Coming From the Lighthouse

                                                           Printer Friendly Version (click here)  May 12, 2008

In This Issue -

"I Just Had a Vision"

Myanmar Update - A Note from Roger Oakland

Kay Warren Joins Heavy-Weight Emergents at Envision 08

"An Evangelical Manifesto" Released - Many Signers Contemplative Proponents

Evangelical Manifesto Criticizes Politics of Faith

GUINNESS DRAFT CREATES WASHINGTON BUZZ

Warren Smith, Ray Yungen Speaking at Conferences this Summer

Publishing News

Newsletter in Print - Coming Soon

Book Spotlights

Quick Links

Helpful Resources  & Other Articles

A Special Note

What is Contemplative Spirituality?

definition: contemplative spirituality: a belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped in Christian terminology; the premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all).

"I Just Had a Vision"

LTRP Note: In 2007, Lighthouse Trails published the apologetic biography, The Other Side of the River by Kevin Reeves. For twelve years, Reeves was part of a River church, one in which visions, signs and wonders, and other mystical manifestations occurred. His story tells what happened during those years in a church that was so influenced by the Toronto Blessing, holy laughter, the Kansas City Prophets, the Word-Faith movement, and the spiritual hysteria and manipulation that these hyper-charismatic movements encourage. Because of the recent stories coming out of Florida with Todd Bentley's revival, we hope you will read Reeves account. Below is an excerpt from his chapter on visions.

"I Just Had a Vision!"
by Kevin Reeves

There is perhaps nothing so powerful as a vision. When the heavens open and our eyes look upon fantastic things once hidden, it can alter the course of our lives:

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 6:1-5)

A glimpse into heaven itself to behold the God of all flesh made Isaiah panic with self-loathing. His innermost heart was revealed in the light of the Lord's glory, and there was no place to hide.

Who wouldn't want to have a vision of this magnitude? And why shouldn't we? On the day of Pentecost, the Christians present experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: "[A]nd your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams"(Acts 2:17).

Never in the history of our planet have so many who call themselves Christian claimed visions from God. Encounters with Christ, angels, demons, even saints long departed have begun to appear in book form, crowding the charismatic section of our local Christian bookstores. The popularity of visions never seems to wane, and the more a person has and the greater the scope, the quicker he is skyrocketed to Christian stardom. People with virtually no genuine theological training are suddenly propelled into the teaching arena, regaling vast audiences with tremendous accounts of their own spiritual derring-do. And while the stories continue to scale the heights of plausibility, an amazed public looks on, vicariously a part of the panoramic excitement and often with hands folded atop a closed Bible in their laps.

Sadly and without exaggeration, the above account is an apt description of the spiritual maelstrom that always characterized [my former church]. Sunday services were routinely stopped to give opportunity to report a vision that occurred during worship. Many in the congregation would listen with rapt attention as one person after another would share what had transpired "in the spirit." Sometimes demons would make an appearance; sometimes it was the Lord Jesus Himself.

Angels were a particular favorite. I can't tell you how many times angels made an impromptu appearance at our services.... No one halted the festivities to suggest examining the claim in the light of God's Word. It was merely taken at face value and used to bolster our self-image as the church on the cutting-edge of God's worldwide movement....

The cries of "I saw!" reverberated throughout my church my whole tenure there. Sometimes the visions were two-dimensional, sometimes 3-D, and sometimes the person was actually caught up into them, in the same way the apostle John was translated into the heavenly realms in the book of Revelation. They moved as participants in the vision itself, walking, feeling, etc. As our pastor consistently reminded the congregation of its prophetic calling, dreams and visions grew to paramount importance. They were used to chart our congregation's very course, and any resistance or verbal doubt was severely frowned upon or openly dismissed....

Many people cannot appreciate the gravity with which visions are accepted in many charismatic circles, and consequently cannot understand the bondage that results. If someone has a vision of "the Lord Jesus" and is given a message to convey to you, for you to treat it lightly is to despise the very words of God. You are bound to carry out the instructions of this visionary or face the consequences. The ensuing fear can be devastating, especially if the message contradicts your own conscience or understanding of the Scriptures.

The new believer is especially vulnerable because he is led to believe that all these visions are from God. Furthermore, any hindrance to, or lack of visions on his own part is due, he is told, to lack of maturity and failure to fully trust the leadership....

At my best count, there are less than thirty visions or dreams recorded in the entire New Testament, and of these only about fifteen took place in the book of Acts. And this in a period, from the birth of Christ to the last chapter of Acts, encompassing about sixty years.

I have come to the conclusion that visions are not the norm for a believer, but a rare occurrence. Of those saints in the Bible described as having bona fide visions from God, a mere handful had more than one recorded vision in their entire lifetime. Furthermore, none of these occurrences were initiated by the individual, but were the result of a divine act of God. In explaining mystical experiences, which is the category visions fall into, I like this explanation by research analyst Ray Yungen:

While certain instances in the Bible describe mystical experiences, I see no evidence anywhere of God sanctioning man-initiated mysticism. Legitimate mystical experiences were always initiated by God to certain individuals for certain revelations and were never based on a method for the altering of consciousness. In Acts 11:5, Peter fell into a trance while in prayer. But it was God, not Peter, who initiated the trance and facilitated it.(ATOD, p. 34)

Compared with the frequency of modern visions by many charismatic churchgoers, these past biblical heroes seem almost deficient in their relationship to the Lord....

I believe that most of what are reported as visions are not such at all, but could be more appropriately termed mental pictures. The two are certainly not synonymous. Mental pictures occur constantly during our waking hours but don't necessarily have anything to do with the spiritual, whereas visions always have their origin in the supernatural realm. As we speak in conversation, we see mental images, memories, etc., to correspond with the dialogue; reading gives us the same experience. Even television viewing offers the same scenario, as the images dancing across the screen click on our own past experiences or connections with our present situations. This can transpose into our times of prayer, giving us mental pictures that may or may not be of God....

The practice itself can be dangerous, actually maneuvering an innocent Christian in the wrong direction. In many cults, and, unfortunately in much of the Pentecostal arm of the church, it has already done just that....

According to the Bible, there are three sources of visions--God, the devil, and the flesh. Of these, only one can be trusted as to motive and authenticity. As for the other spiritual experiences originating with the kingdom of darkness or human sensuality, they must be discarded, and immediately. They are not impotent fantasies, but are corrupt from the word go and will quickly lead astray anyone whose attraction they capture. (seeEzekiel 13:3-8)...

I cannot stress this enough--contrary to popular fallacy, there is no such thing as a harmless false vision. Its fraudulent nature alone is enough to condemn it in the eyes of God; those who give ear to it will eventually have their faith in Christ contaminated, perhaps shipwrecked. Attendees of the Peoples Temple were regaled with stories of angelic visitations and "revelation knowledge." The reverend Jim Jones capitalized on his self-proclaimed intimacy with heaven to lead a group of followers into mass suicide in the Guyana bush.1 Don't think that the average believer in Christ is immune to this kind of deception. In the wake of gold teeth and gold dust miracles showing up in various River congregations worldwide, stories of angel feather sightings have set a portion of the charismatic church wild with jubilee. One West Coast church said that "tiny white feathers and gold flakes" appeared during the service.2 Such occurrences were the next logical step in an already deception-heavy system of super-spirituality, rationalization, and the frenzied pursuit of illusion....

Any spirit, vision, dream, prophet, experience, whatever, that does not agree with the revelation of Jesus Christ as set down in the Scriptures is not of God. Water may look pure, but unless we know the source from which it is drawn we may drink to our own ill health. A close examination with a magnifying glass may betray bits and pieces of debris, or worse yet, organisms roaming its depths that, taken internally, would cause debilitating disease.

Am I suggesting we carry around a magnifier to inspect anything coming our way? Perhaps that is just what is needed. For too long, we've covered our eyes with blinders instead and accepted a testimony to our detriment, simply because the person giving it named Christ and seemed sincere. Paul said even deceivers within the church would attempt to pass themselves off as the real article (II Corinthians 11: 3-4, 13). We can judge without being judgmental. Peripheral issues we can overlook, knowing full well the sole reservoir of truth does not rest with us.

But in the presentation of Christ, there can be no leeway. A false image of the Savior--His character, words, or deeds--will lead us away from the truth, and consequently, away from God. And eventually, that is what every fraudulent vision will do--take away from the person of Christ and demand our attention and adherence to its personalized message. I have seen it happen, as one vision after another proclaimed in my former congregation boosted our elitism and remolded Jesus just a bit more into the user-friendly image we preferred. With virtually no accountability, fear of redefining Christ's biblically revealed character faded bit by bit into obscurity....

This current state of things within the church is just the outgrowth of an inner movement attempting to differentiate between truth and revelation. It is being stated by popular authors that truth is where God has been, but revelation is where He is at the moment. This dichotomy is a contrived one. The Word of God is truth and revelation both, and the timeless truth of God's Word applies to all saints throughout all ages. Again, the implication of this kind of compartmentalized thinking is that the Scriptures fall embarrassingly short when it comes to equipping the saints for life in today's world.

In a mad dash to embrace the new thing, many Christians have run right past the only place of refuge, God's Promise, that can keep us from hurtling down the face of an impossibly steep cliff. I can testify to the broken lives and empty spirituality that remains when the initial high wears off. We had congregation members regularly spending their cash to jet to this or that prophetic conference. They just had to keep up with the latest move of God, and bring it back with them to our church. Running after other gods, ancient Israel attained to this spiritual bankruptcy on a regular basis. But we can take heart, for their failures can be our lessons:

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

For those former seers willing to swallow a large helping of humble pie, there is most certainly hope. For those willing to repent, the grace of our Lord will lead past every soulish and narcissistic revelation, helping us to walk in humility and the simple freedom of Christ Jesus.

For the rest, the road can only lead further into deception and confusion, compounding itself with every new revelation that adds to, subtracts from, or contradicts Scripture.

I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name. Jeremiah 23: 25-27

from Understand the Times

Note from Roger Oakland: I have been in touch with Philip [from the orphan home in Yangon, Myanmar] on a regular basis - only Myanmar citizens are allowed into the severely damaged areas to assist. Many people are trying to get out of the devastated areas and are coming into Yangon. The junta (mob) are taking the supplies that come for humanitarian assistance from countries and organizations and packaging them as gifts from the Myanmar army. 

The degree of injustice there is deplorable. It causes me great sorrow and grief - I have been there, I have seen the people and their need before this event - now, they are being put through such torment - it is easy to shut one's eyes and ears and do nothing. I know we must do what we can at this time. 

T. W. is scheduled to go to Yangon by May 22 - he will take cash. There are others who are applying for visas who can do the same. We are organizing P., M., E., I. and others to assess what they can do with their people as we provide the cash for them to purchase needed supplies. We will use our Bible school facilities for an outreach center. 

There have been many generous donations coming into the web site - close to $15,000 now. Others have promised to help.

Kay Warren Joins Heavy-Weight Emergents at Envision 08

Kay Warren, wife of Purpose Driven pastor Rick Warren, will join several heavy-weight emergent leaders at the upcoming Envision 08 event this June. Kay Warren will share a platform with Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis (Sojourners magazine), Shane Claiborne, Jay Bakker (son of PTL Jim Bakker), Doug Pagitt, and several other speakers who share emerging church proclivities.

In saying "heavy-weight," we mean those whose theologies incorporate the essence of the emerging church: mysticism, ecumenism, panentheism, interspirituality, down-playing the authority of Scripture, a non-biblical view of the atonement, and a kingdom-now eschatology. Kay Warren promotes contemplative mystic Henri Nouwen, while her husband has been a major promoter of both contemplative spirituality (i.e., spiritual formation) and the emerging church for some time. Recently, Kay Warren participated at Robert Schuller's Rethink Conference.

One of the speakers at the Envision 08 is Samir Selmanovic, a Seventh-Day Adventist pastor-turned- emergent leader and director of Faith House Manhattan, an interfaith organization in New York. Selmanovic is one of the co-authors of An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. Roger Oakland discusses Selmanovic's beliefs in his book, Faith Undone:

Samir Selmanovic ... has some interesting and alarming views on Christianity. He states:

The emerging church movement has come to believe that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations of a follower of Jesus Christ is not Christianity but rather the kingdom of God.... to believe that God is limited to it [Christianity] would be an attempt to manage God. If one holds that Christ is confined to Christianity, one has chosen a god that is not sovereign. Soren Kierkegaard argued that the moment one decides to become a Christian, one is liable to idolatry.1

On Selmanovic's website, Faith House project, he presents an interfaith vision that will "...seek to bring progressive Jews, Christians, Muslims, and spiritual seekers of no faith to become an interfaith community for the good of the world. We have one world and one God."2

While Selmanovic says he includes Christians in this interspiritual dream for the world, he makes it clear that while they might be included, they are in no way beholders of an exclusive truth. He states:

Is our religion [Christianity] the only one that understands the true meaning of life? Or does God place his truth in others too? Well, God decides, and not us. The gospel is not our gospel, but the gospel of the kingdom of God, and what belongs to the kingdom of God cannot be hijacked by Christianity.3

While it is true that God is the One who decides where He is going to place truth, He has already made that decision. And the answer to that is found in the Bible. When Selmanovic asks if Christianity is the only religion that understands the true meaning of life, the answer is yes. How can a Buddhist or a Hindu or a Muslim fully understand truth when their religions omit a Savior who died for their sins?

Though world religions may share some moral precepts (don't lie, steal, etc), the core essence of Christianity (redemption) is radically different from all of them. Interspirituality may sound noble on the surface, but in actuality, Selmanovic and the other emerging church leaders are facilitating occultist Alice Bailey's rejuvenation of the churches. In her rejuvenation, everyone remains diverse (staying in their own religion), yet united in perspective, with no one religion claiming a unique corner on the truth. In other words all religions lead to the same destination and emanate from the same source. And of course, Bailey believed that a "coming one" whom she called Christ would appear on the scene in order to lead united humanity into an era of global peace. However, you can be sure that if such a scenario were to take place as Bailey predicted, there would be no room for those who cling to biblical truth.

As is the case with so many emergent leaders, Selmanovic's confusing language dances obscurely around his theology, whether he realizes it or not. Sadly, for those who are lost and who are trying to find the way, the emerging church movement offers confusion in place of clarity. It blurs if not obliterates the walls of distinction between good and evil, truth and falsehood, leaving people to stumble along a broken path, hoping to find light. (from Faith Undone, pp. 187-189)

What Selmanovic has expressed is emerging spirituality. And McLaren, Claiborne, Pagitt, and the other emerging speakers at Envision 08 resonate with him. This global, universal, mystical, interspiritual paradigm shift that Selmanovic and the others are propagating lines up with the same spirituality that Oprah, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, and a myriad of other New Age leaders are presenting to the world today. The emerging church should really be called the merging church, for it is a merging together of all beliefs, all faiths, and all gods.

The question must be asked, why are Rick and Kay Warren continually promoting this emerging church and its New Age type gurus rather than warning others about it? The answer to that can be partly found in the Warrens' admiration and promotion of Henri Nouwen, for you see, Nouwen, if he were alive today, would align himself with the emerging church. We can say that because of so many statements Nouwen made to that effect, such as when he said that Christian leaders must move from the "moral to the mystical" (In the Name of Jesus). And when he said, in the last book he ever wrote: "Today I personally believe that while Jesus came to open the door to God's house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her own way to God" (Sabbatical Journey, hardcover edition, p. 51).

Notes:
1. Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, Samir Selmanovic section, "The Sweet Problem of Inclusiveness," pp. 192-193.
2. From Faith House Project website: http://samirselmanovic. typepad.com/faith_house/2.WhatisFaithHouseProject.pdf.
3. Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones, An Emergent Manifesto of Hope, p. 194.

"An Evangelical Manifesto" Released - Many Signers Contemplative Proponents

LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails is posting this section of "An Evangelical Manifesto" with a link to the document itself, not as an endorsement but rather for research purposes.

An Introduction
"An Evangelical Manifesto is an open declaration of who Evangelicals are and what they stand for. It has been drafted and published by a representative group of Evangelical leaders who do not claim to speak for all Evangelicals, but who invite all other Evangelicals to stand with them and help clarify what Evangelical means in light of 'confusions within and the consternation without' the movement. As the Manifesto states, the signers are not out to attack or exclude anyone, but to rally and to call for reform.

"As an open declaration, An Evangelical Manifesto addresses not only Evangelicals and other Christians but other American citizens and people of all other faiths in America, including those who say they have no faith." Click here to read the rest of the introduction and see a list of people in the "Steering Committee."

Click here to read the "Evangelical Manifesto."

Some of the signers include:
* The signers we have listed below are from organizations that promote contemplative spirituality to one degree or another. Kay Arthur is the exception.

Leith Anderson

Don Argue
Chancellor, Northwest University

Kay Arthur
Founder, Precept Ministries

Mark Bailey
President, Dallas Theological Seminary

Mark Batterson
Pastor, National Community Church, Washington, D.C.

Doug Birdsall
Executive Chair, The Lausanne Movement

Darrell Bock
Research Professor of New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary

George Brushaber
President, Bethel University

Bob Buford
Businessman/Founder, Leadership Network

Ergun Caner (Note: Ergun Caner has informed Lighthouse Trails that his name was added to the Evangelical Manifesto without his consent or knowledge. He has issued a public statement regarding this, and his name has now been removed from the list.

M. Daniel Carroll R.
Distinguished Professor of Old Testament, Denver Seminary

Loren Cunningham Co-Founder, Youth With A Mission

Jack Hayford
Founding Pastor, The Church on The Way, President, International Church of the Foursquare Gospel

Dean Hirsch
President, World Vision International

Kelly Monroe Kullberg
The Veritas Forum

Duane Litfin
President, Wheaton College

Max Lucado
Senior Pastor, Oak Hills Church, San Antonio, Texas, Author

Erwin Lutzer
Pastor, Moody Church, Chicago, Illinois, Gordon MacDonald Author/Pastor

J. P. Moreland
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Biola University

Shirley Mullen
President, Houghton College

Mark Noll
Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

John Ortberg
Pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, California

William Pannell
Senior Professor of Preaching, Fuller Theological Seminary

Mel Robeck
Professor of Ecumenics, Fuller Seminary

Marguerite Shuster
Professor Preaching, Fuller Theological Seminary

Ronald J. Sider
President, Evangelicals for Social Action

Harold Smith
Editor in Chief and CEO, Christianity Today International

Rich Stearns
President, World Vision U.S. Joe Stowell President, Cornerstone University

Stephen Strang
Founder, Charisma Magazine

Jim Wallis
Founder and Editor, Sojourners Magazine

Amos Yong
Professor of Theology, Regent University

Rick Warren's name does not appear on the list of signers that is posted at the Evangelical Manifesto website at this time. According to reports, such as this one from World Magazine, he is one of the signers: "Evangelical Manifesto" calls for reform

Evangelical Manifesto Criticizes Politics of Faith

Warren Smith, Ray Yungen Speaking at Calvary Chapel Conferences this Summer

#1 Warren Smith, author of Deceived on Purpose and The Light That Was Dark, will be a featured speaker at the 2008 Senior Pastors Conference in Murietta, California this coming June. This conference is the annual pastors conference for Calvary Chapel Senior pastors.

Publishing News

Newsletter in Print - Coming Soon

If you would like to receive the Coming from the Lighthouse newsletter in print form by mail, please send an email to newsletters@lighthousetrails.com. Be sure and include your mailing address in the email. We will be issuing a printed newsletter several times a year for those who prefer that over the email edition or for some reason need both.

 Both email and printed editions will be free.

Book Spotlights