universalism

New Booklet: Butterfly Illusions: The New Age Implications of Roma Downey’s Box of Butterflies & the Christian Leaders Who Were Fooled

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Roma Downey, who has never renounced her extensive New Age involvement, is now firmly entrenched and aligned with contemporary Christian leadership. Because Christian leaders and day-to-day believers have given Roma Downey a get-out-of-the-new-age free pass, Lighthouse Trails is releasing a second Roma Downey booklet today. This booklet emphasizes the danger of Downey’s most recent book, … [Read more…]

Vatican News: “Pope Francis: Families An Eloquent Sign of God’s Dream”

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LTRP Note: Recently, we released a booklet/article by Warren B. Smith titled God’s Dream: Satan’s Ultimate Scheme. If you did not have a chance to read it yet, we urge you to do so soon. The news story below (released this week by Vatican News) is yet another example of how the world’s religious leaders … [Read more…]

NEW BOOKLET: Oneness vs. Separation Heresy “Now” in the Church

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NEW BOOKLET:  Oneness vs. Separation Heresy—Now in the Church by Warren B. Smith is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal … [Read more…]

NEW BOOKLET – SHACK THEOLOGY: Universalism, TBN, Oprah, and the New Age

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NEW BOOKLET: SHACK THEOLOGY: Universalism, TBN, Oprah, and the New Age by Warren B. Smith is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 18 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your … [Read more…]

Universalistic Shack Therapy: Wm. Paul Young, Kahlil Gibran, and “The Great Sadness”

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By Warren B. Smith  William Paul Young writes that The Shack is “theology wrapped in story.”1 And his Shack theology presents a universalistic Shack Therapy for the “Great Sadness” that plagues his main character “Mack.” Young remarks in numerous interviews that, like Mack, most people have their own inner “shack” where they store their secrets … [Read more…]

William Paul Young’s Christless “Shack”

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LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails author Warren B. Smith wrote this article shortly before he had a heart attack a few weeks ago. The final editing of this article was obviously delayed. But with the growing interest in The Shack (book and movie), we are very grateful that Warren was able to finalize and submit this … [Read more…]

The Shack’s Universal Papa

By Warren B. Smith There is nothing new about saying, “I am God.” . . . However, in the Judeo-Christian-Moslem world, God is usually not popularly understood as a universal presence, the ground of all being.1 —New Age leader David Spangler (emphasis added) God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and … [Read more…]

Kingdom-Now Evangelicals

By Roger Oakland While I believe Rome leads the way with the bold claim that God chose Peter and the succeeding popes to take the title of “Vicar of Christ” and determine what the sheep should or should not believe, other groups believe they have been called to usher in or even prepare and set … [Read more…]

TBN Pulls Plug on “Shack” Author’s New Book—Sort of . . .

By Warren B. Smith Now you see Shack author Wm. Paul Young’s new book Lies We Believe About God promoted on TBN, now you don’t. For seven straight episodes of Trinity Broadcasting Network’s weekly series Restoring the Shack, Wm. Paul Young’s new book was prominently featured and even offered as a fundraiser for TBN. Each … [Read more…]

Artist ‘Deeply Regrets’ Designing ‘Shack’ Cover, Says A Loving God Must “Judge”

By Will Maule The graphic artist who played a central role in designing the cover for the controversial novel ‘The Shack’ has said he deeply regrets working on the project, now disagreeing with the book’s contentious theology. “[O]ver 10 years ago, I was captivated by the story and felt honored to be part of the … [Read more…]

NEW BOOKLET: Progression to Deception: How New Age Influence is Destroying the Church—One Step After the Next

NEW BOOKLET: Progression to Deception: How New Age Influence is  Destroying the Church—One Step After the Next by Gregory Reid is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away … [Read more…]

“The Shack,” TBN, and the New Age

By Warren B. Smith Trinity Broadcasting Network has seen fit to provide The Shack author William Paul Young with the world’s largest “Christian” stage—his very own television series on TBN. Young’s “Restoring the Shack” episodes are masterfully produced on location in beautiful Montana. His presentations are usually underscored and enhanced with soothing music that is clearly … [Read more…]

Letter to the Editor: I Warned My Pastor About “The Shack” . . . And He Listened! Now Warning His Church

Dear Lighthouse Trails: I just wanted to share with you how helpful this booklet on The Shack has been to me. Two weeks ago, just a few days after the releasing of The Shack movie, I met with the pastor of our church about my concerns about the movie/book. We had a good meeting which … [Read more…]

When People Say, “But The Shack is Just a Novel!”

By Warren B. Smith A woman standing in line outside the theater to see The Shack movie was eager to talk with me about Paul Young’s best-selling book. She said she “loved” The Shack and couldn’t understand why it had so many critics on the Internet. She was especially perplexed by the number of “negative” … [Read more…]

“Shack” Author Paul Young States in Just-Released Book—Christ Is “In” Every Single Human Being

By Warren B. Smith For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, Having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) YOUNG PUBLICLY ENDORSES UNIVERSAL SALVATION In … [Read more…]

The Shack to Return as Top Production Movie

The best-selling book, The Shack, by William Paul Young, is coming out as a full production movie in March of 2017. After viewing the trailer, we believe this movie is going to have a very big impact on many people’s lives. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a harmful impact. Lighthouse Trails has published several articles … [Read more…]

The “Kingdom of God” in the Emerging Church: A Theology of Despair and Hopelessness

By Bob DeWaay Imagine a world where the polarity of time is reversed so that history moves backward toward Paradise rather than forward toward judgment. Consider a world in which God is so immanently involved in the creation that He is undoing entropy1 and recreating the world now through processes already at work. Think of … [Read more…]

The Final Outcome of Contemplative Prayer – Interspirituality!

By Ray Yungen The final outcome of contemplative prayer is interspirituality. If you have truly grasped the portrait I have tried to paint in my book and articles, you have begun to see what this term signifies. The focus of my criticism of mystical prayer must be understood in the light of interspirituality. Just what … [Read more…]

Not a Surprise! – Rob Bell to Join Oprah Winfrey, Other Handpicked Thought Leaders for ‘Life You Want’ Tour

LTRP Note: The following article is posted for informational and research purposes only and is not an endorsement of the content or the news source.This particular news source is a regular promoter of Purpose Driven, contemplative, and emerging church figures. To read Lighthouse Trails articles about Oprah and Rob Bell, you can type their names … [Read more…]

Question to the Editor: What’s Up with Lilly Endowment – Funding Pastoral Sabbaticals with a Contemplative Agenda

To Lighthouse Trails: Eli Lilly, a major pharmaceutical company, in conjunction with Christian Theological Seminary (a liberal seminary in Indianapolis, IN) is funding pastoral sabbaticals.  It appears it is just a part of a national program. Seems highly suspect to me.  I wouldn’t be looking twice except that I know a local  pastor applying for … [Read more…]

Rob Bell to Teach Teens That Christian Beliefs About Hell are ‘Misguided and Toxic’

LTRP Note: Please also read the Lighthouse Trails article below the Christian News Network article to understand more about Rob Bell’s beliefs and teachings. By Christian News Network Author and speaker Rob Bell is set to release a teen version of his book Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who … [Read more…]

If Neale Donald Walsch (Conversations with God) and the New Agers are Right, Then Hitler Will Be in Heaven!

LTRP Note: Neale Donald Walsch’s Conversations with God books remain popular today even though they came out many years ago. The following article by Warren Smith gives us a glimpse of what really lies behind the New Age/New Spirituality movement. By Warren B. Smith In 1992, Neale Donald Walsch, a disillusioned and distraught former radio … [Read more…]

Rob Bell To Leave Mars Hill Church to “Focus on a Broader Audience”

LTRP Note: The following article written by Christianity Today is in no way meant as an endorsement of Christianity Today, which is a magazine that promotes contemplative spirituality and the emerging and Purpose Driven church. The article is posted for informational and research purposes only. “Bell to Move to L.A. and Launch a Tour”  Sarah … [Read more…]

Romantic Panentheism, a Review of One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

Book Review of One Thousand Gifts By Bob DeWaay Used with permission from By Grace Alone blog We live in a theological age (postmodern) where the rational and cognitive are questioned and replaced by the sensual and mysterious. Many churches promote the idea of worshipping God with all five senses. Feelings trump clear Biblical exegesis, … [Read more…]

Book review: Love Wins by Rob Bell – Mocking Truth: Rob Bell’s False Hope, Worldly Heaven, and Earth-Based Hell

 For almost 2000 years, human civilizations have had opportunities to grow “progressively” in generosity, forgiveness, etc. The fact that today’s culture is no closer to perfection suggests that [Rob] Bell’s utopian vision is merely an illusion based in man’s lofty imagination. – Berit Kjos by Berit Kjos Kjos Ministries “Mocking Truth: Rob Bell’s False Hope, … [Read more…]

Rob Bell’s Book Love Wins Hit New York Times List

by Christian Retailing Best-selling author Rob Bell’s controversial new book, Love Wins (HarperOne), has debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times Hardcover Advice & Miscellaneous best-seller list for the week of April 3. HarperOne brought forward publication of the book—subtitled “Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived”—from March 29 … [Read more…]

On Rob Bell, Hell, and Mennonites

by Menno-Lite A newly released book called Love Wins by Rob Bell is (supposedly) causing a huge controversy in Christendom. The issue is over the doctrine of hell, which the emergent Bell hasn’t been very clear about in certain interviews and promotional videos lately. Because it’s no secret that in the past Mennonites have been … [Read more…]

Rob Bell Unable to Defend His Own Beliefs in MSNBC Interview – Squirms, But Gives No Answers

Emerging church/mysticism promoter Rob Bell is making the circuit in American media to promote his newest book, Love Wins. The book is receiving a lot of publicity, largely because of a pre-release video (see bottom of this post) by Bell where he  suggests that in the end everyone will go to Heaven, regardless of beliefs. In our February … [Read more…]

Rob Bell Puts God on Trial – “Hath God Really Said?”

A Commentary by IndyWatchman (Steve Blackwell) “Warning!! Love Wins, by Rob Bell” Every marketer knows that it is the headline or title that causes most people to read news papers, or buy books. Advertisers will tell you that the most important thing when advertising is the headline. Pick up a Readers Digest, they have mastered … [Read more…]

Assemblies of God Leader Promotes Universalist “Christian” in AOG Magazine

by John Lanagan Word Like Fire What would you do if a Superintendent of a large denominational district wrote an article promoting a universalist author? And what if this article was published and distributed in a popular  denominational magazine? What if, in several months of back and forth emails, the Superintendent never took steps to correct … [Read more…]