Letter Received at Lighthouse Trails Christian Research
Greetings Lighthouse Trails:
While ordering DVD’s and books today, my wife and I were reminded how much we depend on you for quality helps as we watch churches and schools submit and succumb to the “New Spirituality” invasion. You provide superb materials that we use regularly. I only wish there were others who would buy the books to give away as well as become informed about the events taking place right before our eyes.
One church nearby sent their Pastor to a continuing education site where he learned to meditate with a mantra and has suggested to his church the value of lectio divina. He said he goes into his private prayer place four times a day at stated times. Another church constructed a labyrinth in their building and invited their youth to learn the values of walking and praying as a part of their discipline. We wrote to people we know to ask if they were aware of what was happening to their old line denominations, their church, and their staff. We were not taken seriously and were invited by the various staffs to back off, stop contacting them, and assured us they planned to continue these new techniques in worship. On one occasion we sent books and other materials and asked a couple to read them and let us know if any of what they are reading sounded anything like what they are hearing from their church. After several months, there has been no response, not even to acknowledge they received the books.
Two other churches have recently hired additional staff for the purpose of spiritual transformation. They began with retreats to introduce the techniques that would later be developed more into regular exercises. We suggested to members whom we know that it would probably be two years of gently teaching meditative and unbiblical things before their true assignments would be clear. We suggested that they would be hearing familiar words that Christians use, words that they know well, but with new meanings and a different teaching.
So far, they seem to think our warnings are alarmist, but they are going to keep watch.
In addition to the facts that your materials present, there is the continuing warning to be discerning. We wish discernment could be taught or caught. We have discovered that it can develop when people read prayerfully the Scriptures and, using them as the “plumb line,” measure everything they read and hear by them. They are indeed the canon, the rule that is constant.
Again, thank you for your ministry of teaching and encouragement. Perhaps encouragement is the thing most needed and your website is a daily visit for us.
In Christ,
A couple from North Carolina
LTRP Note - Read about the Wild Goose Festival that was held in North Carolina this year:
Contemplative Spirituality Lands on Charles Stanley's In Touch Magazine ... AGAIN.
ROYAL HEIR
Feel free to email me at: creyner@yahoo.com
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