Lighthouse Trails Research Project - Exposing Contemplative Spirituality

As we stated previously, the Lighthouse Trails e-newsletter will be sent out once a month now instead of once a week. If you are signed up for our RSS Feed and check it daily, then you may have seen some of these articles already. The following articles are what we have posted since our last newsletter on January 12th.

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Rick Warren's New Magazine Promotes the New Global Spirituality

When Lighthouse Trails reported in November of 2006 that New Age leader Marianne Williamson came to Rick Warren's defense regarding his strategy to bring about global peace, tying it in with global meditation, it became clear to some that it was just a matter of time before Rick Warren came out of the "new spirituality" closet. That day is much closer now with the launching of the premier edition of his new magazine, the Purpose Driven Connection.

After subscribing online to the magazine, Lighthouse Trails received the first issue less than 24 hours later by U.S. mail. While the customer service and delivery was remarkable, the content of the magazine is troubling.

The 144 glossy page, high quality magazine has been put together by a professional team of editors, marketing engineers, and design directors and will be issued four times a year at a cost of $29.99 annually or $10 an issue. Rick Warren is the Editor-in-Chief, and is also one of the main writers. On a first run through, one thing becomes quickly apparent - this is a promotional project for Rick Warren and his Purpose Driven Movement. Aside from articles written by him and about him, as well as the mention of his name in numerous spots, there are 18 photos of Rick Warren throughout the publication.

But a pricey magazine filled with the chief editor's name and picture does not constitute serious concern. What does, however, is the material within its cover. The magazine reads like a Robert Schuller, Norman Vincent Peale, and Peter Drucker book all rolled into one with articles written by contemplative proponents Mark Batterson, Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, and Lee Strobel.

An emphasis in the magazine is "connection." In the "Editor's Letter," Rick Warren says: "YOU WERE CREATED FOR CONNECTIONS.... Life is all about connecting. A disconnected life is merely existing" (p.2-3). Warren promises that the Purpose Driven Connection will give the "power" and the tools for this connection. "Power flows through connections.... When you're a member of the Purpose Driven Connection, we'll help you develop the four kinds of relationships you need in order to grow: mentors, models, partners, and friends" (p. 3).

In addition to the magazine, an online community, a Personal Spiritual Health Assessment, and Small Group Study Guides, Warren plans on offering PDC Courses, Summits, Retreats, Coaches, Weekends, and more. With so many venues being offered to members, it is a fair question to ask what resources and influences will be used to provide all this training.

Those who have tracked Rick Warren over the past several years, using biblical discernment, know there have been New Age implications in his teachings and his persuasions. Warren Smith, in his book Deceived on Purpose, laid out many of these implications and Warren's tie to New Age sympathizer Robert Schuller. In the premier issue of Purpose Driven Connection, Warren has once again brought in New Age influences, which are given as tools to build Purpose Driven connections.

In a section of the magazine called "The Scene," one page is devoted to popular "Christian" books. Warren has included books that have contemplative and or emerging slants, such as Brennan Manning's Ragamuffin Gospel, as well as listing The Shack as a "notable best-selling Christian" book (no disclaimer or warning provided, which gives the indication to readers that this is a good trustworthy book, and yet within its pages is the message of the Black Madonna, that God is in all things.

Even more troubling, on that same page of Purpose Driven Connection is a book titled Led by Faith written by Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculee Ilibagaza with a foreword written by Rick Warren. Ilibagaza's story is a most incredible and heart rending story of her survival, hiding in a cramped bathroom with a group of other women during the Rwandan genocide. But Ilibagaza's message is one that resonates with New Age leader Wayne Dyer, who has vigorously promoted Ilibagaza. Her books are published by Dyer's publisher, one of the largest and most prolific New Age publishers today, Hay House. It is Dyer who said that A Course in Miracles would be the way to bring peace to the world. In Ilibagaza's first book, Left to Tell, she acknowledges Dyer's influence in her life.

This Lighthouse Trails report is not intended to bring criticism against a woman who suffered so much in Rwanda. It is rather to show that America's most popular evangelical pastor, who few Christian leaders have dared to challenge on his beliefs and actions, is moving swiftly toward a global spirituality that will ultimately reject the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. The Purpose Driven Connection is a step toward this reality.

Immaculee Ilibagaza, a Catholic, has also written a book about Mary apparitions called Our Lady of Kibeho. On Ilibagaza's website, it reads:

After the genocide, and two decades of rigorous investigation, Our Lady of Kibeho became the first and only Vatican-approved Marian (that is, related to the Virgin Mary) site in all of Africa. But the story still remains largely unknown. Now, Immaculee Ilibagaza plans to change all that. She made many pilgrimages to Kibeho both before and after the holocaust, personally witnessed true miracles, and spoke with a number of the visionaries themselves.

Some may feel that for Rick Warren to write the foreword (and promote in his magazine) to a book that has a story of such incredible suffering, releases him from any obligation. But in light of Rick Warren's major influence on millions of people and given the fact he claims to be a Bible believing Christian, he is obligated indeed. To promote a book and author, in the name of Christianity, that points to Wayne Dyer (author of Living the Wisdom of the Tao and Real Magic) and Mary apparitions is misleading and unruly.

On the back page of the Purpose Driven Connection sits a full page promotion for an organization called Hands on Network, which is now part of the Points of Light Institute. The promotional reads: "It is Through People That Change Happens in the World. Take action. Be the change." The "Be the Change" theme is prevalent in the global spirituality efforts. As we have previously reported, Rick Warren is on the "Leadership Council" of a liberal organization, Service Nation (Be the Change, Inc, which is working toward mandatory volunteer service for Americans. The motto of Service Nation, "Be the Change," is taken from Hindu guru, Mahatma Gandhi and a motto that both Rick Warren and President Barack Obama would agree upon. Incidentally, in the middle section of Purpose Driven Connection is a full page photo of Rick Warren and President Barack Obama, along with a five page interview Warren did with Obama, which states that Obama's "Christian beliefs ... "influence his views on faith, abortion, freedom, and evil" (p. 74).

What is most tragic about the Purpose Driven Connection is that Rick Warren presents stories of those who have truly suffered in one form or another (persecution, natural disaster, poverty, etc), but he is using these stories to further his plans for a Purpose Driven world and has left much of truth behind, offering a false spirituality in its place. It is equally disturbing, that in a world where so many have either rejected Jesus Christ or not heard about him at all, in what could perhaps be the 11th hour before the return of Christ, a man who claims to be a Christian and who many say is the major representative for evangelical Christians goes virtually unchallenged by Christian leaders and the majority of Christian pastors and professors. The question must be asked, is Rick Warren hiding behind the sufferings of the world in order to masquerade his plans of a new universal reformation that will include all religious persuasions and will offer the world a "gospel" that offends no one, yet for that very reason can save no one?

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
(1 Timothy 4:1-3)

Ted Haggard and New Life Church - A View from a Different Angle

WARNING: This article may not be appropriate for young minor readers.

The following is an update from our November 2006 article, Ted Haggard Story Will Raise Serious Questions For All.

February 1, 2009: In a January/February 2009 Christianity Today online article titled Ted Haggard's Facebook, Patton Dodd (former staff member at New Life Church for eight years) expressed his concerns that Ted Haggard has come out into the public through interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Larry King. Dodd's article defends Haggard's former church, New Life, but in view of more recent allegations that Haggard's sexual abuses extended beyond the former male prostitute who came forward and involved at least one (and according to one report, others have come forth) New Life congregant as well, Lighthouse Trails is issuing this second report.

Dodd's article discusses a new documentary film called The Trials of Ted Haggard, which will begin airing on February 1st through HBO, and according to a Christian Post article is "a sympathetic portrait" of Haggard. Alexandria Pelosi (daughter of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) is the director of the film. What Dodd's article does not discuss is the allegations that Haggard was having sexual improprieties beyond the prostitute who exposed Haggard initially. The reason for this Lighthouse Trails report is because New Life, as well as so many other evangelical churches right now, is selling books to their congregants that promote the new spirituality's view of sex. Thus, they have placed themselves in a precarious situation that can only lead their people to further disaster. While Dodd and other commentators point primarily to Haggard as the problem, perhaps it is time Christian pastors and leaders start examining things from a different view.

One of the "fruits" of contemplative/emerging spirituality (i.e., the new spirituality) is what is termed "sexual spirituality" or "conjugal spirituality," which is related to tantra sex (the mixture of sex and mysticism), a harmful and occultic combination for sure.

As we have reported previously, both Rob Bell (author of Sex God) and Gary Thomas (Sacred Marriage) are proponents of contemplative mysticism and have introduced the church to "sexual spirituality." Both of these books are at New Life Church, and leaders of New Life have put the congregants in harm's way. How tragic, in light of the fact that there may be other victims at New Life because of Ted Haggard's sexual advances toward young men.

In addition to selling Sex God and Sacred Marriage (which is unfortunately also strongly promoted by Focus on the Family), New Life is carrying an array of other contemplative/emerging books from authors such as: Pete Grieg (24-7 Prayer Rooms), James Goll (practicing the presence), emergent mystic proponent Erwin McManus, Shane Claiborne, Philip Yancey, Imaculee Ilibagiza (Rwandan genocide survivor who resonates with New Ager Wayne Dyer), Ruth Haley Barton, Richard Foster, and many others. New Life's World Prayer Center is equally inundated with the contemplative/emerging aspect.

As Caryl Matrisciana, author of Out of India, points out in her article "Tantra Sex: Evangelicals Catching Up with New Agers?," :

tantric sex incorporates mysticism into sexual activity. Couples, who seek out help for their relationships, are instructed to go into meditative states while being intimate. In her book, Conjugal Spirituality (which is promoted by Gary Thomas), Mary Anne McPherson Oliver discusses and encourages the use of tantric sex. Oliver suggests that "the Upanishads and Tantric writings [are] the basis of moral theology for couples" and that "mystical experiences can be associated with erotic love." Oliver tells readers to use mantras and breath prayers to induce the tantric experience.

But the implications of mixing the sexual with the mystical are detrimental, as Matrisciana points out:

The Bible warns that the supernatural world can make contact with humans if a human gives permission for its entrance. That open door allows the spiritual being (sometimes seen as an angel of light: II Corinthians 11:14) to control whoever submits himself to its spiritual power (Genesis 6: 2 - 4).

Obviously these "heavenly" beings are not God's ministering angels who only do His bidding for His purposes, but they belong to Satan's legion, are possessed with his diabolical and rebellious source, and are known as fallen angels, a hierarchy of evil powers and principalities of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12).

While Haggard (who told Oprah he was a victim of child sexual abuse himself) told Larry King that allegations of his sexual indiscretions toward a 20 year old New Life Church volunteer were "fundamentally true," it is also "fundamentally true" that when a sexual predator is exposed, there are almost always other victims that do not come forth. The Catholic priest scenario is a grim example of this as are thousands of other cases. We hope and pray that if there are others who have been victim to Haggard, they will indeed come forth, because the power of sin lies in its secrecy.

In 2007, the year after Haggard's exposure, New Life Church suffered a terrible tragedy, when 24 year old Matthew Murray entered New Life and killed 2 people, wounding several others and killing 2 others at a nearby YWAM center. Murray was shot and killed by a New Life undercover security woman. 1 Later, police found a number of troubling items in Murray's home, two of which were a photo of Haggard and a note that said "Christianity to him was 'hate, abuse (sexual, physical, psychological, and emotional), hypocrisy, and lies.'" What possessed this young man to be driven to such violence no one may ever know, but this we can say with sober confidence: Christian churches, in their taking a hold of the occultic, mystical "new spirituality" through contemplative and emerging beliefs, are not providing a safe ground to build true Christian disciples, but rather are providing fertile ground for the works of the devil. These things ought not to be.

A word to churches who are embracing contemplative mysticism and the new spirituality, please re-consider the direction you are heading in. Your determination to continue promoting this mystical spirituality could harm more people than you could ever realize.

Considering the fact that Rick Warren, Bill Hybels (Willow Creek), Beth Moore, Focus on the Family, the majority of Christian colleges and seminaries, and five of the largest Christian publishers are promoting contemplative (spiritual formation), we hope many readers of this article will realize the serious implications of what is presently taking place within the walls of evangelicalism and Christianity at large. We know that many Bible believing Christians understand and are trying to warn others, and we commend those courageous ones, who are often belittled and marginalized for their stand.

Postscript: For those who have not read Laughter Calls Me, now may be a good time to do so, to further understand the seriousness of predatory sexual behavior.

Barbara Marx Hubbard Video at Democratic National Convention - "citizens solutions" for the new era

New Age leader and activist Barbara Marx Hubbard has played an instrumental role with Marianne Williamson in efforts to bring about a Department of Peace in Washington, DC. Warren Smith discusses Marx Hubbard's work and the "selection process" to prepare the world for a new era of consciousness in his online book, Reinventing Jesus Christ Hubbard's book, Happy Birthday Planet Earth, she states:

Christ-consciousness and Christ-abilities are the natural inheritance of every human being on Earth. When the word of this hope has reached the nations, the end of this phase of evolution shall come. All will know their choice. All will be required to choose..... All who choose not to evolve will die off; their souls will begin again within a different planetary system which will serve as kindergarten for the transition from self-centered to whole-centered being. The kindergarten class of Earth will be over. Humankind's collective power is too great to be inherited by self-centered, infantile people." (Quoted by Let Us Reason)

Ina YouTube video, Barbara Marx Hubbard is speaking at the Democratic National Convention about a "citizens solutions council" which can "activate" and "mobilize" those who are working toward global consciousness and unity. This is not fringe edge - it is a reality, one that we believe will, at some point, intersect with the Purpose Driven three-legged stool and the emerging church. The common element - mysticism, which is the ground where all religious traditions come together and acknowledge their common divinity within.

It is New Age guru Neale Donald Walsch who stated: "The era of the Single Savior is over." This is where the "new spirituality" is heading - thus, let us continue defending the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

"[T]here is no other name [Jesus Christ] under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4: 12

Evangelicals and Catholics Together

by Roger Oakland

During the late 1990s, while evangelical Protestants and Catholics were making progress joining hands and disregarding differences (Chuck Colson's "Evangelicals & Catholics Together"1), I discovered strong evidence of an underlying Catholic agenda to entice all those who were not Catholic to become Catholic.

The pope's declaration at the Eucharistic Congress in June of 2000 and the Knights of Columbus booklet promoting the Eucharist as the heart of what Catholics mean by evangelization, reminded me of a statement made by Catholic priest Tom Forest in 1990. I had come across this quote while doing research for my book, New Wine and the Babylonian Vine. Forest speaking to an exclusively Catholic group, explained:

Our job is to make people as richly and as fully Christian as we can make them by bringing them into the Catholic Church. So evangelization is never fully successful, it's only partial, until the convert is made a member of Christ's body by being led into the [Catholic] church.

No, you don't just invite someone to become a Christian. You invite them to become Catholics ... Why would this be so important? First of all, there are seven sacraments, and the Catholic Church has all seven. On our altars we have the body of Christ; we drink the blood of Christ. Jesus is alive on our altars ... We become one with Christ in the Eucharist...

As Catholics we have Mary, and that Mom of ours, Queen of Paradise, is praying for us till she sees us in glory. As Catholics we have the papacy, a history of popes from Peter to John Paul II ... we have the rock upon which Christ did build His Church. Now as Catholics--now I love this one--we have purgatory. Thank God! I'm one of those people who would never get to the Beatific Vision without it. It's the only way to go....

So as Catholics ... our job is to use the remaining decade evangelizing everyone we can in the Catholic Church, into the body of Christ and into the third millennium of Catholic history.2

A clear picture was being painted--a missionary vision focusing on the Eucharist was a topic of extreme significance. (From Another Jesus, 2nd ed., pp. 29-30 - to understand the meaning of the Catholic Eucharist and the Pope's new evangelization plan, please read this important book.)

Notes:

1. Evangelicals & Catholics Together, co-authored by Charles Colson and signed by many evangelical leaders. (Can be viewed at: http://www.leaderu.com/ect/ectmenu.html).
2. "Roman Catholic Doubletalk at Indianapolis '90," Foundation, July-August 1990, excerpts from talk by Fr. Tom Forest to the Roman Catholic Saturday morning training session.

Related DVDS:

Messages from Heaven

Road to Rome

Deception: Appearing to be on God's Side

by Ray Yungen

In the days prior to Jesus Christ's return, [f]amiliar spirits (fallen angels) will not just mislead a few individuals; they will deceive the whole world into embracing a new system. Satan (whose name means adversary) will be the power behind the "coming one"-the great Antichrist. The origin of the Antichrist-s religious system is clearly revealed by the apostle John in Revelation 17:5:

"And on her forehead a name was written: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth."

Another word for Babylon in the Old Testament was Chaldea. The Chaldeans were renowned for their use of metaphysical arts. They began the first mystery schools. Daniel 4:7 says: "Then the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers came in." This Mystery Babylon, then, would be the original source or mother of what is now New Age metaphysics.

Thus, when the apostle John identifies the Antichrist's spiritual format, he is making reference to the city and the people that first spawned occultism in ancient times. All of the other mystery schools flowed out of Babylon, teaching essentially the same thing--the higher self. John saw it as one unbroken line throughout history culminating in the Antichrist's rule with hundreds of millions being given over to familiar spirits. Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, gave us an account of this activity as the first century believers were daily confronting spirits not of God:

But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is the great power of God." And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time. (Acts 8:9-11)

Simon was a man whose activities appeared good; otherwise the people would not have declared, "this man is the great power of God." But the truth of the matter is, he wasn't of God--he just appeared to be. Fortunately for Simon, he repented from his Chaldean practice, and he and his household were saved.

Simon's conversion (like all conversions) was a huge threat to the mystical agenda. Hence, it is easy to see why the coming of the Gospel to the town of Ephesus was a great hindrance to the practice of occultism. Once the people understood they had been deceived by what appeared to be spiritual truth, they repented and liberated themselves of all their collections of mystical recipes. The following describes this dramatic event:

"And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed." (Acts 19:18-20)

The magical or metaphysical arts flew out their door when the Gospel of Christ came in. The two were not only incompatible but totally opposite. Further, what the new believers burned equaled the wages of 150 men for one year. The Ephesian believers gave up their wealth and mystical formulas for the truth found only in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, the opposite is happening in the world today!

There is another account in Scripture that highlights what I am trying to say. It is found in Acts 16:16-19:

Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation." And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And he came out that very hour. But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

Such events in Scripture illustrate several things critical to understanding the nature and aim of familiar spirits:

· The spirit was the source of her power, not some latent faculty inherent in her human makeup. When it left, her ability left with it.

· The spirit was accurate to a high degree. Otherwise she would not have brought her masters "much gain."

· Deception often occurs when there is 99 percent truth and just 1 percent falsehood. It only takes a little leaven or white lie to leaven or taint the greater lump, which is truth.

· Paul and the spirit were not on the same side; all was not one here. This is quite evident due to the fact that he cast it out of her. Most important of all, the spirit tried to identify or associate itself with God by open acknowledgment. It was crafty when it followed Paul and Silas, for it was proclaiming the truth: "These men show us the way of salvation." This reveals that Mystery Babylon and its spirit guide legions will try to appear as being on God's side. Today, many of these types of occurrences are already happening in the name of Christianity.

For information on mysticism and contemplative spirituality in relation to biblical prophecy and the last days, read A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, 2nd edition.

Related:

Filling the Vacuum with Mysticism

Global Peace and Harmony: An Apostasy of "Light"

A Pastor Speaks Up: Mark Driscoll and the New "Sexual Spirituality"

"One must wonder, with all the discussion going on about sex nowadays in the New Age/New Spiritual culture, and among Christians who take their cue from that "spirituality," whether such prurient interests don't indicate something deeper is going on that is devastating true spirituality in the church.--Pastor Larry DeBruyn

For those who are wondering why Lighthouse Trails is covering issues regarding "sexual spirituality," we believe what is occurring with Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell (author of Sex God), and many others (including Focus on the Family's marriage speaker, Gary Thomas) is a disguised version, perhaps at an infant stage, of New Age tantra (please see our article on tantra below).

Pastor Larry DeBruyn, a devoted believer in Christ and His Word, spoke with Lighthouse Trails on Friday, January 16th. He told us he felt a tremendous amount of concern about the upcoming "Entrusted with the Gospel" 2009 National Conference with Mark Driscoll in April, which includes pastors and scholars such as John Piper, D.A. Carson, Joshua Harris (I Kissed Dating Good-Bye), and Erwin Lutzer. In light of the current controversy over Mark Driscoll's public treatment of sex and the way in which "sexual spirituality" is beginning to assert itself in contemporary Christianity via the influence of contemplative spirituality and the emerging church movement, Pastor DeBruyn asked us to post Ephesians 5:3-16, stating that it contains Paul's caution about how sexual matters ought to be treated amongst Bible believers in the context of our paganized culture. Additionally, Pastor DeBruyn's Fall 2008, 3-part article, "Spirituality & Sex," (see below) addresses aspects of the issue as well.

We hope you will read the following Scriptures and then see the links below for Pastor DeBruyn's article as well as other related articles.

But fornication [Greek, porneia, from which we get our word pornography], and all uncleanness [Greek, akatharsia, frequently associated with immorality in the New Testament; See Romans 1:24], or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting [by context related to dirty jokes arising from porneia and akatharsia], which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger [Greek, pornos], nor unclean [Greek, akathartos] person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.

Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:3-16

Related Articles on Mark Driscoll and "Sexual Spirituality"

"Spirituality and Sex" by Larry DeBruyn - Part One, and Part Two, and Part Three

Sexpert Pastor Mark Driscoll is Told, 'Enough is Enough' by Ingrid Schlueter

Evangelical Pastors Questioned for Highlighting Seattle's R-Rated Pastor at National Conference by Cathy Michels

Tantra Sex: Evangelicals Catching Up with New Agers? by Caryl Matrisciana

Smiling at Socialism and Scorning the Bible

by Berit Kjos

One of my early memories of post-war Norway was a shadowy concern about Russia -- our neighbor in the arctic north. Stalin coveted Norway's frost-free ports (warmed by the Gulf Stream), and many feared the snarling bear on our border.

In contrast, the British press ignored Stalin's atrocities. In his Introduction to Animal Farm, George Orwell decried the cowardly refusal of British publishers to criticize Communism -- or to publish his book:

"...it was obvious that there would be great difficulty in getting it published .... One publisher actually started by accepting the book, but after making the preliminary arrangements he decided to consult the Ministry of Information [which apparently] warned him... against publishing it. Here is an extract from his letter:

"...it might be... highly ill-advised to publish at the present time. If the fable were addressed generally to dictators and dictatorships at large then publication would be all right, but the fable does follow... so completely the progress of the Russian Soviets and their two dictators, that it can apply only to Russia.... Another thing: ...the choice of pigs as the ruling caste will no doubt give offence to many people...."

Indeed it would! By 1943, Marxism had gained much favor in England, Russia was an ally in the war against Hitler, and Fabian socialism had become a powerful political movement among British elites. Like Antonio Gramsci's more subtle form of Communism, the Fabians encouraged gradualism, infiltration and deception rather than bloody revolutions.

This socialist movement fanned out across Europe and into America under the lofty banner of solidarity and common good. Since those two ideals are rarely defined or candidly explained, few understand what they actually imply. Ponder this brief summary of their new meanings. Click here to read this entire article.

Chuck Colson Works in Bringing Evangelicals and Catholics Together

LTRP Note: The following Christianity Today article is an interview with Prison Fellowship Chuck Colson, a CT columnist as well as one of the authors of the ecumenical "Evangelicals and Catholics Together" document that was drafted several years ago. In this interview, Colson explains his efforts in continuing to bridge the divide between evangelicals and Catholics, efforts which will include a new upcoming document on Mary. After reading the CT interview, please refer to the links below, which provide vital insights on the merging of evangelicalism with Catholicism.

"The Post-Neuhaus Future of Evangelicals and Catholics Together"
Charles Colson says the convert to Catholicism helped break down the most important barrier.

Interview by Susan Wunderink
Christianity Today

When Richard John Neuhaus died January 8, Prison Fellowship's Charles Colson didn't just lose a friend of 25 years. He also lost his partner in convening Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Since its first publication in 1994, "The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium," the group has issued other consensus statements on salvation, the relationship between Scripture and tradition, the communion of saints, and other issues. It is next set to issue a document on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. But can the movement continue without its chief Roman Catholic architect? Christianity Today international editor Susan Wunderink asked Colson, a Christianity Today columnist, what lies ahead. Click here to read this entire article.

Related Information:

THE EMERGENCE OF THE EUCHARIST IN THE EMERGING CHURCH

World needs common witness of Baptists and Catholics to Christ, says the Pope

Mennonites positive about historic dialogue with the Vatican

The Pope: Waiting for the "Separated Brethren" to Come Home

Marianity

THE NEW EVANGELIZATION AND THE COMING EUCHARISTIC REIGN OF JESUS

Research on Catholicism and Contemplative Spirituality

Also read:

Another Jesus by Roger Oakland

Catholic Concerns (a free online book by former Catholic nun, Mary Ann Collins

Inauguration: Rick Warren Prays in Name of "Isa," Muslim False Jesus

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus, Jesus (hay-SOOS), who taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. --Rick Warren, from inauguration prayer, Commentary by Daniel Cordell

Love for the Truth
Out-of-House Writer

[I]n his Presidential Inauguration prayer, Rick Warren prayed in the name of "Yeshua," "Isa" and "Jesus."

It seems, the three names Warren used were to imply the three "Abrahamic Faiths" (as they are so-called), Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

What's significant is the name "Isa" being prayed by the "evangelical" Warren. Isa is strictly Koranic and used by Arab Muslims. Even Arab Christians don't refer to Isa, but to Yesua. I've lived and studied Arabic in one of the same Muslim countries that Warren has visited, and I think he probably knows that the Arab Christian communities only refer to Jesus as "Yesua" and not "Isa" as the Muslims.

Isa was not Jewish, but Palestinian. Isa did not die on the cross but instead had someone die in his place. Isa is a Muslim prophet. Isa is only found in the Koran. The name Isa doesn't have any Biblical support or any meaning found in Biblical scholarship. Yet, Rick prayed in the name of Isa. Click here for source and links to Warren's inauguration transcript.

Virginia Baptist's Women's Missionary Union Promotes Mysticism

from Watcher's Lamp

The Baptist General Association of Virginia partner organization, Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia is sponsoring the Woman's Silence Retreat 2009 with the theme of Celtic prayer.

According to the brochure, the goal of the retreat is for women to reconnect with God in a contemplative atmosphere.

Rev. Judy Bailey, facilitator of previous retreats says "there are times when we need to be alone so that we can connect in another way with the Spirit that both dwells within and transcends. In silence we may most effectively listen to God and to our innermost self. Without other voices to distract us we may focus our attention and understand more clearly what is there for us.

The 2008 retreat included group exercises in centering prayer and lectio divina led by Rev. Judy Bailey and Rev. Vallerie King. The WMU-VA quarterly newsletter page 3, describe Rev. Judy Bailey as "steeped in contemplative prayer and meditation, and participates in a centering prayer group at Richmond Hill Retreat Center." Click here to read this entire article.

Tantric Sex: Evangelicals Catching Up with New Agers

by Caryl Matrisciana

Tantra and "Spiritual Sex"?

Tantric sex incorporates mysticism into sexual activity. Couples, who seek out help for their relationships, are instructed to go into meditative states while being intimate. In her book, Conjugal Spirituality (which is promoted by Gary Thomas, a popular Christian author), Mary Anne McPherson Oliver discusses and encourages the use of tantric sex. Oliver suggests that "the Upanishads and Tantric writings [are] the basis of moral theology for couples" and that "mystical experiences can be associated with erotic love."1 Oliver tells readers to use mantras and breath prayers to induce the tantric experience. She concludes with the following:

Carl Jung predicted that the West would produce its own Yoga on the basis laid down by Christianity. I believe conjugal spirituality [tantra] to be just such a distinctively Western Yoga.2

In 1994 (when Oliver's book came out), she said the public wasn't quite ready for such a radical view of sexuality. But she spoke optimistically about the future because of the growing interest in mysticism in our society:

Twentieth-century developments in mainstream theology have also prepared the way for the emergence of conjugal spirituality. An upsurge of interest in the spiritual life and a renaissance in mystical studies have widened the domain of spirituality.3

A July 2008 article in The Vancouver Sun gives a startling illustration of the validity of Oliver's statement. The Canadian newspaper article titled "Sex Brings Christians Closer to God" reports the growing acceptance of tantric sex.4 Chuck MacKnee, a professor at Trinity Western University (an evangelical school in British Columbia), has been researching and writing about "spiritual sex" (a Christian version of tantric sex), since the 1990s.5

MacKnee believes that "ultimately in sex we're going to meet God"; he says that "humans' relationship with God is essentially erotic." The Sun article observes that evangelicals who, like MacKnee, are "teaching about spiritual sex are in some ways catching up with Eastern-influenced New Age spirituality." It explains:

Sensual spirituality has been popularized in the West through Hindu Tantric ritual, which links sexual energy with spiritual liberation.6

In a 1996 report titled "Peak Sexual and Spiritual Experience: Exploring the Mystical Relationship," MacKnee refers to mystics like John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila as examples of those who understood erotic spiritual experience. He says:

It is significant to note that mystics have traditionally expressed their experience in the language of sexual love.7

He also says that sexuality involves entering "an altered state of consciousness."8 Authors like MacKnee, Mary Anne McPherson Oliver, and Gary Thomas (who quotes Oliver twelve times in his popular Christian book Sacred Marriage) are closing the gap between Christianity and Eastern religion through their views on mystical sexuality.

I believe that the spiritual realms entered during Eastern-style mediation, Yoga, tantra and so on are demonic realms. In view of this, the implications and probable effects of MacKnee and Oliver's work are disturbing.

The Bible warns that the supernatural world can make contact with humans if a human gives permission for its entrance. That open door allows the spiritual being (sometimes seen as an angel of light: II Corinthians 11:14) to control whoever submits himself to its spiritual power (Genesis 6: 2 - 4).

Obviously these "heavenly" beings are not God's ministering angels who only do His bidding for His purposes, but they belong to Satan's legion, are possessed with his diabolical and rebellious source, and are known as fallen angels, a hierarchy of evil powers and principalities of wickedness (Ephesians 6:12). (from Out of India, chapter 12)

Notes:
1. Mary Anne McPherson Oliver, Conjugal Spirituality (Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1994), p. 18.
2. Ibid., p. 109.
3. Ibid., p. 27.
4. Douglas Todd, "Sex Brings Christians Closer to God" (Vancouver Sun, Saturday, July 26, 2008).
5. Ibid.
6. Chuck M. MacKnee, "Peak Sexual and Spiritual Experiences" (Sage Publications, Theology Sexuality 1996; 3; 97, see online edition: http://tse.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/5/97), p. 2.
7. Ibid., p. 4.
8. Wahkeena Sitka Tidepool Ripple, "Can Sex Work Be Shamanic?" (Alternatives, Winter 06, Issue 40).

Ray Yungen explains the implications of the move to bring tantra into our society:

Once completely off-limits to the masses of humanity, tantra, like all other New Age methodologies, is now starting to gain increasing popularity. A Google search on the Internet shows 6,600,000 [now over 12,000,000] entries for the word tantra! This union of sexuality and Eastern spirituality is a perfect example to illustrate just how much the New Age has permeated our society as it has affected even the most intimate areas of people's lives.

The potential to impact a very great number of people, especially men, was brought out in an article by a sex worker who incorporates "Tantric Bodywork" into her services. She paints a very sad portrait of the dynamics of the "enormous sex industry" in which millions of stressed and unhappy men seek out "erotic release" from women who are just as unhappy and stressed as their clients. She observes that there is a "culturally rampant phenomenon that spouses are disconnected from each other."

To remedy this tragic interplay of exploitation, she has turned to Tantric Union to give her clients what she feels is not just sex but "union with the divine." After she read a book called Women of the Light: The New Sacred Prostitute, she turned her erotic business into a "temple." Of this temple, she says it is:

...dedicated to being a haven of the sacred, a home for the embodiment of spirit, filled with altars, sacred objects, plants, art, dreamy sensual music, blissful scents. My space is home to Quan Yin [a Buddhist goddess], crystals blessed by the Entities of John of God [a Brazilian spirit channeler].

Now the "multitudes of men" who come to her get much more than they bargained for. In the past, wives and girlfriends needed only to worry about sexually transmitted diseases from cheating husbands and boyfriends, but now their men may instead bring home spiritual entities!

Most readers might think that tantra is something exceedingly obscure that would never attract average people. But the movie industry thinks otherwise. In a 2003 movie, Hollywood Homicide (starring Harrison Ford, one of the industry's leading men), viewers were presented with a brief snippet of tantric sex in one scene where fellow police officers opened the locker of Ford's rookie detective partner and out falls a book (which the camera focuses on) about tantra, revealing the side-kick's spiritual/sexual affinities (incidentally, he also teaches yoga in the film). (For Many Shall Come in My Name, 2nd ed., pp. 115-116)

Rick Warren's New Magazine Launches

LTRP Note: On November 26, 2008, Lighthouse Trails reported that Rick Warren had formed a new multi-platform partnership with Reader's Digest for Purpose Driven followers. This week, the magazine from that partnership, The Purpose Driven Connection, has launched. The following is an out-of-house article by AdAge.com regarding this new magazine. We have re-posted our November article below the AdAge.com article.

"Reader's Digest Communes With Rick Warren"
by Marissa Miley
Ad Age

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- You've read The Book, now buy the magazine.

Reader's Digest Association thinks it has found a new model for launching a mass magazine brand in this digital era: Plug into an existing community, preferably a really, really big one that's incredibly devoted and highly likely to evangelize the product. That's what RDA is banking on with today's debut of Purpose Driven Connection, a multimedia platform built around the teachings of Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and best-selling author of "The Purpose Driven Life." Click here to read this entire article.

Our November 26, 2008 report: (Please note we have changed the press release link as the original link has been removed by Rick Warren News.)

"Rick Warren, Readers Digest Join Forces for New Publication"
According to a press release issued by Rick Warren's media outlet, Rick Warren has formed a partnership with Reader's Digest, which will be launched early next year. The headline for the release states: "RICK WARREN AND READER'S DIGEST ASSOCIATION CREATE A MULTI-PLATFORM PARTNERSHIP TO SERVE PURPOSE DRIVEN READERS: New Purpose Driven Connection to Deliver Spiritual Content and Community in Category-Busting Formats Worldwide."

Referring to his organization as the "Purpose Driven Connection movement," Warren says: "Since the book was published, we've received hundreds of thousands of requests from readers asking for more help." The press release states that Rick Warren and Reader's Digest will use "international staffs and global networks of both organizations" to provide "synergistic development of tools, training and community to service the millions of readers of Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life."

Warren says the Purpose Driven Network began in 1985 and was a service to pastors, but the new Purpose Driven Connection "will service the general public." This service will come in the form of a quarterly magazine, The Purpose Driven Connection but will also include several other formats such as multi-media materials for small groups and a "social networking" service. Warren plans to use this new partnership to bolster his newest campaign, 40 Days of Love and says (of the partnership): "It is unlike anything else and has the potential to change hundreds of millions of lives."

The premier edition of the new Purpose Driven/Reader's Digest magazine will feature several well known Christian figures including Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, Kay Warren, Lee Strobel, and Tim Keller. It will also feature an interview between Rick Warren and Barack Obama.

Calling the Purpose Driven Connection "revolutionary" where people can "discover their purpose for life" and "interact with others through the online community, small group network and the global PEACE initiative."

To better understand the nature of Rick Warren's movement, please read Faith Undone and Deceived on Purpose. This is a highly deceptive movement that is capturing the attention and loyalty of millions across the world. Rick Warren is a major "evangelist" for contemplative spirituality as well as for the emerging church, both of which embrace mystical and New Age spirituality and both of which are building bridges to form a one global religious body. Interestingly, while Reader's Digest may be considered to be in a more "conservative" camp, leaders of RD may not realize that Rick Warren is on the "Leadership Council" of a very liberal organization, Service Nation, an organization that is working toward required volunteer service by every American.The motto of Service Nation, "Be the Change," is taken from Hindu guru, Mahatma Gandhi.

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." II Corinthians 11:14-15

For more information:
Deceived on Purpose Ministries

Books/DVDs exposing the emerging church

Research on the Purpose Driven Movement

Some Important Articles on the Purpose Driven Movement

A Special Prayer Request

Lighthouse Trails would like to ask you to pray for Joan Anderson, from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joan was a key person in helping to initially get the word out about the work at Lighthouse Trails nearly seven years ago. Even before A Time of Departing was published and before our research ministry began, she had become very concerned about contemplative spirituality when the church she was attending brought contemplative practices in. But at that time, Joan knew of no one who was warning against this. One day she called a local radio talk show host, Jan Markell (Olive Tree News) and asked her about contemplative spirituality. Jan said she just happened to have received a review copy of a book called A Time of Departing that was addressing this very thing. That on-the-air conversation sparked a series of events that helped get the word out about Lighthouse Trails. Joan has been speaking to small groups about contemplative spirituality ever since.

We ask you to pray for Joan who has recently been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing treatment. Her and her husband, Bryan, are strong defenders of the faith and attend Bob DeWaay's church, Twin City Fellowship in St. Paul. Pastor DeWaay, a friend of Lighthouse Trails, has also stood for the truth against spiritual deception.

Spanish Edition of Faith Undone Going to Press!

Lighthouse Trails is pleased to announce that the Spanish edition of Faith Undone will be going to press in February. Sally Arias, our Spanish translator, completed the translating of LA FE DESECHADA last Fall. She worked closely with editors in South America to help finish the project. The book will be in our warehouse, ready for shipping by the third week of March. You may pre-order the book now. It also qualifies for quantity discounts (10 or more).

Click here to order and for a product description in Spanish.

ISBN: 978-0-9791315-8-5

Retail: $12.95

172 pages, softbound

New DVD - God of Wonders - Refuting the New Spirituality

Lighthouse Trails presents God of Wonders DVD (by Eternal Productions) because we believe it refutes the New Age/New Spirituality, which embraces the belief that God is in all things, including in all humanity (making man divine).

In essence, the new spirituality, by its very nature, rejects the idea that the Creator is separate from the creation. God of Wonders DVD testifies that this is not so, that God, the Creator, is indeed separate from man. The wonder of God's magnificent power and wisdom is exceedingly above man's, who cannot even create a speck of dust on his own.

Leaders in the emerging church movement claim that man is a co-creator with God. God of Wonders DVD provides the evidence that God is of an opposite nature than sinful man. Homosexuality, abortion, mysticism, evolution, the New Age, all represent death and darkness - but God, the Creator, represents life and truth. While the New Age teaches that man does not need a Savior, because he is already saved by his own divinity, God of Wonders DVD shows how preposterous such a notion is by examining the awesome and unfathomable works of God's hands that man cannot even begin to duplicate.

Product Information:
Creation
85 Minutes
$19.95 DVD
1-57341-156-6
Eternal Productions

ORDERING INFORMATION

Check out the Movie Trailer

Sample Video Clip: Thunderstorms

Sample Video Clip: God of Wisdom

Sample Video Clip: Butterflies

Sample Video Clip: God of Justice

Description: This amazing, brand new DVD takes us through the creation story and the Gospel with spectacular photography, and tremendous facts about God's marvelous handiwork in creation.

Presented clearly, simply, and precisely by men of God-Dave Hunt, Roger Oakland, John Whitcomb, and others-are the wonderful attributes of God: His justice, His wisdom, His love. Join us on a remarkable journey of discovery as we explore the Creator's handiwork and what His creation reveals about His character. Survey the unimaginable size of the universe and ponder the vast energy present in all matter.

Examine the elegant water molecule essential to all life and discover how God combines these molecules to form beautiful and symmetrical snow crystals. Learn about the incredible complexity of DNA and the miraculous workings of the tiny seed. From the design functionality of birds to the incredible transformation of butterflies, these and many other features of creation are highlighted in this visually stunning presentation.

Public viewing rights:
Public performance rights are granted by the producer provided there is no fee charged and the contact website is given: www.eternal-productions.org

Some suggested uses:

· Ideal viewing for youth groups, Bible studies, church movie night, etc.
· View sections with homeschoolers accompanied by a discussion guide
· Give as a gift to those confused by evolution
· Share with non-believers
· Great gift idea for anyone who enjoys nature programs
· Show at outreaches, prison ministries, youth centers, senior communities, etc.
· Show excerpts accompanying school project or college report
· Donate to libraries