Dear Lighthouse Trails Editors:
I have written a review (see link below) of John Mark Comer’s 2024 book, Practicing the Way, and I’d like to explain why I did this review.
I saw Comer’s name mentioned in an article in the summer edition of the Lighthouse Trails Research Journal about the YouVersion app (by Life Church), which is starting to promote New Age practices and Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality). I passed that on to our grown daughter and to our son and his wife. We were able to discuss this with my son and his wife when they recently came to visit. Our daughter-in-law told us that their daughter (our granddaughter) who just graduated from high school is reading Comer’s earlier book, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and likes it. Also, a lady in our discipleship class we attend is reading it and likes it.
My daughter-in-law told me that that our granddaughter was planning on reading John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way next. She also said that their church was planning on starting a church-wide study in July of Practicing the Way. (My son and his wife met with their pastors yesterday about that.)
I ordered a copy of the book, which was copyrighted this year, and set about reading and reviewing it for about 6-7 hours/day. Urgent and important! The title of the book is intriguing, and the book could easily draw in an unknowledgeable and unsuspecting believer.
A friend passed my review of the book on to a home-group leader who was going to start a favorable study of it. She was not happy about my review. She insisted that Comer’s book had some good stuff in it. In that regard, Harry Ironside’s quote about the mixture of good and bad (evil) is my watchword: “Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous” (source).
You are welcome to use what I am providing or parts of it in any way. I just want the word to get out.
Bruce C.
Review of Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer (written by Bruce C.) Please feel free to print this review and the letter above.
Attached scan: What are we Saved To_ PtW scans
Seth,
If you would be willing to let us send you a free copy of A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, it documents and explains our findings from years of research. Just send your mailing address to Lighthouse Trails, P.O. Box 307, Roseburg, OR 97470.
If you are equating contemplative Christian spirituality with new age practices you need to do some serious reading on the history of the Christian faith.
I have not read this new book but I will need to now as someone dear to me loves this author and the review doesn’t appear make much sense in a number of places. I suspect it’s because I need to reference the actual book for complete context.
Thanks for the heads up though, appreciate it.
June, good for you. If we can help in any way, please let us know.
I fell down on my job.
All of our Life Groups at our church began doing this study, an assignment by our lead pastor, back in September of this year (2024.) I did not check into this author unknown to me as I usually do. Now I am playing catch-up, and it is a hard pill to swallow. I have been reading the book and making notes. Lots of notes. Then I came across this wonderful review. Thank you so much, Bruce! My husband and I plan to have a talk with our Life Group leader, who is the executive pastor at our church. It will probably be passed on to our Lead Pastor, who will probably not take it very well.
June
What can you tell me about Jim Cymbala’s
Fresh wind
Fresh fire?
Thx LHT for sharing Bruce’s review.
Bruce, thx for taking (much!) time to review this book.
It’s maddening to me that so many “professing” Christians look to a DEAD religion (Catholicism) to find spiritual refreshment.
They shun the Bible in favor of writings by Brother Lawrence, the Desert Fathers, Sarah Young, mystics, …
Again, thx for this review. God Bless, ~Brenda
Dictionary meaning of APPRENTIC, traineeship. Traineeship to be what? A god of course, like our Teacher! Just like, let’s say a student of medicine, he trains as an apprentice (intern) in a hospital by doctors to become a fully fledge doctor himself.
It is excruciating but inciteful to read this carefully prepared review of warning against Comer’s book.
Who are we really who supposedly believe in the Saviour? Are we seekers of self and what God can do for us to make us healthy, wealthy, wise and little gods or are we called to deny self, take up our cross daily and follow our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our only perfect example for which to live this life, like He did as fully man on earth, but not to be came like, that is impossible, for He is the Transcendent Creator along with His God Almighty Father. Thank you, Bruce, for loving so much as to warn the professing and believing Church of these heretical lies.