{"id":4920,"date":"2010-08-31T17:04:55","date_gmt":"2010-08-31T21:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=4920"},"modified":"2026-07-19T15:25:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T22:25:48","slug":"letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from the Editor: Friend’s Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails – Says LT Lies About Liberty University’s Contemplative Propensities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we received the following e-mail from a Lighthouse Trails reader. We have removed any identifying information so as\u00a0to maintain the privacy of all parties. Please see our comments below the e-mail.<\/p>\n

To Lighthouse Trails:<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a result of a casual conversation with a friend, I was telling her about your listing of contemplative colleges.\u00a0 She asked me if Liberty University was one of them.\u00a0 When I e-mailed to tell her yes, she did not reply; but her husband did.\u00a0 He was VERY angry at me – vehemently denied that there was any truth to information posted on your site.\u00a0 Can\u00a0you please help me with this?\u00a0 I have been using your site for a few years now and have never found anything that was untrue.<\/p>\n

Thank you very much for any support you can offer me in this delicate matter.<\/p>\n

Our Response:<\/strong><\/p>\n

We do have Liberty listed as a college\/university that is promoting contemplative spirituality. The information we have posted and written about Liberty is documented, and we provide this documentation for all to see. For instance in the one article we wrote, http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/newsletter021307.htm#article2<\/a>, we state that David Wheeler, professor at Liberty was using contemplative leader, Mike Yaconelli\u2019s book for his classes. Wheeler was indeed using this book, and we talked to him on the phone in 2008 to confirm this. We explain in the article the nature of Yaconelli\u2019s book.<\/p>\n

In this article, http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=2035<\/a>, we listed several areas where Liberty was using contemplative materials.. Mind you, a lot of those links have now been changed by Liberty, but everything we wrote when we wrote it was true and accurate.<\/p>\n

Liberty is still promoting Youth Specialties (one of the biggest\u00a0advocates of contemplative AND emerging spirituality). In the 2010 National Youth Workers Convention website (an event presented by Youth Specialties), Liberty is listed as one of the event\u2019s exhibitors: http:\/\/nywc.com\/exhibitors\/<\/a>. To participate in any form\u00a0of this pro-emerging event, where\u00a0mystic proponents Tony Campolo and Mark Yaconelli will speak,\u00a0shows that Liberty is still sympathetic toward contemplative spirituality.<\/p>\n

Further, on Liberty\u2019s website, they still carry the Code of Ethics which in it explains their connection with contemplative pioneer Richard Foster. http:\/\/www.liberty.edu\/media\/1118\/%5B5975%5DAACC_Christian_Code_of_Ethics.pdf<\/a>\u00a0 (From page 3 of the Code:\u00a0 “Although rooted primarily in an orthodox evangelical biblical theology, this Code is also influenced (according to the paradigm offered by Richard Foster<\/strong>) by the social justice, charismatic-pentecostal, pietistic-holiness, liturgical, and contemplative traditions<\/strong> of Christian theology and church history.”) If Liberty University does not agree with this strong supporting statement, they should remove the Code of Ethics from their website.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the Liberty University\u00a0Center for Worship Resource Center, they list a number of emerging\/New Spirituality authors as resources for students: http:\/\/www.liberty.edu\/index.cfm?PID=10757(Rob Bell, Erwin McManus, Donald Miller, Dan Kimball, David Crowder, and Michael Card, etc). Also in Liberty’s Center for Worship are two Spiritual Formation programs. (Spiritual Formation, a term developed by contemplatives Richard Foster and Dallas Willard and identified in the early 1990s by Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Church<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Other instances where Liberty is using contemplative material:\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Youth 201 course, they are using Ron Luce\u2019s<\/a> book for a textbook. Luce is another contemplative advocate. http:\/\/liberty.bncollege.com\/webapp\/wcs\/stores\/servlet\/BATTLE_CRY_FOR_A_GENERATION\/BNCB_TextbookDetailView?catalogId=10001&storeId=22559&langId=-1&productId=500000950748&sectionId=42763398&partNumber=MBS_869060&item=Y&displayStoreId=22559<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In DSMN course, Alan Hirsch\u2019s book, Forgotten Ways<\/em>, is being used as a text book. Hirsch too is an emerging advocate. http:\/\/liberty.bncollege.com\/webapp\/wcs\/stores\/servlet\/FORGOTTEN_WAYS\/BNCB_TextbookDetailView?catalogId=10001&storeId=22559&langId=-1&productId=500000881850&sectionId=42671971&partNumber=MBS_828909&item=Y&displayStoreId=22559<\/a><\/p>\n

Further material:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Other courses at Liberty using contemplative and\/or emerging authors:<\/p>\n

COUN 506, 373 and PACO 506, 373: Henri Nouwen (2 books)<\/p>\n

CHMN 497 and PLED 520: Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline<\/p>\n

COUC 735 and 397: Dallas Willard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we received the following…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[32,115,394,395],"class_list":["post-4920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contemplative-colleges","tag-henri-nouwen","tag-contemplative","tag-liberty-university","tag-youth-specialties","wpcat-71-id"],"yoast_head":"\nLetter from the Editor: Friend's Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails - Says LT Lies About Liberty University's Contemplative Propensities - From the Lighthouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letter from the Editor: Friend's Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails - Says LT Lies About Liberty University's Contemplative Propensities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today, we received the following...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"From the Lighthouse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-31T21:04:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-19T22:25:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Letters to the Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LTrails\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Letters to the Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Letters to the Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0\"},\"headline\":\"Letter from the Editor: Friend’s Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails – Says LT Lies About Liberty University’s Contemplative Propensities\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-31T21:04:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T22:25:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":695,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Henri Nouwen\",\"contemplative\",\"Liberty University\",\"youth specialties\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Contemplative Colleges\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/\",\"name\":\"Letter from the Editor: Friend's Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails - Says LT Lies About Liberty University's Contemplative Propensities - From the Lighthouse\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-31T21:04:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-19T22:25:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Letter from the Editor: Friend’s Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails – Says LT Lies About Liberty University’s Contemplative Propensities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"From the Lighthouse\",\"description\":\""A Light Shining in the Darkness"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0\",\"name\":\"Letters to the Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/40d3c6aa236a6f9af23b4b8dd42cb1b45425b122947feaef4ad55a2def10e399?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/40d3c6aa236a6f9af23b4b8dd42cb1b45425b122947feaef4ad55a2def10e399?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/40d3c6aa236a6f9af23b4b8dd42cb1b45425b122947feaef4ad55a2def10e399?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Letters to the Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/letters-to-the-editor\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Letter from the Editor: Friend's Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails - Says LT Lies About Liberty University's Contemplative Propensities - From the Lighthouse","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Letter from the Editor: Friend's Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails - Says LT Lies About Liberty University's Contemplative Propensities","og_description":"Today, we received the following...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/","og_site_name":"From the Lighthouse","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LighthouseTrailsResearch","article_published_time":"2010-08-31T21:04:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-19T22:25:48+00:00","author":"Letters to the Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@LTrails","twitter_site":"@LTrails","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Letters to the Editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/"},"author":{"name":"Letters to the Editor","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0"},"headline":"Letter from the Editor: Friend’s Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails – Says LT Lies About Liberty University’s Contemplative Propensities","datePublished":"2010-08-31T21:04:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T22:25:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/"},"wordCount":695,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Henri Nouwen","contemplative","Liberty University","youth specialties"],"articleSection":["Contemplative Colleges"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/","name":"Letter from the Editor: Friend's Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails - Says LT Lies About Liberty University's Contemplative Propensities - From the Lighthouse","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-08-31T21:04:55+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-19T22:25:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-from-the-editor-friends-husband-angry-at-lighthouse-trails-says-lt-lies-about-liberty-universitys-contemplative-propensities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Letter from the Editor: Friend’s Husband Angry at Lighthouse Trails – Says LT Lies About Liberty University’s Contemplative Propensities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/","name":"From the Lighthouse","description":""A Light Shining in the Darkness"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0","name":"Letters to the Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40d3c6aa236a6f9af23b4b8dd42cb1b45425b122947feaef4ad55a2def10e399?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40d3c6aa236a6f9af23b4b8dd42cb1b45425b122947feaef4ad55a2def10e399?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/40d3c6aa236a6f9af23b4b8dd42cb1b45425b122947feaef4ad55a2def10e399?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Letters to the Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/author\/letters-to-the-editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4920"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43212,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4920\/revisions\/43212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}