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 relied upon their faithfulness to the Word since 1974 when I first sat under the teaching of a DTS graduate. All the teachers I listen to and know have graduated from DTS. There are many graduates here in _____, Texas and true verse-by-verse teaching has had an influence upon so many who love the truth. I have been able to discern a change even in the teachers I sit under as I hear who they quote in their teachings.
Having just read your article in the newsletter, I received this notice [see photo below] for the upcoming women’s conference. It is not surprising that it would be the women who would lack the discernment to recognize the belief system of Christine Caine [see excerpt below], but it is apparent the worldly mindset has saturated many levels of authority at DTS. I have no knowledge of the other speakers [see list below]; however, it really doesn’t matter when the keynote speaker is Caine. It is with great sadness that I have to come to the conclusion that we are truly in the time that Paul warned Timothy would come—when one of the last stalwarts of truth has fallen for the same lie that captivated the imagination of Eve—wow. “Come out of her, My people”
Thank you for your love and commitment to the truth. I do pray for you. . . .
Ann (not real name)
I. A list of the other women speakers at the DTS women’s conference (list provided by our reader – listing these is not to insinuate they are in the same camp as Caine):
Stephanie Carter
Kymberli Cook
Jada Edwards
Sandra Glahn
Bev Godby
Taryn Mays
Christen Nutter
Joy Pedrow
Terrie Pittman
Nika Spaulding
II. Below is an excerpt from Cedric Fisher’s booklet: IF It Is of God: Answering the Questions About IF: Gathering. If:Gathering is a group of mostly emergent-leaning women, whose influence is growing rapidly among evangelical young women.
Christine Caine
Christine Caine claims Joyce Meyer as her “spiritual mother” and lists Word of Faith preacher Sheryl Brady as a dear friend calling her “flat out the best chick preacher of the word.”1 Caine has “preached” in seeker/emergent Steven Furtick’s mega church in Charlotte, North Carolina. The following is transcribed from Caine’s opening statement in Furtick’s church:
This place is a little bit like God, take this in context, in that like you are omnipresent. You are here. You are across the room. You are down the street. You are all over the worldwide web. It is like wherever you look, here we are and it is my honor and privilege to be here, I couldn’t wait.2
Caine also declared that her heart was “knitted” to Furtick. One whose heart is surrendered to God could not possibly be knitted to an individual such as Furtick. Journalist and researcher Jim Fletcher says this about Furtick:
Steven Furtick . . . mentored as he is by evangelical bigwigs like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, felt bold enough to post a YouTube video in which he sneeringly challenged what I’d call traditional Christians to basically get out of the way, because their time is past. Presumably, to Furtick, it’s the “new generation’s” time now, so step aside with your stodgy hymns and expositional preaching style. . . . Masked a bit by a pious nod toward humanitarian causes, the leadership of this group is quite nasty, albeit in subtle ways.3
Further, according to the itinerary on Christine Caine’s website, she will be speaking at NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) leader Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding, California in August 2015 in the Bethel Women’s Conference. Why does this matter? It shows a pattern of being willing to associate with people and “minister” in churches that are teaching and promoting false and dangerous teachings.4
To read the entire IF booklet and for endnotes, click here.
Endnotes for Excerpt:
1. http://christinecaine.com/content/164-days-that-revolutionized-my-faith-life/gjentl?permcode=gjentl.
2. Christine Caine, Elevation Church, Code Orange Revival 2012, http://elevationchurch.org/sermons/codeorangerevival (some of her sermon can be watched at: http://www.god.tv/code-orange-revival/night-4-anything-is-possible-with-god).
3. Jim Fletcher, “‘Hip’ church gives biblical Christians new label: ‘Hater’” (WorldNetDaily, http://mobile.wnd.com/2014/12/hip-church-gives-biblical-christians-new-label-hater/#JEfipOHtSOZJfZeD.99).
4. Read John Lanagan’s article/booklet titled The New Age Implications of Bethel Church’s Bill Johnson where it discusses Johnson’s propensity toward “quantum spirituality” (the belief that God is in everyone).
