"Journalist, Paul Nussbaum recently sent shock waves through a segment of the Christian community after reporting the following comments from Pastor Rick Warren in The Philadelphia Enquirer:

Warren predicts that fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be 'one of the big enemies of the 21st century.'"

In Brennan Manning's 2003 book, Above All (foreword written by Michael W. Smith), Manning says the following:

[T]he god whose moods alternate between graciousness and fierce anger ...the god who exacts the last drop of blood from his Son so that his just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased, is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ. And if he is not the God of Jesus, he does not exist. (p. 58-59)

Manning's statement is strikingly similar to contemplative William Shannon, who said in his 1991 book Silence on Fire:

He is the God who exacts the last drop of blood from His Son, so that His just anger, evoked by sin, may be appeased .This God whose moods alternate between graciousness and fierce anger ... This God does not exist. (p. 110, Silence on Fire)

Manning and Shannon are not the only ones who write about God's judgment and Hell in such a manner. It is becoming increasingly popular and accepted by many Christian leaders to take this alternative view. Read the following remarks:

• "Jesus' sacrifice was to appease an angry God. Penal substitution was the name of this vile doctrine."—Alan Jones, Reimagining Christianity (p. 168) - Jones is a member of the interspiritual Living Spiritual Teachers Project
  
  
• "You've heard me say many times that the greatest thing you can do with your life is tell somebody about Jesus ... if you help somebody secure their eternal destiny, that they spend the rest of their life in Heaven not Hell ...your life counts, your life matters because nothing matters more than helping get a person and their eternal destiny settled. They will be forever eternally grateful....And I've always said that that was the greatest thing you can do with your life. I was wrong. There is one thing you can do greater than share Jesus Christ with somebody, and it is help start a church."—Sermon from 11/2003 when Rick Warren Announced His Global Peace Plan to Saddleback.
  
  
• "All hell is smaller than one pebble ... smaller than one atom."—Nicky Gumbel, creator of the Alpha Course
  
  
• Chuck Smith Jr. answers the Question: Do Good People Go to Hell? His answer: "No one's doctrine is perfect. I suppose that in some ways, we are all as far from the truth as the Mormons are from orthodox Christian theology. We will not have to pass a doctrinal exam to enter the kingdom of heaven. But we will have to pass another type of exam (i.e., 2 Corinthians 5:10). Were we good people? Did we follow Jesus in His compassion to others?"
  
  
• "What Paul is clearly saying is that if anyone is worthy of being saved, they will be saved. At that point many Christians get very anxious, saying that absolutely no one is worthy of being saved. The implication of that is that a person can be almost totally good, but miss the message about Jesus, and be sent to hell. What kind of a God would do that? I am not going to stand in the way of anyone whom God wants to save. I am not going to say 'he can't save them.' I am happy for God to save anyone he wants in any way he can. It is possible for someone who does not know Jesus to be saved."*— Dallas Willard, Apologetics in Action
  
  
• "The church has been preoccupied with the question, 'What happens to your soul after you die?' As if the reason for Jesus coming can be summed up in, 'Jesus is trying to help get more souls into heaven, as opposed to hell, after they die.' I just think a fair reading of the Gospels blows that out of the water. I don't think that the entire message and life of Jesus can be boiled down to that bottom line." - Brian McLaren, emerging church leader, from PBS Special
  

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:13,14)

"[H]e who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.... Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved..." - Jesus (John 10)

*While Willard goes on to say that anyone who is going to be saved has to be saved by Jesus, his earlier statements cause confusion and are ambiguous.

The following is an excerpt from an article written in February about the evangelical National Prayer Breakfast:

"WASHINGTON — The annual National Prayer Breakfast will be co-chaired by Sen. Norm Coleman, the first time in memory that a Jew will lead the gathering, and at a time when some rabbis have expressed misgivings about what they see as the event's overtly Christian tone." Read entire article

"During a recent show on gay marriage, Tippett interviewed two evangelical Christians, Richard J. Mouw and Virginia Ramey Mollenkott. Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, said he was willing to think about civil unions for gays but could not reconcile himself to church marriages."

Awana Clubs has been a respected and trusted Christian organization for many years. Countless children have been Cubbies and Sparkies and have memorized Scripture through the program.

With so much of the church heading into the contemplative/emergent camp, also known as the spiritual formation movement, what a tragedy it would be to see Awana being sucked into this also. Few things are stable these days ... is Awana the next to cave in?

Recently, it was brought to our attention that Awana's Kevin White sent out a notice to an undisclosed number of Awana youth leaders, letting them know about the Willow Creek Association's Student Ministries/Next Gen Leadership Conference (which took place 2/27-3/2). The notice encouraged leaders to attend and told them where they could register.

In doing further research, we have found that Awana Clubs' connections to contemplative/emerging is not just with Willow Creek. Please see our February 23rd press release for more information on this.

"We have promoted an unbiblical message that becoming born-again is the answer to everything. It's not. It changes your eternity, but it doesn't change your sexual behavior, for instance. The gospel does not always have the answer for modern-day dilemmas."—Bruce Wilkinson (author of Prayer of Jabez)

"Spiritual ecstasy. The third phase of contemplative prayer ... a supernatural trance state ..."—Charisma magazine, Oct. 2004

"The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart."—Henri Nouwen

What works for me is a combination of disciplines: I do yoga, tai chi which is a Chinese martial art and three kinds of meditation—vipasana, transcendental and mantra (sound) meditation.—Jack Canfield, Chicken Soup for the Soul

According to their mission statement, Wheaton college "exists to help build the church and improve society worldwide by promoting the development of whole and effective Christians through excellence in programs of Christian higher education."
And yet, evidence is ample to show that Wheaton has headed toward contemplative spirituality (the Spiritual Formation movement). For instance, on February 6th, the college held an evening session called The Nature of Spiritual Formation: A Conversation. Speakers included Glandion Carney from the Renovaré Ministry Team (Richard Foster's organization). Closing prayer was done by Brother Roger of Taize, an interspiritual, contemplative organization.

Aside from special events such as this, Wheaton's website has over 150 documents on Spiritual Formation, 27 listing for contemplative, and over a hundred documents on Emerging.

Wheaton promotes contemplative author, Calvin Miller (Into the Depths of God), as well as Richard Foster, Dallas Willard and David Steindl-Rast in their SPIRITUAL FORMATION (Evan. 516) course. Their Evangelism 542, Strategies for Contemporary Evangelism, promotes the Emerging Church and contemplative spirituality, using books by authors such as Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet. This spring, in their CE 323 Dynamics of Spiritual Growth course, professor James C. Wilhoit will be introducing students to "Christian Spiritual Formation," which will include teaching lectio divina. Textbooks will include Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline and Henri Nouwen's The Way of the Heart. Part of Wilhoit's instruction is: "Read Richard Foster’s chapter on 'Unceasing Prayer' in Prayer, follow his suggestions for developing a breath prayer, pray it throughout the day."

With Christian colleges holding courses such as this, it is no wonder that many of today's young pastors are going contemplative.

Related Information:
More on Wheaton College
Other Contemplative Promoting Colleges

Here is a sampling of contemplative spirituality language. New terms are popping up every day, but they are all part of the same spirituality:

* Ancient Wisdom
* Sacred Space
* Spiritual Formation
* Experiential Prayer
* Taize Worship
* The Silence
* Spiritual Disciplines
* Breath Prayers
* Lectio Divina
* Centering Prayer
* Spiritual Directors
* Labyrinths
* Practicing the Presence of God

"[S]everal notable evangelicals, including Rick Warren, have now signed on to the pagan left's environmental agenda by joining the Global Warming Initiative. Even though many conservatives found it somewhat strange and out-of-character, Warren's liberal tendencies didn't come as all that much of a surprise to those of us who, for years, have rebuked him and warned others of his Purpose Driven pretense; theories, techniques, philosophies and practices that have been liberal all along. ..." From Where is Your Kingdom, by Paul Proctor

"A Christian columnist says groups that back abortion rights and same-sex "marriage" are funding the new evangelical climate initiative signed by Purpose-Driven Life author Rick Warren and more than 80 other Christian pastors and leaders." Read Entire Article by Jim Brown, Columnist Rips Evangelical Leaders for Becoming 'Trojan Horse' for the Left

This summer, in two locations (DC and LA), a Youth Specialties and Youth For Christ hosted event will take place - DCLA.

The event is geared for middle high and high school students and will allow students to "experience intimate worship, relevant training, and interaction with thousands of other students that will lead to life-changing impact."

Just how will this "life-changing impact" happen? To begin with, "training" will include the use of a labyrinth.

Speakers for the events include Youth Specialties President, Mark Oestreicher, and Doug Fields, Youth Pastor of Saddleback Church.

More on Youth Specialties

Last fall, InterVarsity Press released a book called Spiritual Disciplines by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. The book is clearly promoting New Age mantra meditation and quotes from several New Age sympathizers and New Age contemplatives.

More Information on Christian publishers.

Spiritual Formation is just another term for Contemplative Spirituality. The idea behind Spiritual Formation is that we need certain practices and disciplines in order to be like Christ. One of those disciplines is the practice of the silence. And as many contemplatives teach, anyone can practice entering the silence and get results. While the entire premise of the Spiritual Formation movement is flawed through and through (according to Scripture), let us look primarily at the discipline of the silence.

Please note that another one of the spiritual disciplines is solitude, which is often described by contemplatives as an outward quietness, a getting away from distractions such as television and the telephone. Silence, on the other hand, is described as a stilling of the mind. As Ray Yungen puts it, it is like putting the mind in neutral. Witches call this the alpha state and Laurie Cabot, a well-known witch, calls it the heart of witchcraft.

Our minds cannot naturally go into a neutral or thoughtless state without the help of either drugs or some kind of repetitive practice—thus the reason contemplatives use lectio divina, breath prayers or a mantra to enter their silence or alpha state.

"King Abdullah II of Jordan quoted from the Bible and the Koran in a brief speech to a lunchtime crowd of 2,000 mostly evangelical Christians yesterday, [2/2/06] invoking 'our Judeo-Christian-Islamic heritage' and urging moderates of the three great religions to unite."

"At this point in history, our service to God, our countries and our peoples demands that we confront extremism in its myriad forms," he told listeners at the annual National Prayer Breakfast luncheon at the Washington Hilton.

"To overcome this common foe, we must explore the values that unite us, rather than exaggerating the misunderstandings that divide us."

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