LTRP Note: For over a decade, Lighthouse Trails has been issuing warnings regarding the Church of the Nazarene’s embracing of contemplative and emergent teachings (i.e., Spiritual Formation). We have focused largely on the numerous Nazarene universities that have been training future Nazarene pastors with these unbiblical teachings. In 2004, our editors spoke with Dr. Jim Diehl (then a General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene) who called us because he read A Time of Departing (the book that exposes contemplative spirituality) and found it right on. We told him at that time what was happening in the Nazarene schools. Sadly, the many warnings by LT and others for so many years have gone unheeded. The following letter by a Nazarene couple is further proof of that.
Dear Lighthouse Trails:
I have been a fan of your ANA (Anti New Age) materials for a while. You have been the center of a lot of books, booklets, and research as our family has been reconsidering our membership in the Church of the Nazarene. We recently left the denomination and ordered some booklets to give out to the board to help us explain why. The new pastor did not even allow us one last meeting with them!
One board member did contact us and came to our house for a talk. She took two of the booklets and said she would read them, but we have not heard from her about them since. I think that’s been three or four weeks now.
Mostly, she just did not believe that the Nazarenes are involved in any of this. I tried to explain it to her by examples from the sermons, but she just said we misunderstood what was being taught. We told her of some of the things we had been reading on the Concerned Nazarene Facebook page, and she still would not believe.
Then last week, John, my husband, found a link to Lighthouse Trails on one of Manny Silva’s posts. We had not realized that you had a whole slew of information on just us! Suddenly, we felt like we were not so alone anymore. He was excited when he showed it to me.
Manny, as a “Concerned Nazarene,” is often seen as just one of a fringe group of whiners. This includes us, of course. But you are on the outside looking in, and could be seen as a more objective third party. That is what I am hoping for, anyway.
Well, I had hopes of gathering videos together to refer folks to. That may be more efficient than explaining our concerns in a sudden, more informal setting. I had hoped to have it all done by the time we left, but one particular sermon was the last straw! We weren’t finished with our meetings with the pastor, but we left anyway. We were done—for a while.
But John does not want to burn all of the bridges. Even if we can still make a difference in one congregation, he wants us to still try. We drafted a letter to the board, saying we were stepping back for a while.
In the meantime, really for the last couple of years or more, we had been looking for a new church to attend. We are at______________________for now. We want to be very cautious.
What I would like to do next, if you could allow it, is to use some of your articles to make a special playlist. I want to do a separate video for each article on the Nazarenes and put all of the links in the descriptions. I would especially place links to your pages on colleges that do and do not teach spiritual formation.
A second permission I would like to get, although I do not know if it is yours to give, is to make videos just reading some of your booklets. Particularly, to start with the two I wanted to hand out: The Big Picture, and Five Things You Should Know About Contemplative Prayer.
Thank-you for all of your hard work in the ANA field and the great help your booklets have been in helping us understand what it is we are up against. For years, we thought it was a local problem and just left congregations with young new pastors that made broad sweeping and unbiblical changes. Lighthouse Trails and Concerned Nazarenes have helped us understand the whole scope.
Blessings,
John and Sarah
Related LT Articles in Chronological Order:
G12 Master Plan Could Expose Thousands of Nazarenes to Contemplative/Emerging Spirituality
Buddhist/Universalist Sympathizer Woos Nazarene Students at NNU
Northwest Nazarene University President Responds Regarding New Spirituality Speaker
Nazarene Pastor Fired For Fighting Emergent Ideology
A Plea to the General Assembly 2013: Death of the Church of the Nazarene or Repentance?
Trevecca Nazarene University Continues To Promote Mystical Silence Instead of Biblical Prayer
“Contextualization” of the Gospel – A Free-Falling Catastrophe
BEAR JC
Atah HaShem Baruch ALL May HIS Ruach HaKodesh B with In On You ALL SHALOM
Bear JC
YES MARANATHA. I Am not seminary traine but what I’ve said and have been asked to B quite is when pastors asked what’s dangerous wrong, I held up BIBLE and told to hush. Then no disrespect intended I needed to just over talk to say, explain, it’s not GOD’ Word about The way that’s dangerous it’s Man’s interpretations of HIS WORD. 1 example I use is the numerous denominations, why Man interpretating HIS WORD & 1 THE WAY IMMANUEL Differently(pride?) each has to have they’re own way. When we All CHRISTians should know there is only 1 WAY(JESUS’) All called followers of the WAY(JESUS’) until Antioch.Then alll these Denominations forme why? Man needed perceived HIS WORD Their own way. Hmm EGO – Edging Out GOD & doing it their way (Interpotation) of HIS WAY MESSIAH’ Or YASHUA’ JESUS’… But I know not accept know Love Serve for The ONE KING who does Know ALL. & that w/o I could do know nothing. I think no, JK Just Know HE is the Answer & WILL take care of Fix ALL… Oh who some may ask The KING The KING THE LION KING Judah’ Amen Omein
Jo
Well said T.I. Miller. The above letter from John and Sarah is truly what we are seeing in the church today. I understand that this will continue to happen for the stage setting of the end times. And I too am “groaning” for the world and what we are seeing happen right before our eyes. Prophecy fulfilling. Come Lord Jesus, come.
i7sharp
Prayerfully sharing this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OdhNj-I1cw
Gods of Gold-The Silent God
•Jan 27, 2020
The man made images of gods have mouths but cannot speak. Contemplative prayer practitioners “hear” their god “in silence”, and the modern bible translations enable them by translating “a still small voice” to “sheer silence”!
T. I. Miller
” …and she still would NOT believe ”
The question now is why. God sees the heart we can’t. We can and must examine the fruit. Is it her obstinanace or is it not wanting it to be true or is it the great delusion or a combination. Some cant seem to grasp why distorting the ESSENTIALS of the faith to any degree is, as Paul put it, damnable. This, can’t we all just get along for the sake if unity mantra, which is a false unity, seems to be the biggest concern for the vast majority today. They want to elevate, loving your neighbor, above, loving God above all else and everyone else.