{"id":9046,"date":"2012-03-27T10:56:04","date_gmt":"2012-03-27T14:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=9046"},"modified":"2026-07-19T20:32:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:32:49","slug":"letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the Editor: We relate to “It was a dark and stormy night.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

This is in response to your lead article on March 19, 2012:\u00a0 HOW LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS BEGAN \u2013 Part One: \u201cIt was a dark and stormy night.\u201d<\/a><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t know us, as our ministry is not as well publicized as yours, but we identify with your work and calling.\u00a0 We depend on you guys in exposing these errors, and in your lead article today about how Lighthouse Trails got started\u2014and we emphasize with your angst.\u00a0 Especially in this paragraph quoted below, though we deal mainly with a subject different from \u201ccontemplative prayer\u201d:<\/p>\n

You write: \u201c<\/strong>We thought that if we could warn some of the more influential leaders (like Rick Warren), they would be so happy to be warned, they would probably go out and write their own books warning about (CD note: our subject of calling is different) contemplative prayer, and we could just go back to our \u201cnormal\u201d lives and leave this kind of thing up to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This happens to us almost on a daily basis in our ministry. When this happens, we take courage from the (entire) book of Habakkuk, and from the verse in Jeremiah below:<\/p>\n

First, from the King James:\u00a0 \u201cThou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trusteth, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?\u201d<\/p>\n

And then from the NASB:\u00a0 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, Then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?\u201d<\/p>\n

Though jousting with our own leaders (whom we see as the footmen) , we have not yet met the enemy, but fully believe that we are being prepared to do so. \u00a0\u00a0In our case, as you report in yours, the Lord is \u201c\u2026using the simple to confound the wise,”\u00a0\u00a0and \u00a0thus we enjoy a fellowship with you guys though we don\u2019t know you personally.\u00a0 This is just meant to encourage, and affirm the Lord\u2019s encouragement to Elijah, \u00a0when he complained about the actions of Jezebel: (Romans 11:4 referring to Elijah\u2019s cry of discouragement in OT) \u2019 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” )<\/p>\n

We have seen the contemplative issues come up in the Church at large (and have read your reports), but we have only recently seen the corroding effects of \u00a0contemplative prayer in our intimate local circle<\/span>\u2014people who have mentored us, and people with whom we would trust our very lives!\u201d So scary.\u00a0 Keep up the good work.<\/p>\n

This must be the \u201cfellowship of the saints\u201d???<\/p>\n

Many blessings, C_____<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Lighthouse Trails: This is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[475],"tags":[30,61,437,839,1218],"class_list":["post-9046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-letters-to-the-editor","tag-contemplative-prayer","tag-spiritual-deception","tag-letter-to-the-editor","tag-contending-for-the-faith","tag-fellowship","wpcat-475-id"],"yoast_head":"\nLetter to the Editor: We relate to "It was a dark and stormy night." - 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-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Letter to the Editor: We relate to "It was a dark and stormy night."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dear Lighthouse Trails: This is...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\/\" \/>\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=\"2012-03-27T14:56:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-20T03:32:49+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=\"2 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-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Letters to the Editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/760be19b05d2a8ad1e98d328cc2bf3b0\"},\"headline\":\"Letter to the Editor: We relate to “It was a dark and stormy night.”\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-27T14:56:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-20T03:32:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"contemplative prayer\",\"spiritual deception\",\"letter to the editor\",\"contending for the faith\",\"fellowship\"],\"articleSection\":[\"LETTERS TO THE EDITOR\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\\\/blog\\\/letter-to-the-editor-we-relate-to-it-was-a-dark-and-stormy-night\\\/\",\"name\":\"Letter to the Editor: We relate to \\\"It was a dark and stormy night.\\\" - 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