The Children of the Lakeland Revival

Todd Bentley - Angel for KIDS

Releasing Dreams, Angels of Light, Astral Travel into the Third Heaven, and “Seeing Stuff”

Out of the Mouths of Babes: “I don’t want you to do to me what you did to the other people!”

Mennonite Prayer Beads

From Roll Over Menno:

This July, children in the workshops during the Mennonite Church Canada Summit 2008 were taught how to make and use prayer beads.

Here is a brief history of prayer beads:

Prayer Beads

Roman Catholic: European catholics began using prayer beads in the 7th century AD. Gertrude of Nivelles, 626-659 AD; her body was found with a fragment of a rosary in a tomb in Belgium. Twelfth century AD, beads were found in the graves of Norbert in France and Rosalia of Palermo, Sicily. The infamous Lady Godiva, died in 1040 AD at Coventry, England

Orthodox Christian:Prayer Rope used by Orthodox, Greek Orthodox and other Orthodox Christian groups. A series of 33, 50 or 100 knots in a wool or cotton rope, anchored by a cross at one end. Wooden beads or beads of another material often are used as guide markers on the rope.
In the 11th century, church bureaucracy decided rosaries were better used for counting devotions than as superstitious pagan talismans.

Those who were unschooled in the original biblical languages Greek, Chalde, Hebrew, Aramaic; or Latin like the Romans; or were illiterate, unable to read were assigned prayers to memorize and repeat on rosaries.

Rosaries and prayer beads were intended by the Catholic Church hierarchy, cardinals, bishops and priests, for use by the ignorant.

Repeating the prayer is meant to help a person focus on the presence of God and what God is trying to say to him.

(Source: http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/prayer_beads/)

Here is what Mennonite children were taught about prayer beads at the Summit this July (you can go to the PDF’s to read it for yourself):

About the 33 beads:

Counting Prayer Beads

Each prayer bead bracelet contains 33 beads – one for each year that Jesus lived on earth. Within these 33 beads are beads of different sizes and grouped in different numbers which symbolize other aspects of our faith…

During the Children’s Assembly, kids will make bracelet-sized prayer beads…In Deuteronomy 6:6-8, Israelites are reminded to keep God’s commandments in their hearts, to “bind them as a sign on your hand.” Prayer beads, an old prayer practice tool, can serve as reminders of God’s faithfulness – and it’s all in the numbers of beads. Stay tuned to fin out how counting beads can remind you to count on God.

Here:
www.mennonitechurch.ca/resourcecentre/FileDownload/9441/CrossroadsCurrent7th.pdf
and here:
www.mennonitechurch.ca/files/events/summit08/CrossroadsCurrent7th.pdf

About the 4 beads:

Four groups of seven beads are divided into sections by larger beads. These four beads are positioned at the top, bottom, left and right of the bracelet, reminding us of the four points of the cross.

Here:
www.mennonitechurch.ca/files/events/summit08/CrossroadsCurrent10th.pdf

About how two pray with the beads…

After circling the bracelet of beads, prayer ends on the cross directly below the “invitations to praise” bead. The cross reminds us of the prayer that Jesus taught us.

Here:
www.mennonitechurch.ca/files/events/summit08/CrossroadsCurrent10thFinal.pdf

These symbolic prayer beads sound very similar to this:
http://www.fullcirclebeads.com/symbolism.html

Here is some more enlightening information regarding the 33 beads, the 4 beads and the cross which the children were taught about at the Mennonite Summit:

Prayer beads an ancient devotion – Spirituality

Prayer beads originally were devised to help people to keep track of repetitive devotions. They enabled one to pray while doing routine jobs and between activities. In the very earliest times, prayers were marked by dropping little pebbles one by one on the ground.

About 500 years before Christ, people tied knots in strings. Primitive forms of prayer beads were made of fruit pits, dried berries, pieces of bone, and hardened clay. The wealthy used precious stones and jewels.

St. Dominic is a latecomer to the scene. The Western Church picked up on the idea in 1213 when parts of Europe were devastated by the crusade against the Albigensian heresy. According to tradition, Dominic sought the help of Mary, who instructed him in a dream to preach the rosary, as an antidote to sin. The word, rosary, comes from the Latin word rosarium, which means wreath or chaplet of roses.

By Dominic’s time, other spiritual traditions were already well grounded in their own prayer bead practices. The Hindu religion has had prayer beads for a long time. Its rosary consists of 109 beads–108 to mark the 108 names of God and one to mark the beginning of the prayer cycle, “Dancing Shiva, who shows grace, peace and creative power, and destroys and treads on the evil dwarf.”

Sakyamuni, the East Indian who was the founder of Buddhism, was well grounded in prayer beads. On one occasion, he gave a distraught king a spiritual practice based on his Hindu heritage. He directed Vaidunya to thread 108 seeds of the Bodhi tree on a string, and while passing them through his fingers to repeat, “Hail to the Buddha, the darhma (teaching) and the sangha (community).

Another interpretation of this Sanskrit prayer is translated as “Hail to the jewel in the heart of the lotus (compassion).” Repeating the mantra on each of the mala’s 108 beads serves to drive away evil “filling you and all other beings with peace and bliss.”

Islam also has its prayer beads, called tasbih or subhah. The 33-bead strand, repeated three times, honors the 99 “beautiful names of Allah” (the One Unity or God). Some of these names, or Wazifas, include Mercy, Compassion, Opener of the Way, Lover and Beloved.

The Anglican Church created its own rosary in the 1980s. It also has 33 beads, remembering the years Christ lived. The rosary is grouped in sevens and is based on Incarnational theology, starting with the cross. Four sets of beads represent the seven days of creation, seven days in a week, and seven seasons of the church year. They are divided by four large cruciform beads representing the centrality of the cross.

Source:(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_7_39/ai_95632004)

How unfortunate that instead of teaching Bible stories to the children, Mennonite Church Canada is introducing them to this ancient repetitive practice of praying the rosary, which has been such a big part of the religious system that Menno Simons renounced.

ALERT: The Canadian Contemplative Youth Workers Conference

From Roll Over Menno:

If you go to the Mennonite Brethren Conference (Canada) website (here) and click on ‘Ministry Quest’ or ‘Canadian Youth Workers Conference’ you will find yourself on the website of the Canadian Youth Workers Conference which is going to be held in Toronto Dec. 4-7, 2008. This conference is put on by Youth Specialties and Canadafire.

While it’s important to equip those in the body of Christ who work with youth, is this a good event for youth workers to be attending? It appears that this conference may be another means by which Youth Specialties is teaching contemplative spirituality to youth.

For example, if you browse the Canada Fire on-line store you will a book called Contemplative Youth Ministry (by Youth Specialties). This is not surprising as Youth Specialities is an extremely contemplative youth ministry. (See here.)

Another concern is who the Youth Workers Conference is associating itself with. Can you see what is tucked away in their interdenominational (ecumenical) association list?

• The Presbyterian Church in Canada
• Apostolic Youth Ministries International
• CBM Youth
• Sonlife
• Canadian Youth Network
• Christian and Missionary Alliance
• Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada
• Nazarene Youth Ministry International
• YFC Canada
• Evangelical Missionary Church
• Brethren in Christ
• MB Conference
• Salvation Army of Canada
• North American Baptist
• Fellowship of Evangelical Churches of BC/Yukon
• Christian Reformed Church of N. America
• United Church of BC
• Canadian Youth Worker
• Southern Baptist Convention of Canada
• Canadian Catholic Youth Ministry Network (http://www.ccymn.ca/en/index.php)
• Muskoka Woods Sports Resort
• The Wesleyan Church
• Independent Christian Churches
• Mennonite Church of Canada

Among the speakers listed at the Youth Workers Conference are Bruxy Cavey, Shane Clairborne, Tony Campolo and Mark Oestreicher. To find out about what kinds of things these speakers believe and may be teaching at the conference, click on the following links:

Read More…

 

Fake ‘Child Faith Healers’: Passing the Occult Mantle to the Children

In this post Targeting The Children, I wrote about Todd Bentley, Bob Jones, and Patricia King encouraging children to experience occult phenomenon, teaching them to go up to the “third heaven”.

During the current Lakeland Healing Revival, Bentley is planning to teach children to “heal” people. How exactly is that done? Bentley talks about it 3:33 minutes into this video:

 

MOTHER: You remember yesterday, this little guy came up [indicating one of her sons] for the cyst that was the size of a quarter that had shrunk down, and while he was on the floor, you [Bentley] prayed ‘Lord, use him!’. Well, my husband is absolutely 100% deaf in his left ear….This little guy got that gift of faith imparted into him. His dad is working in Virgina and couldn’t be here. My son said ‘Put the phone up to your deaf ear!’

[...]

BENTLEY: And I said the Lord was going to use him in miracles!? And he started his miracle ministry!? And his deaf father… got healed!

[..]

BENTLEY: The CHILDREN!! The healing revival’s going to be on the CHILDREN!!

[...]

4:36 minutes:
BENTLEY: And who’s this little girl?

MOTHER: That’s my daughter. She just wants more of the anointing! (laughter)

BENTLEY (to girl): Come here, sweetie. How old are you?

GIRL: Nine.

BENTLEY: You want the anointing because your mother got it.

GIRL: Uh huh.

BENTLEY: What do you want to do with the anointing?

GIRL: Um, heal people.

[...]

BENTLEY (to boy who prayed for father): So did you feel anything after I prayed for you, young man?

BOY: Uh huh.

BENTLEY: What did you feel?

BOY: Like fire.

BENTLEY: You’re 10…. Now you want to pray for the sick?.. Your dad got healed of a deaf ear!

BOY: Yes!

BENTLEY: The surgeons told him he would never hear!… It’s impossible! What else can God do?

BOY: He can heal people in wheelchairs.

BENTLEY: Are you going to pray for the sick?

BOY: Uh huh.

BENTLEY: My God! He’s going to pray for the sick! Anoint him with fire!

7:10 minutes:
BENTLEY: I’m telling you! How many of you have children? How many of you have grandchildren? [show of hands] How many of you know somebody that needs to have their children anointed? How about young people? Tomorrow night, this weekend! It’s going to be powerful!

8:36 minutes:
BENTLEY: And you know what? The greatest miracles are happening to the children! People are being healed in the atmosphere! I didn’t pray for that man in the wheelchair! Have you seen me lay hands on any people tonight? My job is getting the Holy Ghost and speak what I see, and God’s moving sovereignly in mighty power. healing people over the TV and the internet, and using ordinary men and women. He’s going to use you! This anointing is for the Body of Christ!

************************************

Bentley “imparted” the gift of faith to the boy, and now he is a faith-healer. The girl wants to imitate her mommy so Bentley believes she will heal people too. What a circus! What apostasy! Where is Jesus Christ in this sham!?

Jesus requires that we are regenerated by the Spirit of God before we can preach the Gospel or heal people, and all is done through the power of God, not through our (or our children’s) wanting to be part of a “movement”, “something big”, a “great move of God”, or “I want to be like mommy”. These children may or may not know God through Jesus Christ, but it is obvious that Bentley does not care one way or the other. All he wants is brainwashed people and their children in order to build up his Healing Army. All glory goes to Todd Bentley and his fallen angels.

This fake anointing, this occult anointing, this spirit is not of God.

 

Related Articles:
Todd Bentley the Highly Inaccurate “Prophet”
“ANGELS” & the FLORIDA HEALING REVIVAL - Warning!

Christian Colleges That DO NOT Have Spiritual Formation Programs

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

Source: Editors at Lighthouse Trails

Disclaimer: These colleges are listed, not necessarily as an endorsement or recommendation, but rather to show schools that do not have Spiritual Formation programs, nor do we know of any promotion of contemplative prayer or the emerging church within each of these schools. They also do not promote Purpose Driven materials, which are a catalyst for contemplative spirituality. Before sending your student to any of the schools listed below, please check out other criteria at the school that will influence your student.

Ambassador Baptist College (North Carolina)

Baptist Bible College Graduate School (Missouri)

Berean Bible Institute (Wisconsin)

Blue Letter Bible Institute (Online)

Bob Jones University (South Carolina)

Boston Baptist College (Massachusetts)

Calvary Chapel Bible College (California)

Corban College (formerly Western Bible College - Oregon)

The Masters College (California)

Pensacola Christian College (Florida)

Pillsbury Baptist Bible College (Minnesota)

Special Note: If your student is not yet aware of what the New Age movement really is, you should ask them to read For Many Shall Come in My Name. The book is a compelling overview of the New Age movement. This book will prepare young people and adults alike to recognize dangerous and non-biblical practices and beliefs that are being introduced into countless Christian schools.

If you know of a Bible-believing Christian college or seminary that does not promote contemplative or emerging and does not have a Spiritual Formation program, please drop us [Lighthouse Trails] an email and tell us the name of the institution. We would like to post some of these on our research site.

Targeting the Children: False Prophets Duping Christian Parents

Todd Bentley, Patricia King, and Bob Jones, prophets of the Elijah List, what do they have in common? All three of them are targeting your children in order to lift them into a “third heaven” occultic sphere, using meditation, contemplative prayer, angels of light (satan and his demons), emotional manipulation, and blatant lies.

In the following video, Bob Jones, Todd Bentley, and Patricia King speak of this contemplative practice of entering into the “third heaven”:

KING: Todd, I remember years ago, you gave me a phone call and you said ‘Hey, I’ve just been soaking with Bob Jones and I’ve gone up into the “third heaven”‘ and all that. And it was all new to me; I’d never even heard of that kind of language before and I was SO hungry for it. But tell about the first time you met Bob and your encounters in the third heaven.

BENTLEY: The first time I met Bob was actually in Grants Pass, Oregon. We were sitting in a restaurant and I was really hungry; I knew Bob was a real seer prophet. I thought ‘Lord I’m going to get an impartation’. I’ve been having all these encounters and all these visions and experiences already soaking, but I thought ‘Lord I need to talk to somebody that’s been walking in this that’s really a senior prophet’. So when I met Bob, I thought ‘Lord, I’m going to get an impartation’ and I remember talking with Bob in a restaurant about going into the heavens and what it was and we were talking about the “third heaven”, going into the immediate abode, into that place, the dwelling place of God. And I thought ‘That’s awesome!’. I was hungry for it too; I wanted more! ‘Cause, up until that point, sovereignly God was just visiting me. And I was just waiting in His presence and sovereignly God was visiting me. And Bob said to me, he said, ‘We can go right now!’ And I said ‘What do you mean, we can go right now?! We can make the decision right now and enter into that realm of the spirit?’. And he said, “Sure we can! Don’t you have faith, boy?!’. Or something like that. (laughter) That what he said to me…

[...](description of occultic experience into the third heaven)[...]

KING: Well, I remember when you [Bentley] were telling me about it, I got so hungry for it. And right after that Bob was coming to a conference that we were having… I was going to just ask him all kinds of questions about this third heaven, I didn’t know, because I wanted to know. I wanted to experience God in a new way; and I think we all do; we’re all so hungry for Him, right? But I hadn’t caught yet, because you had told me about the experience but not the faith dimension, so I was just still thinking ‘Sovereignty’. God’s sovereignly going to move, take me out, well whatever. So I’m asking Bob questions and Bob, you said ‘Well, I do my raptures every day!’. I said ‘What do you mean, your raptures every day?’. He said ‘I go up every day!’. And I said ‘You go up EVERY DAY! I’d love to go up every day!’ And he said ‘Well, it’s by faith!‘…

A person’s FAITH supersedes God’s SOVEREIGNTY??

Bentley, Jones, and King declare they are going past the sovereignty of God into a contemplative heavenly experience. In scripture there is only one who declares himself to be as high as God — satan:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Isaiah 14:14

9:00 minutes into the video:

JONES: A lot of people see a lot of different colors [when in the third heaven], but when I take the children up most of the time, they see the “white light“. And they see the white throne, and nearly everything they see up there is white! That’s what God IS, is white light! But you got all the colors in it. And up there they see one another as white light, for they ARE light.

KING: Wow! I remember you saying to me one time, you said, if you can teach children to ascend into the third heaven and live out of that place then you will have a generation that will not be affected by the devil because the devil can’t go there. Isn’t that profound!?

JONES: Yep! Well, youth and children they hardly have any problem at all going there, especially 6 to 12. They go right up and I’ve seen them take them up and turn them loose! And then after you turn them loose, the first thing they’ll do, they’ll tell you what they’ve seen. So a lot of times with them, I let them tell me what they’ve seen, and then I interpret it to them. And then sometimes I will say, ‘Okay, go up again and see what you see for me’. And I’ll tell you some of the most seer prophecies I’ve got, come from some of them 6, 7, 8 years old! And some of the conferences I’ve been in, when the youth go up, I’ll tell those, the speakers of the conferences, you want blessed, go let the children pray for you. And see, they go continually there! They haven’t been taught the doubt that we have here.

In this video of Bentley’s Lakeland Healing Revival in Florida, Bentley talks about an angel of light in regards to children:

6:42 minutes into the video:

We’re going to have an anointing service because the Lord spoke to me about families and He was going to visit. I saw the angel today that was going to visit the children. I saw the angel that only two times have I seen that is going to visit the children. I tell you what, there is a glory moving into the room. Just go ahead and just… Ohhhh! Get under that! Ohhh! Ohhh! Lord, let it move across the whole place! A drunken glory! Heavy, heavy, weighty, weighty, weighty glory! Smoky glory, Shekinah glory, in all the colors in the glory!…

On Bentley’s site:

Todd saw the Glory Cloud of Revelation… that is, the cloud that is the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the seven Spirits of God. The Lord also showed Todd in the vision, an old Punjabi sadhu (holy man) [Ed. note: mystic], by the name of Sundar Singh, who lived in India and evangelized throughout the world over a hundred years ago. The Holy Spirit spoke to Todd about a new release of prophetic revelation coming… Todd examines the significance of Sundar Singh in his vision as an example of the extraordinary relationship God wants us to have with Him. It’s a wonderful life of devotion, humility, daily discipline, worship and contemplative prayer that calls us daily to soak in and seek God’s manifest presence. (emphasis added)

From Wolf Tracks site:

Why would God give his children a vision of a contemplative who combined the East and West in his meditative disciplines? Is this where Todd Bentley’s ideas about visions, spirituality, and ’soaking’ prayer are coming from?

Why would God, indeed. Bentley, King, and Jones are occultic mystics, doing the works of the flesh, a form of godliness but denying the power thereof (2nd Timothy 3:5). The power of God is not in evidence, nowhere to be found in their false teachings.

The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23):

Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperance

The fruit or evidence of the Spirit is not false doctrines (heresies), excitement, shaking, barking, laughing uncontrollably, getting a shove from the preacher to be “slain in the spirit”, jumping in “the river”, etc., etc., etc…

Parents, please do not allow your children to be involved in these occultic experiences. Pay attention to what is being taught — not only their teachings but yours as well. Check EVERYTHING against the Word of God.

Related Article:
Fake ‘Child Faith Healers’: Passing the Occult Mantle to the Children

Mennonites and Rob Bell

From RollOverMenno.wordpress.com:

Kindred Productions is a ministry of the Mennonite Brethren Churches in North America for both the Canadian Conference and the US Conference. One of the recommended resources for youth by Kindred Productions is Nooma by Rob Bell (see here).

[...]

There is no denying the fact that Rob Bell is very popular in Mennonite churches. Parents have every right to be very concerned about what their teenagers are watching and learning under the direction of their youth pastors (who seem to find it more convenient to pop in a top selling DVD than to study and teach from the Bible)…

Read More…

Brian McLaren says: Lessen Focus on Eternity

The emphasis Christians place on the traditional Christian doctrines of hell and the second coming of Jesus inhibits believers from living effective lives of service in this world, according to speaker and author Brian McLaren.

McLaren explained his views April 9-10 at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., as a featured speaker during the Willow Creek Association’s annual Shift student ministries conference. (Baptist Press article)

Parents, please know who is teaching your teens at your church and what they are teaching. Ask questions, don’t be timid about comparing to scripture what the youth minister tells you. There is no need to be intimidated by the youth ministers, senior pastors, or  other parents and teens. If you leave it to your church to teach your children, you will reap what you sow. Be vigilant. teaching your own children so they will know the difference between biblical teachings and apostate teachings such as McLaren’s.

Parent Alert: Do You Know Where Your College Students are Attending Church?

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

Lighthouse Trails Research has provided extensive information on Christian colleges that are promoting contemplative and emerging spiritualities. Many parents we have spoken with have either pulled their young college students from those schools or at the very least warned their children of the dangers. But parents also need to find out where their students are attending church, while they are away at college.

When parents send their children off to college, often far from their homes, they are relieved when their students tell them they are attending church every week, sometimes even twice a week. However, Lighthouse Trails has confirmed that in many of these school settings, a large number of the students are attending pro-contemplative/emerging churches.

Often professors and school administration are not aware that such a high percentage of the student body is attending churches that teach contrary to biblical doctrine. And if that is the case, most likely parents aren’t aware either. If you have children attending college (secular or Christian), please ask them where they are going to church and find out what that church is teaching.

Rob Bell’s Comments at Seeds of Compassion

From A Little Leaven:

Rob Bell shared the stage today with “his holiness” the Dalai Lama during an InterSpiritual panel discussion at the Seeds of Compassion conference.

Bell’s defenders claimed that he would be a voice for Christianity at this event. But, right out of the box Bell’s comments accomplished nothing more than blend the ooooie goooie non-sensical spirituality that was being promoted at this event.

Below is Rob Bell answering the question that a twelve year old boy asked. Here was his question…

“What can I do to not be so hard on myself when I make a mistake?”

If Bell were giving a Christian answer then he should have mentioned the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus Christ on the cross. Here was Rob Bell’s answer…

See Video HERE

In this second video pay close attention to how Bell allegorizes Christ’s death and resurrection so that it can fit into the generic one-world spirituality being promoted at this event.

See Video HERE

For more video of the Seeds of Compassion InterSpiritual Panel Discussion Click Here.

Washington State Schools Busing Kids to See Dalai Lama

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

On March 30th, Lighthouse Trails reported that emerging church leaders Rob Bell and Doug Pagitt would be speaking with the Dalai Lama at the Seeds of Compassion event in Seattle, Washington on April 11th-15. Today’s article is a follow up of that report.

“Washington State Schools Busing Kids to See Dalai Lama”

Washington State public schools will be participating in the Seeds of Compassion event taking place in Seattle, Washington in April. Lighthouse Trails spoke with an assistant in the office of OSPI (Washington’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction), who said that students from all over the state of Washington would participate in the Seeds of Compassion. She told Lighthouse Trails that some people think this is a religious event but she said this was strictly about compassion… Read More…

 

 

 

We Are gods

From the new page on Simplicity In Christ.org

To those who believe that we are gods, I would like to ask one simple question:

Why was Eve deceived by satan when he said “you shall be as gods” if she was ALREADY a god?

Click HERE to view the page…

Ken Blanchard Presents: Little Wave and Old Swell (A Course in Miracles for Children)

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

The 2007 edition of Little Wave and Old Swell (released by Beyond Words Publishing) is packaged as a children’s picture book, one that moms and dads will sit and read to their young ones at bedtime. The story is woven within the pages of colorful abstract paintings of the ocean and the sky. It begins with a conversation between Little Wave and Old Swell:

“What is it, Old Swell?” Little Wave asked his teacher. Little Wave was gazing out at the place where the sky and sea meet. He had seen other things rising out there–clouds and ships and whales. But never had he seen anything like the long, dark line that lay across the horizon. Old Swell knew that Little Wave had never seen land and that he would not understand. So he answered like the sage he was, “That,” said Old Swell, “is Destiny.”

And so goes the story of the journey of Little Wave and his dialogue with Old Swell.

At first, the story could seem harmless enough, but the cover inscription will cause discerning Christians to grab another bedtime tale. It reads: “Inspired by Hindu swamiParamahansa Yogananada” The book is written by New Age proponent Jim Ballard, so it would naturally make sense that he would be inspired by the Hindu guru (a whole page and a painting of the guru is devoted to him in the back of the book). What will throw many off, and no doubt cause some Christians to question their concerns about the book, is another inscription on the front cover. This one reads: “Foreword by Ken Blanchard“… Read More…
 

Will Awana Recall Contemplative-Promoting Book?

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

Is Awana naive about contemplative spirituality? If so, then we beseech them to educate themselves and request a recall on their book, Perspectives on Children’s Spiritual FormationIn the February 2008 edition of The Berean Call newsletter a question was asked about Awana:

I’ve heard that Awana is drifting toward mysticism in the way they are ministering to children. What do you know about that?

The Berean Call gave an excellent answer, stating that the issue arose from a book titled, Perspectives on Children’s Spiritual Formation. Two leaders in the Awana organization are contributors of the book, and comments they made promoting the contemplative approach have caused concern for the direction Awana may be heading. In the Berean Call answer, it was suggested that perhaps Awana is naive when it comes to contemplative, and this is why they made the comments they did. In other words, when they spoke favorably about Richard Foster and other elements of contemplative, maybe they didn’t know what they were talking about.

This naivete presents a problem, however. And for Christian leaders, naivete is not an acceptable excuse, because people (and in this case, children) can be misled and spiritually hurt. So what can Awana do about this? If their comments in the book (that they offer in their store and use in their Rorheim Institute) are based on their naivete of contemplative spirituality, and if they truly do not want to take Awana in the mystical direction, then two things need to happen.

First, they must educate Awana leaders who are under their tutelage about the true nature of contemplative spirituality. Secondly, they will need to request a recall of the present edition of Perspectives on Children’s Spiritual Formation and revise it so statements like the following are no longer in the book. These comments are made by Greg Carlson and John Crupper, executives of Awana. A comment of explanation by Lighthouse Trails follows each of their statements:

Read More…

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Isaiah 53:3-5

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

John 20:1-18

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.

Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.

So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.

And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.

Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,

And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.

For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.

Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

College Student Stands Alone Against Emerging Spirituality

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

LTRP Note: The following letter is one we received from the mother of a young man who attends a Christian university in the United States. For his protection and privacy, we are omitting the name of the institution and using the name John in place of his own. This week we spoke to him via telephone; he told us that many students at his school were attending churches that promoted contemplative and emerging spirituality.

The letter -

Dear Lighthouse Trails,
I just read your recent book review of The New Christians by Tony Jones. I thank God for you every day and the work you are doing to expose these horrible things.

My son is a student at * University. John has had to become an apologist against emergent because several students don’t know the dangers of it… Read more…

ALERT for Parents of Teens Regarding Acquire The Fire / Teen Mania / Battle Cry

The Acquire The Fire website has a video describing ATF’s “Branded By God - The Mark of a Warrior” promotion. About halfway through the video, the f-word is used (uttered by The Comedian when he shoves aside another kid from his locker). I had emailed Battle Cry inquiring about the profanity, and received a response stating

“The line that you are hearing is “Summon the Kracken!” Which is just a catch phrase used by that one character throughout the drama as a joke in reference to a line in a recent major motion picture.”

What is “Summon the Kracken (or Kraken)!”? One demonic website says: “…his crew of asundry dead sea creature pirates rise from their watery graves to collect the debt, and to summon….the KRACKEN.” The dead people are summoning “the Kracken”. According to the Bible, once a person dies, they go to heaven or hell. Dead people do not rise from their graves, wander around, or suddenly appear, and call for “the Kracken”. It’s quite clear that DEMONS are the ones who are summoning this Kraken. According to Wikipedia, the Kraken is a demonic sea creature that takes his victims where they must experience their worst fear for eternity - satan taking his victims to hell.

Why would a Christian organization make a Christian video depicting a character saying a phrase that is demonic? Or a phrase that sounds like profanity? Is that supposed to be “cool”? or perhaps “relevant to the pop culture”?, the very pop culture that ATF/Teen Mania/Battle Cry claims they are AGAINST?

Listen to this short audio from the video for yourself — it is clearly profanity. (link not working at this time)

Please be extremely careful about sending your teenagers to any of these events.

For more information regarding “branding” and Acquire The Fire, read:
Branding the New Breed (Note: There is a swear word in one of the quotes in this article.)
Training Teens to Twist the Truth

Ron Luce, founder and organizer of Teen Mania / Battle Cry / Acquire The Fire, is a proponent of contemplative spirituality, the NEW spirituality.

Watch him in this interview with Liz Babbs, New Age guru. Christian meditation?

Note: “the disciplines of old” is in reference to the Roman Catholic mystics, which means Luce is agreeing with the Catholics and denying the Reformation of the 1500s.

Awana Clubs International Embraces Contemplative Spirituality

Article from Lighthouse Trails: Awana is showing signs that it is becoming a full-blown contemplative organization. …through Awana’s prison project, the organization is incorporating New Age sympathizer Ken Blanchard’s Lead Like Jesus Encounter program. Read rest of article HERE

Awana Shop Online: Perspectives on Children’s Spiritual Formation

Note: SPIRITUAL FORMATION is another name for Contemplative Spirituality / Occult / New Age.

Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi

In June 2007 in the youth meeting of Bay Area Fellowship church of Corpus Christi, TX (grades 6th through 12th), there was a video shown promoting meditation saying, while in the lotus position, “…empty your mind and find the inner child within you….” The church is Emergent/Emerging which means they are using the “ancient faith” and “ancient paths” of the Roman Catholic mystics in order to “conversate” with God. Jesus Christ is the Only Way to God; we cannot bypass Him and expect to “find God”. What we will find with contemplative spirituality (meditation, centering/listening/soaking prayer, yoga, lectio divina, spiritual formation) is an array of spirits, angels of light, who are more than happy to inhabit those who “empty their minds” and without the protection of God Almighty, venture off into a redefined “Christianity”.

The pastor, Bil Cornelius, was a speaker at Saddleback Church (Rick Warren’s church) in 2005. In this article, Cornelius outlines his philosophy for converging the purpose-driven paradigm into an Emergent/Emerging church (the name of the church is incorrect in the article).

Rob Bell of Mars Hill Bible Church

From Lighthouse Trails Research:

NOTICE TO PARENTS
The following Audio clip is a sermon by Rob Bell. In this audio, Bell leads the audience through a meditation exercise and talks about various aspects of contemplative spirituality. Please use caution when listening to this audio file (not suitable for children)…

Lighthouse Trails has been contacted by several concerned parents and grandparents whose teens are being introduced to the teachings and films of emerging church leader, Rob Bell (a strong proponent of mysticism, i.e., contemplative)…

LINK to Lighthouse Trails Research article and AUDIO FILE of Rob Bell

Bellevue Christian School in Clyde Hill (Bellevue), WA

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

Is Velvet Elvis, the popular book by emerging pastor, Rob Bell, being recommended by your teen’s Christian school?

Read Velvet Elvis - A Doorway to the New Age

Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU)

From Lighthouse Trails Blog:

The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding is a non-profit organization that hopes to bridge the gap between parents and kids. However, the organization is pointing parents and teens to contemplative/emergent teachings.

Read more of the article HERE

The Golden Compass — book & movie reviews

From Kjos Ministries - Berit Kjos:

More than 15 million copies of Philip Pullman’s trilogy have been sold. The first movie in the series opens December 7.As readers move from book to book, they meet likeable God-haters, experience magical worlds, and discover the strange forces that drive Pullman’s occult cosmos…

Read the BOOK review HERE

The movie, “The Golden Compass,” heralds a mysterious “compass,” but this is no ordinary navigational guide. Instead, it’s a divination device — an alethiometer — energized by tiny, conscious “Dust” particles. Though usually invisible, these Dust particles can be sensed by the story’s more psychically attuned characters. So when 12-year-old heroine Lyra seeks guidance through her treasured “truth measure,” she invokes swirling masses of shimmering Dust that communicate the “true” answers needed for the battles ahead…

Read the MOVIE review HERE

Mennonites’ Lectio Divina and Mystics

Sharon Johnson of the Mennonite Brethren Conference staff recommends Zen and Buddhist meditation for Mennonite youth groups.
Read article HERE

Also More Mystics in the Mennonite Seminary

Youth Specialties: Promoting Mysticism and Interspirituality

“Christianity is an eastern religion.” — Youth Specialties President
Read Lighthouse Trails article HERE

Youth Specialties promotes yoga, contemplative prayer, labyrinths (including the Roman Catholic Stations of the Cross), sacred candles, meditation - anything that leads the youth away from Gospel of Jesus Christ.