Teen Mania Introduces Kids to Contemplative-Promoting Speaker

Teen Mania’s Fall 2006 “Battlecry Leadership Summit” will take place in several US cities this fall, and unfortunately one of the speakers is contemplative-promoting Jack Hayford. Hayford has been an ally with contemplative Richard Foster for some time now and has his endorsement on the back cover of Richard Foster’s book, Streams of Living Water, in which Foster quotes panentheist Thomas Kelly as saying “Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center.”

Hayford’s affinity for contemplative is even more apparent when he endorsed the back cover of John Michael Talbot’s 2005 book, The Way of the Mystics. Of the book, Hayford says:

John Michael Talbot is a faithful worshiper of our Savior, whose music and meditations not only refresh many, but whose witness reminds us of the breadth of the scope of vital, living witness throughout the whole Body of Christ, and how much we who love Jesus Christ have to give to each other of our mutual growth and benefit.

But those “meditations” of Talbot are centered on Eastern mysticism as is apparent in his book, The Way of the Mystics. In the book, Talbot writes about 12 or so past mystics, including St. Anthony (a desert father), Hildegard of Bingen, Ignatius of Loyola, George Fox and Thomas Merton. Of Merton, Talbot writes: [O]nce Merton was established in the silence, solitude, and seclusion of Gethsemani, his inner mystic and his inner muse began working overtime to create a vast outpouring of books” (p. 217). That “outpouring” showed very clearly that Merton, who said he was impregnated with Sufism, had become completely immersed in mysticism and the belief that God dwelled in all human beings. Talbot shows equal admiration for a woman named Hildegard of Bingen. According to New Age mystic Matthew Fox, Hildegard “represents the big link between Christian spirituality and pre-patriarchal spiritualities (goddess spirituality)” and that she is called the “Grandmother of the Rhineland mystic movement, a movement of creation-centered spirituality” (from Meditations with Hildegard of Bingen).

John Michael Talbot’s affinity to mystical practices is no secret. He says: “I began practicing meditation, specifically breath prayer, once again. I integrated the use of Tai Chi and yoga” (A Time of Departing, p. 10).

When Jack Hayford says that Talbot’s meditations “refresh many,” one can only wonder if Hayford himself has indulged in these meditations. And with Hayford’s obvious attraction to contemplative through his endorsement of both Foster and Talbot, will he bring this influence to countless young people at the Battlecry event?

We hope that the other speakers, including Pastor Tommy Barnett, will warn the youth attending to stay away from the spirituality that Jack Hayford is so readily promoting. And once again, we ask, why are Christian leaders turning away from biblical integrity and following hard after a sensual, New Age spirituality while leading so many on this dangerous trail?

Worth noting, Benny Hinn is one of the speakers at the upcoming King’s Seminary (Hayford’s seminary) Autumn Leadership Conference. Hayford, who is the current president for the Foursquare Church denomination, is bringing much harm to many by leading people to the teachings of Hinn and Talbot.

In addition to Teen Mania bringing in Hayford, their emphasis on turning Christian kids into “warriors” lines up with Erwin McManus’ Barbarian Way and Kids in Ministries’ Jesus Camp. Dressing kids in army fatigues and having them chant things like, We are warriors, is not indicative of biblical Christianity that Jesus Christ or the disciples taught. Now with the coupling of militancy and mysticism, the possible results should cause alarm and deep concern.

For related information:

Red Moon Rising: An Army of Young People with a “Violent Reaction”

Jesus Camp, Film Reveals the Mystical and the Militant, Not Biblical Christianity

Dominionism, Global Peace and Mysticism

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