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Rick Warren Goes to
Syria - Meets With Grand Mufti
To see picture, click here.
According to Syrian
Arab news agency article, SANA,
Rick Warren visited this week with Syrian
political and religious officials. The
article stated:
American
Protestant Pastor Rick Warren on Monday
said there was no peace in the region
without Syria, noting that 80 percent
of the American people rejected what
the US Administration is doing in
Iraq and considered the US policy
in the Mideast as wrong. Syria's Grand
Mufti Sheikh Badr al-Din Hassoun received
the American Pastor in Damascus in
which he referred to the importance
of spreading culture of amity, peace
and coexistence instead of the 'clash
of civilizations'.
The
article said that the Grand Mufti
asked Warren to convey to the American
people Syria's desire for peace. Warren,
according to the article, told the
Grand Mufti he admired Syria.
photo used in accordance with the US Fair Use Act
Further information:
American
Personalities Criticize US Foreign
Policy
Rick
Warren and Ecumenism
Rick
Warren Promotes Contemplative Spirituality
Interspirituality
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Will We Turn Our Eyes Again?
Click here to see picture.
1941 - The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem,
Haj Amin al- Husseini, visits Berlin,
meets with Hitler. (Photo from Yad
Vashem Holocaust Museum)
Special Note: A Christian
man who called Lighthouse Trails told
us a story about a church in Germany
in the 1940s. A train track went by
the church, and while the people were
attending, they would hear the trains
that were filled with Jewish families
passing. When the screaming became
too loud, the church members would
sing louder so they wouldn't have
to hear. Will we turn our eyes and
ears again against the Jewish people?
Sing
a Little Louder
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Robert Schuller, the Grand
Mufti and Interspirituality
 In
light of the recent reports that Rick
Warren is in Syria visiting with political
and religious leaders, including Syria's
Grand Mufti, it is worth noting that
Robert Schuller (of Crystal Cathedral)
also visited with the Grand Mufti of
Syria (in 1999), with the hope of being
instrumental in bringing peace to the
world. In Schuller's biography, My
Journey: From an Iowa Farm to a Cathedral
of Dreams, Schuller says: "I was
astounded to see how much my perspective
had shifted. In my early years my world
was Sioux County, Iowa, and the Dutch
Reformed Church, but now I had a global
awareness.... I was moving further and
further into a mindset of religious
inclusively." Schuller refers to a letter
(and an invitation) he received from
the Grand Mufti of Syria, who stated
to Schuller: "I am grateful to have
this opportunity to meet with you under
the banner of faith and peace for humanity.
My desire is to begin the new millennium...
with new bridges of love and fraternity
between all Muslims and Christians for
the benefit of all mankind." In the
book, Schuller says: "Standing before
a crowd of devout Muslims with the Grand
Mufti, I know that we're all doing God's
work together. Standing on the edge
of a new millennium, we're laboring
hand in hand to repair the breach" (p.
501). He adds:
I
met once more with the Grand Mufti,
truly one of the great Christ-honoring
leaders of faith.... I'm dreaming
a bold impossible dream: that positive-thinking
believers in God will rise above the
illusions that our sectarian religions
have imposed on the world, and that
leaders of the major faiths will rise
above doctrinal idiosyncrasies, choosing
not to focus on disagreements, but
rather to transcend divisive dogmas
to work together to bring peace and
prosperity and hope to the world...."
p. 502
Rick
Warren shares Schuller's spiritual proclivities
and has stated that he believes peace
can come to the world (in fact a "second
reformation") through a unification
of the different faiths. Warren Smith
discusses Schuller's reformation in
his book, Deceived on Purpose: "In his
1982 book Self-Esteem: The New Reformation,
Schuller wrote: Our very survival "as
a species depends on hope. And without
hope we will lose the faith that we
can cope" Smith connects some dots when
he shows how New Ager Neale Donald Walsch
(in his book Conversations with God)
ties this "new reformation" to a world
wide peace plan:
Prior
to directly suggesting that Robert
Schuller's theology of self-esteem
could be the kind of "bridge" that
could help humanity transition into
the New Spirituality, Walsch's "God"
formally presented his 5-Step PEACE
Plan. The PEACE Plan is the proposed
spiritual process that will help everyone
move past "outmoded" beliefs and prepare
the way for the New Spirituality.
(from Deceived
on Purpose)
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COLLEGE WATCH: Patrick Henry
Bringing in Contemplative Through Spiritual
Formation
2016 Update: Some time after this was posted Patrick Henry contacted Lighthouse Trails and said they were removing all references to Spiritual Formation and contemplative spirituality from their campus.
Another Christian
college is promoting contemplative
spirituality. Patrick Henry in Virginia
is introducing contemplative to students
through their Spiritual
Formation Groups. The two readings
that stand out among the others are
Richard Foster's Devotional
Classics and Robert
Webber's "Ancient-Future Time, Forming
Spirituality."
Richard
Foster is the author of the very popular
book, Celebration of Discipline.
The book that Patrick Henry is using, Devotional Classics, contains
a who's who of contemplative (i.e.,
mystical) spirituality. Of the book,
Foster says: "These fifty-two selections
have been organized to introduce readers
through the course of one year to
the great devotional writers." Who
are these "great devotional writers"
that Foster admires and now Patrick
Henry students will be introduced
to? A few of these 52 writers are
Thomas Merton, Henri Nouwen, Evelyn
Underhill, George Fox, and Madame
Guyon. Many of these 52 writers are
panentheistic, meaning they believe
(or did believe when they were alive)
that God was in all things. Listen
to the words of one of authors, Thomas
Kelly: "Deep within us all there is
an amazing inner sanctuary of the
soul, a holy place, a Divine Center...
And He is within us all" (from Testament
of Devotion).
Interwoven
in the writings of these 52 authors
are numerous other recommendations,
many of which are mystics. Patrick
Henry students are going to get more
than a mild dose of contemplative
through their Spiritual Formation
Groups, particularly through Richard
Foster's Devotional Classics.
Brother Lawrence is another one of
the writers in Foster's book. In Lawrence's
book, The Practice of the Presence
of God (1977 edition), it says
he danced violently like a mad man
when he went into this "presence."
In
the section of Foster's book written
by Evelyn Underhill, under "Excerpts
from the Essentials of Mysticism,"
Underhill tells readers to prepare
"the consciousness for the inflow
of new life" (p. 114). And in the
section by Madame Guyon (both women
were mystics), Guyon tells readers
the way to get rid of distractions
(to prepare to enter the silence)
is to "withdraw from your mind!" (p.
323) Thomas Merton (another one of
the authors of the book) knew exactly
what this withdrawing of the mind
was all about. In fact, he said he
felt sorry for the hippies in the
60s who dropped LSD because all they
had to do was turn to contemplative
to get the same results. (see interview
with Matthew Fox) Foster, in this
same section of the book (Guyon) gives
instruction at the end of the chapter
called "Suggested Exercises." He tells
readers to "pray the Scripture" and
use that as a tool to "focus on God's
presence." And of course, for those
who have studied the contemplative
prayer movement in depth know that
this is exactly what contemplatives
do - they use the Bible (or other
books) as tools of divination, whereby
they manipulate the words, go into
meditative trances and believe the
voice they hear in that presence is
the voice of God.
Patrick
Henry's Spiritual Formation Groups
are also using Robert Webber's materials.
Webber, director of Ancient Future
Worship, is a strong supporter of
contemplative spirituality.
Is
Patrick Henry going to continue in
this direction? Only time will tell.
But based on our research of many,
many Christian colleges, once contemplative
gets a foot in the door, it is pretty
tough to stop it from flooding in.
In the Patrick
Henry Catalog, it is a little
worrisome to hear that part of the
school's vision is to "aid in the
transformation of American society"
(p. 11), especially when considering
that if this "transformation of American
society" is going to take place through
the screen of contemplative spirituality,
the end result will not look anything
like Christian. On the contrary, it
will rather resemble a unified world
religion in which meditation is the
glue that holds it all together.
On page 12 of the catalog,
it says: "Patrick Henry College has
been, to use a popular phrase, 'purpose-
driven' from its inception." Those
who have read A Time of Departing know that Rick Warren is a strong
promoter and endorser of contemplative
and emerging spiritualities. To be
"purpose-driven" today could be a
detriment to any Christian college.
If it is true that PHC hopes to "remain
true to the Word of God (p. 13), then
they will halt their Spiritual Formation
program before it is too late.
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A True Shepherd of the Church
Warning About Contemplative
US Pastor Suffers Major Heart
Attack While in Hungary
Pastor
Larry DeBruyn of Franklin Road Baptist
has been an outspoken voice, one of
the few, on the dangers of contemplative
spirituality. His articles have hit
the nail on the head many times as
he has shared how mysticism is entering
the church. Two weeks ago he left
for Lithuania and Hungary to share
with pastors there these doctrines
that are heading their way. Even though
he had not been feeling too well before
leaving and though the speaking schedule
was somewhat grueling, he knew he
needed to share with these pastors.
On November 8th, Pastor DeBruyn suffered
a serious heart attack and is now
in a Hungary hospital in intensive
care. We ask that you would please
pray for this courageous brother who
has chosen the less popular road of
defending the faith in a time when
most well-known Christian leaders
have chosen the broader road of success
and popularity.
Follow
up: In the course of being taken
by ambulance to the hospital, Pastor
DeBruyn's heart stopped seven times.
Doctors now say that about 40% of
his heart was damaged. But we have
a wonderful God. Sunday morning his
wife (who flew there to be with him)
wrote us this:
LARRY
IS IN A PRIVATE ROOM OUT OF INTENSIVE
CARE. HE WAS SITTING IN A CHAIR AND
HIS SPIRITS ARE GOOD. IN FACT, KYLE
SAID THAT FIRST HE QUOTED 2 CORINTHIANS
12:9; THEN, HE BEGAN TALKING ABOUT
CHRISTIAN ROCK AND ROLL AND CHRISTIAN
CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY. SO, I
THINK HE IS ON THE MEND. THANKS FOR
YOUR PRAYERS.
We
praise God that though for Larry to
depart to be with the Lord would be
his gain, it would be a tremendous loss
for the body of Christ and for many
who have yet to hear the Word and become
part of that body through faith in Jesus
Christ. Larry DeBruyn is an inspiration
to us - may his courage to speak the
truth even when it is unpopular to do
so and his determination to continue
in spite of personal loss be an encouragement
to those who read this who also defend
the faith. We know that many of you
have suffered ridicule and unkindness
as you have sought to warn your pastors,
family and friends about contemplative
spirituality (and the avenues through
which it is entering, e.g., Purpose
Driven and the emerging church). Let
us remember that while many Christian
leaders, pastors, and teachers have
been led astray, there are pastors out
there who are the true shepherds of
the church. We are very grateful for
Pastor DeBruyn and for any pastor or
teacher who defends the precious faith
in difficult times as these. Let us
remember the words of encouragement
by Paul:
And
I, brethren, when I came to you,
did not come with excellence of
speech or of wisdom declaring to
you the testimony of God. For I
determined not to know anything
among you except Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. I was with you in
weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching were
not with persuasive words of human
wisdom, but in demonstration of
the Spirit and of power, that your
faith should not be in the wisdom
of men but in the power of God.
I Corinthians 2:1-5
Some
of Pastor DeBruyn's articles on contemplative:
Breath
Prayers and Rick Warren
Contemplative
Prayer and the Lord's Prayer
Can
yogic practices be integrated with
the Christian faith?
Be
Still
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BOOK ALERT: Conformed to
His Image by Ken Boa
The title of Ken Boa's book, Conformed
to His Image, is taken from the
Scripture Romans 8:29: "For whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren." However, before
believers delve into this book with
the hope it will show them how to be
conformed into the image of Jesus Christ,
an examination of this book is needed.
In
Boa's book, in a section on lectio
divina, Boa recommends turning to
Richard Foster for further guidance.
He suggests readers use Foster's book Devotional Classics, which
is a collection of 52 writers (more
than half of them mystics).
Boa
quotes Foster throughout the book,
and he quotes several other contemplative
promoting authors too. While Boa gives
a limited warning about heavy duty
mystics/panentheists like Matthew
Fox and Meister Eckhart, his promotion
of Richard Foster and other contemplatives
makes those warnings rather innocuous.
It's kind of like telling a teen to
stay away from heroin but go ahead
and use cocaine. And in some ways
it is even more dangerous because
the one (Eckhart and Fox) is so obvious
to many, but the other (Foster) appears
to be completely harmless because
it is enveloped in Christian veneer.
Boa references mystic Jean Pierre
de Caussade's book Abandonment
to Divine Providence, referring
to the "sacrament
of the present moment", a concept
often used to encourage people to
enter the silence.
In
addition to referencing Richard Foster
several times, Boa also favorably
references: Gary Thomas (Sacred
Pathways), Brother Lawrence, Bill
Hull, Larry Crabb, and Ignatius
of Loyola. Of the latter, Boa says:
"The spiritual exercises of Ignatius
of Loyola incorporate these and other
meditative techniques."
The
book also favorably refers to and/or
quotes Julian of Norwich, Thomas Kelly,
Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating,
all of which had or have panentheistic
views. Of Keating and Merton, Boa
says that thanks to them the "ancient
practice" of lectio divina has been
reintroduced to both Catholics and
now Protestants. Merton is referred
to several times in the book.
For those who wish to become
"conformed to the image" of Jesus
Christ, Ken Boa's book is not a good
place in which to turn. By reading
and following the advice of his book,
one could end up being more
conformed to the image and spirituality
of Thomas Merton, who said he wanted
to become the best Buddhist he could
be and said he was impregnated with
Sufism (Islamic mysticism).
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Does the Church Have a Future?
"Does the church have a future
in our generation? ... I believe the
church is in real danger. It is in for
a rough day. We are facing present pressures
and a present and future manipulation
which will be so overwhelming in the
days to come that they will make the
battles of the last forty years look
like child's play." Francis Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the 20th
Century-- 1970
"The liberal theologians in their stress
on community speak and act as though
we become Christians when we enter the
horizontal relationship of community.But
this is totally the wrong starting-point.
If this were so, Christianity would
have no more final value than the humanistic
community." Schaeffer
"Whenever men say they are looking for
greater reality, we must show them at
once the reality of true Christianity.
This is real because it is concerned
with the God who is there and who has
spoken to us about Himself, not just
the use of the symbol 'god' or 'christ'
which sounds spiritual but is not. The
men who merely use the symbol ought
to be pessimists, for the mere word
god or the idea god is not a sufficient
base for the optimism they display....
"This is the kind of 'believism' which
is demanded by this theology.... It
is no more than a jump into an undefinable,
irrational, semantic mysticism." Schaeffer, from The God Who is There
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YOUTH FOR CHRIST -
Still Using the Labryinth
According
to the international Labyrinth Society, a labyrinth is "a single path or unicursal tool
for personal, psychological and spiritual
transformation. Labyrinths are thought
to enhance right brain activity." In
addition, they are also a tool used
to practice contemplative spirituality;
the objective, to connect with the Divinity
within. Mike Oppenheimer of Let
Us Reason Ministries says: "Walking
the labyrinth has become a popular spiritual
exercise across the country and around
the world. I first read of it in Leadership
Magazine, a Christian publication and
became a bit concerned; since looking
into it further I'm definitely concerned."
But
while there are Christians like Oppenheimer
who believe the labyrinth is not a
practice that will lead people closer
to God, many churches and Christian
ministries see nothing wrong with
the practice at all. The United Kingdom
branch of Youth for Christ is one
of those groups, offering an online
labyrinth for youth(se
e YFC labyrinth). (The labyrinth
takes time to load. Please use caution
when viewing this as there is a hypnotic
effect that can take place; we share
this so parents can see what their
youth are being introduced to.)
With
Youth For Christ (USA) teaming
up with Youth Specialties, sponsoring
their events, it isn't really any
wonder that they would incorporate
the labyrinth into ministry the same
as Youth Specialties does. But countless
young people are being ushered into
New Age spirituality, while their
parents think they are safe in the
hands of churches and youth ministers.
Youth for Christ is also a partner
with Richard Foster's With
God Conferences.
Contact Information:
President Dan Wolgemuth
PO Box 4478
Englewood, CO 80155-4478
303/843-9000 Phone
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ALERT: Ancient Evangelical
Future Conference
On
December 7-9, the Call
to an Ancient Evangelical Future conference is being held at Northern
Seminary in Illinois. According to Northern,
the purpose of this "historic" event
is to give "a challenge issued for evangelicals
to rediscover their common mission and
be energized by the Holy Spirit for
ministry!" In a Christianity
Today article, where the conference
is featured, it states: "In light of
these challenges, we call evangelicals
to strengthen their witness through
a recovery of the faith articulated
by the consensus of the ancient church
and its guardians in the traditions
of Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism,
the Protestant Reformation, and the
evangelical awakenings."
Who
will be some of those who will help
evangelicals deal with these "challenges"?
At the conference, speakers include
Brian McLaren and Robert Webber (Ancient
Future Worship), both whom heavily
promote contemplative and emerging
spiritualities. While there have been
plenty of conferences with McLaren
and other contemplative/emergent speakers,
what makes this conference unique
is the combination of both emergent
leaders (McLaren and Webber) and long
standing evangelical organizations
like InterVarsity Press, Baker Books
and Christianity Today. While
all three of these have published
quite a few pro- contemplative books/articles,
teaming up with Brian McLaren is a
bold step.
Brian
McLaren, who has clearly shown his
affinity towards a "new kind" of Christianity,
one that goes beyond the borders of
biblical Christianity, shares the
spiritual sympathies of panentheist
Marcus Borg and Tony
Campolo.
Resources on the event website (see below) include Ruth
Haley Barton's Transforming Center
and the Alban
Institute.
To
some, this may seem like just another
report on another contemplative issue;
however, what is taking place at this
conference and what it represents
is the future face of the new evangelicalism
that is here to stay, and the glue
that holds this new face together
is mysticism and panentheism, both
of which negate the message of the
Cross. In fact, something that has
unveiled itself within these circles
in recent days is the idea that a truly loving God would never send
His Son to a violent death on a Cross.
God just isn't like that.
In
a document that organizers title The
Call, one can view the various
components of this calling.
Part of this includes the section
on the call to Spiritual
Formation. The contemplative nature
of this conference as well as the
document that Christians are being
asked to sign (The Call) is somewhat
concealed with Christian terminology.
However, when the outer layers are
peeled away, you will see this is
nothing more than the spirituality
we have so often described. And now
that mainline organizations like Christianity
Today and InterVarsity Press
have come out of the closet and joined
forces, the escalation of contemplative
(which will eventually lead to one
unified religion throughout the world
- one that rejects the true gospel)
will be unstoppable. We pray and hope
that many believers will see this
and do what they can to warn others.
Check out the AEF
Call website for further information. Complete
Speaker List
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CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY
- THE LATEST 'CHRISTIAN' CRAZE
by Paul Proctor, News with
Views
The greatest danger to the
church today is not the atheist, the
agnostic, the liberal, the humanist,
the Marxist or even the Muslim extremist,
but rather the "Christian" who subtly
blends truth and lie resulting in a
designer deity and discipline that finds
common ground with the very enemies
of Christ so as to become modish and
marketable to the mainstream.
When one leavens the Christian faith
with New Age teachings and practices,
the result is a sacrilegious synthetic
that is every bit as damning as the
New Age itself, minus the stigma, rendering
it more perilous than its predecessor
precisely because of its churchy disguise.
By way of the Hegelian Dialectic, many
professing Christians are now embracing
and promoting the hottest new hybrid
to hit the church today, called "Contemplative
Spirituality," that brings certain beliefs
and practices from Eastern Mysticism
into otherwise Christian worship to
effectively permit, provide and promote
what biblical Christianity does not.
Thesis (Christianity) + Antithesis (New
Age) = Synthesis (Contemplative) Click here to read more of this article.
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