At the end of each year, Lighthouse Trails presents its Year in Review, divided into different parts. Below is the first part of our 2020 Year in Review. While we receive numerous letters, comments, and e-mails throughout the year, and consider them all important and of value, we believe the 10 below illustrate very well what many of our readers are concerned about in these difficult days. Click the “Read more” link at the end of each article to read the complete letter.
(1) Letter to the Editor: Pope Francis to Launch 2020 “Global Educational Alliance” for a “New Humanism” and “New Universal Solidarity”: Thank you for exposing the real agenda behind the 2020 Global Year of the Bible. The pope is deceiving millions of people because they do not know what the Catholic Church teaches concerning the Bible. When I was a Catholic, I was taught from the Catechism of the Catholic Church—not the Bible. (Read more.)
(2) Letter to the Editor: Concerned About “Neighborly Faith”—a “Third Way” to Befriend Muslims: Neighborly Faith urges evangelicals to find a :”third way” to befriend Muslims: There are many evangelical Christians getting involved with this, and it is scary when you realize how far this movement has come in a very short period of time. (Read more.)
(3) Letter to the Editor: Coronavirus—More Than Meets the Eye?: This is a tad bit curious in my opinion. One and a half million people infected globally around the world from the virus and 80,000 deaths and the world comes to a screeching halt. Meanwhile, 900,000 people were infected and 80,000 of them died just two years ago of the flu in the United States1 alone and not a peep. Call me crazy, but something is seriously odd about that. In addition, according to the World Health Organization, 650,000 people die annually from the flu2 and not a peep again. (Read more.)
(4) Letter to the Editor: Kaiser Permanente Among Those Pushing Mindfulness and Meditation Due to Coronavirus: This morning I found email from Kaiser Permanente in my regular inbox. . . . [A]mong the messages today is a link to Kaiser’s “Emotional Wellness Tools,” which includes various apps for “mental health and emotional wellness.” It seems Kaiser has taken note of “these stressful times” and has taken it upon themselves to be guardians of much more than physical health. (Read more.)
(5) Letter to the Editor: Response to My Black Baptist Pastor Friend on Racism: Thank you so much for writing that booklet about Critical Race Theory. This is very badly needed. . . . I plan to send some pastors links to it. One of them is a black Baptist pastor whom I have known for a number of years. He recently replied to an e-mail of mine telling me how he has been hurt by racism. And I’ll bet you what the SBC did (in adopting critical race theory) is the reason why he did that. I wrote him and shared some thoughts with him that I thought perhaps your readers would benefit from too regarding this issue of racism. (Read more.)
(6) Letter to the Editor: Concerns About September “Revival” Event in Washington, DC—The Return: Having watched bits and pieces of “THE RETURN”: A National and Global Day of Repentance, (Sept.26), I was deeply concerned as I watched (via simulcast) those gathered at the National Mall in Washington D.C., to take part in this “sacred assembly.” This was advertised as for “all believers from all denominations and backgrounds.” (Read more.)
(7) Letter to the Editor: Liberty University Taking Students on “Spiritual Journey” With Contemplative/Emergent Leader Richard Foster: I have a grandchild at Liberty University, so I occasionally view their convocation meetings. As I was viewing LU’s Wednesday eve’s (9/2/2020) gathering of thousands of LU students, the pastor who was addressing those students announced that they will be embarking upon a five-week spiritual journey based on Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline. I’m an angry and sad Grandpa . . . thousands of young people will be duped by theologians who should know better. (Read more.)
(8) Letter to the Editor: Our Sad Departure From the Church of the Nazarene Over Unbiblical Teachings: 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! (Read more.)
(9) Letter to the Editor: To All Parents of Students Considering Attending Gordon College: My son is a freshman at Gordon College. We enrolled him because we believed the school is a solid Christian college. But now, we have serious issues with what is going on campus this semester. We and many other parents of Gordon students are extremely concerned with the direction things are going. (Read more.)
(10) Letter to the Editor: Crushed and Heartbroken in Learning That Our Church Is Calvinist: By accident (or providence!), I called a former elder and his wife to find where they were at and found out they had left the church. Upon asking why, they told me the new pastor, of which I and my husband are still under, was bringing Calvinism into the church. We had noticed that the associate pastor (a Calvinist) was speaking on Sunday nights a couple summers ago about a “too strict” sovereign God. I wondered then at the messages, not knowing quite what I was trying to figure out; his wife later asked me if I believed in Election? I told her no. (By this point, I had already been reading Dave Hunt’s book, TULIP and the Bible). (Read more.)
(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)