Coming From the Lighthouse

August 14, 2007

In This Issue -

College Alert: Prairie Bible Institute

National Youth Workers Convention Could Expose Youth Workers to Mystical Practices

The Blood of the Saints

The Midwest Book Review reviews The Other Side of the River

Evangelicals and Catholics Work Toward Interspirituality

Catholic and Russian Heads to Meet for 1st Time

The Truth Behind the Emerging Church

US Lutherans (ELCA) Ease Rules on Gay Pastors

Shaping the New "Christian" Youth...by Berit Kjos

Spiritual Direction to...Where?...

Publishing News...- Faith Undone is Here!...

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College Alert: Prairie Bible Institute

Prairie Bible Institute, a renowned Bible college in Alberta, Canada, is showing strong signs that it is going in a contemplative direction. A concerned parent contacted Lighthouse Trails and told us about a Servant (the college magazine ministry) article that quoted New Age/goddess worshipper Sue Monk Kidd. Unfortunately, this is not the only indication that the college may be succumbing to contemplative spirituality.

The issue of Servant carrying Monk Kidd's quote (Issue 78) has a photo of Bill Hybels (Willow Creek) on the cover with a feature story by Philip Yancey. Both Hybels and Yancey are advocates for contemplative (i.e., spiritual formation). The quote by Monk Kidd (on page 9) is from her book, God's Joyful Surprise (the quote is titled Meditation). This is an appropriate title because in God's Joyful Surprise, Monk Kidd describes her spiritual transformation, which began after a co-worker handed her a copy of a book by the famous Catholic contemplative Thomas Merton - that's when everything began changing for her. Once a conservative Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher, today Monk Kidd worships the goddess Sophia, says that God is in everything (even excrement), and promotes eastern-style meditation. In God's Joyful Surprise, Monk Kidd states:

I am speaking of recognizing the hidden truth that we are one with all people. We are part of them and they are part of us ... When we encounter another person, ... we should walk as if we were upon holy ground. We should respond as if God dwells there. (pp. 228,232, also see A Time of Departing for more)

Monk Kidd now believes that God dwells in everything, even steam from soup and graffiti on a building - this is a natural outcome of contemplative prayer. That is because the altered state one goes into during meditation is an occultic realm, a realm where spiritual beings (demons) convince practitioners that divinity is in all.

If Prairie's quote by Monk Kidd was just an isolated incident, perhaps they could be persuaded that such quoting puts students in harm's way. But the college seems to be caught up in the wave of mystical spirituality that is sweeping through the evangelical church. For instance, on the Prairie Bible Institute website, Professor Ritchie White lists a collection of writers of whom he says "have shaped both my mind and my heart in significant ways." Three of those are Henri Nouwen, Eugene Peterson, and Annie Dillard, all of whom have contemplative orientations. Prairie music instructor Vernon Charter uses a textbook by the late emerging church leader, Robert Webber (see Faith Undone). Charter's list of Supplementary Books includes emergent leader Dan Kimball (The Emerging Church) and other books by Webber.

In addition to White's book lists, Prairie Christian Academy (a ministry of PBI) teacher and former PBI instructor Dr. Steven Ibbotson teaches on the spiritual disciplines and includes the discipline of "Silence and Solitude."1

Some may ask, "What's the big deal if Prairie instructors and personnel promote Henri Nouwen, Eugene Peterson, and others with contemplative affinities? And so what if their magazine Servant touts Philip Yancey, Bill Hybels, and Sue Monk Kidd? Is this really going to affect the students?" The answer to these questions may be partly found in the student-run newspaper, Mosaic. A paper "by the students and for the students," Mosaic is an outcome of students who have been introduced to contemplative and emerging spiritualities. For instance, in a December 2006 article in Mosaic titled "The Arrogance of the Evangelical Church," Morgan Mosselman (listed as the Commissioner of Spiritual Life and officer of the Prairie Student Union in the 2005-2006 Chapel handbook) suggests we can "learn from our Catholic friends" in the area of spiritual life. Mosselman then favorably refers to a man named Simon Chan. Chan is described as "the world's most liturgically minded Pentecostal.2His book, Liturgical Theology 3 is a primer for the Catholic Eucharist and other Catholic means of spirituality.

In discussing the contribution that the Catholic church can give to evangelicals, Mosselman states:

The Catholic church has emphasized "spiritual fitness." This is where we can and should be learning from the Catholic church!

Your Catholic friends can help you in applying the truths that you know. For instance, he or she will suggest meditating on your mortality, the practice of virtue, and
submission to a spiritual director ... Yes, contemplation . . . that was a huge eye-opener for me, personally. God persistently led me from one Catholic writer to another, both ancient and modern (e.g., Brother Lawrence, Thomas Keating), in order to teach me this foundational spiritual discipline (which is simply the active practice of faith). To this day, I can scarcely think of any evangelical writers who give contemplation due justice - with few notable exceptions, such as Richard Foster.

Of course, anyone who has studied contemplative knows that the spirituality of Thomas Keating is anti-biblical, pantheistic, and heretical. We cannot know who influenced Mosselman to go in this direction, but with Prairie pointing to the contemplatives as they do, it surely didn't help Mosselman to see the dangers of these men's teachings. In that same issue of Mosaic, there is an article by contemplative writer Lauren Winner (Girl Meets God). And in other issues, regular columnists write about and quote from other mysticism proponents such as Erwin McManus.

For those who still may doubt whether Prairie is heading in the contemplative direction, a view at their textbook list is quite revealing. Remember, this isn't a student-run newspaper - this is textbooks chosen by Prairie instructors. The list of authors includes contemplative proponent John Ortberg, mystic promoter Jim Collins, and Richard Foster's colleague, Dallas Willard (Renovation of the Heart). But that is not all. They also have textbooks by Ruth Haley Barton (trained at the interspiritual Shalem Institute), as well as Gary Thomas (Sacred Pathways where he says to repeat a word or phrase for twenty minutes) and Rick Warren (both who avidly promote contemplative).

If students at Prairie take the "Spiritual Formation and the Church" course, in which Ruth Haley Barton's book is used, they may end up sharing the same proclivities as Morgan Mossleman - There is no doubt Barton resonates with Thomas Keating. Keating's mystical and New Age persuasions can be seen by going to Ken Wilber's site (click here). Discerning Christians will quickly realize that the spirituality represented by Keating is not a spirituality that should be upheld at any Christian learning institution.

We pray that the faculty and staff at Prairie Bible Institute will repudiate and renounce the contemplative approach to Christianity ... for the sake of the students who trust them and look to them for spiritual guidance and nourishment.

For more information on colleges and contemplative, click here.

The National Youth Workers Convention will take place in three different US cities this coming fall (October through November). The event is presented by Youth Specialties, an organization that has been a springboard for contemplative and emerging spiritualities for many years. If your youth pastor or youth workers are planning on attending one of the three conventions, we urge you to take a look at the following links (from the NYWC website). We think you will agree that attendees will receive a hearty dose of mystical spirituality and emergent messages that can ultimately lead followers away from biblical faith:

Labyrinths,Taize worship, Catholic liturgy, meditation - it's all at the 2007 National Youth Workers Convention

What is Taize worship?

Labyrinths

Spiritual Direction ala NYWC

What is spiritual direction and spiritual formation?

For further information, check out the following articles:
DanKimball's Emerging Church by Steve Muse

Youth Specialties President Declares "Christianity is an Eastern Religion"

Tony Jones and Postmodern Youth Ministry

The Blood of the Saints

One of the main tenets of New Age thought is peace, goodwill, and the unity of all humanity. Remember, the Age of Aquarius is to be the Age of Oneness. In context with this idea, the New Age term cleansing is quite disturbing. A number of books make reference to those who are laggards when the New Age reaches its maturity. New Age leaders consider these resisters as eventually the only hindrance in allowing this global oneness to occur:

Remnants of the Fifth Root Race [untransformed humanity] will continue to survive in the initial stages of the new Cosmic Cycle, but unless they increase their awareness or consciousness to the Higher Mind and the tempo of spirituality, they will be removed from the Life Stream of the Race.1

Unity-motivated souls will respond to His [the New Age Messiah's] call, their inner drive for spiritual world unity will synchronize with higher energy. People opposing the recognition of the Christ may struggle intensely, but it will not be prolonged. The Christ energy by then will be so strong people will be dealt with according to their own individualized karma and their ability and desire to assimilate this accelerated energy.2

The final appearance of the Christ will be an evolutionary event. It will be the disappearance of egocentric [lower self], subhuman man and the ascension of God-centered Man. A new race, a new species, will inhabit the Earth--people who collectively have the stature of consciousness that Jesus had.3

Even Alice Bailey herself, who personified New Age consciousness, backs what these previous quotes imply:

The new era is coming; the new ideals, the new civilization, the new modes of life, of education, of religious presentation and of government are slowly precipitating and naught can stop them. They can, however, be delayed by the reactionary types of people, by the ultra-conservative and closed minds.... They are the ones who can and do hold back the hour of liberation. A spiritual fluidity, a willingness to let all preconceived ideas and ideals go, as well as all beloved tendencies, cultivated habits of thought and every determined effort to make the world conform to a pattern which seems to the individual the best because, to him, the most enticing--these must all be brought under the power of death.4

If one understands the rationale behind these statements, then it becomes clear what they are talking about. Those who will accept the Christ consciousness can stay--those who won't--must go. The quote about people's "ability and desire" to assimilate the "Christ energy" as the determining factor in their fate is very thought provoking.

Barbara Marx Hubbard, a major New Age proponent and a supporter of Marianne Williamson's Department of Peace efforts in Washington, DC says there must be a "selection process" for those "who refuse to see themselves and others as a part of God [Hubbard's New Age God]." She states:

He [God] describes, therefore, the necessity of a "selection process" that will select out resistant individuals who "choose" not to evolve.5

Human must become Divine. That is the law.6

[New Ager] David Spangler says [Lucifer is] the angel of man's "inner evolution." Christians know Lucifer to be Satan, the Adversary, and II Thessalonians 2:9 informs us that Satan is the one who will empower the Antichrist. Those defying the Antichrist will really be defying Satan--and they will suffer dearly for it.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10)

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. (Luke 21:16)

 

This implies that a family member or a friend may be turned over to be dealt with for their own good. It will be seen as an altruistic act.

This view would most likely infuriate anyone involved with or attracted to New Age spirituality. After all, nowhere do you find New Agers saying they are going to kill anybody. It is left rather vague about how anyone will be removed. But the following channeled words by Neale Donald Walsch's "God" explain the rationale for what most people would consider outrageous and impossible. Listen to his "God":

So the first thing you have to understand--as I've already explained to you--is that Hitler didn't hurt anyone. In a sense, he didn't inflict suffering, he ended it.7

There is no "death." Life goes on forever and ever. Life is. You simply change form.... After you change form, consequences cease to exist. There is just Knowing.8

The real issue is whether Hitler's actions where [were] "wrong." Yet I have said over and over again that there is no "right" or "wrong" in the universe. Now your thought that Hitler was a monster is based on the fact that he ordered the killing of millions of people, correct? What if I told you that what you call "death" is the greatest thing that could happen to anyone--what then?... Shall we therefore punish Bre'r Fox for throwing Bre'r Rabbit into the briar patch?9

This is a very revealing statement. Traditional morality has been virtually turned on its head here. In other words, according to the higher consciousness that Walsch is in tune with, killing people could actually be doing them a favor! But would Walsch think this is profound higher wisdom if he himself was shivering sick and starving in a cattle car bound for Auschwitz. Would he have a smile on his face if he were stripped naked and herded into a gas chamber to face a gruesome, agonizing death. I think not!

But incredibly, Walsch is one of the featured speakers in The Secret (see page 103) which is now sweeping the Western world in popularity. In The Secret, Walsch is described as a "modern-day spiritual messenger"10 and his Conversations with God books including the one from which the previous quotes about Hitler were taken) are called "groundbreaking."

Could there have been the same spiritual component to Hitler's persecution of humanity in Europe? Most likely. Consider the following evidence. The swastika, the main symbol of Nazism, is an age-old Hindu symbol that is still found on many temples throughout India. The word is not even German, but Sanskrit-Svastika--meaning "that which is excellent."11 A New Age book has described its meaning as representing "the final stage in which the chakra is active, developed, opened, and energized by awakened kundalini energy."12 Thus, the very banner of Nazism stood for the energy that underlies the whole New Age movement. New Agers even acknowledge this. David Spangler makes reference in one of his books to "...the Nazi movement, which had many roots in occultism."13 The swastika symbol was also prominently displayed on Madame Blavatsky's personal brooch, in exactly the same style as the Nazi one (tilting at an angle to the right) decades before the Nazi Party was even formed. One can also see the parallel between Nazism and the Ancient Wisdom in the Hindu caste system, with its Brahmin (aryan) caste and its lower untouchable caste. The Nazis also took the term Aryan--literally, the worthy race--from Hinduism.14 The word has nothing to do with ancient Germany as many believe, but is a Hindu word meaning noble or superior. (From For Many Shall Come in My Name by Ray Yungen, 2007, pp. 162-167)

Notes:
1. Donald Yott, Man and Metaphysics, (New York, NY: Sam Weiser, Inc., 1980), p. 58.
2. John Davis and Naomi Rice, Messiah and the Second Coming, (New York, NY: Sam Weiser, Inc., 1980), p. 152.
3. John White, "The Second Coming" (New Frontier Magazine, December 1987), p. 45.
4. Alice Bailey, The Externalization of the Hierarchy (http://laluni.helloyou.ws/net news/bk/externalisation/exte1119.html, accessed 03/2007), Section II - The General World Picture.
5. Warren Smith, Reinventing Jesus Christ, (Ravenna, OH: Conscience Press, printed edition, 2002), p. 16, citing Barbara Marx Hubbard, Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential (Novato, CA: New World Library, 1998), pp. 240, 267.
6. Ibid., p. 19, Smith citing Marx Hubbard from The Revelation (Novato, CA: Nataraj Publishing, 1995), p. 233.
7. Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 2 (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Road Publishing Company, Inc., 1997), p. 56.
8. Ibid., p. 40.
9. Ibid., p. 36.
10. Rhonda Byrne, The Secret (New York, NY: Atria Books and Hillsboro, OR: Beyond Words Publishing, First Atria Books/Beyond Words hardcover edition, 2006), p. 197.
11. Geoffrey A. Barborka, Glossary of Sanskrit Terms (Buena Park, CA: Stockton Trade Press, Point Loma Publications, 1972), p. 64.
12. Zachary E Lansdowne, Ph. D., The Chakras and Esoteric Healing (York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, Inc., First Indian edition: Delhi, 1993), p. 114.
13. David Spangler, Emergence: The Rebirth of the Sacred (New York, NY: Dell Publishing Company, 1984), p. 159.
14. Geoffrey A. Barborka, op. cit., p. 15.

The Midwest Book Review reviews The Other Side of the River - "Highly Recommended"

Evangelicals and Catholics Work Toward Interspirituality

LTRP Note: The following article is from an outside news source. For more information on interspirituality, please see our research on this topic. Also see Faith Undone.

"Christians move towards code on seeking converts"

by Robert Evans
Reuters

GENEVA (Reuters) - Christian churches are moving closer to a common code of conduct on how they go about winning converts among themselves and from other religions, the World Council of Churches (WCC) said on Monday.

Conversion, sometimes dubbed "sheep-stealing" as it targets another's flock, is a cause of friction and conflict between religions and among different branches of individual faiths.

Militant groups are often accused of underhand tactics in winning over new adherents.

The Geneva-based WCC, working with the Vatican on the issue, said a meeting in Toulouse later this week should bring the year-long process of agreeing a conversion rule-book nearer to completion by its target date of 2009.

"Evangelical and Pentecostal representatives will be taking part in the dialogue for the first time, and we see this as a good sign for the eventual success of this project," said WCC spokesman Juan Michel....

The first meeting was attended -- alongside the Christians -- by representatives of the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Yoruba faiths. Click here to read this entire article.

Catholic and Russian Heads to Meet for 1st Time

Reuters News

MOSCOW - A first meeting between the Pope and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church is increasingly likely, a senior Vatican cardinal said on a visit to Moscow on Tuesday, after centuries of bitter rivalry between the churches.

The eastern and western branches of Christianity have been split since the Great Schism of 1054 and relations between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church have been increasingly strained since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

Pope and the Russian Patriarch have never met although Catholic leaders have in the past met with Ecumenical Patriarchs, spiritual leaders of the worldwide Orthodox church based in Istanbul. Click here to finish reading.

The Truth Behind the Emerging Church 

 Roger Oakland's new book answers the following questions:

US Lutherans (ELCA) Ease Rules on Gay Pastors

Christian Today - United Kingdom
by Daniel Blake

The largest Lutheran body in the US has caused outrage in the wider Christian community as it controversially decided not to punish homosexual clergy who are in sexual relationships, according to an announcement made on Saturday.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) passed a resolution at its annual assembly urging bishops to refrain from disciplining pastors who are in "faithful committed same-gender relationships."

The resolution was passed by a vote of 538-431.

A day earlier, attendees voted down a measure that would have ended a ban on non-celibate gay clergy. But Saturday's vote means those who violate that policy can no longer be tried or punished.

Phil Soucy, spokesman for Lutherans Concerned, a gay-lesbian rights group within the Church said: "The Church ... has just said 'Do not do punishments.' That is huge."

The 4.8-million member ELCA had previously allowed gays to serve as pastors, but only under the condition that they abstained from any sexual relations. Click here to finish reading.

Shaping the New "Christian" Youth

"The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one," we are told in 1 John 5:19. And the leaders of today's world are just as determined to undermine God's Word as those who despised Christianity two millennia ago. The fact that their tools and tactics are more sophisticated these days gives us plenty of reasons to heed God's repeated warnings: Be watchful! Pray! Don't be deceived!

The guiding vision of contemporary world leaders was summarized by Professor Raymond Houghton back in 1970. As you ponder his words, remember that the key strategies used in secular schools are now embraced by market-driven churches around the world:

"...absolute behavior control is imminent.... The critical point of behavior control, in effect, is sneaking up on mankind without his self-conscious realization that a crisis is at hand. Man will... never self-consciously know that it has happened."

The main targets of these change agents have been our children, our youth, and our Biblical faith. Have these revolutionaries succeeded? Yes, they have! We are now immersed in the fruit of their labor: a postmodern world that rejects both absolute truth and the moral foundations of the Christian family.

Like our secular guides, today's postmodern, purpose-driven church guides keep sounding the call for continual change. And their restless audience -- dulled by decades of "progressive education" and corrupt entertainment -- are fast falling in line behind the most popular pied pipers.

There's little to hold them back from the tempting snares that tug at their hearts these days. The greatest obstacle to deception has always been God's unchanging Word. But that wall of resistance is crumbling fast. Today's transformational leaders know that their pleasure-loving followers would rather dialogue about "biblical principles" in popular movies than study or memorize Scriptures. Click here to read this entire article.

Spiritual Direction to Where?

 by Roll Over Menno

Publishing News  - Faith Undone is Here!