Editor’s Note: Lighthouse Trails wrote this report in 2014. Since then, we have watched “Spiritual Formation” explode within the church. After over twenty years of warnings, to our dismay, the issue has not been challenged or even questioned by most of today’s Christian leaders and pastors. By Lighthouse Trails Editors Is your church involved in … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: With the majority of Christian colleges and seminaries now bringing in contemplative spirituality via Spiritual Formation programs, and with Christian leaders such as Rick Warren and Beth Moore endorsing the movement, and with countless pastors giving it a thumbs up to their congregations, isn’t it time professors, pastors, and leaders understand what the … [Read more…]
By Warren B. Smith The name Judas has been described as the most hated name in all the world. Except for Shack author William Paul Young and maybe a few exceptional others, hardly anybody ever names anyone or anything Judas. It is one of those forbidden names like Jezebel or Lucifer that people would never dream of naming their … [Read more…]
By Ray Yungen Two authors from Great Britain portray a stunningly clear picture of New Age spirituality. They explain: [T]he keynote of it appears to be a movement for synthesis derived from an understanding of the underlying unity behind all things and the sense of oneness that this brings. This oneness of all life is the … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: I have a good friend who has been a solid believer in Jesus Christ of the Bible. In the past several months he has gotten involved in all the Q anon information, which seemed to be his first step off the path down a lot of dark rabbit holes. He is highly … [Read more…]
[I]f you were to jump off a cliff with the intent to fly saying the word “fly, fly, fly” as you jump off and someone else jumped off the same cliff with the intent to hit the bottom saying “fall, fall, fall” as he jumps off, in either case both will hit the bottom. – Ray … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The following news clip is posted for informational and research purposes and not as an endorsement for either the content or the source. Lighthouse Trails has been issuing warnings about the New Age propensities of Roma Downey for the last few years because of the promotion of Ms. Downey by popular Christian leaders … [Read more…]
An April 2019 Religion News Service article titled, “For Millennials, Mysticism Shows a Path to Their Home Faiths” reveals how young (millennial) evangelicals are “[d]iscovering the Christian mystical tradition through the work of Franciscan friar Richard Rohr.” The article states: [Anthony] Graffagnino [28] was one of a number of millennials drawn to The Universal Christ—a … [Read more…]
Note: Ray Yungen’s explanation of what “New Age” shows why Lighthouse Trails says the New Age has infiltrated Christianity. When we realize that mystical meditation is at the heart of the New Age as well as at the heart of contemplative spirituality, we then realize they are one in the same. While the term “New Age” has … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: As you read this article by Warren Smith, you may be surprised to hear of some of today’s leaders who believe that God is in everyone and everything. Be Still and Know That You are Not God!—God is Not “in” Everyone and Everything By Warren B. Smith Our Spiritual Adversary would have everyone … [Read more…]
By Ray Yungen Sue Monk Kidd’s spirituality is spelled out clearly in her book When the Heart Waits. She explains: There’s a bulb of truth buried in the human soul [not just Christian] that’s “only God” … the soul is more than something to win or save. It’s the seat and repository of the inner … [Read more…]
By Ray Yungen From a theological viewpoint, there now exist two branches (so to speak) of the Catholic Church—the traditional (as defended by someone like Karl Keating in his book Catholicism and Fundamentalism) and the progressive or contemplative* element (as exemplified by Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen).1 And while these two branches (or movements) can … [Read more…]
Roma Downey, who has never renounced her extensive New Age involvement, is now firmly entrenched and aligned with contemporary Christian leadership. Because Christian leaders and day-to-day believers have given Roma Downey a get-out-of-the-new-age free pass, Lighthouse Trails is releasing a second Roma Downey booklet today. This booklet emphasizes the danger of Downey’s most recent book, … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Recently, we released a booklet/article by Warren B. Smith titled God’s Dream: Satan’s Ultimate Scheme. If you did not have a chance to read it yet, we urge you to do so soon. The news story below (released this week by Vatican News) is yet another example of how the world’s religious leaders … [Read more…]
By Warren B. Smith Countless references to meditating, being quiet, being still, relaxing, resting, letting go, and reciting Psalm 46:10 are found throughout God Calling and Jesus Calling. They are all suggested ways of entering into “the silence” to experience God’s presence. The New Age/New Spirituality likewise places great emphasis on these same ways of … [Read more…]
NEW BOOKLET: Oneness vs. Separation Heresy—Now in the Church by Warren B. Smith is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal … [Read more…]
This week we received the following information from a reader: Dear Lighthouse Trails: Gloria Gaither is the author of many influential songs including “There’s Something About That Name.” She writes glowing reviews of the two books listed below. One by Richard Rohr, a Roman Catholic priest and the other by Sue Monk Kidd who believes … [Read more…]
By Mike Oppenheimer (From his new book The Trinity: The Triune Nature of God) Today, the word Trinity, or Trinitarian theology, is taking on a whole new meaning, one of which most Christians are unaware but one that is working its way into the church through the highly popular book, The Shack. Let me explain. … [Read more…]
For many years, Lighthouse Trails has written about the slide that Biola University in Southern California has taken into contemplative spirituality. Our first indication that the school was heading that way was in February of 2006 when we learned that Biola was actively participating in a publication called Conversations Journal, a magazine whose primary purpose … [Read more…]
Richard Foster’s founding contemplative organization, Renovare, has announced their upcoming (June 2018) celebration of the 40th anniversary of Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline. Kevin Palau, son of the world-wide known evangelist Luis Palau and president of the Luis Palau Association, is listed on the Renovare website as one of the speakers for the June 2018 … [Read more…]
Recently, we were asked to give an account as to why Dallas Willard (d. 2013), Richard Foster, and John Ortberg were listed in Roger Oakland’s booklet How to Know When the Emerging Church Shows Signs of Emerging Into Your Church as part of the emerging church. We would first like to say that it is … [Read more…]
By Warren B. Smith William Paul Young writes that The Shack is “theology wrapped in story.”1 And his Shack theology presents a universalistic Shack Therapy for the “Great Sadness” that plagues his main character “Mack.” Young remarks in numerous interviews that, like Mack, most people have their own inner “shack” where they store their secrets … [Read more…]
By Warren B. Smith The name Judas has been described as the most hated name in all the world. Except for Shack author William Paul Young and maybe a few exceptional others, hardly anybody ever names anyone or anything Judas. It is one of those forbidden names like Jezebel or Lucifer that people would … [Read more…]
By Warren B. Smith Oprah Winfrey interviewed Shack author William Paul Young on July 9, 2017 on her Super Soul Sunday television program that was broadcast on her OWN network. Young and Oprah appeared to be like two peas in a New Age pod as they talked of child abuse, traded spiritual quips, and seemed … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails author Warren B. Smith wrote this article shortly before he had a heart attack a few weeks ago. The final editing of this article was obviously delayed. But with the growing interest in The Shack (book and movie), we are very grateful that Warren was able to finalize and submit this … [Read more…]
The repetition [of a word or phrase] can in fact be soothing and very freeing, helping us, as Nouwen says, “to empty out our crowded interior life and create the quiet space where we can dwell with God.”—Jan Johnson, When the Soul Listens, p. 93 Years ago, I got a chance to meet Jan Johnson. … [Read more…]
By Warren B. Smith For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, Having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) YOUNG PUBLICLY ENDORSES UNIVERSAL SALVATION In … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: The Shack movie is soon to be released, and Christians and non-Christians alike will fill movie theaters to watch it. Before you open your minds and hearts up to this movie, please study the facts behind the book, The Shack, which will no doubt be carried over to some extent to the movie. … [Read more…]
“Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth is hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality with millions of copies sold since its original publication in 1978.”—Publisher description LTRP Note: Keep in mind three things as you read this article: 1) a strong link exists between Thomas Merton … [Read more…]
By Warren B. Smith I was drawn into the New Age Movement years ago by books and lectures containing parabolic stories that were not unlike The Shack. They felt spiritually uplifting as they tackled tough issues and talked about God’s love and forgiveness. They seemed to provide me with what I spiritually needed as they … [Read more…]
