Coming From the Lighthouse

Printer Friendly Version (click here) November 15, 2007

In This Issue -

No Repentance from Willow Creek - Only a Mystical Paradigm Shift

The upside-down world of Pullman's "Golden Compass"...

Rick Warren: "I want to be a uniter."

Evangelicals and Mormons Hope to Bridge Theological Gap

Deceived

Coming Soon to a Planet Near You: Lausanne III

Can Right be Wrong?

National Pilot Project to Study Contemplative Kids

Baptist Sunday school undergoes 'extreme makeover' - Includes Breathing Exercises and Spiritual Formation

Colleges, Contemplative, and Campolo

Another Jesus Now Here!.

Publishing News - Faith Undone, 3rd printing

Newsletter in Print - Coming Soon

Keeping An Eye on the Rethink Conference

Willow Creek: Out of the Seeker-Sensitive Frying Pan - Into the Emerging Church Fire

No Repentance from Willow Creek - Only a Mystical Paradigm Shift

Recently, headlines about Willow Creek filled the home pages of several online news outlets. The caption stated: "A Shocking Confession from Willow Creek Community Church." Some wondered if Willow Creek's pastor Bill Hybels was repenting from past errors in ministry techniques.1 But a Lighthouse Trails commentary showed that this "shocking confession" was actually a re-enforcement of Willow Creek's efforts to "transform this planet" through contemplative and emerging spiritualities. The LT commentary stated:

It is no new thing that Willow Creek wishes to "transform the planet." They are part of the emerging spirituality that includes Rick Warren and many other major Christian leaders who believe the church will usher in the kingdom of God on earth before Christ returns. This dominionist, kingdom-now theology is literally permeating the lecture halls of many Christian seminaries and churches, and mysticism is the propeller that keeps its momentum. If Willow Creek hopes to transform the planet, they won't be able to get rid of the focus on the mystical (i.e., contemplative). Their new Fall 2007 Catalog gives a clear picture of where their heart lies, with resources offered by New Age proponent Rob Bell, contemplative author Keri Wyatt Kent, and the Ancient Future Conference with emerging leaders Scot McKnight and Alan Hirsch as well as resources by Ruth Haley Barton and John Ortberg. Time will tell what Willow Creek intends to do about strengthening its focus on "spiritual practices" and "transform[ing] the planet."

Well, it appears it isn't going to take a lot of time to see what their future intentions look like. The most current issue (Fall 2007) of Willow Creek's magazine, Willow (in hard copy and also online) gives a clear view of the organization's spiritual emphasis. The issue titled Ministry Shifts has a subtitle that says: "The landscape of our ministries is shifting. Brace yourself for the aftershocks."

Article titles in this Willow issue certainly make a statement that things are going to change: "Seismic Shifts," "Rediscovering Spiritual Formation," "Stemming the Tide," "The Changing Face of Worship," "Shifts in Missional Mindset," and "The Next Great Debate." With such commitment to change, it's no wonder Willow Creek supports Brian McLaren, who is currently on his "Everything Must Change" tour (named for his new book).

In the first article, "Seismic Shifts," the message is straightforward: "Change or die. ... If the local church refuses to change, it will die. ... But the winds of change are blowing. Leaders and entire congregations are making the choice to try something new. They are looking at the world, culture, norms and trends and they are daring to take a chance, venture a risk, find another way." Bell explains that the other articles in the issue give "snapshots" of how the church is now shifting.

In the first article to follow, "Rediscovering Spiritual Formation," meditation promoter Keri Wyatt Kent writes positively about "monastic communities" and "the emergent church." Quoting or favorably referring to one mystic after the next (Richard Foster, Ruth Haley Barton, David Benner, John Ortberg, etc.) Kent paints a picture that shows mysticism's role in this seismic shift that Willow Creek proclaims. She correctly states that while there are some "conservative" Christians who are suspect of spiritual formation, by and large the term and "the practices" have become "mainstream." These practices, of course, are the mystical practices that are the energy behind the spiritual formation movement.

Kent identifies Scot McKnight as part of this mystical shift. McKnight acknowledges the Catholic connection to contemplative practices, and amazingly, Kent brings into her article Catholic priest Richard Rohr. Why amazing? Rohr's spirituality would be in the same camp as someone like Matthew Fox who believes in pantheism and panentheism. For Willow Creek to include him in Willow speaks volumes about the level of spiritual deception that Willow Creek is now under. If Kent is right that spiritual formation is now mainstream, then this deception is mainstream as well. Incidentally, Richard Rohr wrote the foreword to a 2007 book called How Big is Your God? by Jesuit priest (from India) Paul Coutinho. In Coutinho's book, he describes an interspiritual community where people of all religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity) worship the same God. Is this where Willow Creek is heading?

While the Willow issue says that they are not moving away from biblical principles, nothing could be further from the truth. For those reading this who may be new to the terms contemplative prayer and spiritual formation, it is quite simple. A mantric-style meditation is practiced so that the pray-er can enter a silent, altered state, which supposedly allows him or her to hear God's voice and be transformed. However, because the premise of contemplative prayer is panentheistic (God in all), it is actually occultic in nature. We can say that, because in occultism all things are one, and there is no distinction between God and man - both enjoy equal glory. This is why research analyst Ray Yungen believes that the mystery of iniquity that Paul talked about in the book of II Thessalonians, chapter 2 could very well be mysticism. If man is brought under the delusion that he is part of God and one with God (with or without Jesus), then the Cross and the Gospel become of no effect (theoretically). It is Satan's ultimate desire to be equal to God (Isaiah 14:14), and he tried to convince Eve of this in the Garden of Eden and continues to this day with his seductive alluring.

Some people have said that contemplative spirituality and the emerging church are just passing whims or trends. But that isn't true, and Keri Wyatt Kent see that. She explains: "Spiritual formation is not a passing fad, but it does continue to shift and to change as the Church and its people grow." Of course, what this really means is that where once the true nature of contemplative had to be disguised, more and more it can come out of the closet. No passing fad here. Contemplative is pure New Ageism, the devil's religion to put it bluntly.

For those who realize that contemplative spirituality is the vehicle through which the kingdom-now, emerging church, dominionist views draw their strength and momentum, Willow Creek's "shocking confession" will indeed be very shocking. As Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and most other major leaders in Christianity today, stand arm and arm with contemplatives and emerging spirituality, those who understand biblical prophecy about the days prior to Christ's return will realize that history is being made. But unfortunately, Scripture warns that Satan will deceive the whole world (Revelation 12:9) and that a great falling away will occur. Let us be sober-minded and diligent to stand for biblical truth and the Gospel that alone can save the soul that turns to Jesus Christ in humility and repentance, acknowledging Him to be God, Lord, and Savior.

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. I Thessalonians 5:1-8

 

The upside-down world of Pullman's "Golden Compass"

Rick Warren : "I want to be a uniter."

 Rick Warren says he is "looking for a coalition of civility." (See the YouTube video clip of this interview with Rick Warren.)

Related Information:
Rick Warren Distorts the Instructions of Jesus to Fit His Global Peace Plan

Rick Warren Seeking Unity to Reach Critical Mass

Rick Warren's Global Peace Plan

Quotes by Rick Warren:

"We are here at these conferences to say to fellow Christians that we believe the Church needs to take the lead in the greatest health concern on the planet."

At one conference Warren said that every village has a man or woman of peace, who might not necessarily be Christian and could possibly be Muslim, and that person would help to implement the global P.E.A.C.E. plan in their part of the world. At the AIDS conference in Canada, Warren said he is "pressing for a 'coalition of civility,' where diverse groups can disagree without being disagreeable or denouncing one another, and seek unity without requiring uniformity in order to reach critical mass."

The following is an excerpt from the promotional description on Rick Warren's website about the upcoming global P.E.A.C.E. Plan Seminar: "Rick Warren has said repeatedly, 'This is why God made me. Everything else I have done was simply preparation for the P.E.A.C.E. Plan.' If you choose to lead your church to participate in the P.E.A.C.E. Plan it will be a wild ride and an amazing spiritual adventure for your members as they get God's heart for the world, as God uses them to change lives, and together we bring global glory to God!"1

"Personal computers have brand names. But inside every pc is an Intel chip and an operating system, Windows," Warren says. "The Purpose Driven paradigm is the Intel chip for the 21st-century church and the Windows system of the 21st-century church." - Rick Warren, Christianity Today, Oct. 2005 in talking about his global peace plan.

Evangelicals and Mormons Hope to Bridge Theological Gap

Students aim to bridge theological gap"
Deseret Morning News
by Carrie A. Moore

As Mitt Romney tells people that his religion won't dictate his political policy decisions and an occasional Christian pastor warns publicly that Romney's religion is a "cult," some are looking to bridge the cultural gap that divides evangelical Christians and Latter-day Saints.

More than 300 scholars and students on both sides of the gulf recently spent two days in Salt Lake City talking about the meaning of Christianity - including the definition of grace and injunction by Jesus to "love one another" despite the differences in theology....

Jerry Root, adjunct professor of Christian formation and theology at Wheaton College, told participants that one benefit of the pursuit of truth should be "spiritual maturity," that considers the beliefs of others and is not afraid to ask deep questions about one's own or another's faith.

That pursuit recognizes that "truth is not reality, but truth is what I think about reality" and must be distinguished from opinion, which is "based on probability rather than certainty ... I must not be afraid of honest doubt that accompanies debate and discussion."

Failure to have doubts about faith "may mean I'm on the threshold of delusion," the former pastor said, adding "spiritual formation is a process of maturity." Click here to read more.

Related Research on Interspirituality

Deceived

by Roger Oakland

The Bible calls Satan the great deceiver. To be deceived means to be led away from the truth without knowing it. If the person being deceived knew they were being deceived, then deception would not have occurred. One must believe that one is not deceived in order to be deceived. It is just that simple.

I believe that understanding deception has a lot to do with having a proper perspective. Instead of having God's perspective, the person being deceived has his own perspective. A human desire for power and the potential to be proud are two of the greatest barriers that prevent us from seeing God's perspective. Satan's plan is to deceive mankind by working on human weaknesses. He knows what he is doing.

In Proverbs we read: "There is a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Think about this for a moment. The Bible states "the wages of sin is death." So what may seem right, can lead to death because the consequence of sin is death. Do you see how deception works?

Sometimes it is beneficial to take time to do a reality check on our lives. For example, a Christian can be confident that he (or she) is serving the Lord when actually he is being deceived. This is because what we do "seems to be right" in our eyes....

I know Christian leaders and denominations that started out right but have ended up wrong. This downfall can be predicted in light of church history. God has raised up individuals from time to time to be leaders. As long as these leaders are led by the Holy Spirit and continue in His Word, God's blessings will be abundant. Sometimes, a pastor will become a leader and a model for many other pastors. Eventually, a fellowship of churches with like-minded pastors may be the result.

This fellowship of pastors teaches the Word of God and the sheep are enlightened and fed. The sheep, because they are learning, love God with all their heart. This love spreads to the horizontal plane and love is overflowing. The sheep want to tell others about Jesus. Click here to read this entire article.

Coming Soon to a Planet Near You: Lausanne III

By David Wells

Plans are now afoot for the Third International Congress on World Evangelization. It will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2010.

The first such congress, Lausanne I, was the brainchild of Billy Graham. It was held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1974. A total of 2,700 Christian leaders from 150 nations attended, more than half from the Third World, many from countries which had just gained independence in the 1950s and 1960s from European colonial powers. They all gathered to consider the gospel and its proclamation in their own contexts. Out of this great gathering came the Lausanne Covenant which was drafted principally by John Stott. This Covenant has served as a basis for evangelical strategizing and thinking about evangelism in the global context since then.

Lausanne II was held in Manila, Philippines, in 1989. Over 3,000 Christian leaders attended from 170 nations, more than were represented in the United Nations in 1989. Its chief written accomplishment was the Manila Manifesto, again drafted principally by Stott. But it was not the achievement which the Covenant had been. Indeed, Lausanne II itself, while it had its high points, was something of a disappointment. There was much celebration but little serious wrestling with the issues of the day. And that left behind a lingering question: what is the point of having world congresses like these? Why, we may then ask, should we have a Lausanne III in 2010? Click here to read this entire article.

See our 2006 article below for information about Lausanne:

Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization to Host 7th Chinese Congress
from July 2006, Coming from the Lighthouse newsletter
The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (see Lausanne Covenant) will be presenting the 7th Chinese Congress this year. The Lausanne Committee website states:

"Since 1974, leaders have come together under The Lausanne Covenant to debate and discussion [of] issues ranging from ministering to specific ethnic groups to evangelism and social responsibility."

This coming together of leaders now includes Rick Warren who will be a speaker at this year's Chinese Congress. With Rick Warren's promotion of Spiritual Formation, contemplative and emerging, this will mean that world evangelism may take on the characteristics that will lead millions of people throughout the world into mysticism and the New Age.

According to a document on the Lausanne website, "the Lausanne Movement was born out of the First International Congress on World Evangelization called by evangelist Billy Graham held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in July 1974." In a 2004 report, the Committee said they were bringing together "younger emerging leaders" from around the world and that "Transformation was a theme which emerged from the working groups ... We pray for peace and reconciliation and God's guidance in how to bring about peace through our work of evangelization."(see report)

For more research on Lausanne:

The Call to Global Oneness

The World Christian Movement by Al Dager

Kjos Ministries Database on Lausanne

Evangelicals and New Agers Together by Warren Smith

Can Right be Wrong?

National Pilot Project to Study Contemplative Kids - Project Influenced by Thomas Keating

by Mary Bergin
The Capitol Times

Baptist Sunday school undergoes 'extreme makeover' - Includes Breathing Exercises and Spiritual Formation

Colleges, Contemplative, and Campolo

by Watcher's Lamp Blog

Last October, Emory University of Methodist roots, installed "His Holiness", the Dalai Lama, as a distinguished professor . The New York Times quoted Robert Paul, the college dean:

"One of the great things about the Methodist tradition is they don't insist that everybody has to be Methodist," ..."His Holiness is a religious figure who is not dogmatic, not sectarian, doesn't advocate 'My way or the highway.'

The Catholic News Service reports Christian meditation finds a sanctuary at Georgetown University. A quote from the article shows that contemplative prayer knows no religious boundaries. Click here to read this entire blog article.

Related Articles and Information:

Tony Campolo is Speaking His Mind About Mysticism, Interspirituality and More

Book Review of Tony Campolo's New Book by Larry DeBruyn

Bible Prophecy on Trial by Roger Oakland

Lighthouse Trails Publishing is pleased to announce the release of Another Jesus by Roger Oakland.

A new evangelization program is underway to win the lost brethren back to the Mother Church. How will this be done? Through the Eucharistic Christ.

Many Christians think that the Christian tradition of communion is the same as the Catholic tradition of the Eucharist. But this is not so. The Eucharist (i.e.Transubstantiation), is a Catholic term for communion when the bread and the wine actually become the very body and blood of Jesus Christ, thus when taken the partaker supposedly experiences the presence of God. These transformed elements are placed in what is called a monstrance and can then be worshipped as if worshipping God Himself. The implications are tied in with salvation.
With the Eucharist, salvation becomes sacramental (participation in a ritual) as opposed to justification by faith in Christ alone. While this mystical experience called the Eucharist cannot be upheld through Scripture, there appears to be an increase of interest by evangelical Christians towards this practice. In Another Jesus?: the eucharistic christ and the new evangelization, Oakland warns about this growing deception within Christianity that presents a different gospel and another Jesus.

Discusses the following:
1. Efforts to merge evangelicals and Catholics together
2. Catholic Evangelism and the Eucharistic Christ
3. Those who have been martyred for rejecting the Eucharist doctrine
4. The Pope's New Evangelization program to win the lost brethren back to the Mother church
5. Appearances of Jesus and Mary
6. The New Global Era
7. Christ's second coming and lying signs and wonders
8. Evangelicals who converted to Catholicism and why they did
9. Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and why the film was made
10. The Mary Connection
11. What is true salvation?

Another Jesus
Roger Oakland with Jim Tetlow
Retail price: $12.95
192 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-9791315-2-3

A Biblical Examination of the Apparitions of the Virgin Mary and Other Supernatural Activity in the End Times

Includes 5 languages! English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Polish Tens of millions visit apparition sites hoping to encounter the Blessed Virgin Mary. Those who follow the apparitions believe Mary has come to turn us back to God, while others insist that these events are either fabrications or the working of Satan. Does the Bible anticipate apparitions, signs and wonders in the last days? Does the Word of God reveal the origin of these phenomena?
Running time: 79 minutes

Publishing News - Faith Undone Gone to 3rd Printing

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 newsletter@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.

Keeping An Eye on the Rethink Conference

by Cecil Andrews, Take Heed Ministries

Willow Creek's answer to their problem of failed 'discipleship' of young believers is to expose them at SHIFT 2008 to two of the leading proponents of what has been called 'The Emerging Church.' Far from shielding them from 'grievous wolves' and 'every wind of [false] doctrine' Willow Creek is willingly opening their doors to such men and their 'cunning craftiness.' On other articles on our website I have highlighted the gospel-destroying views of Brian McLaren who rejects as 'divine child abuse' the glorious truth at the heart of the Christian gospel - the truth of 'penal substitution' by Christ on the Cross of Calvary. As for Dan Kimball, Roger Oakland in his book exposing 'the emerging church' called Faith Undone writes on pages 45-46:

When it comes to making 'sound disciples of Jesus Christ' I'm afraid for Willow Creek it's a case of out of the 'seeker-sensitive frying pan' and into 'the emerging church fire'. Click here to read this entire article by Cecil Andrews of Take Heed Ministries (Northern Ireland)

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