| A Word From the Past for Today: “Open Letter To Evangelical and Protestant Pastors – Now is the Day to Turn Back to God’s Word” |
 photo: Roger Oakland LTRP Note: Ten years ago, author and evangelist Roger Oakland wrote an open letter to evangelical pastors beseeching them to turn away from false teachings, complacency, and ecumenicalism and stand true to God’s Word in these last days. Although Roger is no longer in active ministry, his words and warnings are as relevant today as they were a decade ago – perhaps even more so.
By Roger Oakland, Understand The Times
The following letter is to all Bible-believing pastors throughout the world who have been or are being influenced by current trends that are attacking the Word of God through the postmodern humanistic mystical belief system. I have witnessed this deception firsthand on a worldwide basis but am most familiar with what has been happening in the two fellowships I have been part of for the past thirty years – one in Canada and one based in southern California.
It is with a heavy heart I write this open letter to those who consider themselves evangelical or Protestant pastors. While my desire is to do this respectfully and with the love of the Lord, I am compelled with a strong sense of responsibility to write this warning.
The fact is we are living in a time in history where there is great spiritual apostasy (a falling away), and sadly, many pastors don’t even realize it is happening. Others realize it but don’t know what to do about it, while still others see it but promote it anyway. The purpose of this letter is to shine light on the darkness that has crept into so many churches today.
For many years, I have documented my concerns about this apostasy and presented the evidence to the body of Christ. An article I wrote a few years ago called “Ichabod” described the departing of God’s Spirit from many churches. That article was later followed by the commentary “Is Your Denomination a Sinking Titanic?.” I believe we are witnessing the sinking of the Titanic at the present time. While most are still dancing around in the ballroom, a few have chosen to get off the boat. How many get off in time is the question that remains to be answered.
While I recognize that I am “marked” by some as someone who has caused division within the church, please understand I do not fear any man. I look to Jesus Christ and am committed to tell the truth whatever the cost. I know I have enemies among the “brethren” who insist that I remain silent. I have also been falsely accused and slandered by gossip as a means of discrediting me.
The Bible teaches that we should never fear man or follow man’s ways. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). We should fear God and His Word alone. Based upon what God revealed to Ezekiel (Chapter 3: 17-20), there is a biblical principal that cannot be overlooked. When God reveals deception and darkness, a watchman must speak out and tell the truth regardless of the circumstances and the consequences.
What I find very alarming is that many pastors who gave warnings in the past about End Times deception seem to have now ceased and become silent. Taking the place of the warnings are teachings or promotion on everything from church-growth, seeker-friendly, contemplative spirituality, Purpose Driven, postmodern/emerging spirituality to even a Catholic/Jesuit agenda.
These various teachings are not biblical Christianity, and for many pastors who once taught the Bible faithfully, these seductive teachings have pulled these pastors in a direction that negates so much of what they once stood for. It is not uncommon now to hear these pastors espousing those such as Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, Richard Foster, and Rick Warren, all of whom de-emphasize Bible prophecy of the last days and emphasize the “Kingdom of God on earth” now.
Some pastors recognize that their own denominations or fellowships have turned or are turning away from the teachings of the Bible, yet so many have remained active participants of these denominations. As the years go by, these pastors do not speak up – they are silent. Is this silence an indication that they have bought into a sensual, carnal, three-legged stool plan that links hands with those such as Rick Warren and Tony Blair and is on the road to Rome for a One World Religion? I fear that for many that is the case. What may have begun as “looking the other way” has become outright rebellion in many cases. This is the way deception often happens.
We are living in the time of strong delusion that Paul wrote about (2 Thessalonians 2:11). If you are a Bible-believing pastor, shouldn’t you be helping to lead the way in warning about deception, not promoting the apostate agenda in any fashion?
Ecumenism within the church has been allowed to develop for years.
When a pastor does not warn his flock about ecumenical apostasy, it sends the message that exposing apostasy is just not that important. When a church, organization, or denomination starts down the Road to Rome, there is very little chance of turning back – the pull is just too great. Nowhere in the Bible is it acceptable to join hands with those who promote another Jesus and another gospel like that of the Roman Catholic Church.
This is why John warned: come out of her (the harlot) and be set free (Revelation 18:4).
Some Personal Ministry History:
In June 1981, Chuck Smith, the founder of the Calvary Chapel movement, invited me to fly down from my farm in Saskatchewan, Canada to speak at Costa Mesa at a four-night conference called “The Bible: Key to Understanding Science, History and the Future.” Seven years later, in the fall of 1988, Chuck Smith asked me to join the staff at Costa Mesa. My family moved to Orange County, California from Saskatchewan, Canada.
My position at Costa Mesa involved being an outreach from CCCM as an apologist in the area of creation and evolution. I also showed the association of the New Age Movement and its relationship to Bible Prophecy.
In 1991, after being on staff for three years, Understand The Times was founded as an independent ministry, separate from CCCM. However, UTT was still closely associated with CCCM and was given missionary support. The UTT association with Calvary Chapel pastors and missionaries encompassed the world for about twenty years.
During a fifteen year time period, UTT had an office on church property at CCCM from time to time. Understand The Times had a five-minute radio program that aired on KWAVE and CSN for over ten years. I also had close relationships with members of the Smith family including Chuck’s brother Paul and his son Jeff.
While many of my experiences and associations with those in Calvary Chapel had been good over the years, I observed many serious problems in the Calvary Chapel movement, especially in the last five years. Many Calvary Chapel pastors I know have admitted they also see these same warning signs, but most have not felt they could speak out.
The reason I am writing this letter as an open letter to all pastors is because I believe that many of the problems I witnessed while part of the Calvary Chapel movement are the same problems that many other Christian organizations and denominations are experiencing today. And many of these kinds of problems lead to deception and apostasy.
Common Problems in the Churches:
Today many evangelical and Protestant pastors are operating on the principle or idea that if their churches are small, there is something wrong with them. The “doctrine of big” has replaced the doctrine of being faithful to the Word of God. Along with this doctrine of big comes the subtle attitude that any “offensiveness” must be removed from the church. Thus, a watered-down gospel takes effect; and thus, people in the churches are not hearing the true Gospel. Crosses are removed, Bibles are left at home, hymns are stopped, and talk about the blood of Jesus and His atonement for our sin ceases.
As Bible-believing Christians, we should be able to discern that there is a flaw in this doctrine of big. As churches get bigger, more funds are required to accommodate bigger budgets. The bigger the budget the bigger the offering is needed to meet the budget, and big donors become more and more important. Now you have a situation where the pastor preaches carefully so as not to create controversy. Controversy can cause powerful donors to leave. Pastors who once feared God now become man-fearing where doctrine is determined by men and their motives, and not by God’s Spirit and His Word.
On March 6, 2011, I attended the Peace in a Globalized Society Forum that was held at Saddleback. Rick Warren and Tony Blair both explained what they are doing to set up a one-world religious program for peace. Yet even though it has become most apparent to many discerning Christians what is taking place with Rick Warren and his “new” reformation, very few pastors are publicly denouncing the Purpose Driven Peace Plan. In fact, prominent pastors like John Piper are embracing Rick Warren and his teachings.
The Jesuit Connection
As I have written in some of my books, Ignatius Loyola was the founder of the Order of the Jesuits in the Catholic Church. The Jesuit goal is to turn the inerrant Word of God into the word of man while at the same time promoting the word of the pope as the word of God. In addition, the Jesuit ambition is to bring the “lost brethren” back to the “Mother” church (read Another Jesus). This is no minor thing. I have been to the city of Rome. I have seen the multitudes worship and adore a man (the Pope) who carries a wafer and a vial of juice that is supposed to be Jesus. Martyrs in earlier centuries were murdered for rejecting the papacy and the Eucharist. And yet today, I am horrified to watch once Bible-believing pastors turn their hearts and their congregations toward Rome, often through a Jesuit influence. Instances of this are occurring more every day.
Now that Rick Warren and Tony Blair (who converted to Catholicism) have announced they will be working together to set up a One World Religion as they did on March 6, 2011 in southern California, how will Christian pastors respond to this? Or will they at all? History shows, most probably won’t.
What is known as fact is this: the emerging/postmodern, Purpose Driven ecumenical, contemplative mindset in the Evangelical or Protestant Christian church has not gone away. And it is not popular to speak against this growing apostasy. It is a lot easier to go down stream than upstream. The Bible foretells we are in the Last Days. What do you as Christian pastors want to be: dead salmon washed out to sea or true fishers of men?
Check out the Bible! There will be a One World Religion. Do you want to be part of the problem, or do you want to be standing up for truth? The latter is not easy and carries with it a high price.
A Wake Up Call to Pastors
Teaching and preaching the Word of God is a high calling. You should always be true to your calling and remain true to the Word. And yet, many know that something is seriously wrong, but they say nothing.
Saying nothing can be as detrimental as out rightly supporting the lie. It is time to wake up! We are in the last days, and many sheep are being deceived, and pastors have a huge role in that deception taking place. When the sheep have the wool pulled over their eyes, they cannot see. This is not acceptable. What about the wolves who are among the flock? Good shepherds should never allow that to happen.
While there still remain faithful Christian pastors who look to Jesus Christ as their Good Shepherd and still believe in the inerrant Word of God, the fact that so many pastors have moved away from the basics of biblical Christianity toward a man-made apostate church will result in much of the flock drifting with them.
And may I say this to any believer who now realizes his or her own pastor is compromising the Word of God and embracing apostate teachings: If you have done what you can to warn and exhort your pastor(s) to turn back to the truth, and if your warnings and exhortations are rejected, perhaps it is time to get out of that church. Paul addressed this when he said: “A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject” Titus 3:10.
Deception has crept in, unnoticed to many, and even at times been purposely covered up. Jude warned this was happening in his day (Jude 4). The same is true in the perilous days in which we live (2 Timothy 3: 1-5).
As of last fall, I am no longer affiliated with the Calvary Chapel movement, although I am still friends with and associate with some of the pastors, ones who have sought to remain faithful to the Lord and His Word.
As do many leaders in the body of Christ, Calvary Chapel pastors who have veered need to get right, and they need to do it quickly. According to the Word, our redemption draweth nigh, and He could return for those who are ready at any moment.
If you are a pastor who has succumbed to the present-day spiritual apostasy, get back to the Word of God, and preach it, and teach it! If your congregation shrinks, so what! Better to have a few who are solid and can go out and be fruitful for the Lord than have a mega church full of participants of a social gospel that is being prepared for the coming One World Religion.
While the large-scale move toward apostasy has been taking place for some time, and postmodern/emerging, Purpose-Driven ideas are widely accepted, there still may be time if pastors will repent and return to the purity of the Gospel and God’s Word.
Many pastors reading this open letter who belong to an organization or denomination may feel fearful about leaving the security of such a “covering.” Perhaps you have never been out from under that umbrella. But at some point, you are going to have to ask yourself the question, Am I really “counting all things but loss” in order to gain Christ (Philippians 3:8)? Am I taking up my cross and following Him, no matter the cost (Matthew 16:24)? I have heard stories now of pastors (both in the Calvary Chapel movement and in other groups and denominations) who finally did make that decision to separate themselves from any apostate associations. If you are one of those, continue on with the ministry God has given you and follow Jesus Christ alone. You can never go wrong by being obedient to Jesus and His Word.
The Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon. May we be found ready and waiting.
Sincerely in Christ,
Roger Oakland
Understand The Times
P.S.
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. . . . Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. Isaiah 52:8, 11
But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Matthew 15:13-14
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| Lighthouse Trails Does Special Mailing of Titanic Book to Nearly 600 Christian Leaders and Pastors |
 Since 2016, Lighthouse Trails has been sending out topical booklets three times a year* to a growing list of pastors and Christian leaders. Our current list contains 582 names. Last week, we sent out our fifteenth mailing, but instead of sending out booklets, this time we sent each pastor and leader a copy of Warren B. Smith’s new book, The Titanic and Today’s Church.
The following is the letter we included with the book:
Dear Christian leader:
The book enclosed is written by former New Age follower Warren B. Smith and is published by Mountain Stream Press (which donated several hundred copies to Lighthouse Trails, one of which you are receiving).
One Christian leader who read the book called it a masterpiece; another said it was a blockbuster, and one person said it was riveting. We believe these reviews succinctly describe this unique book that shows the disastrous parallels between the Titanic and today’s church. This book shines a light on what is coming and what is already here. May it help you and those you serve to be evermore discerning.
Sincerely in Christ,
The Editors at
Lighthouse Trails Publishing, Inc.
Our regular booklet mailings will resume later in 2021. If you would like your pastor or a church leader to begin receiving these mailings, please send the name and a valid mailing address to us at editors@lighthousetrails.com. The names and addresses on this list will remain confidential.
These mailings cost you or your pastor nothing.* However, if you have just added your pastor to the list and would like him to receive, in addition to future batches, some of the booklets we have sent out previously, you might consider purchasing the 15-booklet Pastors Pack. If you do buy that pack, you can put your pastor’s name in the ship-to section of the online order form or our mail-in form. We will send you the receipt and send him the pack. Your name will not be included unless you request it.
For our readers’ information, below is a list of the booklets we have sent out so far:
2016
10 Scriptural Reasons Jesus Calling is a Dangerous Book (Smith)
5 Things You Should Know About Contemplative Prayer (Yungen)
Rick Warren’s Dangerous Ecumenical Path to Rome (Oakland)
Setting Aside the Power of the Gospel for a Powerless Substitute (Dombrowski)
Is Your Church Doing Spiritual Formation? (Editors)
2017
The Shack and It’s New Age Leaven (Smith)
Yoga and Christianity: Are They Compatible? (Lawson)
A Serious Look at Richard Foster’s “School” of Contemplative Prayer (Yungen)
The New Missiology: Doing Missions Without the Gospel (Oakland)
Shack Theology: Universalism, TBN, Oprah, and the New Age (Smith)
2018
Israel: Replacing What God Has Not (Oppenheimer)
D is for Deception: The Language of the “New” Christianity (Reeves)
Mindfulness: What You May Not Know and Should Have Been Told (Kneas/Putnam)
Lectio Divina: What is it, What it is Not, and Should Christians Practice it? (Editors)
A Course in Miracles: The New Age Book That is Redefining Christianity and Fooling the World (Smith)
Oprah Winfrey’s New Age “Christianity”: Neale Donald Walsch, “God,” and Hitler (Smith)
The Jews: Beloved by God, Hated by Many (Pearce)
2019
Eugene Peterson’s Mixed Message: Subversive Bible for a New Age (Smith)
The New Evangelization From Rome or Finding the True Jesus Christ (Oakland)
Transgenderism and Our Children (Kneas/Putnam)
The Dangerous Truth About the Social Justice “Gospel (Danielsen)
The Big Picture: How the World and the Church Are Being Deceived (Smith)
Dominionism, Kingdom Now, and What Does the Bible Say? (Oppenheimer)
The New Age, Meditation & the Higher Self (Yungen)
Butterfly Illusions (Reid)
Broken Vessels for Christ (Ironside)
2020
The Enneagram—An Enlightening Tool or an Enticing Deception? (Putnam)
Critical Race Theory, Southern Baptist Convention, and a Marxist “Solution” That Will Not Work (Editors)
S is for Social Justice The Language of Today’s Cultural “Revolution (Mary Danielsen)
Three Vital Questions on Navigating Discernment (Harry Ironside, Paul Proctor, and the Editors at Lighthouse Trails)
*We sent out only 2 mailings in 2020 due to the turmoil caused by Covid-19 and related aspects of that.
**We will not put the names on this special list on any other mailing list or give or sell them to anyone ever.
(photo: from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
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| Question: Are Christian Contemplation and Eastern Mysticism the Same Thing? |
 Recently, we received an e-mail from a reader who is trying to explain to some people in a prominent Christian organization who are practicing contemplative prayer that contemplative prayer (i.e., Christian contemplation) is no different than Eastern meditation (i.e., mysticism). The following article by Ray Yungen explains what contemplative prayer is and how it is drawing from the same wells as Eastern mysticism. In this article, Yungen discusses the teachings of Richard Foster, the man who initiated the practice of contemplative prayer into the evangelical church through his 1978 book, Celebration of Discipline. Now, 40 years later, it is hard to find a church that has not been influenced in some way by Foster’s contemplative prayer. What’s more, the outcome of practicing contemplative prayer is showing itself in the social gospel movement, the emergent progressive church, and even in the push to bring critical race theory into the church by SBC and other evangelical groups as we have explained in other articles. A Serious Look at Richard Foster’s “School” of Contemplative Prayer
By Ray Yungen
[W]e should all without shame enroll as apprentices in the school of contemplative prayer.1—Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: the Path to Spiritual Growth
Christianity is not complete without the contemplative dimension.2—Richard Foster
In Portland, Oregon there is a large bookstore devoted entirely to New Age spirituality. Every Eastern mystical and metaphysical topic under the sun is found there. Interestingly, there is a sizable section on contemplative prayer with Catholic monk Thomas Merton having a whole shelf devoted just to his writings. Why would a New Age bookstore give valuable space to a topic that purports to be Christian? That is a legitimate question. May I suggest the reason is that the “Christian” mystical tradition (i.e., contemplative prayer) shares a sense of profound kinship with the Eastern mystical tradition. There is ample evidence to support this claim.
In this booklet, we are going to examine a few of the major players in the contemplative prayer movement to show that Richard Foster’s “school” of contemplative prayer does not belong in Christianity. In fact, as you will see, the message behind it is the very opposite of biblical Christianity and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
What is the “School” of Contemplative Prayer?
In Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster says “we should all without shame enroll as apprentices in the school of contemplative prayer.” What does he mean when he says “school” of contemplative prayer? When Foster uses the word school, he does not mean, of course, a building or an institution somewhere. For example, Webster’s New World College Dictionary has nine different definitions for the word school. The one that fits what we are trying to get across is:
. . . a group of people held together by the same teachings, beliefs, opinions, methods, etc.3
When one examines the spiritual context of this definition, one can see what kind of spiritual “fruit” it produces. The only way you can ascertain the real essence of a movement is to look at the leaders or prominent individuals in that “school” to see just where their practices have led them, what conclusions they have come to, and what propels their vision of truth.
Let’s first establish what is meant by the word contemplation. Carl McColman in his Big Book of Christian Mysticism explains the context of it in the following way:
[Contemplation] comes from the Latin word contemplare, which means “to observe” or “to notice.” The word is also rooted in the word “temple,” however, relating it to sacred space. . . . Once Christianized, contemplation lost its association with divination [soothsaying] and came to signify the prayerful practice of attending to the presence of God.4
So if Foster is correct, the leaders of this movement are those who have turned to the presence of God in a unique and profound way, and their methods should be followed to achieve the same results.
Now let’s look at the spiritual perspectives of these leaders in the “school of contemplative prayer.”
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk, is the most widely recognized of the modern-day contemplative writers. His influence is enormous in the contemplative field. Richard Foster quotes Merton over a dozen times in Celebration of Discipline and in other books as well, and many other evangelicals also quote Merton. The following entry from Merton’s published work, The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton (written during his last trip to Asia*) speaks volumes as to Merton’s spiritual sympathies:
We went looking first for Chatral Rimpoche [a Tibetan holy man] at his hermitage above Ghoom. . . . We were told he was at an ani gompa, a nunnery, down the road. . . . So off we went toward Bagdogra and with some difficulty found the tiny nunnery . . . and there was Chatral, the greatest rimpoche [a Buddhist teacher] I have met so far and a very impressive person.
. . . We started talking about dzogchen and Nyingmapa meditation and “direct realization” and soon saw that we agreed very well. . . . The unspoken or half-spoken message of the talk was our complete understanding of each other as people who were somehow on the edge of great realization . . . and that it was a grace for us to meet one another. I wish I could see more of Chatral. He burst out and called me a rangjung Sangay (which apparently means a “natural Buddha”) . . . He told me, seriously, that perhaps he and I would attain to complete Buddhahood in our next lives, perhaps even in this life, and the parting note was a kind of compact that we would both do our best to make it in this life. I was profoundly moved, because he is so obviously a great man, the true practitioner of dzogchen, the best of the Nyingmapa lamas, marked by complete simplicity and freedom. He was surprised at getting on so well with a Christian and at one point laughed and said, “There must be something wrong here!” If I were going to settle down with a Tibetan guru, I think Chatral would be the one I’d choose.5 (emphasis added)
An equally revealing aspect of Merton’s Asian trip is what he experienced at a Buddhist shrine in Ceylon:
. . . an inner clearness, clarity, as if exploding from the rocks themselves, became evident and obvious. . . . All problems are resolved and everything is clear, simply because what matters is clear. The rock, all matter, all life, is charged with dharmakaya [the unity of all things and all people]. . . I don’t know when in my life I have ever had such a sense of beauty and spiritual validity running together in one aesthetic illumination. Surely . . . my Asian pilgrimage has come clear and purified itself. I . . . have seen what I was obscurely looking for. I don’t know what else remains.6 (emphasis added)
Why would someone who was so heavily involved in “Christian” mysticism be so entwined in and enthusiastically embracing of Buddhist mysticism? I considered titling this booklet Something’s Wrong Here because even though Chatral meant it in a positive way, when he said those words to Merton, he himself was shocked that Merton, a professing Christian, was basically on the same page as him and that they were able to fellowship.
One of Merton’s biographers, William Shannon, made this very clear when he explained:
If one wants to understand Merton’s going to the East it is important to understand that it was his rootedness in his own faith tradition [Catholicism] that gave him the spiritual equipment [contemplative prayer] he needed to grasp the way of wisdom that is proper to the East.7
What Merton meant by “dharmakaya” is actually what the New Age and eastern religions call cosmic consciousness (i.e., God is in everything and everybody.) But Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline, guarantees the reader that what he’s promoting will not lead to cosmic consciousness. He states, “It involves no hidden mysteries, no secret mantras, no mental gymnastics, no esoteric flights into the cosmic consciousness.”8
Foster’s attempt to assuage any suspicion of practicing contemplative prayer is countered by William Shannon’s assertion that it was precisely contemplative prayer that brought Merton into his embracing of this Buddhist worldview.
A skeptic might say, well, Merton was just an anomaly who got off track, but in general the contemplative leads to the God of the Bible. I beg to differ. To show this is not the case, we need to look at other teachers in the “school of contemplative prayer.”
Henri Nouwen
Dutch Catholic priest, Henri Nouwen, would probably rank second to Merton in influence and admiration. Popular evangelical author Tony Campolo calls Nouwen “one of the great Christians of our time,” stating:
[Nouwen’s] writings have guided and inspired Christians of all persuasions . . . whose life was a brilliant example of twentieth-century saintliness.9
Campolo’s admiration is widely mirrored in the evangelical world; just as Merton is quoted in many evangelical books these days, so also is Nouwen. Kay Warren, Rick Warren’s wife, is one of the popular evangelicals who sees great value in Nouwen’s work:
My wife, Kay, recommends this book: “It’s a short book, but it hits at the heart of the minister. It mentions the struggles common to those of us in ministry: the temptation to be relevant, spectacular and powerful. I highlighted almost every word!”10 (emphasis added)
The book Kay Warren recommends is In the Name of Jesus by Nouwen, who devotes an entire chapter of that book to contemplative prayer, saying:
Through the discipline of contemplative prayer, Christian leaders have to learn to listen to the voice of love . . . For Christian leadership to be truly fruitful in the future, a movement from the moral to the mystical is required.11 (emphasis added)
But just as Merton had absorbed eastern spirituality so too had Nouwen, which is no surprise because he was a disciple of Merton. Nouwen wrote the foreword to a book that mixes Christianity with Hindu spirituality, in which he says:
[T]he author shows a wonderful openness to the gifts of Buddhism, Hinduism and Moslem religion. He discovers their great wisdom for the spiritual life of the Christian . . . Ryan [the author] went to India to learn from spiritual traditions other than his own. He brought home many treasures and offers them to us in the book.12
Nouwen apparently took these approaches seriously himself. In his book, The Way of the Heart, he advised his readers:
The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart . . . This way of simple prayer . . . opens us to God’s active presence.13
But what “God’s active presence” taught him, unfortunately, stood more in line with Hinduism than evangelical Christianity. He wrote:
Prayer is “soul work” because our souls are those sacred centers where all is one, . . . It is in the heart of God that we can come to the full realization of the unity of all that is.14 (emphasis mine)
Again, a Christian admirer of Nouwen may think the previous quotes could fit into a legitimate Christian experience of God’s love and grace and that I am just taking these out of context. But this is certainly not the case. Nouwen himself revealed his spiritual influences in his diary, Sabbatical Journey, which he wrote shortly before his death:
On our way to the health club I had bought a Walkman to listen to an audiotape with a talk by Matthew Fox called “Creation, Spirituality, and the Seven Chakras.” So, while working up a sweat on the trotter, I tried to make my time useful listening to Matthew Fox.15
This piece of information reveals that Nouwen was connected to the idea that the chakras, (which the previous quotes are based on) are integral to spiritual development. The crown chakra, in particular, is the one that is tied to the idea that all is one and the unity of everything that is.16
In the book, The Essential Henri Nouwen, which is published by Shambhala Publications (a Buddhist publishing house), Nouwen said contemplative prayer “opens our eyes to the presence of the divine Spirit in all that surrounds us.”17 That is exactly the same as what Merton meant by dharmakaya, that God is in everything that exists (panentheism, which mirrors occultism).
Thomas Keating
Thomas Keating, a trappist monk like Merton, is head of an organization called Contemplative Outreach. He is closely identified with the contemplative prayer (which he calls centering prayer) movement. Keating has written numerous books on the subject of contemplative prayer; in fact, one of evangelical Christianity’s most popular teachers, Ruth Haley Barton, considers Keating to be a strong spiritual influence in her life.18
Keating actually makes this point when he informs his readers that “‘meditation’ means to people exposed to Eastern methods what we Christians mean by contemplation as a way of disregarding the usual flow of thoughts for certain periods of time.”19
As with the others, Keating went in a Hindu or New Age direction, and he wrote the foreword to a book devoted to what practitioners of Yoga call the Kundalini or serpent power:
Since this energy [kundalini] is also at work today in numerous persons who are devoting themselves to contemplative prayer, this book is an important contribution to the renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition. It will be a great consolation to those who have experienced physical symptoms arising from the awakening of kundalini in the course of their spiritual journey . . . Most spiritual disciplines world-wide insist on some kind of serious discipline before techniques of awakening kundalini are communicated. In Christian tradition . . . the regular practice of the stages of Christian prayer . . . contemplation are the essential disciplines.20
To show how far someone can stray using contemplative prayer as a way to reach God, Keating is a perfect example. Keating enthusiastically endorses a book titled Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey in Christian Hermeticism. Fortune-telling Tarot cards are one of the major tools for divination in occultism; and Hermeticism is a set of ancient esoteric beliefs based on the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, the one who coined the occult term “as above so below.” Keating said the book is one of the “great spiritual classics of this century.”21 He drifted so afield from even Catholicism that it is difficult to comprehend.
Richard Rohr
Without a doubt, Catholic priest Richard Rohr is one of the most prominent living proponents of contemplative prayer today. His organization, The Center for Contemplation and Action, is a bastion for contemplative spirituality. And like our other contemplative prayer “school” masters, he has been embraced by numerous popular evangelical authors. Richard Foster, for example, had Rohr on an advisory board for a 2010 book Foster edited titled 25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Devotional Classics.22
Rohr has essentially become the new Thomas Merton to an entirely new generation of evangelical Christians. In an interview, Rohr said:
[O]ne of my publishers . . . told me that right now my single biggest demographic is young evangelicals—young evangelicals. Some of my books are rather heavy. I’m just amazed.23
Rohr’s statement is correct about young evangelicals. A case in point is an organization called IF: Gathering. The leaders of IF are dynamic energetic women who hold large conferences geared primarily toward young evangelical women. While these women may be sincere in what they are trying to do, they promote figures such as emergent leaders Brian McLaren and Rob Bell, as well as Richard Rohr. Lighthouse Trails has published a booklet on IF that I encourage you to read to understand the full scope of this growing women’s movement.24
To further understand the significance of this, Rohr is a prominent champion for the idea of a global religion that would unify the world. He says that “religion needs a new language.”25 And that language to bring about this one-world religion is mysticism (i.e., contemplative prayer)! Rohr stated:
Right now there is an emergence . . . it’s coming from so many different traditions and sources and parts of the world. Maybe it’s an example of the globalization of spirituality.26
This view ties in perfectly with the emerging church’s perspective that is so popular among younger evangelicals today. It’s no wonder that Richard Rohr and emerging church leaders (such as Brian McLaren) are so supportive of each other and endorse each other’s books.
In echoing Merton and Nouwen, Rohr also advocates the concept of dharmakaya. This is the recurring theme of the “school” of contemplative prayer. Rohr states:
God’s hope for humanity is that one day we will all recognize that the divine dwelling place is all of creation. Christ comes again whenever we see that matter and spirit co-exist. This truly deserves to be called good news.27
To dispel any confusion about what Rohr is saying, he makes it clear in the same paragraph what he means by God dwelling in all creation. He uses a term that one finds throughout contemplative literature, which signifies that Christ is more of an energy than a personal being. Rohr explains the term “cosmic Christ,” telling readers that everything and everyone belongs to God’s kingdom.28 That’s even the name of one of his books, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer.
In his 2011 book, Falling Upward, Rohr implies that we (humanity) are all an “immaculate conception.”29 If these things are true, then there was no need for Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for the sins of mankind. We would not need a Savior because we would already be divine ourselves. In truth, contemplative spirituality is the antithesis of the Gospel. That is why there are countless mystics who claim to know God (or Jesus) but will have nothing to do with the Cross.
The New Age Connection
Lighthouse Trails Publishing’s main endeavor since its inception has been to show the strong connection between the contemplative prayer movement and the broader spectrum of New Age spirituality as pointed out at the beginning of this booklet. One can prove the overwhelmingly strong parallels. The authors I have just profiled are not unique in what they say. I could list several pages of other contemplative authors that say the identical things.
I want to showcase one other author who represents the typical contemplative viewpoint. Tom Harpur, a well-known author, broadcaster, and Anglican priest in Canada sums up what you would find in virtually every contemplative book from the Roman Catholic and Anglican tradition. In talking about his upbringing in the traditional Anglican church, he explains the radical difference between his former Christianity and his contemplative Christianity:
There was much more emphasis on our basic sinfulness and depravity than there ever was on the possibility of God already being present in our souls or “hearts.” I was told to again accept Christ and “let him come in” instead of being helped to acknowledge the fact that all I had to do was to open my inner eye and realize God was already there waiting to be known and followed. We were taught little, if anything, about the great mystics and about the long tradition of meditation in our own Christian faith.30 (emphasis added)
Harpur makes Lighthouse Trails’ point very succinctly that the mystical tradition that is coming to the forefront now does not correspond to the biblical Gospel that has been at the heart of Christianity.
Let me say this: If the contemplative prayer movement was not connected to historically respected denominations, that if it was an independent organization such as the ones found in books on cults, then the contemplative prayer movement would be labeled a cult by most evangelical organizations because of the extreme aberrations one finds concerning the Gospel. Merton’s dharmakaya cannot be reconciled with justification through faith by the blood of Christ.
The Age of Enlightenment
Another good example to show that contemplative prayer shares the same view as known occultists can be found in a book called Tomorrow’s God by New Age author Neale Donald Walsch, in which he presents the coming world religion that will unify mankind in what is called the Age of Aquarius or Age of Enlightenment (i.e., the New Age). He says the first step is to “[b]egin a schedule of daily practice in meditation, deep prayer, silent listening.”31 After giving the mechanics of the new spirituality, Walsch gives the theology which is: “In the days of the New spirituality the unity of all things will be experiential.”32
This is what the contemplatives experience in their mystical sessions. Walsch again says, “The Big Idea is that there is only One God, and this one God does not care whether you are Catholic or Protestant, Jewish or Muslim, Hindu or Mormon, or have no religion at all.”33 This is basically what Richard Rohr is saying in Everything Belongs. And this is the reason why Richard Foster’s “school” of contemplative prayer is not, and never will be, compatible with traditional biblical Christianity or the Gospel message proclaimed by Jesus Christ and his disciples.
Final Thoughts
If I were to ever meet someone who asked me, “why are you out to destroy Richard Foster?,” I would tell them: I actually care about Richard Foster. The things I write about him are not out of malice or ill-will but out of a deep sense of commitment to his and his readers’ spiritual well-being. Celebration of Discipline is at the heart (both directly or indirectly) of the majority of Spiritual Formation programs in Bible schools, seminaries, Christian colleges, and universities. What the Tibetan holy man said in response to Thomas Merton’s belief—“There must be something wrong here!”—is the same sentiment that propels the writing of this booklet. There is something wrong here!
Contrary to what the contemplatives teach, there is duality, and the Bible teaches it—there are the sheep and the goats, the wheat and the tares, the saved and the unsaved, and the righteous and the unrighteous. New Age thinkers would reject this because they believe all is God. In the contemplative camp when Richard Rohr says everything belongs, this is what makes it New Age. The golden calf and Yahweh are not the same God. It was the cause for God’s anger. Simply put, everything does not belong!
My prayer is that people can see the logic in this. And what makes it even more imperative is that this contemplative view comes from supernatural sources. We are not dealing with just human perspectives and ideas.
Richard Foster’s “school” of contemplative prayer employs the same methods as those of Richard Rohr and Thomas Merton that lead to a certain perception. The following quote by Foster further illustrates this:
We shut out every other source of stimulation—sensual, intellectual and reflective—in order to focus on God alone. At this level, we even move beyond our thoughts of God in order to dwell in his presence without thought or distraction.34
This is exactly the contemplative prayer that Thomas Merton embraced, which led Episcopal priest Brian C. Taylor to say:
The God he [Merton] knew in prayer was the same experience that Buddhists describe in their enlightenment.35
What we conclude is that Thomas Merton’s spirituality has come into the evangelical church through Richard Foster’s “school” of contemplative prayer. And this is one school where no Christian should enroll.
To order copies of A Serious Look at Richard Foster’s “School” of Contemplative Prayer in booklet format, click here.
Endnotes:
1. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1978 edition), p. 13.
2. Interview with Richard Foster, Lou Davies Radio Program (KPAM radio, Portland, Oregon, Nov. 24, 1998).
3. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, p. 1283.
4. Carl McColman, Big Book of Christian Mysticism (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Road Publishing, 2010), p. 222.
5. Thomas Merton, The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton (New Directions Books, 1975), pp. 234-236.
6. Ibid.
7. William Shannon, Silence on Fire (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1991), p. 99.
8. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (HarperCollins, 2009, Kindle Edition), p. 17.
9. Tony Campolo, Speaking My Mind (Nashville, TN: W. Publishing Group, 2004), p. 72.
10. Rick Warren quoting Kay Warren on the Ministry Toolbox (Issue #54, 6/5/2002, http://web.archive.org/web/20050306004007/http://www.pastors.com/RWMT/?ID=54).
11. Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing, 2000), pp. 6, 31-32.
12. Thomas Ryan, Disciplines for Christian Living (Mawah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1993), pp. 2-3 (the foreword by Henri Nouwen).
13. Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart (San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1991), p. 81.
14. Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey (San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1997), Jan. 15 and Nov. 16 daily readings.
15. Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, Kindle Edition), Kindle Locations 496-497.
16. These two thoughts are found in the writings of Matthew Fox and many other New Age advocates.
17. Robert A. Jonas (Editor), The Essential Henri Nouwen (Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 2009), p. 38.
18. Lighthouse Trails Editors, “More Evidence and a Final Plea as Assemblies of God Conference with Ruth Haley Barton Begins August 5th” (Lighthouse Trails blog: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=12401).
19. Thomas Keating, Intimacy with God (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1994), p. 117.
20. Philip St. Romain, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality (Crossroad, 1995). This excerpt is in the foreword by Thomas Keating.
21. Thomas Keating, review: http://www.allthingshealing.com/Tarot/Book-Review-Meditations-on-the-Tarot/9699#.VeGxISLbKos.
22. Lighthouse Trails Editors, “Richard Foster’s Renovare Turns to Panentheist Mystic Richard Rohr and Emerging Darling Phyllis Tickle For New Book Project” (September 14, 2010, http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4986).
23. Kristen Hobby, “What Happens When Religion Isn’t Doing Its Job: an interview with Richard Rohr, OFM” (Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, Volume 20, No. 1, March 2014), pp. 6-11.
24. You can read the entire booklet at: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=17334 or purchase it as a booklet at www.lighthousetrails.com.
25. Kristen Hobby interview with Richard Rohr, op. cit. , p. 6
26. Ibid.
27. Rich Heffern, “The Eternal Christ in the Cosmic Story” (National Catholic Reporter, December 11, 2009, http://ncronline.org/news/spirituality/eternal-christ-cosmic-story).
28. Ibid.
29. Richard Rohr, Falling Upward (San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, 2011), p. ix.
30. Tom Harpur, Prayer: The Hidden Fire (Wood Lake Publishing, Kindle Edition, 2012), Kindle Locations 1099-1102.
31. Neale Donald Walsch, Tomorrow’s God (New York, NY: Atria Books, 2004), p. 223.
32. Ibid., p. 263.
33. Ibid., p. 241.
34. Richard Foster, Gayle Beede, Longing for God (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2009), p. 252.
35. Brian C. Taylor, Setting the Gospel Free (New York, NY: Continuum Publishing, 1996), p. 76.
To order copies of A Serious Look at Richard Foster’s “School” of Contemplative Prayer, click here.
Related Article:
An Open Letter to Richard Foster From Ray Yungen
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| Political Prisoner, Lisa Miller: Letter From Prison |
LTRJ Note: Lighthouse Trails has been reporting on the story of former lesbian, now Christian Lisa Miller, who fled the U.S. ten years ago with her daughter, Isabella, to protect her from a zealous pro-LGBT Vermont legal system who sought to steal custody away from Lisa and hand it over to a non-parental ex-lesbian “spouse.” Lisa and Isabella have spent the last ten years in Nicaragua in hiding. After Isabella turned 18 last year, Lisa turned herself into authorities. She was brought back to the U.S. and is now incarcerated awaiting trial. Please keep Lisa and Isabella in your prayers during this difficult time for them. Also, if you want to write to Lisa, her present address is at the bottom of this post. (note: Lighthouse Trails has now been able to send some of our books and booklets to Lisa, and she has written expressing her gratitude. Please remember to pray for her.)
 Recent photo of Lisa, taken in Nicaragua before she turned herself in. Dear Brethren and Friends,
Greetings from the 3rd day at Niagara Correctional Center in Buffalo, NY (NCCF) in the name of the Savior who is above all names.
At 10:55 p.m., 5 minutes before lights out, on Wednesday February 24, 2021, a guard tapped on the tall skinny window of my locked from the outside door to tell me that at 4:30 a.m. the US Marshals would pick me up for transport and that I should pack all my personal property. He then told me to get some sleep. All I’ll say is that packing in the dark should be considered an art! 
4:30 a.m. met me with a CO’s face peering into my still dark room as he was unlocking my door. I grabbed my laundry bag of my personal property and followed the CO downstairs to R&DC (receiving and delivery) to begin the process of leaving Federal Detention Center, Miami, FL (FDC). After my property was inventoried, my body searched for contraband, my greens changed for grays, I was finally ready to step “outside” of the FDC to meet the Marshals in the tunnel connecting FDC to the Marshals’ headquarters. Here (tunnel) they shackled my hands and took me to a holding cell to await the arrival of 2 more Marshals. Of course, I knew nothing until it actually occurred, so, I used all my waiting times wisely with praying and singing.
I was transported to the Florida airport and was treated to not 1, but 2 American Airline flights complete with shackles (around my waist) hidden beneath my gray sweatshirt and handcuffs covered with a black t-shirt draped over and tucked behind my hands. Needless to say, I’m sure I looked conspicuous while traveling in gray sweatpants, a raveling long sleeved beige thermal peering out from under a 2 sizes too big gray sweatshirt with dark brown socks glaring beneath my muted pink slip-on showers shows not to mention my disheveled long braided hair trailing behind with hair sticking out like the Flying Nun due to the pat down before we left the holding cell area. So, the next time you fly and you see someone in grays with plastic slip-on shower shoes without her (his) hands visible flanked between two “normal” looking people, that person may just be a PRISONER.
Yesterday, I had my arraignment via Zoom. I pleaded “NOT GUILTY” to a two-count indictment with Count One being “conspiracy” carrying a possible 5-year jail term without a fee penalty and Count Two being “International Parental Kidnapping” carrying a possible 3-year jail term with a fee penalty.
Jesus said through Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:1: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?” In addition, Jesus Himself was reviled and falsely accused, yet he remained silent. Furthermore, we as Christ followers are promised suffering and persecution in our lives (Matthew 5:10-11; Philippians 1:29; 2:3-8, 14-17). Who am I to be above the law?
Consequently . . . here I sit dressed in clothes two sizes too big in a locked 24/7 quarantine cell, once again without “personal property.” The US Marshals here in NY even took my personal mail, including all my addresses, emails, lawyer information and legal mail. Thankfully, I had memorized one of my attorney’s phone number.
Overall, God is STILL supplying my needs and letting me know that He is here with me:
- A comfortable ride from FDC to NCCF
- Tator tots for my first meal at NCCF
- Having a NT Bible available while I was in a NCCF isolation cell waiting to be taken to quarantine (the CO was very doubtful that there was one down in that area but said she’d look for me anyway. When she returned, she said, “You’re in luck!” Luck? Nope, Providence!)
I take comfort in the fact that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
I want to thank all who have been writing me. Unfortunately, the Marshals did not permit me to take any of my personal property, which included photos, opened mail, 40 letters that were addressed just waiting for stamps and mail which I had just received and had not been able to sufficiently read (one was a stack of letters via priority mail and another one was a beautiful hand drawn picture of a bison  ). I am so disappointed about the loss of my mail; especially the 40 or so that went unmailed and addresses. Please forgive me if you don’t receive a reply from me. My desire is to recover that loss . . . however, I’m STILL waiting for my book bag from January 27th full of clothes, candy (), Bible (the first one they wouldn’t let me have), and medical information to be delivered to the address I gave the Marshall who asked for that address.
My understanding is that I’ll stay here at NCCF until my trial; however, the Feds can move me wherever they want in the name of “diesel therapy.”* Regardless, I’m confident that God won’t give me any more than I can handle.
I’ll close with what I said to the US Marshal who was sitting next to me on the last leg of my American Airlines journey: “I’m excited to see what God has for me. (pause) Anticipating His will makes these chains lighter.”
Serving Him,
Lisa Miller
Lisa Miller #149005A
Niagara County Jail
5526 Niagara Street Ext
P.O. Box 496
Lockport, NY 14095
*Wikipedia: “Diesel therapy” is a form of punishment in which prisoners are shackled and then transported for days or weeks. It has been described as “the cruelest aspect of being a federal inmate.” It has been alleged that some inmates are deliberately sent to incorrect destinations as an exercise of diesel therapy.
LTRJ Note: If you would like to financially support Lisa, Isabella, or Philip Zodhiates (who is serving a sentence in a Federal prison for driving Lisa and Isabella part way to the Canadian border ten years ago), please go to 419Fund. Philip is expected to be released sometime this year having nearly served his three-year sentence, but he awaits a civil trial in Vermont brought on by the ex-partner of Lisa Miller. It is probable that the LGBT activists involved in this case will never stop going after Lisa Miller, Philip Zodhiates and a few others who helped Lisa.
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| Glorifying the Savior / Exposing Deception: Why We Wrote The Omega Point Series |
It was 1962, and there was a sense of awakening in the air, a call to a different kind of life.
Young people hearing the siren song were pouring into San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District from across the nation. A once-declining neighborhood, the Haight was blossoming overnight into a counterculture Mecca, spreading the new consciousness in a chaotic profusion of hippie pads, light shows, and drugs.
One sunny spring day, we met at an anarchist meeting.
Richard’s father, Julius, was a tough Marxist revolutionary who had known Chinese premier Mao Tse Tung prior to the 1949 communist takeover in China and had organized cannery workers from Monterey to San Francisco. Now he supported a hotbed of radical leftists who ran Ye Olde Anarchiste Bookstore in the Nathan storefront apartment on Ocean Avenue.
Although we attended UC-Berkeley for a while, we soon lost interest in school and in 1963 headed for Europe on an old freighter, an odyssey that took us through the slums of Morocco, Naples, and London and taught us more appreciation for the United States.
Upon our return to San Francisco in 1965, we landed an apartment by Golden Gate Park where the hippie movement was just taking off. From there, we watched gigantic “be-ins” teeming with “flower children,” loud bands, and drugs. Swept into the ’60s maelstrom, we plunged into the new psychedelics—LSD, mescaline, and marijuana—and became fervent “evangelists” for the world they opened—one of occult mysticism with its own false “born again” experience.
It was a brief flush of what felt like innocence.
For fourteen years, we explored everything that promised freedom, from humanistic and psycho-spiritual therapies to Eastern religions and “white” witchcraft, while Linda sporadically pursued her degree in psychology—a field rapidly melding with Eastern religious and occult concepts. Eventually, we became psychic “channelers” and “healers” in a New Age spiritualist church where Linda became one of the ministers as “Lady Linda.”
Surely, we thought, we’re on the cutting edge of new revelation for humanity. But what at first had seemed like a circus quickly became a nightmare.
By God’s great mercy, He rescued us both in 1976 and began transforming our lives.
Meanwhile, these early convulsions in San Francisco were mere birth pangs for the explosive resurgence of the occult/New Age movement and green Marxism. By the early ’70s, these radical seeds had begun growing and mutating into an interlocking philosophical and spiritual root system that was radically transforming America’s social-spiritual structures—especially among the youth. What once was viewed as mere San Francisco eccentricities had ignited a movement that continues to move like wildfire through every level of society and is exploding and coalescing worldwide today.
The Omega Point Series was born out of that crucible to expose its deceptions and to glorify Christ in a contemporary form. Books 1 and 2 are now available. Books 3 and 4 are underway.
Book 1 – The Glittering Web
A fast-paced spiritual thriller with contemporary flair and a strong biblical foundation, The Glittering Web plays on today’s fascination with paganism, fantasy, and witchcraft to plumb their deceptive nature and reveal the true Jesus Christ in an age of deception.
Based on a true story, it plunges the reader into the deep struggles that can occur when awakening to Christ from Satan’s kingdom.
Although the story has the backdrop of a one-world government in the year 2050, it’s not an end times story, and there’s no prophetic timetable. It’s futuristic, yet it differs from current novels that feature typical end times and New Age themes, such as the rapture and the Tribulation, angelic and end times conspiracies, apocalyptic fantasies, and so on.
Nor will you find it similar to “Christian” fantasy, futuristic, and science fiction titles like those by C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Frank Peretti.
And, finally, it’s not really futuristic either because the spiritual realities and battles in it are fiercely true to today.
You’ll just have to read it and decide for yourself!
“Wow! An amazing book! Out of their own fiery experiences, the authors have emerged with a deep understanding of the battlefield that is fast growing fiercer in our postmodern times. A riveting story of two souls caught in a web of deception they can never hope to escape on their own.” —Berit Kjos, author, How to Protect Your Child from the New Age & Spiritual Deception (Lighthouse Trails Publishing)
“Richard and Linda, this is dynamite stuff! You have done an excellent job! Your story is a real page-turner. I can’t commend you enough—your writing was excellent; your powers of description were amazing; the characters were believable; the action was fast and creative; the plot was unpredictable; and you made your point concerning Christianity very well without preaching. I think you have an excellent chance for this book to be a winner!” —Dean Halverson, author, Crystal Clear: Understanding and Reaching New Agers (NavPress); Editor, The Compact Guide to World Religions (Bethany House)>
“This book is a page turner; I could not put it down once I began reading it. It is compelling reading. Your book reads to me as genuine; a writer who knows what they are talking about, and will point a person towards the truth in Jesus Christ.” —Dr. Karl Payne, author, Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization, and Deliverance (Republic, 2021)
Book 2 – Darkness Comes In Like a Flood
The basis for the second novel in the Omega Point Series, Darkness Comes In Like a Flood, is Isaiah 59:19:
“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”
The fast-paced action of book 1 continues with Loren and Eve Montcrest as new Christians—and the battle explodes!
Plunged after their baptism into a fiery spiritual crucible, the couple faces the venomous assaults of the leaders of Seattle’s Arcane Institute in the year 2051, as they fight to either win back or destroy their old disciples. But the new Christians are under the wise care of the head of the underground church, Alexander Renkin. Alexander, though, is in danger himself as the outward head of the evil KINDness Church. The battles intensify as Loren and Eve struggle painfully with their sin, the dark world, and its principalities and powers. Meanwhile, Alexander wonders—how much will they be willing to sacrifice and suffer for their new faith? In spite of everything, God’s love and hope shine through.
“In light of what we now see happening on the streets and in the political life of key states, this spellbinding novel provides hope in the face of a potentially scary future in America.” —Les Stobbe, Literary Agent
“This book was amazing. I could NOT put it down.” —Parker J Cole, Host, Parker J Cole Show
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
The Nathans spent 14 years in New Age occultism before Jesus Christ rescued them in 1976. Richard has an MA in Christian history and a BS in biology. He recently retired from working 30 years in locked psychiatric units. Linda has a BA in psychology and MA work. She is a freelance writer and editor and has been the president of Logos Word Designs, LLC, since 1992 (http://www.logosword.com). They have taught and spoken on the New Age movement on the radio and at conferences, seminars, and churches for over 30 years and are available for interviews and speaking. Linda is also the author of The Cross & the Marijuana Leaf, an in-depth, insider look at one of the biggest challenges facing Christians today (Lighthouse Trails Publishing 2017).
Authors’ website: http://www.richardandlindanathan.com
Email: linda@richardandlindanathan.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/lnathan
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/glitteringweb/
https://www.facebook.com/christiansandpot/
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| Can Cultures Be Redeemed?—Understanding a View That Demeans the Gospel |
By Nanci Des Gerlaise
Nanci is the daughter and granddaughter of Canadian Cree medicine men.
[Indigenous People’s Movement] leaders teach that God has been redeeming cultures and that He placed in all cultures a way for men to have a relationship with God outside of the Gospel.1
DID GOD CREATE CULTURES?
A trend in the evangelical church is what is referred to as “redeeming the cultures” or “Cultural Identification.” Essentially, it is the idea that God created cultures and has no desire for anyone to leave their cultural practices but can incorporate their belief in Jesus into their already existing culture. Mike Oppenheimer of Let Us Reason Ministries has studied this “redeeming the culture” movement extensively and writes:
The new idea being presented is that God has left certain elements in every culture that are redeemable qualities, pathways to Himself . . . that He revealed Himself to nearly all indigenous people groups prior to the Gospel being brought to them [and that] in every culture “God has left treasures and worthy traditions within the indigenous cultures” [and that] we can bring Jesus Christ to people and then leave them to worship God in their own cultural and religious ways. . . .
What is taught is that God set forth His plan of salvation through all ancient cultures and that “redemptive analogies” can be found in most, if not all, cultures.2
But did God really create cultures? I do not believe He did because cultures are man-made. Webster’s Dictionary defines culture as being: “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group.” Another definition states:
The quality in a person, or society that rises from interest in arts, letters, scholarly pursuits, etc. 2). a particular form or state of civilization.3
On the contrary to what leaders in the “redeeming the cultures” movement teach, most cultures were “pagan, polytheistic and animistic.”4 For most of these cultures, there was a significant emphasis placed on religious practices. Oppenheimer points out that the words culture or society cannot be found in the Bible, but rather it talks about “nations” and how these nations worshiped false gods as opposed to the “one true God”5 (read Romans 1).
What does the Bible have to say about the different nations (cultures)? In Deuteronomy, we are cautioned to:
Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them . . . that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:30-32)
And Deuteronomy 18:14 tells us not to “follow the abominations of those nations.”
In all of human history, God has sanctioned just one culture, and that was Israel. This may be a humbling thing for other cultures to accept, but this is what the Word of God clearly demonstrates as the prophet Isaiah said, “I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory” (Isaiah 46:13). Then, after Jesus came and died upon the Cross, people from every other culture were given the opportunity to accept God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Bible says that we can be grafted in as adopted sons and daughters. And God takes the born-again, grafted-in believer and separates him or her from the world to Himself “to take out of them a people for his name” (Acts 15:14).
Also in Acts, Barnabas and Paul cried out to the Gentiles, who were about to offer sacrifice to them, saying:
[W]ho in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. (Acts 14:16)
Paul and Barnabas said this because they were shocked by the ignorance and blasphemous behavior of the people.
The apostle Peter reminds us that God has set apart “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” so that we who believe on Him would be called “out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:6-10). God calls people out of their cultures and invites them to come into His kingdom.
Click here to continue reading. |
| Three Vital Questions to Navigating Discernment |
Question #1 – Should Christians Expose Error?
By Harry A. Ironside
Objection is often raised—even by some sound in the faith—regarding the exposure of error as being entirely negative and of no real edification. Of late, the hue and cry has been against any and all negative teaching. But the brethren who assume this attitude forget that a large part of the New Testament, both of the teaching of our blessed Lord Himself and the writings of the apostles, is made up of this very character of ministry—namely, showing the Satanic origin and, therefore, the unsettling results of the propagation of erroneous systems which Peter, in his second epistle, so definitely refers to as “damnable heresies.”
Our Lord prophesied, “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Within our own day, how many false prophets have risen; and oh, how many are the deceived! Paul predicted:
I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch. (Acts 20:29-31)
My own observation is that these “grievous wolves,” alone and in packs, are not sparing even the most favored flocks. Undershepherds in these “perilous times” will do well to note the apostle’s warning:
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. (vs. 28)
It is as important in these days as in Paul’s—in fact, it is increasingly important—to expose the many types of false teaching that, on every hand, abound more and more.
We are called upon to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3), while we hold the truth in love. The faith means the whole body of revealed truth, and to contend for all of God’s truth necessitates some negative teaching. The choice is not left with us. Jude said he preferred a different, a pleasanter theme:
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 3, 4)
Paul, likewise, admonishes us to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).
This does not imply harsh treatment of those entrapped by error—quite the opposite. If it be objected that exposure to error necessitates unkind reflection upon others who do not see as we do, our answer is: it has always been the duty of every loyal servant of Christ to warn against any teaching that would make Him less precious or cast reflection upon His finished redemptive work and the all-sufficiency of His present service as our great High Priest and Advocate.
Every system of teaching can be judged by what it sets forth as to these fundamental truths of the faith. “What think ye of Christ?” is still the true test of every creed. The Christ of the Bible is certainly not the Christ of any false “-ism.” Each of the cults has its hideous caricature of our lovely Lord.
Let us who have been redeemed at the cost of His precious blood be “good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” As the battle against the forces of evil waxes ever more hot, we have need for God-given valour.
There is constant temptation to compromise. “Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach” (Hebrews 13:13). It is always right to stand firmly for what God has revealed concerning His blessed Son’s person and work. The “father of lies” deals in half-truths and specializes in most subtle fallacies concerning the Lord Jesus, our sole and sufficient Savior.
Error is like leaven of which we read, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9). Truth mixed with error is equivalent to all error, except that it is more innocent looking and, therefore, more dangerous. God hates such a mixture! Any error, or any truth-and-error mixture, calls for definite exposure and repudiation. To condone such is to be unfaithful to God and His Word and treacherous to imperiled souls for whom Christ died.
Exposing error is most unpopular work. But from every true standpoint it is worthwhile work. To our Savior, it means that He receives from us, His blood-bought ones, the loyalty that is His due. To ourselves, if we consider “the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,” it ensures future reward, a thousand-fold. And to souls “caught in the snare of the fowler,” how many of them God only knows, it may mean light and life, abundant and everlasting.
Question #2: What Does Matthew 18 Mean?
By Paul Proctor
Every now and then I get a terse e-mail from someone who has taken exception to my candid comments on Rick Warren, asking questions like: “Have you ever spoken with him personally about your objections and concerns and tried to work through your differences privately as scripture teaches, rather than attack him publicly as you do?”
The Scripture they usually cite is, of course, Matthew 18:15-17:
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
This is probably one of the more misunderstood and misapplied Scriptures quoted today. Because we have been inappropriately taught that unity and relationships are the most important things for Christians to pursue and protect in the church, the verses in Matthew 18 are often touted as the principal directive we should follow when addressing false teachers. But frankly, nothing could be any further from the truth and only ends up protecting, sustaining, and empowering those who bring these false teachings, which is probably why they teach it.
There is absolutely no biblical record of Jesus or any of His disciples ever taking a heretic off to the side for coffee and donuts after they led someone astray by distorting the Word of God. They didn’t shake hands, exchange hugs, kisses, and phone numbers or set up appointments on their smartphones to dialog their doctrinal differences over lunch in the quiet corner of a favorite restaurant at a more convenient time.
No, Jesus dealt with heretics harshly, publicly, and immediately, as did Paul and the other disciples. God is very serious about His Word being rightly divided and properly proclaimed.
So, what was Jesus referring to in Matthew 18? Look again carefully at how he begins:
If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.
You see, the Lord is referring here to a personal offense, grievance, and/or misunderstanding between two people—something that has broken their fellowship and has little or nothing to do with anyone else. Personal and private matters of wrongdoing should always be dealt with personally and privately first, so as not to unduly disrupt the unity of the body. That is indeed, biblical.
Now, as for wolves in sheep’s clothing that stand in pulpits and on stages before vast audiences with microphones and television cameras proclaiming demonic doctrines as the Word of God, the scriptural directive is altogether different:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8)
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. (Ephesians 5:11)
(“Reprove” is another word for rebuke)
A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject. (Titus 3:10)
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. (2 John 1:10-11)
Jesus didn’t request a closed-door session with the Scribes and Pharisees in order to find common ground, build relationships, and promote unity in Jerusalem. He condemned their blasphemy before one and all and repeatedly warned His disciples about their leaven. And when His disciple challenged Him about His own up and coming crucifixion, Jesus didn’t put His hand gently on Peter’s shoulder and softly whisper: “My friend, you just don’t understand.” No, He lashed back at him with power and authority in front of ALL the disciples saying:
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Matthew 16:23)
Why? Because, Peter was publicly contradicting God’s Word and Divine plan, which is the equivalent of proclaiming Jesus to be a lunatic or a liar.
Did the religious leaders stone Stephen to death because of all the cute and cuddly things he had to say about them? I don’t think so. Stephen spoke the cold hard truth that day, and they hated him for it because God’s truth is always “evil” and intolerable in the ears of the unrepentant. He told them:
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears . . . who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. (Acts 7:51,53)
Question #3: How Should the Christian Contender of the Faith Speak and Behave?
By the Editors at Lighthouse Trails
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Lighthouse Trails has always made great efforts to speak the truth in love. We attempt to never be vitriolic or judge one’s motives, not even the “worst” of them. We leave that part up to God. We also attempt to make sure any article we link to by a fellow researcher is of the same caliber. While we do occasionally link to an article that might not fall perfectly into that criteria, our regular authors and writers are of the same mindset as us. So how does a believer rightfully and in a godly manner (following the example of Jesus, Paul, and the disciples) deal with those who are bringing false teachings into the church.
In thinking about following the example of Jesus, the disciples, and Paul, below are some Scripture verses that might help us outline some thoughts, for while we can show verses that talk about showing love and respect to others, we can also show many verses that talk about how to deal properly with those bringing heretical doctrines into the church.
While we don’t believe the New Testament condones cruel or hateful behavior to anyone, we do see a consistent pattern in Scripture that does not look lightly upon those who are teaching heretical doctrines or practices. Let us heed the whole counsel of God, which we believe tells us to remain humble and in an attitude of grace (knowing that we are no better than anyone else in that it is only by the grace of God that we can see these spiritual things), but also tells us to speak courageously, with confidence, honesty, and strength.
We are in a battle for the continuance of the Gospel message—souls are perishing—and words must be said. While we do care for the souls of the men and women who are bringing in dangerous false doctrine and practices, we cannot, in good conscience, take it lightly or have congenial “conversations” and futile private discussions.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. (Romans 13:12)
The Bible says that the message of the Cross is the power of God unto salvation (i.e., the doctrine of Christ—2 John 1:9-11). That is because it is the only way of salvation. When teachings such as contemplative spirituality, Spiritual Formation, and emerging ideology (which all have roots in panentheism, occultism, and interspirituality) threaten to diminish the “doctrine of Christ,” it creates a very serious situation that cannot be handled “sitting down.”
What Does Scripture Say About How the Christian Contender of the Faith Should Speak and Behave?
[B]e thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. (1 Timothy 4:12)
. . . that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4:14-15)
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor. (Ephesians 4:25)
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29)
I . . . beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love. (Ephesians 4:1-2)
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15)
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. (Jude 1:17-23)
A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself. (Titus 3:10-11)
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. (2 Peter 2:1-2)
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. (2 John 1: 9-11)
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not . . . (Jude 1:3-5)
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-10)
I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. (Revelation 2: 2-3)
. . . and that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage: To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. (Galatians 2: 4-5)
[Instructions to the disciples from Jesus before his death and resurrection]: Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way. And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again. And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you: and heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you not, go your ways out into the streets of the same, and say, Even the very dust of your city, which cleaveth on us, we do wipe off against you: notwithstanding be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city. (Luke 10:3-12)
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| “Religious Freedom Wins Again at Supreme Court; But for How Long?” |
 By Mark Tapscott
PJ MediaIt got little coverage in the Mainstream Media, but the Supreme Court on Friday (2/26/21) ruled 6-3 that Santa Clara County, California, officials cannot forbid churches in the Silicon Valley region from holding in-person worship services.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined with justices Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch in striking down Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Tier 1 ban on indoor worship services. The majority also singled out the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, noting that its “failure to grant relief was erroneous.” Click here to continue reading.
(photo from bigstockphoto.com)
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By Petr Svab
LTRJ Note: The following is posted for informational and research purposes.
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