Will the new science “prove” that God is in everything?

Will the new science “prove” that God is in everything?

In a 2009 article in the San Antonio Express-News, it features Thomas Keating, a Catholic monk who has been instrumental in bringing contemplative spirituality out of the monasteries to the layperson. In the article, Keating conveyed what contemplative mystics have been saying for centuries: mysticism is the common ground among all the world’s religions….

More here:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4497

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The Spiritual Red Flag above the Interfaith Bridge

“When Christian groups form alliances with other religions, it throws up significant spiritual flags. Theologically, one of the primary landmines encountered is the issue of Jesus Christ and His exclusive message of sin and salvation. If all faith expressions have validity, as the interfaith movement ultimately proclaims, then the work of Jesus Christ is suspect. Either Jesus’ teachings were true and His actions factual – including His self-proclamation as the Son of God and His resurrection from the dead – or He was an incredibly proficient conman, or a lunatic who somehow managed to ensnare two thousand years of civilization with a delusion.15 But for someone to say, in 2008, that Jesus was simply a moral person or a great teacher is nonsense. Either we accept His declarations as legitimate and embrace the politically incorrect truth this presents, an exclusive Way that transcends cultures and time, or we concede that the “wisdom” of a madman formed our long-held principles of justice and mercy.”

SOURCE:
A Response to a Pastor of political correctness
Peace at the expense of truth.
By Carl Teichrib, Forcing Change Editor
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/forcing-change/08/5-inter-faith.htm

Related:

The Selling of “Islam-Lite”
by Jamie Glazov
Front Page Magazine
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4483

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Anti-Christian mystical “super-spirituality”

The “Shrine” in Mind

by Pastor Larry for Contemplative Spirituality

Benjamin B. Warfield on Contemplative Mysticism

Of all the conceivable forms of enlightenment, the worst is what these people call the Inner Light. Of all horrible religions the most horrible is the worship of the God within. Anyone who knows anybody knows how it would work; anyone who knows anyone from the Higher Thought Center knows how it does work. That Jones should worship the God within him turns out ultimately to mean that Jones shall worship Jones.[1]

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are . . . mighty in God for . . . bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . .” Paul, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NKJV

As evidenced by the glut of books being published by formerly evangelical publishers, the evangelical movement–that once-upon-a-time was wedded to the doctrine of sola scriptura, that Scripture alone is sufficient in matters of faith and the practice of that faith (2 Timothy 3:16)–is increasingly promoting and embracing mystical spirituality. Because parachurch ministries, seminaries, and local church pastors and spiritual directors encourage it, contemplative spirituality, with its practices and disciplines, is being uncritically and naively engaged in by increasing numbers of evangelicals….

More here:

http://guardinghisflock.com/2010/05/07/worshipping-at-the-shrine-of-personal-experience/

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WHO IS HENRI NOUWEN?

So just who was Henri Nouwen…and why are evangelicals listening to him? From the website Henri Nouwen.org, the official website of the Henry Nouwen Society we are told: “Henri Nouwen spent his life helping people respond to the universal ‘yearning for love, unity, and communion that doesn’t go away’.” In Ray Yungen’s excellent book A Time for Departing, and if you haven’t read the Second Edition you really should because the book has nearly doubled in size with important new information added, Yungen further informs us that:

An individual who has gained popularity and respect in Christian circles, akin to that of Thomas Merton, is the now deceased [Roman] Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen… Many pastors and professors are greatly attracted to his deep thinking. In fact, one of his biographers revealed that in a 1994 survey of 3,400 U.S. Protestant church leaders, Nouwen ranked second only to Billy Graham… (61)

Unfortunately, this widely read and often-quoted author, at the end of his life, stated in clear terms that he approached God from a universalistic view. He proclaimed: “Today I personally believe that Jesus came to open the door to God’s house, all human beings can walk through that door, whether they know about Jesus or not. Today I see it as my call to help every person claim his or her way to God.” (Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey, 51)

Nouwen’s endorsement of a book by Hindu spiritual teacher Elnath Easwaran, teaching mantra meditation, further illustrates his universalistic sympathies. On the back cover, Nouwen stated, “This book has helped me a great deal.” (62)

Source:

WHO IS HENRI NOUWEN?
http://apprising.org/2008/08/12/who-is-henri-nouwen-2/

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A Still Small Voice?

A Still Small Voice?

by Pastor Larry for Contemplative Spirituality

Contemplative prayer and “the Elijah experience” of 1 Kings 19:12.

“And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:11-12, KJV

Elijah’s Mt. Horeb experience, when he heard “a sound of sheer silence” (1 Kings 19:12, NRSV), stimulated in the church a tradition of desert spirituality which pursues solitude in order to experience the divine presence and hear God speak.[1] Practitioners of lectio divina (i.e., reading sacred things) also desire such encounters. They say:

When we read the Scriptures we should try to imitate the prophet Elijah. We should allow ourselves to become women and men who are able to listen for the still, small voice of God (I Kings 19:12); the “faint murmuring sound” which is God’s word for us, God’s voice touching our hearts. This gentle listening is an “atunement” to the presence of God . . .[2]

About Elijah’s experience of hearing God’s “still small voice” (KJV, NKJV), questions arise. Does 1 Kings 19:12 endorse contemplative spirituality? Was the prophet’s encounter with God in the cave on Mt. Horeb/Sinai a mystical “atunement”?

More here:

http://guardinghisflock.com/2010/04/29/a-still-small-voice/

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Practicing Silence

In Peter Scazzero’s recent Silence sermon series on his blog (www.emotionallyhealthy.org/blog), he writes:

I am convinced, more than ever, that silence remains one of the most powerful ways God transforms us. As Kathleen Norris once said, “The ordinary, daily practice of silence is a prophetic stance in our world of noise. It is one of the greatest gifts we can offer the world.”

http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/blog/?p=599

Kathleen Norris is the author of The Cloister Walk.

It’s not surprising that Scazzero would quote from Kathleen Norris, who came from a Protestant background but was drawn to the ancient practices of monasticism and a rigid schedule of prayer, work, and scripture which she said left her feeling transformed. Scazzero also immerses himself in the rituals, liturgy and scheduled prayers of monastic life. It’s one thing for someone to quietly choose silence and the contemplative pathway, but quite another to lead others over that same bridge. In his second sermon on silence (Practicing Silence), Scazzero handed out a sheet to his congregation to provide guidelines for them to practice silence as a spiritual discipline…

Practical Guidelines:

Most teachers of Centering Prayer suggest daily times of silence before the Lord for 20 minutes. I find that beginning the practice with 2-10 minutes once a day is often a great start. Give yourself lots of grace as you enter into this very new spiritual practice.

* Find a place where you can sit still and uninterrupted.

* Sit straight.

* Breathe slowly, deeply, and naturally. Offer yourself to God; let go of your cares and worries.

* Close your eyes or lower them to the ground.

* Allow yourself to sink into God’s loving presence.

* When you find yourself distracted, gently return to the Lord.

http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/blog/?p=604

These relaxation steps are identical to the meditation techniques practiced in Eastern and New Age meditation (and now within contemplative Christianity) to still the mind and bring oneself into an altered state of consciousness.

See here:

The Altered State of Silence – Promoted by Both New Agers and Christian Leaders
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/thesilence.htm

In spite of this connection to unbiblical practices, Pastor Scazzero tells his church that the key is silence, the greatest gift we can offer to the church, and that he’s not even sure we can be free without silence[1].

Peter Scazzero and Kathleen Norris may believe that silence is one of the greatest gifts they can offer the world, along with their meditation exercises and rigid daily monastic disciplines, but the Bible says that the greatest gift we can offer the world is to tell them the good news, not that we are only free with silence, but that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, to set us free from bondage and the power of sin, and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting eternal life!

ENDNOTE:

[1] Peter Scazzero says this while explaining how to do the Daily Offices starting with stillness, centering and silence here:
Summary & Applications: A Daily Office Experience on the book of Isaiah –
@ 36 minutes HERE: http://vimeo.com/8662502

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*Update:

PETER SCAZZERO ENJOYS PRAYING THROUGH APOSTASY
http://apprising.org/2010/09/22/peter-scazzero-enjoys-praying-through-apostasy/

PETER SCAZZERO BRINGING ROME HOME TO HIS CHURCH
http://apprising.org/2010/10/01/peter-scazzero-bringing-rome-home-to-his-church/

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Tolerance of paganism now a symbol of civilised society

Tolerance of paganism now a symbol of civilised society

A sign that paganism has come of age is that there are now lapsed pagans — heretics who resort to scientific explanations for phenomena formerly attributed to the supernatural.

For centuries, Christianity, Judaism and Islam were regarded as the marks of civilisation in Western Europe as they supplanted the beliefs of ancient civilisations. But these beliefs never disappeared. Even in the City of London, with nearly 50 churches in one square mile, the ancient guardians — the giants Gog and Magog — housed at Guildhall, are carried in procession in the annual Lord Mayor’s Show as they have been since the reign of Henry V.

Today the wheel has turned full circle. Practitioners of witchcraft are no longer burnt at the stake — and it is a mark of civilised society that those who follow these beliefs are accorded the same rights as those who follow mainstream faiths.

More here:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article7122052.ece

For a Christian view on this subject, see Spotlight Ministries.

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Balancing our Spiritual Beliefs with the Culture

Are Christians captives to their culture?

Examining Our Cultural Captivity

Let’s be honest. Most of us are oblivious to the invisible bars of cultural captivity. We think we are A-OK in balancing our spiritual beliefs with our everyday lives. However, most of us must be captive to some degree or the church would not be conforming to a degraded culture. As believers, we have the resources to escape from cultural captivity, but we need to make it a priority.

In this article we look at four types of captive believers: carnal, confused, compromised and contented.

As we consider these different manifestations of captivity, let’s ask God to make us aware of areas of captivity in our own lives.

More here:

http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.5962503/k.5F4D/Examining_Our_Cultural_Captivity.htm

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Interfaith school for military chaplains dedicated

Interfaith school for military chaplains dedicated
(courtesy Underground News US)
By Susanne M. Schafer, The Associated Press
USA Today

FORT JACKSON, S.C. — Priests, rabbis, imams and Protestant ministers who serve as U.S. military chaplains came together Thursday to dedicate themselves and the nation’s first joint military school for tending warriors’ souls.”We deploy side-by-side. We minister to all, side-by-side. It is only fitting that we train side-by-side,” said Chaplain Maj. Gen. Cecil Richardson, the Air Force Chief of Chaplains, at the dedication of the new Armed Forces Chaplaincy Center

Congress ordered the military services five years ago to merge their disparate chaplain and chaplain assistant schools. Representatives of the Army, Navy and Air Force said they put aside differences of military culture to build a multi-faith education center.

More here:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4479

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The Third Jesus

Deepak Chopra’s Third Jesus: the Persistent New Age Jesus
A Response to Deepak Chopra’s The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore

By Marcia Montenegro, written May/June 2008 (page 1 of 2)

“Once you see Jesus as a teacher of enlightenment, faith changes its focus. You don’t need to have faith in the Messiah or his mission. Instead, you have faith in the vision of higher consciousness.” From The Third Jesus (NY: Harmony Books/Random House, 2008, p. 62).

“Absolute truth is blind truth,” The Third Jesus, p. 229.

While I was exploring and engaged in the New Age for close to 20 years, I became familiar with topics such as Christ Consciousness, enlightenment, the world as an illusion, God within, energy, karma, reincarnation, Eastern meditation methods, Jesus as a spiritual master akin to Buddha, different levels of truth and reality, sin defined as thinking we are separate from God or being unaware of our true divine Self, and many other related beliefs. These concepts undergirded my worldview.

At the same time that the New Age has been blending with the culture exponentially to its growth, many people believe the New Age has faded away when, in reality, it is more deeply entrenched than ever before…

More here:

http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_ChoprasThirdJesus.html

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Alpha: Another Road To Rome?

Alpha: Another Road To Rome?

Commentary by Roger Oakland
http://www.understandthetimes.org

The Alpha program, founded by Nicky Gumbel, a former Oxford educated barrister-turned-Anglican priest has become very popular in North America. A brochure published for the Alpha Texas Conference in Austin, Texas, scheduled for January 8th and 9th, 1998 detailed the goals and objectives of the course. It stated:

The Alpha Course is a ten-week practical introduction to the Christian faith. It is designed primarily for non-church goers and those who have recently become Christians. Alpha is a flexible and practical model that can work for a group of any size. Churches and Christian organizations of every background and denomination are discovering it to be a simple and effective way of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening manner for people of all walks of life.

More here:

http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c15.shtml

Also see:

Alpha And The Pope
http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c25.shtml

Nicky Gumbel speaks at Catholic Congress
http://www.alphafriends.org/news/nicky-gumbel-speaks-catholic-congress

Nicky Gumbel Alpha Course and The Pope
http://girdedwithtruth.org/2009/06/30/nicky-gumbel-alpha-course-and-the-pope/

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Apparitions of Mary – “Messages from Heaven”

Apparitions of Mary – “Messages from Heaven”

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Emergent Enneagram

I am a big fan of the Enneagram. It is one of those personality tests, but to me it more than a way to pigeonhole people. I find it to be helpful in understanding people and seeing things from their perspective. It helps me to find a deeper level of understanding of person than simply what we project.

I like it because is gives access to desires and fears. It is honest, sometimes too much so. It doesn’t “sugar coat” our personality but gives us new categories for understanding ourselves… For the record, I am an 8. (A Social 8 with a 7 wing to be a bit more ennegramish about it.)

In the last few months I have been to a number of church leader events and have been thinking about them in relationship to the Enneagram. I think events take on a temperament just as people do (maybe events receive their temperament from their organizers)

-Doug Pagitt

Discover the spiritual source behind the enneagram that is promoted by this emerging church leader here:

http://apprising.org/2010/05/10/doug-pagitt-excited-about-events-through-the-lens-of-the-enneagram/

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Christ in a New Age

Christ in a New Age

Written by Russ Wise

In April of 1982 a full-page ad appeared in the Dallas Morning News and other major newspapers around the world. The ad headline read “The Christ Is Now Here.” Notice the term The Christ. This is a direct reference to a coming “Messiah” who is expected to usher in a New Age of peace and unity. The term New Age refers to “a time of transformation, a time that will bring great change.”

The change that is to come (which many believe is already here) will be a renewed emphasis on the self and self-discovery. This self-discovery is rooted in paganism, witchcraft, and Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

The New Age Movement has become an umbrella term for the “rising interest in the occult in our day.” Within occult circles the Movement is perhaps better known as the Aquarian Age, the Human Potential Movement, the Holistic Health Movement, or simply Cosmic Humanism. In all of these systems, human beings are seen as free to do their own thing without any accountability to anyone or anything beyond themselves.

More here:

http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4217731/k.DD3B/Christ_in_a_New_Age.htm

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The Goddess and the Church

The Goddess and the Church

Written by Russ Wise

The goddess, or Great Mother, has existed since the beginning of time…it is out of the primordial depths of her womb that the Universe and all life is born. Morwyn, Secrets Of A Witch’s Coven

Reverence for the goddess is becoming more prevalent in our day. The goddess is embraced by witchcraft, feminism, the occult, and the liberal church. The New Age that is about to dawn upon us will be, according to the occult world, a feminine age. Likewise, those who hold this view believe that this current, masculine age has been an age of destruction and broken relationships among humanity. The New Age with its feminine energies will bring balance to the destructive aspects of the Piscean Age.

More here:

http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4217669/k.7BDB/The_Goddess_and_the_Church.htm

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Marian Apparitions or Pagan Feminine Deities?

Ancient civilizations were marked with shrines and temples. Worshippers of pagan dieties performed acts of self-flaggelation, crawling on the knees, and made pilgrimages to temples.

Roman rituals was marked by similar traits.When the empire collapsed, it morphed into the Roman Catholic Church.And so did the Roman dieties and rituals.

Fast forward to the 21st century…

More here:

Marian Apparitions or Pagan Feminine Deities?
http://watcherslamp.blogspot.com/2010/05/marian-apparitions-or-pagan-feminine.html

Related:

The Marian Apparitions & UFO Deception
http://watcherslamp.blogspot.com/2010/05/marian-apparitions-ufo-deception.html

Interfaith Call to Make Mary Mother of All
http://watcherslamp.blogspot.com/2010/05/interfaith-call-to-make-mary-mother-of.html

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Interspirituality: The Final Outcome of Contemplative Prayer (Spiritual Formation)

Interspirituality: The Final Outcome of Contemplative Prayer (Spiritual Formation)

by Ray Yungen

The final outcome of contemplative prayer is interspirituality. . . Just what exactly is interspirituality? The premise behind interspirituality is that divinity (God) is in all things, and the presence of God is in all religions; there is a connecting together of all things, and through mysticism (i.e., meditation) this state of divinity can be recognized. Consequently, this is a premise that is based on and upheld by an experience that occurs during a self-hypnotic trance linking one to an unseen world rather than to the sound doctrine of the Bible.

It is important to understand that interspirituality is a uniting of the world’s religions through the common thread of mysticism. Wayne Teasdale, a lay monk who coined the term interspirituality, says that interspirituality is “the spiritual common ground which exists among the world’s religions.”

More here:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4477

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The Deception of Emergent Church/Spiritual Formation/New Spirituality Contemplative Prayer

The Deception of Emergent Church/Spiritual Formation/New Spirituality Contemplative Prayer.

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Converted by Contemplative Spirituality?

Pete and Geri Scazzero Testimony

They were tired and exhausted. She quit.

So what did they do next?

They went away to a Trappist monastery where they were silent for a week. They got up at 3 am and 5:30 am – eight times a day they met with God in silence and solitude with the monks. For the next four months they began to visit monasteries and delved into monastic rhythms of silence, solitude, and Daily Offices. They left evangelicalism, and went back to Roman Catholic tradition. They were converted by Contemplative Spirituality.

And now they are teaching others how they too can cross the bridge to Rome and be converted by Contemplative Spirituality.

See here:

Scazzeros Spread Contemplative Spirituality at C&MA Conference
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/scazzeros-spread-contemplative-spirituality-at-cma-conference/

But we cannot be ‘converted’ by Contemplative Spirituality. We can only find new life when we understand that we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

1 Peter 1

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*Update:

PETER SCAZZERO ENJOYS PRAYING THROUGH APOSTASY
http://apprising.org/2010/09/22/peter-scazzero-enjoys-praying-through-apostasy/

PETER SCAZZERO BRINGING ROME HOME TO HIS CHURCH
http://apprising.org/2010/10/01/peter-scazzero-bringing-rome-home-to-his-church/

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Breath Prayer = Contemplative Mysticism

Breath Prayer—Not Biblical Prayer

A Time of Departing speaks on breath prayers:

“When [Richard] Foster speaks of the silence, he does not mean external silence. In his book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Foster recommends the practice of breath prayer—picking a single word or short phrase and repeating it in conjunction with the breath. This is classic contemplative mysticism.

More here:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4430

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Dangers of Monastic Mystic Meditation Practices

Dangers of Monastic Mystic Meditation Practices

Why on earth are Roman Catholic Mysticism and practices developed in monasteries by men who rejected the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone by Christ’s work alone being promoted in supposedly Protestant churches?

More here:

http://www.extremetheology.com/2010/01/dangers-of-mystic-meditation-practices.html

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Scazzeros Spread Contemplative Spirituality at C&MA Conference

Click on the following link to watch a teaching session led by Peter and Geri Scazzero at the 2010 Christian and Missionary Alliance Conference at Christ Community Church in Omaha, Nebraska (pastor is Mark Ashton).

2010 C&MA MidAmerica District Conference – Session 1
http://vimeo.com/10299675

@ approx. 23 minutes, Peter Scazzero says:

“From 1996 to 2003 I was reading a great deal about monasticism, in particular, and the great monastic writers…in 2003 I finally took a four month sabbatical, got a Lily Grant, and um, we basically were able to live, over a four month period, monastic rhythms of silence, solitude, Daily Offices. We kind of left our tradition of evangelicalism and began to visit monasteries from France to England, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical…it was a fascinating experience…I remember the first week we went away to a Trappist monastery where basically we were silent for almost a week…getting up at three o’clock in the morning and five thirty in the morning. Basically eight times a day meeting with God in silence and solitude, singing Psalms, reading scripture, we weren’t even sure these people were saved. But I tell you, you spend a week in silence, you’re not even sure what hits you at the end of it. At the end of the first week we realized that we had lost so much of our…we, we, we love Jesus, He loves us, but He never asked us to die to our joy and our relationship with Him. And something came so alive in us, we realized that whole, um, experience, and we came out of that with Conversion Three…we call that a Conversion of Contemplative Spirituality, which simply means slowing down, in order to be with God.”

Related:

The Trappist Bridge to Rome
https://muddystreams.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/538/

Others who are helping to promote the Scazzeros’ modern day monasticism, mysticism and contemplative spirituality through bondage to ancient Roman Catholic rituals and fixed hours of prayer:

Emotional Healthy Spirituality and Willow Creek Partner to Spread Contemplative Spirituality
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=1148

Rick Warren Promoting Roman Catholic Monastic Mysticism at Saddleback Conference
http://www.extremetheology.com/2010/01/rick-warren-promoting-roman-catholic-monastic-mysticism-at-saddleback-conference.html

CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY CATALYST PETER SCAZZERO
http://apprising.org/2010/01/08/contemplative-spirituality-catalyst-peter-scazzero/

Also see:

Contemplative Spirituality Comes to Modern Day Christianity
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/contemplativespirituality.htm

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*Update:

PETER SCAZZERO ENJOYS PRAYING THROUGH APOSTASY
http://apprising.org/2010/09/22/peter-scazzero-enjoys-praying-through-apostasy/

PETER SCAZZERO BRINGING ROME HOME TO HIS CHURCH
http://apprising.org/2010/10/01/peter-scazzero-bringing-rome-home-to-his-church/

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Who Are the Desert Fathers

The Desert Fathers – Bringing Mysticism to Today’s Church

Who Are the Desert Fathers

“In the early Middle Ages, there lived a group of hermits in the wilderness areas of the Middle East. They were known to history as the desert fathers.

“They dwelt in small isolated communities for the purpose of devoting their lives completely to God without distraction. The contemplative movement traces its roots back to these monks. They were the ones who first promoted the mantra as a prayer tool.

“One meditation scholar made this connection when he said: ‘The meditation practices and rules for living of these earliest Christian monks bear strong similarity to those of their Hindu and Buddhist renunciate brethren several kingdoms to the East … the meditative techniques they adopted for finding their God suggest either a borrowing from the East or a spontaneous rediscovery.'” From A Time of Departing, p. 42, 2nd ed. (Ray Yungen)

SOURCE:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/desertfathers.htm

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CONTEMPLATING CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER: IS IT REALLY PRAYER?

CONTEMPLATING CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER: IS IT REALLY PRAYER?
By Marcia Montenegro (page 1 of 3)
[First published in Midwest Christian Outreach Journal, February, 2005; this version has been modified with additional information]

“God’s first language is silence.” 1

“Progress in intimacy with God means progress toward silence.” 2

“The important thing is that we are relaxed and our back is straight so that the vitalizing energies can flow freely.” 3

Contemplation is “a pure and a virginal knowledge, poor in concepts, poorer still in reasoning, but able, by its very poverty and purity, to follow the Word ‘wherever He may go.'” 4

Contemplative Prayer, also called Centering Prayer or Listening Prayer, has been taught by Roman Catholic monks Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, and Basil Pennington, as well as by Quaker Richard Foster, and is being advocated by many others. There is no one authority on this method, nor is there necessarily a consistent teaching on it, though most of the founding teachers quote medieval mystics, Hindu, and Buddhist spiritual teachers.

More here:

http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_ContemplativePrayer1.html

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The Koinos Bridge to Contemplative Spirituality

Another Christian organization that is currently promoting the Koinos Seminars* (besides Canadian Christianity) is the British Columbia Mennonite Brethren Conference (http://www.bcmb.org/qry/page.taf?id=148). However, rather than just the on-line Koinos lectures, these are actual seminars to attend throughout the year. The cost is $30 per seminar or $250 per series (10 seminars). These seminars allow for academic credit at the graduate or undergraduate level through Carey Theological College at an extra cost of $250 per seminar. [For online registration see here: http://www.mbccakoinos.vcmbc.org.]*

The PDF document there describes Koinos as such:

KOINOS is a program developed by Pacific Association for Theological Studies (Seattle), an association of churches and educational institutions linked together to make theological education accessible in the Pacific Northwest. Several thousand lay men and women (plus several dozen clergy) have participated in the program.

While the description at Canadian Christianity is almost identical, there are a few differences between Canadian Christianity’s seminar Koinos list and the Mennonite Brethren Koinos list. For example, the MB seminar list states that Christian Spirituality 101 (Mar 19) is taught by Marty Folsom, Director of the Pacific Association for Theological Studies (PAThS), who also teaches at Northwest University, Kirkland.

Folsom, a regular lecturer in the KOINOS program, describes himself as:

“an ecumenical evangelical who bridges between church and academy and across the theological spectrum”
-http://martyfolsom.com

The Koinos Christian Spirituality 101 taught by Folsom is described this way:

An introduction to the biblical and historical roots of Christian spirituality, the spiritual disciplines, spiritual direction, and the pursuit of personal and corporate holiness.

By offering the Koinos Seminars, is the B.C. Mennonite Brethren Conference promoting contemplative spirituality?

A further look into Koinos Seminars (http://koinosseminars.wordpress.com) reveals that individuals completing all Koinos 101 seminars receive a Certificate in Christian Foundations. This paves the way to receive a formal academic graduate credit which is available for the KOINOS Certificate program through Carey Theological College.

Here we begin to see where this bridge is leading. Very important at Carey College is something called spiritual formation, which brings participants into contact with Soul Stream…

The Centre for Spiritual Formation

Working in tandem with the Centre for Spiritual Formation Carey Theological College is able to provide a two year graduate level experience in Spiritual Formation. Each year of this program begins with an eight day intensive retreat.
Learn more about our graduate-level program in the Center for Spiritual Formation: how it works, what makes the program distinct, what sort of tuition rates you’d pay, and how to apply.
Additionally, you can also learn more about SoulStream, where students who are enrolled in Carey’s Master of Pastoral Ministry program can earn credits toward their practicuum by doing work in spiritual direction, through SoulStream programming.

http://www.careycentre.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=3&id=40&Itemid=98

Steve and Jeff Imbach are the founders of the very contemplative organization called SoulStream (soulstream.org), where they draw heavily from the teachings of Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen.

Here are some of Carey’s other courses on Spiritual Formation:

Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation Courses
http://www.careycentre.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=3&id=37&Itemid=100

SoulStream Spiritual Direction Practicum
http://www.careycentre.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=177&Itemid=100

March 2010: SPIR 589 The Practice of Contemplative Prayer
Carey Centre (Vancouver, BC) Media Room
Steve Imbach
http://www.careycentre.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=379&Itemid=100

SPIR 588: Introduction to Spiritual Direction
Carey Centre, South Classroom
Rev. Steve Imbach & Dr. John Kiemele
March 14-17, 2011
Spiritual Direction is the simple gift of offering to another person the gentle but tenacious encouragement to open oneself fully to God’s loving presence and to co-discern God’s action in every aspect of life. In receiving spiritual direction, we learn to open our hearts more deeply in trust and surrender. Spiritual direction provides a safe and yet challenging place where our story can be honoured as the raw material in which we learn to discern the signs of God drawing us into the intimacy of loving union and intimacy with God. Through spiritual direction we also learn to follow the Spirit’s guidance as we discover how to integrate and express God’s presence in our everyday choices.
http://www.careycentre.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=449&Itemid=100

While it sounds very nice, this spiritual direction leads to the contemplative, ecumenical side of the bridge that eventually branches into interspirituality. (See Interspirituality: The Final Outcome of Contemplative Prayer (Spiritual Formation by Ray Yungen.)

By promoting these seminars, is the B.C. Mennonite Brethren Conference leading their congregations over the Koinos bridge into the muddy swampland of contemplative spirituality?

It wouldn’t be the first time.

Also see:

Contemplative Mennonite Retreats
http://rollovermenno.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/contemplative-mennonite-retreats/

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

*ENDNOTES:

*KOINOS is a program developed by Pacific Association for Theological Studies (Seattle) that was brought to metro Vancouver in 2008 by Richmond Chinese Alliance Church.
*The Mennonite Brethren Chinese Churches Association (MBCCA) is a ministry of the BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

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CANADIAN CHRISTIANITY PROMOTING SPIRITUAL DIRECTION AND CONTEMPLATIVE SPIRITUALITY

Halfway down the front page of the website of CANADIAN CHRISTIANITY (www.canadianchristianity.com) is the following promotional for KOINOS online lectures:

KOINOS online lectures – A certificate in Christian Foundations
This 10 seminar program is taught by a world-class faculty, and covers ten fundamental subjects. Each seminar (5 lectures) will be released monthly as they are delivered.
(Link: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/koinos/index.html)

One of the listening options is an online listening seminar by Susan Philips.

CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY 101
Susan Phillips

About this seminar »
An introduction to the biblical and historical roots of Christian spirituality, the spiritual disciplines, spiritual direction, and the pursuit of personal and corporate holiness.

Susan Phillips, BA, PHD, is Executive Director and Professor of Sociology and Christianity at New College Berkeley and teaches in the area of Christian spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union, San Francisco Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Regent College. She is co-editor of The Crisis of Care: Affirming and Restoring Caring Practices in the Helping Professions and author of Candlelight: Illuminating the Art of Spiritual Direction.

-http://www.canadianchristianity.com/koinos/mp3-download/8/susan-phillips/christian-spirituality-101.html

Susan S. Phillips Ph.D. (www.susansphillips.com) is a spiritual director who regularly teaches for New College Berkeley, Regent College (Canada), Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction program at San Francisco Theological Seminary. She also serves on the editorial review board of Presence magazine, the journal of Spiritual Directors International (www.sdiworld.org/presence_journal.html).

Phillips is also the author of Candlelight: Illuminating the Art of Spiritual Direction (Spiritual Directors International).

What is Spiritual Directors International? Lighthouse Trails Research tells us:

Spiritual Directors International (SDI) is an interspiritual “learning community committed to advancing spiritual direction around the world” with a membership that “consists of people from many nations and many faiths.” According to SDI, spiritual direction is “the contemplative practice of helping another person or group to awaken to the mystery called God in all of life,” and they respond “to this call by tending the holy around the world and across traditions. Ray Yungen discusses SDI in A Time of Departing:

To underscore the scope and reach of the contemplative prayer movement let’s look at the numbers put out by an organization called Spiritual Directors International (SDI). On their website this group gives ample evidence of what their practices are. In one national conference, the following was presented: This workshop offers an opportunity to study and experience the director’s role in a person’s move into the beginning and early stages of contemplative prayer, silence, and openness to new sorts of praying. One of the objectives of SDI is “Tending the holy around the world and across traditions.”

See more here:

Spiritual Direction
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/spiritualdirection.htm

By their promotion of these lectures, Canadian Christianity may possibly be helping to direct unwary evangelical Christians slowly and silently across the bridge over the muddy waters of contemplative spiritual formation to accept the doctrines of the church on the other side – the Roman Catholic church.

NEXT:

See who else is crossing the Koinos bridge to contemplative spirituality.

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Bono’s Interfaith Spirituality

Way of Life examines Bono

BONO SAYS JESUS AND MOHAMMED ARE BOTH TRUE (Friday Church News Notes, April 9, 2010, http://www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) –

Bono, frontman for the popular rock band U2, is held up as an idol by many Christians. But while he does make a profession of faith in Christ, he doesn’t have a biblical testimony, doesn’t attend church with any regularity, and has lived the worldly rock & roll lifestyle to the hilt. He is the ultimate “cool Christian,” but is he really a Christian? A couple of years ago I read the book Bono on Bono: Conversations with Michka Assayas (Hodder & Stoughton, 2005), which contains an interview with a music reporter that extended over a long period of time.

Nowhere in this 337-page book does Bono give a scriptural testimony of having been born again, without which Jesus said no man can see the kingdom of heaven. He says that he believes Jesus is the Messiah and that He died on the cross for his sins and that he is holding out for grace, but the Pope says that much. Bono’s “grace” is a grace that does not result in radical conversion and a new way of life; it is a grace without repentance…

More here:

http://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/2120/

BONO’S COEXIST

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6

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The Road to One World Religion

‘Turning strangers into Friends’ – Review of report from Catholic Bishops of England and Wales

“In Britain we are engaged in a process of learning how to construct and live in a society made up of different faiths”. This is how Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster begins his foreword to a significant teaching document from the Catholic bishops of England and Wales on inter-religious dialogue published today. But it is, of course, not only Britain. The same could be said for almost all countries in a time of globalisation and migration.

For this reason Meeting God in Friend and Stranger needs to reach a wider readership than just British Catholics. An important attempt to “read the signs of the times” and, as a consequence, to promote the importance of inter-religious dialogue, it both draws on and tries to clarify some of the complex questions arising from the contemporary Catholic position about relationships with other faiths. It sets out simply what the Catholic Church means by dialogue, “a way of living in positive relations with others”, and evangelisation, when Christians “enable the reign or Kingdom of God to permeate the minds and hearts, the cultures and activities of the world of their time”, as well as clearly distinguishing them from “relativism” and “proselytism”.

More here:

http://www.understandthetimes.org/inthenews/208_owr.shtml

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Are All Religions One? Do All Paths Lead to God?

A Dangerous Belief

By STEPHEN PROTHERO

When I was college student in the 1970s and 1980s I was told repeatedly that all religions are one. Today teachers who profess this view are in good company. According to Gandhi, “belief in one God is the cornerstone of all religions.” According to the Dalai Lama, “the essential message of all religions is very much the same.” From this perspective, popularized by “perennial philosophers” such as Aldous Huxley, Joseph Campbell and Huston Smith, all religions are beautiful and all are true. The prevailing metaphor portrays the world’s religions as different paths up the same mountain. “It is possible to climb life’s mountain from any side,” writes Mr. Smith, “but when the top is reached the trails converge.”

This is a seductive sentiment in a world in which religious violence can seem as present and potent as God. But it is dangerous, disrespectful and untrue.

More here:

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703709804575202261474208230-lMyQjAxMTAwMDMwMDEzNDAyWj.html

HT: All Paths Lead To God: A Dangerous Belief
Crosstalk Blog

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Interfaith Diaologue Betrayal of Foundations of Christianity

Christian question: ‘Interfaith dialogue’ or ‘useful idiots’?
Growing trend to meet with Muslims rings alarm bells for some

The effort among some Christian churches to meet with Muslims and dialogue about faith is a betrayal of the basic foundations of Christianity, asserts a critic of the developing trend.

“Useful idiots,” is how Christian talk show host and Muslim analyst Ingrid Schlueter assessed the participants in a recent interfaith dialogue session between the Acts 29 Network-affiliated Harambee Church and MAPS, the Muslim Association of Puget Sound, a group that has connections to the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.

More here:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=149893

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Campolo Crosses Bridge to Celtic Thin Place

Well known Christian author and lecturer Tony Campolo writes how he finds the thin place every morning on page 26 of his book called Letters to a Young Evangelical.

…I am able to create what the ancient Celtic Christians call “the thin place.”

-Tony Campolo

As Roger Oakland, in his book Faith Undone, says regarding this thin place:

“This term ‘thin place’ [zone] originated with Celtic spirituality (i.e., contemplative) and is in line with panentheism … Thin places imply that God is in all things, and the gap between God, evil, man, everything thins out and ultimately disappears in meditation (pp. 114-115).

Related:

Tony Campolo: On Being “Born Again” by Centering Prayer
http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c58.shtml

*NEW: Note: Tony Campolo’s pathway of choice had led him to accept homosexuality in the church:
Tony Campolo Comes Out of Closet in Support of ‘Full Acceptance’ of Homosexuality in Church
http://www.submergingchurch.com/2015/06/10/tony-campolo-comes-out-of-closet-in-support-of-full-acceptance-of-homosexuality-in-church/

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Bridging the gap between Christianity and Eastern religion

Here’s another bridge between Eastern religion and Christianity…

The United Church Observer, the in-house magazine of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination, recently ran an article that touched on a sex survey of 3,800 North Americans by Gina Ogden, author of The Heart and Soul of Sex.

More than two out of three respondents told researchers that “sex needs to be spiritual to be satisfying” and 45 per cent said they “experienced sexual energy during spiritual ecstasy.”

The author of The United Church Observer piece, Rev. Trisha Elliott, enthusiastically concluded: “If our ability to love makes us most like God, then it stands to reason that when we make love we might be in our most holy state. Should we break out the linens, candles, incense, flowers and wine? O God, yes! Great sex is not only possible — it’s divine.”

Source:
–Sex brings christians closer to god
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=c8cd77ac-b993-4bbb-963d-7cb4dc07e5de

The article also mentions a psychologist named Chuck MacKnee, who teaches a controversial belief that humans’ spiritual relationship with God is erotic. (MacKnee teaches psychology at Trinity Western University, a Christian university in Langley, B.C..) According to the above article, this is what he believes:

As in Celtic Christian tradition, MacKnee believes being sensual and sexual creates a “thin zone” between humans and God, reducing the usually thick barrier between this world and the sacred realm.

Roger Oakland, in his book Faith Undone, has this to say regarding this thin zone, or thin place:

“This term ‘thin place’ [zone] originated with Celtic spirituality (i.e., contemplative) and is in line with panentheism … Thin places imply that God is in all things, and the gap between God, evil, man, everything thins out and ultimately disappears in meditation (pp. 114-115).

Is MacKnee bridging the gap between Christianity and Eastern religion through his views on mystical sexuality? Lighthouse Trails Research thinks so.

Read more about this here:

Trinity Western University Professor Promotes Tantric-like Spirituality – Serious Implications for Christianity
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=1568

Also see:

Tantra Sex: Evangelicals Catching Up with New Agers?
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=587

Related:

Is Trinity Western University helping to Pave the Thomas Merton Pathway?

Is ‘The Still Point’ of Interspiritualist Thomas Merton being promoted at TWU?

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An Introduction to Ignatian Spiritual Discernment – or a Bridge to Rome?

This Saturday, May 8, in Vancouver, B.C., there is going to be a presentation by Rob Des Cotes called Following Your God-Given Desires: An Introduction to Ignatian Spiritual Discernment. For a cost of $55 per person, participants will learn to ‘re-discover’ the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Following Your God-Given Desires: An Introduction to Ignatian Spiritual Discernment
Date: May 8, 2010
Time: 9:00-4:00
Location: Carey, 5920 Iona Drive
Presenter: Rob Des Cotes
Cost: $55/person (lunch included) additional $5/per vehicle parking fee required upon arrival

Choices! Our lives are filled with choices – which is both a gift and a burden. How do we discern the best way forward? How do we become aware of, and respond to, God’s activity in our lives?

In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius offers practical wisdom for how we might discern and follow the movements of God’s spirit in our lives. Ignatius has been “re-discovered” by Protestants over the past few decades, and the common-sense wisdom found in his Spiritual Exercises has become an important part of the spiritual journey for many Christians. His approach is both pragmatic as well as one that cultivates a genuine love and desire to follow God’s will as the natural response to Christ’s love for us. A working understanding of such spiritual theology is essential for every Christian who desires to live an authentic life in the Spirit.

Source: http://www.williamcarey.ca/

Rob Des Cotes is a spiritual director and the pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver, B.C. He is a graduate of Regent College who teaches Contemplative Traditions at Trinity Western University and courses on spirituality at Carey Theological College and Columbia Bible College.

He also is the director of Imago Dei, a community which is formed around the principles of contemplative spiritual direction. Imago Dei is affiliated with the Mennonite Brethren denomination of B.C. and links to the Ignatian Jesuit Centre.

Those who have biblical spiritual discernment would do well to warn others who may be thinking of looking to Christian mystics of the past such as St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, for discernment.

As Roger Oakland once wrote:

The Roman Catholic Church has a name for those who have departed from the “One True Church.” They’re called the “separated brethren.” Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, had one main goal in mind when he established his organization. He and his band of faithful ruthless men would do everything possible to bring these separated brethren back to the Mother of All Churches. Several centuries have passed. Now that we are in the twenty-first century, his plan is becoming a reality.

–Home to Rome
http://www.understandthetimes.org/commentary/c60.shtml

This introduction to Ignatian Spirituality looks like one more example of how Christians everywhere are in danger of being led back over the bridge to the Roman Catholic church through the Jesuit program to win back the “separated brethren.”

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Pastors’ Conference 2010 Promotes Evolution

The enemy knows that if the emerging new spirituality doesn’t destroy the church, the re-imagining of God’s Word and replacing it with a lie will.

An upcoming pastors conference this May 4-7, 2010 at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. will include a workshop that may encourage Christian pastors to compromise and devalue God’s inerrant Word by teaching them how to introduce the theory of evolution into their churches. The theme for Pastors’ Conference 2010 is Wonder and Devotion: Bringing Science and Faith Together for the Church.

Workshops include:

Paul Teel: Gradual Change: Introducing Evolution to the Church

Too often, Christians receive the message that they must choose between science (especially evolution) and the Bible. This workshop will look at ways to gently remove this false choice from the church—and will include a consideration of those in their high school years.

-http://conferences.regent-college.edu/pastors/speakers.php

This is a common but troubling trend we are seeing within post-modern Christianity.

As the late Dr. Henry Morris said…

“…it is impossible to devise a legitimate means of harmonizing the Bible with evolution. We must conclude, therefore, that if the Bible is really the Word of God (as its writers allege and as we believe) then evolution and its geological age-system must be completely false. Since the Bible cannot be reinterpreted to correlate with evolution, Christians must diligently proceed to correlate the facts of science so with the Bible.”

–Henry Morris, Ph.D. , Evolution and the Bible
http://www.icr.org/article/evolution-bible/

Why introduce a theory into the church that opposes what God’s Word already tells us about the way it all happened in the beginning?

Watch:

Evolution vs Creation : # 7 Earth Millions of years old?

Update:

*Also note:

“Teel says that while Genesis takes an approach to nature that is more scientific than competing creation stories, it is not a treatise on natural science; its purpose is theological.

He tells his students at PCS that Christianity is fully compatible with the view that evolution is the best available explanation for the development of life on earth.”

–Battling caricatures in science debate
http://www.canadianchristianity.com/bc/bccn/0110/i03battling.html

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Six city councils in USA opening with ancient Hindu prayers

Six city councils in USA opening with ancient Hindu prayers

Nevada (US), April 26 (ANI): Five city councils in California and one in Nevada are opening their meetings with Hindu prayers containing ancient Sanskrit mantras in the coming weeks.

Nevada based Hindu leader Rajan Zed is reciting these prayers before city councils of Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Lincoln and Yuba City in California and Henderson in Nevada.

More here:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4408

Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more. Judges 10:13

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