Richard Foster, one of the speakers in the new Fox Home Entertainment Be Still DVD, is highly regarded and well respected in much of the evangelical community. His book, Celebration of Discipline, has had a massive influence on Christendom for many years. And yet, Foster has a long history of drawing from spiritual wells that reflect eastern mystical beliefs. But with names such as Beth Moore (see Beth Moore statement) and Max Lucado on the Be Still DVD label, most people will automatically trust the content of this program. This means that tens of thousands of people will be introduced to Richard Foster's spirituality with a sense of security that what they are watching is biblically sound, relevant for their lives and accepted by those whom they have long trusted and looked up to.

In order to understand the magnitude of this, we need to examine what Richard Foster does indeed teach and promote. In 1994, I had been alerted to Foster by a youth pastor friend who had read Celebration of Discipline and began to practice its contemplative methods. The youth pastor became alarmed when while repeating a phrase over and over, he began to drift into an altered state of consciousness and realized such a mystical practice was more of an eastern style method than one endorsed in Scripture. It was after this that I attended a local seminar where Richard Foster was speaking. At the end of the meeting, I approached him. Wanting to know more about Foster's beliefs, I asked, "What do you think about the current contemplative prayer movement?" Foster emphatically told me, "Thomas Merton tried to awaken God's people!" It was then I knew my concerns about Foster were right—for you see, I had been researching and studying Thomas Merton and knew Merton believed the Christian church was missing what he considered one essential element, something the Buddhists had but we didn't—contemplative prayer (i.e., mantra meditation). It was this mystical element Merton had hoped to "awaken" God's people to.

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'Gary has spoken at Saddleback, and I think highly of his work ... he tells them [readers] how they can make the most of their spiritual journeys. He places an emphasis on practical spiritual exercises.'

"What are these 'practical spiritual exercises' Warren is speaking of from Thomas' book? In Sacred Pathways, Thomas lists different ways people can draw near to God incorporating contemplative prayer. In a section titled 'Centering Prayer,' he explains:

'It is particularly difficult to describe this type of prayer in writing, as it is best taught in person. In general however, centering prayer works like this: Choose a word (Jesus or Father, for example) as a focus for contemplative prayer. Repeat the word silently in your mind for a set amount of time (say, twenty minutes) until your heart seems to be repeating the word by itself, just as naturally and involuntarily as breathing.'

"Does this sound familiar? There's no difference between it and Eastern-style meditation or the experience Thomas Merton taught. In essence, Sacred Pathways is a manual for mantra meditation, yet Warren believes we can find ways to 'draw near to God' through this book. How many thousands of pastors who read Warren's newsletters might see his avid promotion of Sacred Pathways and buy a copy of it? If they do, they will also find that Thomas has an affinity for the works of Annie Dillard, who openly promotes and espouses Buddhism and New Ageism as well as contemplative spirituality" (from A Time of Departing, 2nd Ed., pp. 151, 152).

UPDATE: SHORTLY AFTER MOORE "APOLOGIZED" FOR BEING ON THE BE STILL DVD, SHE RETRACTED THE APOLOGY AND EXPRESSED SUPPORT FOR THE PROJECT. See our special report.

Beth Moore Apologizes for Being on BE STILL DVD
 Christian author is sorry, but most people will never know that.

Regarding Fox Home Entertainment's new release, the DVD called Be Still, featuring Richard Foster and a line up of other contemplatives, Beth Moore, who is also part of the project, has issued a statement saying she didn't realize the DVD was about mystical prayer practices when she signed on. While Moore should be commended for her comments, most people will never read those comments. What they will read is her name on the DVD label and will rush out to buy the DVD because her name is there. We believe the only way to really rectify this situation would be for Fox Entertainment to pull the DVD off the market and replace it with a product that does not bear her name.

If what Beth Moore says is true (and there is no reason to believe it isn't) that she did not know the nature of the project when she agreed to be on it, then we hope she will contact Fox and tell them to have this DVD pulled. Some may feel that her statement should be enough and further mention of her involvement should be avoided. But serious concern must be expressed for the tens or hundreds of thousands of people who are going to be introduced to Richard Foster's contemplative silence. People who might not normally purchase such a product will do so now because of Moore's name on the label.

Apparently Fox has done a huge advertising campaign for this DVD. The damage that this is going to cause to countless people is irreversible, but perhaps, with Beth Moore's action, it can be lessened.

Also see: Beth Moore and the Be Still DVD

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