Coming From the Lighthouse

                                               Printer Friendly Version (click here)   October 13, 2008

In This Issue -

Rick Warren Points Network Followers to Contemplative "Sabbath"

Ambrose University (CMA & Nazarene) Goes Full Speed Into Contemplative/Emergent

Brian McLaren's Mystical "Third Jesus"

Who are the Desert Fathers?

Should Christians Expose Error?

How to Tell if Your Church is Becoming Emergent

A Former New Age Follower Talks About "Christian Yoga"

Is this our future: Mandatory Community Service, a Three-Legged Purpose Driven Plan and a Brave New World?

Warren Smith DVD: Standing Fast in the Last Days

Out of India Has Gone to Press!

Christian Resistance Book - A Must Read

Rick Warren Points Network Followers to Contemplative "Sabbath"

On October 1st in his weekly e-newsletter, Rick Warren points followers to Pete Scazzero's contemplative "Sabbath" experience. In the article, "Why Can't We Stop!", Scazzero states: "One of the keys to our freedom is a rediscovery of Sabbath-keeping - a radical, countercultural, essential spiritual formation practice for us as pastors." While many readers of this article may think that Scazzero is simply encouraging Christians to make sure they take a day of rest each week, what they probably don't know is that Scazzero is a strong proponent for contemplative mystical prayer. And contemplatives don't just believe in a day of rest - they believe in entering what they call the silence or sacred space through repetitive mantra-like prayer.

Scazzero has been the topic of several Lighthouse Trails articles, largely because of his books which heartily promote the mystics and their prayer style as well. 1 In Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (the book that is featured on Rick Warren's website), Scazzero points readers to some of the most prolific teachers of eastern-style meditation, many of whom are outright panentheists such as Meister Eckhart, Basil Pennington, and Tilden Edwards. Scazzero also gives instruction on meditative practices such as lectio divina and "centering down." In a two-part expose' of Scazzero's book, documentation shows clearly that his "emotionally healthy spirituality" is anything but healthy. (Part One, Part Two)

Interestingly, in the article Rick Warren posts, Scazzero says: "As one theologian stated, 'To fail to see the value of simply being with God and 'doing nothing' is to miss the heart of Christianity." What he doesn't tell readers is who this "theologian" is: Catholic "theologian" Leonard Doohan. Scazzero may have seen the quote in Lynne Babb's book, Sabbath Keeping, a book where Babb recommends readers turn to panentheist and universalist Tilden Edwards for further spiritual guidance. It is Edwards (founder of Shalem Institute) who says: "This mystical stream [contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality" (from his book, Spiritual Friend).

When Scazzero says "simply being with God" and "doing nothing," he is referring to what contemplatives call entering the silence or putting the mind into a stillness. It is not surprising that Rick Warren resonates with such language. One of the people Warren and his wife Kay look up to is mystic Henri Nouwen, who had a huge affinity with mysticism. This state of stillness (of the mind) is a common theme among contemplatives. Contemplative advocate Beth Moore says: "[I]f we are not still before Him [God], we will never truly know to the depths of the marrow of our bones that He is God. There's got to be a stillness."2 However, the mind cannot naturally be put into a still state, and this is where mantra meditation, or focusing on the breath or particular words comes into play. There cannot be this stillness of the mind without some form of mantric-like practice. This is why all "evangelical" contemplative proponents endorse the mystics. But this state of stillness is the same state entered by Hindu mystics, Buddhist mystics, and New Age mystics. And that realm entered is NOT the realm of God but rather is a demonic realm.

On Scazzero's website, he offers the following link to an interview he recently had with Canadian radio host Drew Marshall where they talk about Emotionally Healthy Spirituality and its connection to contemplative mysticism: radio interview In the interview, Scazzero says that Christianity needs monasticism, which he identifies as that which has come from the Desert Fathers.

Drew Marshall is a proponent of contemplative spirituality and has no doubt influenced many Canadians in this direction. He believes that those who see dangers with this spirituality are in a small and legalistic minority.

Also on Scazzero's website is a link called "contemplative spirituality" in which he recommends many contemplative mystics such as Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Robert Webber, Richard Foster, and Phyllis Tickle. It is Thomas Merton who likened the contemplative experience to an LSD trip. 3

Rick Warren's promotion of Pete Scazzero is not an isolated incident. He has been promoting contemplative mystics for many years, as Lighthouse Trails has documented often. With potentially tens or even hundreds of millions of people now part of the Purpose Driven network, Warren's promotion of contemplative spirituality will have far-reaching effects. And as long as popular Christian leaders endorse, sponsor, and work with Rick Warren rather than warn others about him and his teachings, they are responsible with him for the proliferation of contemplative/emerging spirituality and the dangerous deception that comes with it.

Related Information:

Greg Laurie Connects Purpose Driven to a Move of God - Gives Financial Support

Saddleback Church IS a Contemplative Church

About Spiritual Direction

Ambrose University (CMA & Nazarene) Goes Full Speed Into Contemplative/ Emergent

LTRP Note: The following is a letter we received about Ambrose University in Canada. More proof that contemplative spirituality is sweeping across North American's Christian colleges, seminaries, and universities and overtaking the hearts, minds, and souls of countless young (and older) people. Because of this letter and our research on the school that followed, we have added Ambrose University to the list of Christian colleges that are becoming contemplative. (click here to see list)

As just one example of how Ambrose is going contemplative/emergent, in a course title Spiritual Companions, the instructor is using a book titled Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction by Episcopal priest and spiritual director Margaret Guenther. Atonement rejecter Alan Jones wrote the forward to this primer on contemplative mysticism. We could give many more examples of where Ambrose University is drawing from the mystics to teach their students.

For related information:

Our database of articles on Christian schools going contemplative/emergent

Regarding early "church fathers," see:

Lee Strobel Makes Case for Early Church Father

Information on the Desert Fathers

Brian McLaren's Mystical "Third Jesus"

"The Third 'Jesus' of the Emerging Church"

In A Generous Orthodoxy, Brian McLaren describes his spiritual journey, which took him from a conservative Christian upbringing to a Pentecostal Jesus and eventually led him to say, "About that time, quite by accident, I met a third Jesus."1 This following account gives important insight that we should pay attention to--because many are following this same path. McLaren describes:

[B]y my mid-20s, I had met the conservative Protestant Jesus, the Pentecostal Jesus, and the Roman Catholic Jesus.2

McLaren found that the Protestant Jesus was too limiting. His dissatisfaction led him on a quest for something more. McLaren found what he was looking for in the mystics:

I discovered other Roman Catholic writers--twentieth-century writers such as Flannery O'Connor, Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Romano Guardini, and Gabriel Marcel, as well as the medieval mystics and others.3

From these mystics, McLaren's whole attitude toward salvation and spirituality changed. He began to emulate Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen as illustrated when he states:

I didn't think of them as different saviors ... But I was still unsatisfied, especially because I sensed that if Jesus were truly the Savior, he wasn't just my personal Savior, but was the Savior of the whole cosmos.4

This third Jesus McLaren discovered was the same Jesus Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen had found, who both came to believe that God dwells in all persons and that all paths lead to God. This third mystical Jesus is very much in tune with the New Age version of Jesus. McLaren's journey on the path that Merton and Nouwen had traveled led him to the same conclusions as the mystics he discovered. Contemplative prayer, spiritual formation, the interspiritual path--they inevitably lead all who follow them to the same non-biblical conclusions, and if not repented of--ultimate spiritual destruction. (from Faith Undone, pp. 120-121)

Notes
1. Brian McLaren, A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 59.
2. Ibid., p. 62.
3. Ibid., p. 59.
4. Ibid., p. 62.

Who are the Desert Fathers?

Should Christians Expose Error?

"Exposing Error: Is It Worthwhile?"
By Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951)

Objection is often raised even by some sound in the faith-regarding the exposure of error as being entirely negative and of no real edification. Of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. But the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the New Testament, both of the teaching of our blessed Lord Himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry-namely, showing the Satanic origin and, therefore, the unsettling results of the propagation of erroneous systems which Peter, in his second epistle, so definitely refers to as "damnable heresies."

Our Lord prophesied, "Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." Within our own day, how many false prophets have risen; and oh, how many are the deceived! Paul predicted, "I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch." My own observation is that these "grievous wolves," alone and in packs, are not sparing even the most favoured flocks. Undershepherds in these "perilous times" will do well to note the apostle's warning:

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers." It is as important in these days as in Paul's-in fact, it is increasingly important-to expose the many types of false teaching that, on every hand, abound more and more.

We are called upon to "contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints," while we hold the truth in love. The faith means the whole body of revealed truth, and to contend for all of God's truth necessitates some negative teaching. The choice is not left with us. Jude said he preferred a different, a pleasanter theme-"Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ" (Jude 3, 4). Paul likewise admonishes us to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Eph. 5:11).

This does not imply harsh treatment of those entrapped by error-quite the opposite. If it be objected that exposure to error necessitates unkind reflection upon others who do not see as we do, our answer is: it has always been the duty of every loyal servant of Christ to warn against any teaching that would make Him less precious or cast reflection upon His finished redemptive work and the all-sufficiency of His present service as our great High Priest and Advocate.

Every system of teaching can be judged by what it sets forth as to these fundamental truths of the faith. "What think ye of Christ?" is still the true test of every creed. The Christ of the Bible is certainly not the Christ of any false "-ism." Each of the cults has its hideous caricature of our lovely Lord.

Let us who have been redeemed at the cost of His precious blood be "good soldiers of Jesus Christ." As the battle against the forces of evil waxes ever more hot, we have need for God-given valour.

There is constant temptation to compromise. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." It is always right to stand firmly for what God has revealed concerning His blessed Son's person and work. The "father of lies" deals in half-truths and specializes in most subtle fallacies concerning the Lord Jesus, our sole and sufficient Savior.

Error is like leaven of which we read, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.

Exposing error is most unpopular work. But from every true standpoint it is worthwhile work. To our Savior, it means that He receives from us, His blood-bought ones, the loyalty that is His due. To ourselves, if we consider "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt," it ensures future reward, a thousand-fold. And to souls "caught in the snare of the fowler"-how many of them God only knows-it may mean light and life, abundant and everlasting.

courtesy Deception in the Church website

How to Tell if Your Church is Becoming Emergent

LTRP Note: The emerging church (or the merging church as we often call it) is growing, but many believe it is a passing fad, one that is nearing its end. In fact, lately some emerging church leaders are saying they don't want to use the term anymore. But as we pointed out in our recent article, "Some Say the Emerging Church is Dead - the Truth Behind the Story," even if the term is put to rest by the leaders of the movement, the emerging church is anything but dead. Lighthouse Trails hears from many people who are trying to figure out whether their churches are going emergent. Church leadership often says "No, we are not emergent." But tell-tale signs would indicate otherwise. The following list by Roger Oakland may help those who are trying to determine whether their church is becoming emergent.

Signs the Emerging Church is Emerging
by Roger Oakland

There are specific warning signs that are symptomatic that a church may be headed down the emergent/contemplative road. In some cases a pastor may not be aware that he is on this road nor understand where the road ends up.

Here are some of the warning signs:

Scripture is no longer the ultimate authority as the basis for the Christian faith.

The centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ is being replaced by humanistic methods promoting church growth and a social gospel.

More and more emphasis is being placed on building the kingdom of God now and less and less on the warnings of Scripture about the imminent return of Jesus Christ and a coming judgment in the future.

The teaching that Jesus Christ will rule and reign in a literal millennial period is considered unbiblical and heretical.

The teaching that the church has taken the place of Israel and Israel has no prophetic significance is often embraced.

The teaching that the Book of Revelation does not refer to the future, but instead has been already fulfilled in the past.

An experiential mystical form of Christianity begins to be promoted as a method to reach the postmodern generation.

Ideas are promoted teaching that Christianity needs to be reinvented in order to provide meaning for this generation.

The pastor may implement an idea called "ancient-future" or "vintage Christianity" claiming that in order to take the church forward, we need to go back in church history and find out what experiences were effective to get people to embrace Christianity.

While the authority of the Word of God is undermined, images and sensual experiences are promoted as the key to experiencing and knowing God.

These experiences include icons, candles, incense, liturgy, labyrinths, prayer stations, contemplative prayer, experiencing the sacraments, particularly the sacrament of the Eucharist.

A Former New Age Follower Talks About "Christian Yoga"

"Christian Yoga?"

They understand the Western practice of Yoga, the physical use, the physical practice of Yoga, being not only good for them physically, but emotionally, and as I said, spiritually--being able to be in prayer and meditation.4

Senarighi believes that if Christian words are used as the mantras (which Yoga meditation requires), or the intent in using Yoga is to reach Jesus, then it is perfectly all right to combine Yoga and Christianity. She says:

One of the ways that I encourage my students to bring their Yoga practice and a Christian spiritual practice together, is to think about a favorite Bible verse or Scripture, or any Christian mantra such as the word "Jesus" or "amen," and connect that with their body and their mind and their spirit in practice.4

Another Yoga teacher mentioned in the Time magazine article is Susan Bordenkircher, a Methodist from Alabama and the author of Yoga for Christians, a book published by Thomas Nelson (one of the largest Christian publishers). Bordenkircher discovered Yoga in 2002:

"I knew right away I was getting something out of it spiritually and physically, but it felt uncomfortable in that format," she says. So Bordenkircher prepared a vinyasa, or series of postures, with a biblical bent. Meditations focus on Jesus. She calls the sun salutation, a series of poses honoring the Hindu sun god, a "warm-up flow" instead.5

The Time article reveals that "Yoga purists" (Hindus) are bothered by the idea of "Christian Yoga," saying that "Hinduism is not like a recipe ingredient that can be extracted from Yoga."6 At the Hindu University of America in Orlando, Florida, a professor of Yoga philosophy and meditation states, "Yoga is Hinduism."7

Yoga has entered the Christian church through the notion that it is all right to adapt the Hindu practice of Yoga by using Christian terms and concepts; as long as only the exercises are practiced without meditation, Yoga is safe. Neither notion could be further from the truth. Former Hindu guru Rabi Maharaj, in his autobiography Death of a Guru, states, "No part of Yoga can be separated from the philosophy behind it."8 Hinduism is totally incompatible with genuine, biblical Christianity--the two cannot be absorbed into one. There simply cannot be any such thing as "Christian Yoga." (excerpt from Out of India by Caryl Matrisciana, pp.182-185)

Notes:

1. Thomas Keating, Open Mind, Open Heart (New York, NY: The Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc., 1986, 1992, 2006); these terms are used throughout Keating's book.
2. Lisa Takeuchi Cullen/Mahtomedi, "Stretching for Jesus" (Time magazine, August 29, 2005).
3. Yoga Uncoiled: from east to west (Menifee, CA: Caryl Productions, 2007).
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. "Stretching for Jesus," op. cit.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Rabi Maharaj, Death of a Guru (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1984 edition)

Is this our future: Mandatory Community Service, a Three-Legged Purpose Driven Plan and a Brave New World?

LTRP Note: Please keep in mind while reading this article by Berit Kjos that Rick Warren is on the Leadership Council of Service Nation. Service Nation is Rick Warren's three-legged global peace plan in action.

"Mind Change and Collective Service"
by Berit Kjos

At the dawn of Stalin's deadly reign in the 1930s -- when Communist leader Antonio Gramsci was writing his cunning formula for transforming the West -- numerous European Marxist were searching for effective strategies for mass control. As Hitler rose to power, some fled to America where they fine-tuned their tactics at "progressive" institutions like Columbia University. Welcomed by liberal educators, they found plenty of opportunity to test and teach their theories. Others merely exported their research to fellow revolutionaries in America. Their names -- Adorno, Marcuse, Lukas and Lewin -- don't ring many bells today, but no one can escape their impact on our nation.

Their radical schemes fit right into the dialectic process. Like Saul Alinsky, their followers would "unfreeze" minds from uncompromising Truth, fill them with a passion for collectivism, "refreeze" them with the new ideology, and establish socialism in America.

Before long, the mind-changing process that transformed the Soviet masses became the centerpiece of "service learning" in schools and communities. Students everywhere would be immersed in practical collectivism -- what the Soviets called Praxis.

Remember, the primary goal behind such group service is "service learning," NOT compassion for the poor. The latter is mainly a feel-good incentive for group participation in a communal purpose, vision, activity and transformation. (See Purpose-driven groups)

This scheme matches the old Nazi model. Young Germans from age 10 to 19 had to serve in the Hitler Youth program. And, as Hitler affirmed back in 1933, "the whole of National Socialism [Nazism] is based on Marxism." His brainwashed servants, who became anything but compassionate, just copied the Communist strategies:

"The purpose of labor service was partly practical -- to... provide a source of cheap labor -- but mainly ideological. It was part of the cult of community current in the youth movement now manipulated by the Nazis for their own end."

But shouldn't we gladly and willingly serve the needy and each other? Yes, of course! But not in ways that prompt us to twist, compromise or hide His Word under the banner of unity or charity. Click here to read this entire article and view citations.

More Information:

Service Nation Summit (see Rick Warren's name on page 27)
 

Warren Smith DVD: Standing Fast in the Last Days

Silverton, Oregon
October 2008

Lighthouse Trails Publishing is pleased to announce the release of Standing Fast in the Last Days DVD by Warren Smith.

On June 5th, 2008, former New Age follower Warren Smith spoke to 800 pastors at the 2008 Calvary Chapel Senior Pastors' Conference in Murrieta, California. Warren, integrating his compelling testimony into his talk, shares his deep concerns regarding the spiritual deception taking place in the church today. Covering topics such as the Emerging Church, Purpose-Driven, the New Age, and what is being called the New Spirituality, Warren exposes what may be the signs of a great spiritual falling away that the Bible has predicted will happen prior to Christ's return. Some of the topics Warren addresses are: the influence of Oprah Winfrey and Robert Schuller, a growing hostility toward biblical Christians, a plan for a false world peace, how mysticism is becoming an integral part of today's society, and the interspiritual, ecumenical movement that is gaining momentum and deceiving many.

$14.95 Retail * 57 minutes
For more information: Lighthouse Trails Publishing
Toll Free Order Line: 866/876-3910.
*************
ORDER
This product qualifies for quantity discounts (10 or more copies).

Out of India Has Gone to Press!

 Out of India by Caryl Matrisciana has gone to press. It will be ready for shipping on October 24th.

Product Information:
Apologetics Biography
248 pages
1st Edition
$12.95 Softbound, over 40 photos and illustrations
978-0-9791315-3-0
Revised & adapted from the best-selling book, Gods of the New Age (Harvest House 1985)
 

Christian Resistance Book - A Must Read

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