Contemplative Spirituality

The occult has entered into the Christian church in a variety of ways and in various forms.  There are subtle forms of deception closely resembling the truth working to neutralize the effectiveness of the gospel.  Other forms of deception are more aggressive working to destroy the church and it's members from within.  What remains is a Christian exterior to the occult.  To confront the various forms of deception it takes wisdom from Him to be able to operate in truth.

There are those serving Him who become overzealous which can detract from their effectiveness.  Also, with good intentions, there are others who appear to be in attack-mode rather than love-mode, which can be as damaging as the deception.  There are brethren in the faith who on occasion come up with something flaky but who generally move forward in sound doctrine.  This is where grace comes in.  There are other brethren who come up with something flaky and begin to move in error.  This is where love should be applied attempting to restore such to sound doctrine.

In our ministry we will attempt to operate in grace as much as possible to maintain dialogue towards truth.  In the process we often come into levels of truth we may have missed otherwise.  In dealing with deliberate deception its much easier as such signals firm and decisive action.  Stepping on toes is not a problem.

The issues are serious with faith shaking ramifications for the church.  Contemplative spirituality is occultic designed to deceive even the elect.  His Word says that some will fall away from the faith.  It doesn't get much more serious than that.  With that said we offer up this document, and as others become available they will be posted here as well for your perusal.

Printable PDF Article >A Time of Departing

Contemplative Spirituality

Please use and email this following article to those who may be unfamiliar with the dangers involved in the contemplative movement.  This article is an introduction and a warning for those who might be deceived by the New Age occult mysticism spreading throughout Christianity.

Printable PDF Article >Contemplative Spirituality

· · · · 

A friend of our ministry has her own blog on the web that is very interesting reading as she has done much research about 'contemplative spirituality' - worthy reading indeed.

Carla continues to put in much research time into that which is not Biblical entering the churches...she spent a lot of time researching Printable PDF Article >labyrinths.

· · · · 

Newsletters

Lighthouse Trails Publishing www.lighthousetrails.com and www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com provides a range of materials including newsletters that report on the various inroads contemplative spirituality is having within Christianity.  the scope and speed at which this is occurring is shocking while few are truly aware of what is taking place around them.  The following link is Lighthouse Trails Publishing newsletter that will also lead to their other resource materials.  www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/newsletternovember05.htm

· · · · 

Hello,

I just wanted to let you know that we have started a Canada Watch page to post our research on Contemplative Spirituality in Canada. If you have any information you think might be important to add, please email the links to us. Thank you and God bless.  

The new page is at http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/canadawatch.htm and can be reached by going to our What’s New page and Topical Index page.  Thank you and God bless.

Deborah Dombrowski Lighthouse Trails Publishing www.lighthousetrails.com

· · · · 

Richard Bennett, Berean Beacon www.bereanbeacon.org  Richard Bennett, a former Roman Catholic priest provides the following documents on his web site dealing with mysticism and New Age practices.  Influence affecting almost all aspects of the Church, even among evangelicals.

For those who would like to know Richard better and his devotion to the Church in Jesus, we also provide some of his ministry resource in How to Receive Christ.

· · · · 

Another friend of our ministry did a little surfing and sent us this:

I did a little research, and found that Father William Meninger, a Trappist monk and retreat master at St. Josephs Abbey in Spencer, Mass. wrote some books:
"Contemplative (Centering) Prayer and The Cloud of the Unknowing

www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous2/cloud.toc.html

The Ennegram is listed on one of the websites as a tool for this type of prayer.

Father William Meninger will teach the Enneagram on Saturday, May 3, 2003 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Saint Gregory of Nyssa Church in San Francisco.   The Enneagram is an ancient Middle Eastern system of personal knowledge and spiritual transformation  known to the Christian monks of the desert in the third century. Some Christians including Father Meninger have recently revived the teaching and integrated it with modern psychology and centering prayer.  Contemplatives can use the Enneagram as a means to diagnose our compulsions, to understand our feelings before we act thoughtlessly, and to cultivate the freedom  that enables us to live our lives more sensitive to God¹s leading.   Centering prayer is a way to notice our tendencies to act on our compulsions before we act while the personal knowledge of our Enneagram type enables us to understand the patterns of our lives.

Look up Ennegram and you find www.enneagraminstitute.com

www.similarminds.com

www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram

www.ennea.com

I don't know if this one is applicable, check it anyway....

http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/ascetic.htm

· · · · 

Just recently we added a new page to our site and it is full of resources from other ministries, we've titled it Purpose Driven and The Emerging Church.