In This Issue - click choice

If you would like to print this newsletter, right click to open a menu and choose "Select All." Then click print, then choose the Selection option. This will print everything that is highlighted. If you have trouble printing the newsletter as stated above, you can copy and paste it into a new Word document, and there you can change font size and other elements. Also don't forget, we have started our new subscription-based print journal in January that is mailed out to homes and offices 6 times a year. You may wish to receive that in addition to this free e-newsletter. You can sign up any time during the year for the print journal.

Note: Because we are a research ministry, we do post articles from various secular and Christian sources along with our own in-house articles if we believe our readers can benefit from the information. We also post video clips from YouTube at times. Also please note, any advertising on YouTube videos is not in any way connected to Lighthouse Trails and is beyond our control, but we make every effort to use only video clips that have no obscene or vulgar content including in advertising.

Deportation of German homeschool family affects US homeschool freedom

The Washington Times
Communities

DALLAS — In 1938, the practice of homeschooling was outlawed in Germany by Adolf Hitler and the infamous Third Reich. It was a rough period in German history, as thousands of young people were being pried from their parents’ direction and authority and drafted into the Hitler Youth program, where they were supposed to be trained as Aryan supermen (and women). In a few short years, vast numbers of these youth would be bleeding out on the battlefields of Europe, on the wrong side of the war for the soul of the world.

Sadly for freedom and for many families, Germany has never lifted this archaic and totalitarian ban on homeschooling. On the contrary, the German government seems to have stepped up its opposition to homeschooling over the past decade, forcing several families to flee, and others to enroll their children in state-approved schools against their will. The German Supreme Court has stated that the purpose of the homeschooling ban is to, “counteract the development of religious and philosophically motivated parallel societies.” It sounds like they aren’t really big on religious or philosophical diversity over there.

Some notable victims of this small-minded and grasping totalitarianism are Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their five children. Uwe and his wife are music teachers and evangelical Christians who for years have been unsuccessfully seeking the right to homeschool their children. The Romeikes withdrew their children from German public schools in 2006, after becoming concerned that the educational material employed by the school was undermining the tenets of their Christian faith, and that the school was not providing their children with an ideal learning environment. “I don’t expect the school to teach about the Bible,” Mr. Romeike said, but “part of education should be character-building.”

After accruing the equivalent of around $10,000 in fines, and facing police visits to their home and the forcible removal of their children from the home, the Romeikes fled Germany in 2008 to seek asylum in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Click here to continue reading.

Related Articles:

Proposed Connecticut Bill Mandates Mental Health Assessments for Homeschooled Children

Homeschooler’s neighbor sparks social services case

Judge OKs social workers’ invasion of homeschoolers

Emerging Church Tony Jones Says: “Death to Homeschooling!”

War on U.S. homeschoolers escalates

Cultural Collapse in America – Christian Leaders Partly to Blame for Abandoning the Gospel

 

Food for Thought

By Roger Oakland
Understand the Times, International

From time to time a news article catches my attention and provides an excellent analogy for a spiritual lesson. Such was the case when I read the following headline posted by the Associated Press: “Doctors Find 350 Coins in Patient’s Belly.” [1]

Here’s how the article began:

French doctors were taken aback when they discovered the reason for a patient’s sore swollen belly: he had swallowed around 350 coins – $650 worth – along with associated necklaces and needles. The 62-year-old man came to the emergency room of Cholet General Hospital in western France. He had a history of major psychiatric illness, was suffering from stomach pain and could not eat. [2]

When the man was brought to the hospital, his family warned the emergency staff that the man sometimes swallowed coins. When an x-ray was taken, the examining doctors could not believe their eyes. An enormous opaque mass in his stomach turned out to be twelve pounds of metal. It was so heavy it had forced his stomach down below his hips.

Obviously, the man had a problem. Although the doctors operated, the man died twelve days later due to complications. He was diagnosed with a condition known as pica – a compulsion to eat things not normally consumed as food. The name of this condition comes from the Latin word for magpie, a bird that is thought to eat just about anything.

Obviously, this was a very sad and tragic situation. Let me make it clear that by mentioning this poor man’s malady, I am not intending to make light of mental illness. Click here to continue reading.

Deportation of German homeschool family affects US homeschool freedom
Food for Thought
FEATURE STORY: Conflicting Reports: Nazarene Superintendent Says Nazarene Church Not Emergent versus Olivet Nazarene University Welcomes Emergent Mystic
California school district sued over ‘religious’ yoga program
Today is UN World Day of Social Justice: “The Fallacy of Social Justice: All For One, and Theft To All”
Meditation Advocate Oprah Winfrey Interviews Contemplative Advocate Rick Warren for Her ‘Lifeclass’
Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Pastor Tim Keller) Added to “Lectio Divina” List
Lighthouse Trails “Lectio Divina” List – Who is Promoting it?
If God is a Loving God, Then Why is There Evil in the World?
NEXT ISSUE OF LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH JOURNAL - MAILED MARCH 15TH
Evangelical Christianity Catapulted into Seeing "God" with New Interspiritual Eyes
Obey God or man?
NEW BOOKLET TRACT: “I JUST HAD A VISION!”
FLAT RATE U.S. SHIPPING AND HISTORY OF LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS
QUICK LINKS

About Us

Shop Resources

Newsletter Archives

PRINT JOURNAL

Author Websites

Daily News (Blog)

Contact Us

The Shepherd's Garden

Bryce Homes for Widows and Children in Kenya

2012 YEAR IN REVIEW

 
Who We Are
Lighthouse Trails is a Christian publishing company and research project ministry. We work with a group of Christian journalists and authors, all who understand the times in which we live from a biblical perspective. While we hope you will buy and read the books we have published, watch the DVDs we have produced, and support our ministry, we also provide extensive free research, documentation, and news on our Research site, blog, e-newsletter, and now our subscription based print journal. We pray that the books as well as the online research will be a blessing to the body of Christ and a witness to those who have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
Contacting Us
Click here for contact information.
BOOKLET TRACTS

In January of 2013, we began publishing Print Booklet Tracts. Click the banner below to see what we have so far. More will be added regularly. These are specifically designed to give out to people.

Free Things From Lighthouse Trails
FEATURE STORY: Conflicting Reports: Nazarene Superintendent Says Nazarene Church Not Emergent versus Olivet Nazarene University Welcomes Emergent Mystic

QUESTION: IS THE NAZARENE CHURCH STILL PROMOTING THE EMERGING CHURCH AND CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY?

SIDE ONE: “Our General Leaders have taken a very clear stand concerning the emergent church.”Nazarene District Superintendent

SIDE TWO: “I grew up a Roman Catholic and later became an Anglican priest (it was the closest I could get to being a Catholic priest without having to “swim the Tiber”) so there’s definitely a weird brew of influences floating around the community. I’m presently studying spiritual direction and contemplative spirituality at the Shalem Institute and beginning next year in a doctoral program at Fordham University (The Jesuit University of New York) so the voices of Merton, Rahner, Ignatius, St Francis, Teresa of Avila, Evelyn Underhill and other contemplatives find their way into our ministries and preaching as well.”-Ian Morgan Cron, speaker at Olivet Nazarene University

SIDE ONE: Letter from a Nazarene District Superintendent (Used with permission):

2011 - Our [Nazarene] denomination has shown great growth in the USA this last year. I don’t know about any mass exodus over these issues. While some of our schools, including MNU have had some speakers in the past that we wouldn’t have again, it was before it was revealed that they are heretics. There have been some questions about Point Loma and NNU, but much of it has been addressed. I believe this is very much overstated. Our General Leaders have taken a very clear stand concerning the emergent church. We are very aware what is being taught at MNU and will not tolerate any of these false teachings there. Also, we just finished our Ordination interviews and the right questions were asked concerning the reality of hell and the authority of the Word of God.

The “concerned Nazarenes” tend to get their facts confused and are still harping about old news. It reminds me of the rumor that continued to circulate that Madam Murray O’Hair was trying to shut down Christian broadcasting. It was never true, made the Christians making the accusations look like fools, and continued to be spread by over zealous people long after she was dead. My thoughts about all this are simple. I don’t believe everything I read. I do realize there are some heretics out there, and we need to pay attention to what is being taught at our schools, especially our regional college, MNU. We (the DS’s) will continue to meet with the religion department and they know loud and clear what we think about all this.

SIDE TWO: Olivet Nazarene University Welcomes Emergent Mystic

If the problem with emerging/contemplative spirituality in the Nazarene denomination has been “overstated” as the Nazarene superintendent says in the above letter, then one must ask the question, why is it that Nazarene universities are STILL promoting “New” spirituality/ contemplative figures?

One year ago, Lighthouse Trails posted an article titled Olivet Nazarene University 105th School Added to Lighthouse Trails Contemplative School List . That article was spawned when we received an e-mail from a concerned parent whose child was attending Olivet University who learned that the school was promoting Richard Foster and Henri Nouwen. After doing research, we placed Olivet Nazarene University on our “Contemplative School List.” This past weekend we received a phone call from a man who told us that Nazarene universities are bringing in speakers who “fly under the radar” and who are of “liberal emergent” persuasion. His case in point was the upcoming scheduled visit to Olivet by Ian Morgan Cron, of whom until this past weekend we had not heard the name. On March 13th and 14th, Cron will be speaking at the Olivet chapel service from 10am to 11am. We called Olivet and were told that Olivet’s school chaplain Mark Holcolm in the Office of Spiritual Development is responsible for chapel speakers. Cron also spoke at Olivet on September 5th and 6th 2012 at the chapel service.

Who is Ian Morgan Cron, and why is it so important to know that he is a speaker at this Nazarene university? If you have heard the names Brian McLaren, Phyllis Tickle, Richard Rohr, Jim Wallis, Marcus Borg, Thomas Keating, Thomas Merton, and Henri Nouwen, and if you are familiar with the mystical emergent spirituality that these people adhere to, then you can understand the spirituality of Ian Morgan Cron (who describes himself as an “Episcopal priest, psychotherapist, and retreat guide” and says he was trained at the Shalem Prayer Institute). Not only does Cron admire and promote these teachers but he is admired and promoted by them. And not only does he admire the hard-core mystics but he teaches contemplative meditation himself. Below we are listing some documentation so you can see for yourself what Cron believes . Then you can see how ill-advised it is for a Nazarene superintendent to say that the issue of emerging coming into the Nazarene denomination is being “overstated.” It is not being overstated, and sadly, while Nazarenes are being lulled into slumber and told that “all is well,” the denomination is being increasingly influenced by a panentheistic interspiritual belief system that negates the message of the Cross. Does that sound extreme? Consider the “theologies” of some of the writers Cron adheres to: Brian McLaren calls the doctrine of Hell “false advertising” for God; Marcus Borg does not believe in the virgin birth or that Jesus is the Son of God come to die for the sins of the world; Jim Wallis, founder of SoJourner is a heralder for a liberal, marxist agenda; Phyllis Tickle says that Brian McLaren is the next Luther; Thomas Merton says that divinity dwells in all human beings and that if we knew what was in each one of us, we would bow down and worship each other; Henri Nouwen reiterates Merton’s interspiritual panentheistic views in numerous instances in his own writing; Richard Rohr could be considered a Matthew Fox spiritual look-alike. Example: In Rohr’s book The Naked Now he states: “[New Age mystic] Ken Wilber is really the best teacher today . . . to give us an ‘integral spirituality.’ Pick any book of his that fascinates you, and you will know why I, as a Christian, recommend him.” (p. 153) Wilber’s “integral spirituality” includes every form of mysticism that you can imagine, including tantric sex.

While we were researching Ian Morgan Cron, we stumbled across a Twitter post he wrote on February 22nd stating that he was speaking with Dr. Eben Alexander (author of Proof of Heaven) at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT, where Cron is currently an adjunct pastor. In 2012, Lighthouse Trails wrote 2 stories about Eben Alexander, a neurosurgeon who was featured on the cover of Newsweek for his near death experience that has led him to become heavily involved in New Age meditation practices. Our one story, Follow Up Story on Newsweek Article about Author of “Proof of Heaven” Admits to Practicing Deep Meditation” discusses and documents this. Alexander refers to God as “om,” a Hindu mantra. The interview between Cron and Alexander took place at Christ Church on February 23rd.

Cron is currently obtaining his doctorate at Fordham University, a Jesuit college and is a curator for a project called Courageous and Faith Series. These “conversations” to “follow Jesus” take place at Christ Church and interview figures such as Rob Bell, Jim Wallis, Anne Lamott, Gabe Lyons, Phyllis Tickle, and William Paul Young (The Shack), all of which fall in the emergent/contemplative camp.

The point is Ian Morgan Cron has surrounded and absorbed himself with meditation mystics, yet he is going to be talking to students at Olivet Nazarene University. With this kind of thing happening, we just don’t see how any Nazarene pastor or superintendent could say that concerns that we and others have are “overstated.” The superintendent who wrote the letter above said “While some of our schools . . . have had some speakers in the past that we wouldn’t have again, it was before it was revealed that they are heretics,” we must wonder if Cron would be in that category of “heretic.” Panentheism, interspirituality, altered states of consciousness, God in all – the answer seems pretty clear.

Lest one think that the Nazarenes stand alone in embracing Cron, just take a look at Cron’s speaking schedule. Places he will be speaking (or has spoken) at include: World Vision, Willow Creek, Denver Seminary, Family Fest with the Gaithers, the Dove Awards, Renovare, C3 Conference with Philip Yancey, the Calvinist Crossroads Community Church in MD, Texas Christian University, Catalyst Conference with Andy Stanley, and Worship Leaders Conference with James McDonald and Saddleback pastor Buddy Owens. He also has written for Fox News and his 2011 book Jesus, My Father, the CIA and Me: A Memoir . . . of Sorts was published by Thomas Nelson. An earlier book was published by NavPress. All this to show that Cron has very much been accepted into evangelical Christianity.

In conclusion, in a video on YouTube, Cron states that “the future of the church lies with silence.” He is referring to the mystical state that occurs during contemplative meditation. He echoes Karl Rahner who said the Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will be nothing. This is where “Christianity” is heading, and the Nazarenes are helping to lead the way.

Documentation:

Are you a Christian mystic? by Ian Morgan Cron

Cron’s participation in Taize worship in France

Praises and “accolades” from “New” spirituality figures: McLaren, Campolo, Tickle, Rohr, Rowan Williams, etc.

Nazarene Publishing House sells book co-authored by Ian Morgan Cron

Nazarene Publishing House’s “Ancient Faith” series

Cron joins Dr. Eben Alexander: I’m with Dr. Eben Alexander, author of”Proof of Heaven” tomorrow night. Fascinating book.— Ian Morgan Cron (@iancron) February 22, 2013 (Twitter)

From an interview on Internet Monk with Cron from 2008 -Ian: ”I grew up a Roman Catholic and later became an Anglican priest (it was the closest I could get to being a Catholic priest without having to “swim the Tiber”) so there’s definitely a weird brew of influences floating around the community. I’m presently studying spiritual direction and contemplative spirituality at the Shalem Institute and beginning next year in a doctoral program at Fordham University (The Jesuit University of New York) so the voices of Merton, Rahner, Ignatius, St Francis, Teresa of Avila, Evelyn Underhill and other contemplatives find their way into our ministries and preaching as well.”-Ian Morgan Cron

 

California school district sued over ‘religious’ yoga program

LTRP Note: This article is posted for informational and research purposes. See link below article for previous posting about this story.

SAN DIEGO – An attorney representing a family bent out of shape over a public school yoga program in the beach city of Encinitas filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop the district-wide classes.

In the lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, attorney Dean Broyles argued that the twice weekly, 30-minute classes are inherently religious, in violation of the separation between church and state.

The plaintiffs are Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their children, who are students in the Encinitas Union School District.

“EUSD’s Ashtanga yoga program represents a serious breach of the public trust,” Broyles said. “Compliance with the clear requirements of law is not optional or discretionary. This is frankly the clearest case of the state trampling on the religious freedom rights of citizens that I have personally witnessed in my 18 years of practice as a constitutional attorney.” Click here to continue reading.

Related:

School Yoga Tries to Avoid Religious Controversy

 

UN World Day of Social Justice: “The Fallacy of Social Justice: All For One, and Theft To All”

Today [2/2/13] is the UN World Day of Social Justice. With that in mind, check out the essay, “Social Justice: All for One, And Theft for All,” which outlines two parallel lines in the modern development of social justice – Jesuit and Marxist.

By Carl Teichrib
Forcing Change

Author’s Note: Volumes could be written on the different historical and philosophical applications of “social justice,” and we could easily find ourselves lost in a tangled maze of ideologies and nuances. Hence, this article seeks to examine the core element of social justice as a recent social-economical-political movement: An emotional appeal to Collectivism. . . .

A boiling, seething emotion rose from my chest into my throat. An avalanche of angry words tumbled from my small mouth. My indignation could not be quenched. A final declaration sounded with thick certainty.

“When I’m older, I’m going to do something about this.”

How old was I? Ten: maybe younger? But I had seen enough to know. Gross injustices had been observed.

I well remember the bitter experience. Me, a sensible farm boy – and my grandparents, owners of a small fabric shop in a sleepy prairie town – had traveled to the claustrophobic city of Winnipeg. The purpose: to visit textile outlets and make purchases of cloth. After two days of warehouses and shop floors, I knew this was the end of the world. Working conditions were deplorable: Too little sunshine, poorly chosen paint colors, smelly old merchantmen.

“Here’s some candy, kid.” It tasted stale.

At one critical point Grandma had to shush me. Didn’t she know? Didn’t anybody care? The lone Pepsi machine we had passed in the darkened hall wore a sign of prophetic importance: “Out of Order.” And I was dying of thirst. Click here to continue reading.

Meditation Advocate Oprah Winfrey Interviews Contemplative Advocate Rick Warren for Her ‘Lifeclass’

LTRP Note: A number of years ago, former New Age follower Warren B. Smith told Lighthouse Trails editors that he believed one day Rick Warren would share the television stage with Oprah Winfrey. And he believed that when it happened most Christians would not find it troubling that “America’s Pastor” would pay homage to Oprah even though no one has done more than Oprah in bringing to the American people’s attention the teachings of the New Age/New Spirituality. She has helped to rise to fame figures such as Marianne Williamson (A Course of Miracles agent), Wayne Dyer, Gary Zukav, and many more. On February 24th 2013, Rick Warren and Oprah sat together on her Lifeclass TV show. A Lighthouse Trails reader wrote to us and asked: “How does a pastor go on national television to answer life’s questions and never mention the name of Jesus?” We didn’t watch the broadcast ourselves, but we don’t find it hard to believe if Rick Warren did not mention the name of Jesus or share the Gospel on Oprah Winfrey’s show. We did, however, read the new edition of The Purpose Driven Life and knowing that the new edition has the same New Age implications that the first edition had helps us to understand why Rick Warren wouldn’t have a problem sharing the TV platform with Oprah ( see: "RICK WARREN RETAINS UNBIBLICAL POSITION IN NEW 2012 EDITION OF THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE" )

From the Orange County Register:

“Rick Warren and Oprah talk about purpose in life”

By ERIKA I. RITCHIE

Article Tab: Pastor Rick Warren talks about purpose in life with Oprah Winfrey on OWN.Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren, who recently re-released his New York Times bestseller, “The Purpose Driven Life,” for the online generation, on Sunday joins Oprah Winfrey for a second episode of her show, “Oprah’s Lifeclass.”

On the show, Winfrey will talk with the mega-church pastor and address life’s biggest questions: ‘What on earth am I here for?’ and ‘What is my purpose?’ Warren and Winfrey will discuss the three levels of existence: survival, success and significance, and how to start living with more purpose. The show will also include an update on Ashley Smith via Skype, who in 2005 survived being held hostage by the Atlanta Spree Killer after reading Warren’s book to him. Click here to continue.

Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Pastor Tim Keller) Added to “Lectio Divina” List

A Lighthouse Trails reader brought it to our attention that Redeemer Presbyterian Church, pastored by Tim Keller, is promoting the contemplative practice of Lectio Divina. On this webpage, Lectio Divina – “Divine Reading,” instructions are given on how to practice Lectio Divina. A statement at the bottom of that page says the material is adapted from David Benner’s book, Sacred Companion. On a Recommended Resources page, linking off the lectio divina page, is a link to an article, “Meditation: Not so Mysterious” by contemplative teacher Jan Johnson (author of When the Soul Listens). With these things in mind, Redeemer Presbyterian Church has been added to the Lighthouse Trails “Lectio Divina” list.

Lighthouse Trails “Lectio Divina” List – Who is Promoting it?

This list is taken from our Lectio Divina: What it is, What it is Not, and Should Christians Practice it? Print Booklet Tract. This list will be updated as needed. You can read that booklet by going here.

On February 25th, 2013, Redeemed Presbyterian Church (Timothy Keller’s church) was added to the list.


Some places you will find Lectio Divina:

David Crowder in Praise Habit
Richard Foster (numerous places)
John Michael Talbot in The Universal Monk
Dan Kimball in The Emerging Church
Tony Jones in Divine Intervention
David Benner in Opening to God: Lectio Divina and Life as Prayer
Eugene Peterson in Eat This Book
Ken Boa in Healthy Spirituality and Conformed to His Image
Eugene Peterson in Message Bible for Kids
Keri Wyatt Kent in Listen
Multnomah University (OR)
Mike Bickle in IHOP
Cornerstone U. (MI)
Biblegateway.com
Marjorie Thompson in Soul Feast
John Ortberg in An Ordinary Day with Jesus
Adele Ahlberg Calhoun in Spiritual Disciplines Handbook
Christian Camp & Conference Association (CCCA)
Biola University (CA)
Larry Crabb in Real Church
Michael Casey in Sacred Reading
Saddleback Church
Willow Creek
Ruth Haley Barton (various)
Jan Johnson in When the Soul Listens
Leighton Ford in The Attentive Life
Lynne Babb in Joy Together
Richard Peace in Conversations in the New Testament
Mark Yaconelli in Downtime: Helping Teenagers Pray
Dallas Willard in Hearing God
Robert Webber in Ancient Future Faith
J.I. Packer in Praying
Mike King in Presence Centered Youth Ministry
Ivy Beckwith in Formational Children’s Ministry
Brian McLaren in Finding Our Way Again
Tony Campolo in The God of Intimacy
Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian

If God is a Loving God, Then Why is There Evil in the World?

By Judith Ritchie
Free-lance writer

The answer to this seems to have stumped many people. Yet, the answer is very simple.

First, we must recognize that the question is focusing on the outward situation of the world. God isn’t focused on resolving the outward situations of man or the world. When Jesus was here the Jews did not recognize their own Messiah for the same reason, they were looking for a Messiah to resolve the outward situations of their lives, expecting Him to come as a mighty king and make war against their oppressors.

Instead, Jesus preached about a kingdom not of this world, and He preached about issues within man that had to be resolved. He spoke of a shattered and broken heart needing to be mended; of the eyes of man’s understanding being blinded and requiring healing so as to be able to see clearly again; He said our souls were in bondage within and needed to be set free; He spoke of our spirits being dead because of sin and needing to be resurrected and given life once again; He spoke of our minds becoming darkened and “bent” and needing to receive light so as to be restored and straightened and strengthened. Everything that Jesus spoke of pertained to the internal aspect of man. Nothing He did or said had to do with the external world.

Then how can we say He is a loving God if He is not interested in oppression, prejudice, greed, and all the evils of the outward world?

Very Simple. Most churches today have succumbed to the socialistic system that has taken over our society and our government. They no longer preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but rather they preach a social gospel. It’s a gospel that is interested in cleaning parks rather than souls. It’s a gospel that focuses on the external aspects of society and not on the internal needs of individual human beings. This is not the gospel that Jesus preached.

Jesus once referred to Himself as the "Great Physician" and that He came for those who need a physician. He didn’t refer to Himself as the great "Socialist," one who came to clean up the dirty world or restore governments to their proper order, or even to establish a Church which did these things.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a social gospel, it’s a personal Gospel; a Gospel with the internal aspects of the individual in mind. Jesus knew that not everyone would respond to Him, so He did not set up His kingdom here on earth. He said, “I go to prepare a place for you . . . where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).

His kingdom will be a perfect kingdom. There will not be any of the things we despise here in this world; no evils to oppress us, no greed among men, no prejudice, no hatred, no murdering, no lies…it will be this way because Jesus is first preparing the hearts, spirits and minds of those who have turned to Him so that these will be whole, and not shattered, darkened, bent, or dead.

His kingdom will consist of human beings who are alive within, full of light and who will have an internal understanding of His ways and desires and who will live according to them. He is preparing a people for this kingdom who will function as one body both within themselves and outwardly among each other. They will no longer be fractured internally or divided outwardly. This is exactly why the true Church of Jesus Christ is called the “Body” of Christ; because He is the "head" and we are His body. We will be one in Him; one body with one mind and heart. And it will be perfect because He is perfect, and because He is the One doing the work, not imperfect, broken, corrupt man.

What good is it to clean parks while sick and lost men live under the trees in those parks, dying and going to hell? What good is it to focus on creating governments that supposedly will respect the rights of all human beings? For as long as men remain full of greed internally there will always be prejudice and oppression. What good is it to overthrow one form of rule with another when history has more than proven that even when we start right, eventually power will corrupt and man will be tempted to persecute others for the sake of personal gain in one way or another? Even on a very personal and small scale greed and power dictates every relationship of mankind in some way or another - even within friendships and families.

You see, it’s the internal that must change, not the external. The external has changed in hundreds and thousands of ways over time, and yet we have as many problems now as we’ve ever had. Jesus came to change man within, not to change society outwardly.

God, in fact, is such a loving God, that He came here Himself to focus on the true need of man - the need to be changed within. When a society is changed within, healed, given back their sight, set free from the internal chains that bind each of our souls, and resurrected to New Life, then and only then will evil be eradicated from the world. If people choose to be evil, then the reasons they make those evil choices must be dealt with. That’s why Jesus came: to deal very specifically with those reasons. That’s what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is all about - dealing with the "reasons" behind man’s evil choices.

Jesus said that He came that we might have life, an abundant life. If our souls remain full of pain, darkness, distorted emotions and thoughts, shattered and empty, what kind of life is that? Who cares about the "social programs" of the world, and even of the Church? God cares only for the individual, the longing of man’s soul for life, light, truth, and healing. That’s where His entire efforts are focused. That’s how He intends to eradicate evil from the world.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. John 3:16-17

--------------------------------------------

Written by Judith Ritchie (c) 2012

This may be shared and used for evangelism, teaching and edification purposes only. Nothing may be changed or altered in any way, and it cannot be used in any form for purposes of profit or monetary gain. The copyright and the author’s name must remain with it at all times. To use it for any other purposes other than those stated here, you must obtain written permission from the author. This is a publication of The Tree That Heals Rev.22:1-5/ A Pursuit of Truth Teaching Editorial. All Scripture references are from KJV unless otherwise indicated. no. 122

NEXT ISSUE OF LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH JOURNAL - MAILED MARCH 15TH

NOTE:The next issue of the new Lighthouse Trails Research Print Journal will be mailed out on March 15th to all subscribers. This subscription-based journal can be used in addition to this free e-newsletter you are getting (the e-newsletter will continue to be sent out 2-4 times a month via e-mail at no charge). (view 1st issue of print journal)

Note: The new subscription-based print journal can be ordered at any time during the year. Your subscription (which will entitle you to a full twelve months of journals-6 issues) will start when you subscribe. Click here to read more information or click here to sign up.

When you sign up, you will receive the most current issue of the journal at the time you subscribe. Click here to subscribe now.

Order Bulk Subscriptions and Save: If you would like to order more than one subscription, the cost is $9.55 per subscription (6 issues/12 months), plus whatever it costs to ship the bulk journals to one address (minimum bulk order - 5 subscriptions). Bulk rates are just for when the entire batch is going to one address. Call 866/876-3910 or e-mail sales@lighthousetrails.com for a quote on bulk subscription shipping costs.

For various addresses, just order single subscriptions.

 

Evangelical Christianity Catapulted into Seeing "God" with New Interspiritual Eyes

by Ray Yungen

Contemplative advocates propose that there has been something vital and important missing from the church for centuries. The insinuation is that Christians have been lacking something necessary for their spiritual vitality; but that would mean the Holy Spirit has not been fully effective for hundreds of years and only now the secret key has been found that unlocks God’s full power to know Him. These proponents believe that Christianity has been seriously crippled without this extra ingredient. This kind of thinking leads one to believe that traditional, biblical Christianity is merely a philosophy without the contemplative prayer element. Contemplatives are making a distinction between studying and meditating on the Word of God versus experiencing Him, suggesting that we cannot hear Him or really know Him simply by studying His Word or even through normal prayer—we must be contemplative to accomplish this. But the Bible makes it clear that the Word of God is living and active, and has always been that way, and it is in filling our minds with it that we come to love Him, not through a mystical practice of stopping the flow of thought (the stillness) that is never once mentioned in the Bible, except in warnings against vain repetitions.

In chapter three of my book, I quoted Thomas Merton’s statement that he saw various Eastern religions “come together in his life” (as a Christian mystic). On a rational, practical level Christianity and Eastern religions will not mix; but add the mystical element and they do blend together like adding soap to oil and water. I must clarify what I mean: Mysticism neutralizes doctrinal differences by sacrificing the truth of Scripture for a mystical experience. Mysticism offers a common ground, and supposedly that commonality is divinity in all. But we know from Scripture “there is one God; and there is none other but he” (Mark 12:32).

In a booklet put out by Saddleback Church on spiritual maturity, the following quote by Henri Nouwen is listed:

Solitude begins with a time and place for God, and Him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists, but that He is actively present in our lives—healing, teaching, and guiding—we need to set aside a time and space to give Him our undivided attention.1

When we understand what Nouwen really means by “time and space” given to God we can also see the emptiness and deception of his spirituality. In his recent biography of Nouwen, God’s Beloved, Michael O’ Laughlin says:

Some new elements began to emerge in Nouwen’s thinking when he discovered Thomas Merton. Merton opened up for Henri an enticing vista of the world of contemplation and a way of seeing not only God but also the world through new eyes. . . . If ever there was a time when Henri Nouwen wished to enter the realm of the spiritual masters or dedicate himself to a higher spiritual path, it was when he fell under the spell of Cistercian monasticism and the writings of Thomas Merton.2

In his book, Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic, Nouwen talks about these “new eyes” that Merton helped to formulate and said that Merton and his work “had such an impact” on his life and that he was the man who had “inspired” him greatly.3 But when we read Nouwen’s very revealing account, something disturbing is unveiled. Nouwen lays out the path of Merton’s spiritual pilgrimage into contemplative spirituality. Those who have studied Merton from a critical point of view, such as myself, have tried to understand what are the roots behind Merton’s spiritual affinities. Nouwen explains that Merton was influenced by LSD mystic Aldous Huxley who “brought him to a deeper level of knowledge” and “was one of Merton’s favorite novelists.”4 It was through Huxley’s book, Ends and Means, that first brought Merton “into contact with mysticism.”5 Merton states:

He [Huxley] had read widely and deeply and intelligently in all kinds of Christian and Oriental mystical literature, and had come out with the astonishing truth that all this, far from being a mixture of dreams and magic and charlatanism, was very real and very serious.6

This is why, Nouwen revealed, Merton’s mystical journey took him right into the arms of Buddhism:

Merton learned from him [Chuang Tzu—a Taoist] what Suzuki [a Zen master] had said about Zen: “Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake and become aware.”7

Become aware of what? The Buddha nature. Divinity within all.That is why Merton said if we knew what was in each one of us, we would bow down and worship one another. Merton’s descent into contemplative led him to the belief that God is in all things and that God is all things. This is made clear by Merton when he said:

True solitude is a participation in the solitariness of God—Who is in all things.8

Nouwen adds:

[Chuang Tzu] awakened and led him [Merton] . . . to the deeper ground of his consciousness.9

This has been the ploy of Satan since the Garden of Eden when the serpent said to Eve, “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:4). It is this very essence that is the foundation of contemplative prayer.

In Merton’s efforts to become a mystic, he found guidance from a Hindu swami, whom Merton referred to as Dr. Bramachari. Bramachari played a pivotal role in Merton’s future spiritual outlook. Nouwen divulged this when he said:

Thus he [Merton] was more impressed when this Hindu monk pointed him to the Christian mystical tradition. . . . It seems providential indeed that this Hindu monk relativized [sic] Merton’s youthful curiosity for the East and made him sensitive to the richness of Western mysticism.10

Why would a Hindu monk advocate the Christian mystical tradition? The answer is simple: they are one in the same. Even though the repetitive words used may differ (e.g. Christian words: Abba, Father, etc. rather than Hindu words), the end result is the same. And the Hindu monk knew this to be true. Bramachari understood that Merton didn’t need to switch to Hinduism to get the same enlightenment that he himself experienced through the Hindu mystical tradition. In essence, Bramachari backed up what I am trying to get across in A Time of Departing, that all the world’s mystical traditions basically come from the same source and teach the same precepts . . . and that source is not the God of the Old and New Testaments. The biblical God is not interspiritual!

Evangelical Christianity is now being invited, perhaps even catapulted into seeing God with these new eyes of contemplative prayer. And so the question must be asked, is Thomas Merton’s silence, Henri Nouwen’s space, and Richard Foster’s contemplative prayer the way in which we can know and be close to God? Or is this actually a spiritual belief system that is contrary to the true message that the Bible so absolutely defines—that there is only one way to God and that is through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice on the Cross obtained our full salvation? In this book, I have endeavored to answer these questions with extensive evidence and documentation showing the dangers of contemplative prayer.

If indeed my concerns for the future actually come to fruition, then we will truly enter a time of departing. My prayer is that you will not turn away from the faith to follow a different gospel and a different Jesus but will rather stay the course and finish the race, so that after having done all you can, you will stand.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13).

(To better understand contemplative spirituality and the spiritual formation movement, read A Time of Departing, 2nd edition.)

Notes:
1. Henri Nouwen, cited in Saddleback training book, Soul Construction: Solitude Tool (Lake Forest, CA: Saddleback Church, 2003), p. 12.
2. Michael O’ Laughlin, God’s Beloved (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), p. 178.
3. Henri J.M. Nouwen, Thomas Merton: Contemplative Critic (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row Publishers, 1991, Triumph Books Edition), p. 3.
4. Ibid., pp. 19-20.
5. Ibid., p. 20.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., p. 71.
8. Ibid., pp. 46, 71.
9. Ibid., p. 71.
10 . Ibid., p. 29.

Obey God or man?

From A Small Price to Pay (Part 4)

From Kjos Ministries

This book tells the story of Mikhail (Misha) Khorev, a persecuted Russian pastor who gladly paid that "small price": giving His life to God and sharing in the suffering of Jesus during Stalin's cruel reign. Through the times of torture, imprisonment and near starvation, he demonstrated God's matchless love, endurance and forgiveness to all who knew him.

God had been preparing young Misha to share the gospel in some of Russia's most hostile places. World War 2 had now ended, but the Communist determination to quench the true Church was growing stronger. This next event would equip Misha for the intensifying spiritual battles ahead.


“Brother Mikhail, do you take part in preaching?” brother Greesha Alexandrovich asked me. I had gone with a group of young people to Sumy Oblast in Ukraine to gather with the believers there.

“Yes, I take a part in preaching if I am asked,” I answered. I was very active in my home church, even though the church was infiltrated with government agents reporting our activities to the KGB.

“Then I want you to be the second one to speak in this service,” Greesha said.

I don’t remember exactly what I spoke about, but one thing I tried to make clear. It was a truth that burned in my soul. We, the church of Jesus Christ, had to take every opportunity to preach the Gospel. Even in my youth, I realized how important it was for people to hear the truth of God’s Word, in both written and spoken forms.

For the last four years, I had read and studied the Bible. I had fellowshipped with other believers, and a group of us often prayed together. We all felt the message of Jesus Christ burning in our hearts. Click here to continue reading this.

NEW BOOKLET TRACT: “I JUST HAD A VISION!”

“I Just Had a Vision!” written by Kevin Reeves, is our newest Lighthouse Trails Print Booklet Tracts. The booklet is 16 pages long and sells for $1.50 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. This booklet is specifically geared toward passing out to those who are involved in movements such as the River movement, Latter Rain, Word Faith, IHOP, Kansas City Prophets, Toronto Blessing, or Brownsville Revival, etc.). Below is the content of the booklet (the names of people and churches have been changed). To order copies of “I Just Had a Vision!,” click here.

“I Just Had a Vision”
Kevin Reeves

There is perhaps nothing so powerful as a vision. When the heavens open and our eyes look upon fantastic things once hidden, it can alter the course of our lives:

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 6:1–5)

A glimpse into heaven itself to behold the God of all flesh made Isaiah panic with self-loathing. His innermost heart was revealed in the light of the Lord’s glory, and there was no place to hide.

Who wouldn’t want to have a vision of this magnitude? And why shouldn’t we? On the day of Pentecost, the Christians present experienced the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: “[A]nd your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17).

Never in the history of our planet have so many who call themselves Christian claimed visions from God. Encounters with Christ, angels, demons, even saints long departed have begun to appear in book form, crowding the charismatic section of our local Christian bookstores. The popularity of visions never seems to wane, and the more a person has and the greater the scope, the quicker he is skyrocketed to Christian stardom. People with virtually no genuine theological training are suddenly propelled into the teaching arena, regaling vast audiences with tremendous accounts of their own spiritual derring-do. And while the stories continue to scale the heights of plausibility, an amazed public looks on, vicariously a part of the panoramic excitement and often with hands folded atop a closed Bible in their laps.

Sadly and without exaggeration, Sunday services at New Covenant Fellowship, my former church, were routinely stopped to give opportunity to report a vision that occurred during worship. Many in the congregation would listen with rapt attention as one person after another would share what had transpired “in the spirit.” Sometimes demons would make an appearance; sometimes it was the Lord Jesus Himself.

Angels were a particular favorite. I can’t tell you how many times angels have made an impromptu appearance at our services.

Jeannette McElroy seemed graced with multiple visitations. On this particular Sunday afternoon, Jeannette had gone up to the front of the sanctuary, in the middle of a worship song, to speak privately with worship leader Beth Clayton, Pastor Phil’s wife. Beth held her hand over the microphone, listened momentarily to Jeannette, and then nodded. At the end of the song, Beth in triumph noted the presence of the two angelic beings seen by Jeannette. They were there to worship with us, she exclaimed, and she led the congregation into a brief period of shouting praise to God for sending His angelic emissaries.

No one halted the festivities to suggest examining the claim in the light of God’s Word. It was merely taken at face value and used to bolster our self-image as the church on the cutting-edge of God’s world­wide movement. By then several months into my own charismatic research, I exchanged a brief, frustrated glance with my wife, Kris.

When I later brought up the angel incident in an eldership meeting, Beth staunchly denied she’d promoted the vision. She maintained she had merely acknowledged Jeannette’s word and left it to the congregation to decide its veracity. But my wife and I were both there. The way it is described above is exactly the way it happened. Interestingly, none of the rest of the leadership in the room nixed Beth’s version, despite the fact that some were present during the “angelic visitation.”


Tunnel Vision
The cries of “I saw!” reverberated throughout New Covenant Fellowship my whole tenure there. Sometimes the visions were two-dimensional, sometimes 3-D, and sometimes the person was actually caught up into them, in the same way the apostle John was translated into the heavenly realms in the book of Revelation. They moved as participants in the vision itself, walking, feeling, etc. As Pastor Tom consistently reminded the congregation of its prophetic calling, dreams and visions grew to paramount importance. They were used to chart our congregation’s very course, and any resistance or verbal doubt was severely frowned upon or openly dismissed.

Never having been much involved with either prophecy or visions, I had no foundation of experience from which to judge. I left the decision to the rest of the leadership, to accept or reject whatever came forth with the label of vision. Finally, during my last year as elder, I did my own Bible study on the subject, and what I discovered left me angry, frightened, and delighted. Angry, because I felt we had been duped personally and congregationally.

Frightened, because so many visions were coming forth on a regular basis with no real safeguard as to their origins. Delighted, because I was no longer held captive by supposed visions from God, which I had long suspected were other than from Him.

Many people cannot appreciate the gravity with which visions are accepted in many charismatic circles, and consequently cannot understand the bondage that results. If someone has a vision of “the Lord Jesus” and is given a message to convey to you, for you to treat it lightly is to despise the very words of God. You are bound to carry out the instructions of this visionary or face the consequences. The ensuing fear can be devastating, especially if the message contradicts your own conscience or understanding of the Scriptures.

The new believer is especially vulnerable because he is led to believe that all these visions are from God. Furthermore, any hindrance to, or lack of visions on his own part is due, he is told, to lack of maturity and failure to fully trust the leadership.

Accepting everything that comes down the pike as from God is like driving a car while wearing blinders. You can’t see the big picture. Your actual focus becomes so constrained that you miss necessary landmarks to indicate proper direction—not to mention the fact that sooner or later you’ll get sideswiped by a vehicle you never saw coming.

On the Wings of Angels
At my best count, there are less than thirty visions or dreams recorded in the entire New Testament, and of these only about fifteen took place in the book of Acts. And this in a period, from the birth of Christ to the last chapter of Acts, encompassing about sixty years.

I have come to the conclusion that visions are not the norm for a believer, but a rare occurrence. Of those saints in the Bible described as having bona fide visions from God, a mere handful had more than one recorded vision in their entire lifetime.

Furthermore, none of these occurrences were initiated by the individual, but were the result of a divine act of God. In explaining mystical experiences, which is the category visions fall into, I like this explanation by research analyst Ray Yungen:

While certain instances in the Bible describe mystical experiences, I see no evidence anywhere of God sanctioning man-initiated mysticism. Legitimate mystical experiences were always initiated by God to certain individuals for certain revelations and were never based on a method for the altering of consciousness. In Acts 11:5, Peter fell into a trance while in prayer. But it was God, not Peter, who initiated the trance and facilitated it.1

Compared with the frequency of modern visions by many charismatic churchgoers, these past biblical heroes seem almost deficient in their relationship to the Lord.

Concerning the visitation of angelic beings themselves, the scriptural record directly conflicts with such experiences. In our own meetings, those with frequent visions of angels had often depicted them as merely standing around, enjoying or participating in a worship service with us. Contrast this with the biblical model of angelic visitation. In both Old and New Testaments, angels are beings sent by God to give verbal messages (often concerning the future), to administer divine judgment, to strengthen and comfort, and to give specific direction, warnings, and deliverance from dangers. Their appearing was an amazing event; fear was the natural human reaction to their presence, or at the very least an awed respect. Visions of angels in the church of today, however, nearly always produce glee or a giddy joyfulness, little awe, no fear, and often the “angels” are just standing enjoying themselves and have no message from God. In heaven this may sometimes happen (we simply don’t know), but the scriptural precedent demonstrates their earthly visitation always heralded a direct message from the Lord and their very presence caused an immediate shock to the person witnessing it. In those times when angels hid their identity (Genesis 19) they were viewed as mere men, and when they made their identity known, the reaction was fear, shock, and awe.

Likewise, visions of any kind, in both Old and New Testament, appeared to be very rare occurrences. Acts 2:17 has been used to support the argument of increased occurrence of visions in the end-times, but the context of Scripture shows that we have been in the last days for the past two thousand years. If anyone should have had a preponderance of visions, you’d think it would have been the apostles, who knew the Lord Jesus face-to-face and wrote the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

All in the Mind?
I believe that most of what are reported as visions are not such at all, but could be more appropriately termed mental pictures. The two are certainly not synonymous. Mental pictures occur constantly during our waking hours but don’t necessarily have anything to do with the spiritual, whereas visions always have their origin in the supernatural realm. As we speak in conversation, we see mental images, memories, etc., to correspond with the dialogue; reading gives us the same experience. Even television viewing offers the same scenario, as the images dancing across the screen click off our own past experiences or connections with our present situations. This can transpose into our times of prayer, giving us mental pictures that may or may not be of God.

This conclusion really upset my wife Kris (the first dozen times I mentioned it!) because she had often relied on mental pictures as a guide when praying for others. Encouraged by the leadership as prophetic, Kris watched the pictures that arose in her mind for clues to the spiritual condition of the person she was praying for, and the subsequent remedy.

After personal Bible study and serious prayer, she came to question this method and eventually discard it as a valid practice in ministry. The practice itself can be dangerous, actually maneu­vering an innocent Christian in the wrong direction. In many cults, and, unfortunately in much of the Pentecostal arm of the church, it has already done just that.

That is not to say that all images we see are wrong. Some may be quite correct at times. But “[w]e have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place” (II Peter 1:19). The Word of God is the mirror in which to examine all our practices, thoughts, deeds, and desires. If God had left anything out of His written record, the void would allow all manner of personal interpretations or inventions to prosper. The resultant chaos would cripple any objective discernment.


Quality Testing
According to the Bible, there are three sources of visions—God, the devil, and the flesh. Of these, only one can be trusted as to motive and authenticity. As for the other spiritual experiences originating with the kingdom of darkness or human sensuality, they must be discarded, and immediately. They are not impotent fantasies, but are corrupt from the word go and will quickly lead astray anyone whose attraction they capture:

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 13:3–8)

I cannot stress this enough—contrary to popular fallacy, there is no such thing as a harmless false vision. Its fraudulent nature alone is enough to condemn it in the eyes of God; those who give ear to it will eventually have their faith in Christ contaminated, perhaps shipwrecked. Attendees of the Peoples Temple were regaled with stories of angelic visitations and “revelation knowledge.” The reverend Jim Jones capitalized on his self-proclaimed intimacy with heaven to lead a group of followers into mass suicide in the Guyana bush.2 Don’t think that the average believer in Christ is immune to this kind of deception. In the wake of gold teeth and gold dust miracles showing up in various River congregations worldwide, stories of angel feather sightings have set a portion of the charismatic church wild with jubilee. One West Coast church said that “tiny white feathers and gold flakes” appeared during the service.3 Such occurrences were the next logical step in an already deception-heavy system of super-spirituality, rationalization, and the frenzied pursuit of illusion.

While there could be genuine godly visions that do take place today, they are very rare and not apt to guide people into the fantastic or to gather a following. Contrast this with the nearly cult status accorded some presumed seers, who not only relate a plethora of dreams and visions that contradict biblical foundations but who make a rather decent living doing it through books, conferences, special engagements, etc. The overused mantra of “God is doing a new thing and therefore the Scriptures don’t specifically address it” should be relegated to the ash heap. Any true heavenly vision may only confirm what is already in the Scriptures:

And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. (I Corinthians 4:6)

Do not go past that which is written. Through Scripture, the Holy Spirit repeatedly makes the same statement in manifold ways:

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11)

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (II Timothy 3:13–17)

A master of camouflage, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (II Corinthians 11:14). We are admonished to put to trial those things we see or hear claiming to be from the heavenly realms:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (I John 4:1–3)

To confess means to agree with. Any spirit, vision, dream, prophet, experience, whatever, that does not agree with the revelation of Jesus Christ as set down in the Scriptures is not of God. Water may look pure, but unless we know the source from which it is drawn we may drink to our own ill health. A close examination with a magnifying glass may betray bits and pieces of debris, or worse yet, organisms roaming its depths that, taken internally, would cause debilitating disease.

Am I suggesting we carry around a magnifier to inspect anything coming our way? Perhaps that is just what is needed. For too long, we’ve covered our eyes with blinders instead and accepted a testimony to our detriment, simply because the person giving it named Christ and seemed sincere. Paul said even deceivers within the church would attempt to pass themselves off as the real article (II Corinthians 11: 3–4, 13). We can judge without being judgmental.

Peripheral issues we can overlook, knowing full well the sole reservoir of truth does not rest with us.

But in the presentation of Christ, there can be no leeway. A false image of the Savior—His character, words or deeds—will lead us away from the truth, and consequently, away from God. And eventually, that is what every fraudulent vision will do—take away from the person of Christ and demand our attention and adherence to its personalized message. I have seen it happen, as one vision after another proclaimed in my former congregation boosted our elitism and remolded Jesus just a bit more into the user-friendly image we preferred. With virtually no accountability, fear of redefining Christ’s biblically revealed character faded bit by bit into obscurity.

This current state of things within the church is just the outgrowth of an inner movement attempting to differentiate between truth and revelation. It is being stated by popular charismatic authors that truth is where God has been, but revelation is where He is at the moment. This dichotomy is a contrived one. The Word of God is truth and revelation both, and the timeless truth of God’s Word applies to all saints throughout all ages. Again, the implication of this kind of compartmentalized thinking is that the Scriptures fall embarrassingly short when it comes to equipping the saints for life in today’s world.

What should shame us as believers is the wholesale disregard for the only visible, objective, sure, written Word of God. In our mad dash to embrace the new thing, we have run right past the only place of refuge, God’s Promise, that can keep us from hurtling down the face of an impossibly steep cliff. I can testify to the broken lives and empty spirituality that remains when the initial high wears off. We had congregation members regularly spending their cash to jet to this or that prophetic conference. They just had to keep up with the latest move of God, and bring it back with them to New Covenant. Running after other gods, ancient Israel attained to this spiritual bankruptcy on a regular basis. But we can take heart, for their failures can be our lessons:

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

For those former seers willing to swallow a large helping of humble pie, there is most certainly hope. For those willing to repent, the grace of our Lord will lead past every soulish and narcissistic revelation, helping us to walk in humility and the simple freedom of Christ Jesus.

For the rest, the road can only lead further into deception and confusion, compounding itself with every new revelation that adds to, subtracts from, or contradicts Scripture.

I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Which think to cause my people to forget my name. (Jeremiah 23: 25-27)

To order copies of “I Just Had a Vision!,” click here.

Endnotes
1. Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing (Eureka, MT: Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2nd edition, 2006), p. 34.
2. In 1978, cult leader Jim Jones lead over 900 followers in a mass suicide in northern Guyana.
3. Mary Owen “Oregon Church Says Gold Dust, Feathers Fell During Meetings” (Charisma magazine, September 2000, http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/component/content/article/248-people-events/517-oregon-church-says-gold-dust-feathers-fell-during-meetings).

To order copies of “I Just Had a Vision!,” click here.

Quantity Discounts
Price Each
1-5 $1.50
6-25 $1.27
26-50 $1.12
51-100 $0.97
101-150 $0.82
151+ $0.75

Lighthouse Trails Print Booklet Tracts

FLAT RATE U.S. SHIPPING AND HISTORY OF LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS

FREE BIBLE VERSE TEA SAMPLES WITH EVERY ORDER!
(except with media rate)
AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT ALL OUR BOOK AND DVD SETS.
A GREAT WAY TO SAVE!

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR HISTORY:

March 2002 - We officially began Lighthouse Trails Publishing Company.

September 2002 - Published first book, A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, 1st edition.

2004 - Began Lighthouse Trails Research Project, the From the Lighthouse blog, and this e-newsletter as extensions of Lighthouse Trails Publishing and a way to get free information out to those who were reading our books.

2005 - Published Trapped in Hitler's Hell by Anita Dittman with Jan Markell, the first book in our Remembering the Holocaust category. Later we published a book by Corrie ten Boom and Diet Eman, giving Lighthouse Trails 3 Holocaust survivor authors.

2007 - Published Faith Undone, a powerful expose of the emerging church by Roger Oakland.

2010 - Relocated to Montana from Oregon; also began The Shepherd's Garden, a "tent-making" effort to help support Lighthouse Trails - created our own Shepherd's organic Bible verse tea.

2011 - Began working with Understand the Times mission work, the Bryce Homes for Widows and Children in Kenya - currently, Lighthouse Trails readers are helping to support 15 Bryce Homes (over 110 children).

2012 - Celebrated 10th year anniversary at Lighthouse Trails; also started the Widows in Kenya basket project as a way to help widows support themselves. Began outreach to Native Americans and First Nations people through Muddy Waters and other Native Spirituality books and DVDs.

2013 - Began Lighthouse Trails Research Print Journal, a subscription-based journal mailed to homes and offices; also began the Print Booklet Tracts.


As a way to say thank you to our readers and customers of our catalog and online store, we are offering, indefinitely, to our U.S.A. customers a $5 flat rate shipping on all orders (you can choose a lesser rate for smaller orders). When you get to the third step at check out, just choose the FLAT RATE shipping option. Click here to enter store.