added extra [for the Carmelite]; it is at the very core of how we see life and cope with the challenges and pressures of what we call our postmodern world. Perhaps this is what Karl Rahner meant when he said, a generation ago: “The Christian of … [Read more…]

The Desert Fathers—Borrowing From the East

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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…]

BOOK REVIEW: “Subversive Sabbath, the Surprising Power of Rest in a Nonstop World” by A.J. Swoboda

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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…]

NEW BOOKLET: HEARD FROM GOD LATELY?

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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…]

Letter to the Editor: LT Wrong to Warn About Walk to Emmaus

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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…]