{"id":1931,"date":"2006-10-31T08:59:31","date_gmt":"2006-10-31T12:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=1931"},"modified":"2026-07-19T13:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T20:10:14","slug":"focus-on-the-family-parents-should-be-warned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/focus-on-the-family-parents-should-be-warned\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on the Family – Parents Should Be Warned"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an email brief<\/a> titled A Night of “Spiritual Naturalism,”<\/em> sent out on October 31st from Focus on the Family, FOF Institute President Del Tackett<\/a> warns parents about the increase of mysticism in our culture. He says:<\/p>\n

The night of fun [Halloween] has become a mainstream part of our culture. The messages of popular songs, movies and television are increasingly “dark.” New Age and Eastern mysticism thought are pervasive, found even in our kindergartens. The spiritual animation of the material world is a growing phenomenon. Wicca attracts more and more young women into its covens…. [W]e are seeing a rapid rise in what I call “spiritual naturalism.” This is not a movement toward the transcendent God of the universe, but simply adding “spirit” to the matter and energy of the natural realm. I would argue that it is not a movement toward the “supernatural,” but more toward the “sub-natural” for it draws people ever deeper into the darkness of the spiritual forces of hell, not heaven…. Parents, beware. The messages we allow our children to hear often carry a virus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hearing this from Focus on the Family seems almost preposterous. Why? Because this Christian ministry is promoting contemplative spirituality, which is as “sub-natural” as “spiritual naturalism” and draws people just as deeply into “the darkness of the spiritual forces of hell.”<\/p>\n

We contacted Focus on the Family to warn them about the dangers of contemplative spirituality and to tell them that they were promoting it by endorsing such teachers as Gary Thomas, who teaches mantra meditation, and FOF’s own H.B. London who has a CD set on Spiritual Formation. In the set, London extols Richard Foster, who said “we should all without shame enroll in the school of contemplative prayer” (Celebration of Discipline<\/em>). London says that Foster is an “expert” on the subject and includes contemplative promoters John Ortberg and Larry Crabb in the set, calling them experts also.<\/p>\n

Focus on the Family strengthens their stand for contemplative in a four part article on the TrueU website (link has been removed-2017), written by J. P. Moreland (professor at Talbot School of Theology), who espouses the spiritual disciplines (i.e., contemplative spirituality). Moreland says, a “Christian spiritual discipline is a repeated bodily practice” and leaves one to view the Christian life as regimented rituals that just might eventually make us holy if we practice them enough. Moreland adds: “People are coming to see that repeated bodily practice in the form of spiritual exercises\/disciplines is at the heart of spiritual transformation.”<\/p>\n

Just in case anyone would still question Focus on the Family’s true affinity toward contemplative, an article<\/a> on FOF’s Boundless magazine, writer Sarah E. Hinlicky not only talks favorably about lectio divina but goes so far as to favorably quote and discuss panentheist Thomas Keating. Lighthouse Trails told FOF about this article, but months later, it remains on their site. No one can know how many people have read that article over the last six years and no one knows how many of those have been led away from the gospel message of Jesus Christ and into the spirituality of Thomas Keating.<\/p>\n

How can Focus on the Family partake in this type of controlled opposition<\/em>, saying they are against mysticism but yet promote it. In a way, it is even worse, because the mysticism they promote is hidden within Christian terminology. So if a warning is to go out to parents, it must include a warning about Focus on the Family, who by their own admission (in a letter to us)<\/a>, “believe that there is and always has been a strong tradition of contemplative prayer in the Christian church that has nothing to do with mantras and Eastern meditation.” But the men they are promoting (Thomas, Crabb, Keating, and Foster) do believe in mantras and Eastern style meditation! And for that Focus on the Family leaders should apologize to the body of Christ and turn from contemplative spirituality.<\/p>\n

For more on Focus on the Family and their promotion of Contemplative Prayer:<\/p>\n