By Ray Yungen Two authors from Great Britain portrayed a stunningly clear picture of New Age spirituality. They explained: [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 … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Please pray for Yoko, the woman from Japan who wrote this letter to us. We have been in correspondence with her this past week and have e-mailed her a copy of Dr. Harry Ironside’s booklet called Redemption. She told us after reading it that she particularly liked this sentence from the booklet: “Do … [Read more…]
According to a news release from PRWire titled “Pope Francis To Address Americans At National Mall Event ’Together 2016’ With Special Video Message,” Pope Francis will be joining (via video) evangelical leaders such as Ravi Zacharias, Luis Palau, Michael W. Smith, and Josh McDowell, emerging-church leaders such as Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Jennie Allen (IF), … [Read more…]
On the week of May 16, 2016, Lighthouse Trails began a second booklet-mailing project. Whereas our first booklet-mailing project is sending out booklets and short letters to over 130 Christian leaders every 2-3 months, this new project is reaching out to 235 Christian college and seminary presidents (and some deans). After 14 years of research, … [Read more…]
First published in 1978, Celebration of Discipline has had a massive influence on today’s Christianity. Unfortunately, the influence has helped to saturate the church with mystical contemplative prayer and the New Age. Most likely, your pastor has a copy of this book sitting on his library shelves. He may even have it sitting on his … [Read more…]
In 1922, liberal pastor and theologian Harry Emerson Fosdick stated the following words in his sermon titled “Will the Fundamentalists Win?”: “It is interesting to note where the Fundamentalists are driving in their stakes to mark out the deadline of doctrine around the church, across which no one is to pass except on terms of … [Read more…]
For over a decade now, Lighthouse Trails editors have been concerned about the direction that the AWANA children’s club is heading. Today, in this report, we want to first give an overview of our past decade of reporting on AWANA, and then we want to share some new information that should concern every parent and … [Read more…]
LTRP: A “manifesto,” written by former Marine Kyle Odom, the 30-year-old man who shot Idaho pastor Tim Remmington, reveals that his life started to change drastically when he began doing meditation while in university to relieve stress. The meditation experiences led him to come into contact with familiar spirits (which he thought were aliens) and … [Read more…]
Lighthouse Trails has been following Cedarville University since 2006 when we wrote an article titled “Cedarville University – Heading Down the Contemplative Road?” Since then, Lighthouse Trails has written several others articles having watched this Christian school head down the contemplative/emerging path. In 2013, Cedarville University got a new president, and we wrote an article … [Read more…]
One of the most common arguments we hear defending Spiritual Formation is that there is a “good” Spiritual Formation done without contemplative prayer. To that we say, we have never yet seen a Spiritual Formation program in a school or a church that doesn’t in some way point people to the contemplative mystics. It might … [Read more…]
Spiritual formation is sweeping quickly throughout Christianity today. It’s no wonder, when the majority of Christian leaders have either endorsed the movement or given it a silent pass. For instance, in Chuck Swindoll’s book So You Want to Be Like Christ: 8 Essential Disciplines to Get Your There, Swindoll favorably quotes Richard Foster and Dallas … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: The Wesleyan church is being lead by Jo Anne Lyon, who has yoked the denomination with false teachers. I had been in a church that was taken over by the Wesleyan denomination. I later transferred my membership away from it. She has spoken in our church and she all but tripped over … [Read more…]
To Lighthouse Trails: Last December during our Church Council, they (pastor and his wife) announced that we would be studying The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, and the Sunday School teachers would be teaching it. As one of the teachers, I said “No, I will not teach it. I don’t believe in it.” One … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails began publishing Booklets nearly three years ago. Our first booklet was Ray Yungen’s 5 Things You Should Know About Contemplative Prayer. Ray has now updated and expanded this booklet with new information that is vital to our warning about contemplative prayer. The updated, expanded Booklet is 18 pages long and sells … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: For thirteen years, Lighthouse Trails has been warning about the contemplative prayer movement. In this new booklet, Ray Yungen has provided new information that makes the contemplative argument (against it) irrefutable. We intend to send a copy of this booklet to all of the major Christian leaders whom we have challenged including Beth … [Read more…]
In the Summer 2015 Journal of the Southern Baptist Convention, an article titled “Great Awakening” states: Thousands of messengers at the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention knelt in prayer and raised their hands to heaven July 16 as they prayed for revival in the church and a great awakening across the United States. . . . … [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 … [Read more…]
Dear Lighthouse Trails: After reading Seduction of Christianity by Dave Hunt years ago, I have watched the insidious encroachment of mysticism into the evangelical Christian church. When I discovered you several years ago, I used some of your resources to help inform the small part of the flick that I have contact with. There is … [Read more…]
By Roger Oakland Proponents of contemplative prayer say the purpose of contemplative prayer is to tune in with God and hear His voice. However, Richard Foster claims that practitioners must use caution. He admits that in contemplative prayer “we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm” and that sometimes it is not the realm of … [Read more…]
It is with deep concern that the following information is being presented to warn believers who are looking for a good Christian college to attend or in which to send their children. Several years ago (2007), Lighthouse Trails posted an article about Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada that started out like this: Prairie Bible … [Read more…]
LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails first brought up the issue of Moody Bible Institute (and Moody Radio) heading in the contemplative direction over eight years ago (see links below). At one point, Moody issued a statement titled “Moody Responds to Lighthouse Trails,” denying our claims. That statement remained on their website for over 5 years. We … [Read more…]
A Lighthouse Trails reader called this past week, asking about the DVD film, Be Still. He said he watched it and couldn’t see anything wrong with it and would like to share it with others. He wanted to know what we thought about the film. We explained to the caller that the film was an … [Read more…]
By Chris Lawson Spiritual Research Network Each of the following authors professes to be Christian and/or uses biblical terminology in his or her writing, yet promotes at least one of the following serious false teachings: contemplative spirituality (i.e., Spiritual Formation), the emergent, progressive “new” spirituality, the seeker-friendly, church-growth movement (e.g., Willow Creek, Purpose Driven) and/or … [Read more…]
It is not often that Lighthouse Trails can report on a major Christian leader actually renouncing earlier endorsements of the contemplative mystics. Rick Warren, Beth Moore, Chuck Swindoll, David Jeremiah, and many others have written books that have promoted contemplative teachers, and Lighthouse Trails has documented many of these situations. And in every case, even … [Read more…]
In Chuck Swindoll’s book, Wisdom for the Way, in a section titled “Segments of Solitude” (p. 14), Swindoll states: “Henri Nouwen called solitude . . . ‘the furnace of transformation.’” A LT article, “Why Christian Leaders Should Not Promote Henri Nouwen” helps to clarify the serious problem with Henri Nouwen’s “solitude” and “transformation” meaning. A … [Read more…]
On October 14, 2014, Mark Driscoll, the senior pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington for the past 18 years, formally resigned from his position after numerous accusations came against him from former members and others. As is the case with most mega-church pastors these days when they do just about anything different than … [Read more…]
This past summer, a Lighthouse Trails reader sent us this e-mail letter she received from Renovare (Richard Foster’s contemplative outreach organization). Our reader is on the Renovare mailing list as she has grave concerns about friends who are involved with contemplative spirituality, and she monitors this group. The letter reveals the tight connection that YWAM … [Read more…]
by Ray Yungen If you have ever wondered why New Age authors and their teachings are creeping past many Christians, then maybe the definition of creeping might help. The term means: slowly advancing at a speed that is not really apparent until you look back over a long time period. For instance, creeping inflation is not noticed in the … [Read more…]
By Berit Kjos (author of How to Protect Your Child From the New Age and Spiritual Deception) The Spiritual Formation movement is widely promoted at colleges and seminaries as the latest and the greatest way to become a spiritual leader. It teaches people that this is how they can become more intimate with God and … [Read more…]
I’ve practiced centering prayer. I’ve contemplatively prayed. I’ve prayed liturgically . . . I’ve benefited from each, and I still do. In ways you’ll see, elements of each style are still with me.—Larry Crabb in The Papa Prayer, p.9 I’m glad that as a conservative evangelical who still believes in biblical inerrancy and penal substitution, … [Read more…]