Some leaders in the emerging new spirituality call themselves “Red Letter Christians,” referring to the red letters in some Bibles that signify the words of Jesus Christ. But these same leaders minimize or all together reject warnings in the Bible from the Lord about spiritual deception and the cost that goes with belonging to the Him. Listen to some of these red letters from our Lord in Matthew 10, and ask yourself, are these the kinds of words that the “Red Letter” emerging leaders such as Tony Campolo, Jim Wallis, and Brian McLaren are speaking?
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10: 11-22
By quoting this Scripture, we are saying that the new emerging spirituality does not talk about the cost of being a true believer. It talks about unity at all costs, but not truth at all costs. And yet Scripture, as this one above, clearly indicates that there is an antagonism between the Gospel and the precepts of this world.
Our recent article, “New Age Sympathizer Leonard Sweet To Speak at Pastor Skip Heitzig’s Calvary Chapel Church,” illustrates clearly how deception has entered the Christian church and how “grievous wolves” are not “sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29). It is worth noting that many now are warning against popular New Agers such as Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, but some of those same warners are promoting New Age sympathizers that have come into the church. Alice Bailey, the occultist who coined the term New Age prophesied that the “Coming One” (really the false christ) could not come on the scene until humanity recognized its divinity (man is God, they will say). And she said that this “Age of Aquarius” will not come around the Christian church but rather through it. This is what we are witnessing today, and all believers should take note. Bailey called it the “rejuvenation” of the churches; Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet, and other prominent leaders call it a new reformation. But it is the same thing, and it will deceive millions.
For those who have not read our article on Sweet and Calvary Chapel, please do so (see article below this one). You will see where we have documented that Leonard Sweet clearly identifies with a number of prominent New Age authors and leaders, calling them role models and “New Light” heroes.
There is a stunning connection here. In A Time of Departing, Ray Yungen quotes Laurie Cabot, a witch, who states:
Mystics in every religious tradition speak of alpha states of consciousness and the lure of Divine Light, although they do so in their own metaphors and images. In their own ways they have learned how to enter alpha as they pray or worship. They learn how to become enlightened. (ATOD, p. 177)
She did not say many or most religious traditions; she said “every.” This is what Lighthouse Trails is trying to bring to people’s attention. This Christian new spirituality/contemplative tradition is not truly Christian and in fact opposes the Gospel by its implications that God is in everything.
Yungen explains:
In a book titled The Contemplative Experience, the writer presents the point of view that could be expressed by any of the contemplatives over the past 1,700 years. Speaking of Bernard of Clairvaux:
He realized that God permeates the whole of creation. His experience was that God is the “stone in the stones, the tree in the trees,” and in the same way, the center point of his own soul. God resides at the heart of all that exists. (ATOD, p. 177)
Clairvaux isn’t making reference to the sovereignty of God over creation. He’s making reference to what Leonard Sweet calls the “embodiment of God” in all creation. And this is why Sweet champions individuals such as David Spangler, Matthew Fox, and Ken Wilber, et al.
When Sweet says the following, he is echoing the very heart and soul of Cabot and Clairvaux:
Quantum spirituality [mysticism] bonds us to all creation as well as to other members of the human family. . . . This entails a radical doctrine of embodiment of God in the very substance of creation. (Quantum Spirituality, p. 125)
Is THIS the direction that Christian leaders are going to take the church? What detriment that would be!
Lighthouse Trails calls upon those who are bringing the false teaching of contemplative mysticism (i.e. occultism) and the “God is in everything” belief into the church to repentance. And we beseech those leaders (such as Calvary Chapel veteran pastor Skip Heitzig) who are giving credence to these false teachings by their support and associations with the New Spirituality leaders to stop turning a blind eye and begin warning the church. The church is supposed to be God’s vehicle in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world, not a vehicle to bring to the world the mystery of iniquity!
“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ … Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first … For the mystery of iniquity doth already work.” (from II Thessalonians 2: 1-7)
